I hate to be that guy.
You know, the one who sees a single cloud in the sky and immediately assumes rain. The pessimist, the naysayer, that guy at the party whose bluesy outlook manages to bring everyone else down.
I hate that guy, particularly when it comes to sports. Chances are, you do too. No one wants to hear that his or her team isn’t good enough, that a long-coveted championship ring will have to wait another year.
Well, I don’t like to write about it either. But here’s the truth: Oregon’s performance against LSU last Saturday will loom like an ever-expanding storm cloud over Eugene for the rest of the 2011 season. The Ducks could go 11-0 the rest of way and win the Pac-10 Championship Game, and it wouldn’t matter. The scars would remain.
Such a statement may seem unfair and overly dramatic. After all, even the BCS-controlled college football season isn’t decided by one week’s performance. Chip Kelly and his Ducks will have plenty of chances to redeem themselves, beginning tomorrow at home against Nevada, and there’s a good chance they’ll do just that. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Oregon went undefeated the rest of the way.
That’s not the point. Statistically, the LSU game was just one of 12 games, a single loss and nothing more. But mentally and emotionally, it meant so much more.
It’s not 2009 anymore. No longer can we chalk these losses on the big stage up to first-game jitters (Boise State), inexperience in BCS games (Ohio State) or the singular talent of an opposing player (Auburn’s Cam Newton). After watching last Saturday’s game, I came away with the conclusion that something is missing with this program. Even Kelly admitted that the team has yet to break into the top tier of college football teams.
If you watched the game, you likely saw exactly what I did. Other top programs, particularly those in the SEC, are simply bigger and stronger than Oregon has ever been. The common denominator in each of Oregon’s recent losses was a sizable disadvantage in the trenches on both sides of the ball. An undersized offensive line could not keep opposing defenders out of the backfield, while a similarly diminutive defensive unit could not wrap up the Terrelle Pryors and Michael Dyers of the world.
Oregon, quite simply, is built to compete against Pac-12 opponents. Last season proved that, if healthy, the Ducks will be the favorites to win the conference for many years to come. When the competition is shrunk down to its size, Oregon has few peers.
To be clear, there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with this. Kelly was hired to coach a team in the Pac-12 Conference, and he has come up with a formula that is perfectly conducive to prolonged success.
But at this point, the Oregon job demands a bit more. Kelly earned himself a lucrative new contract last season, and a berth in the BCS National Championship Game brought the Ducks a national prominence that extends far beyond the borders of the Pac-12.
Success for Oregon is no longer measured by conference records or Civil War victories. The big-time games; the match ups against SEC powers, the ones that are billed as “classics” or “the game of the year” — those are what will define triumph in 2011 and beyond.
As it is currently constructed, I’m just not sure that this Oregon team is ready to make the next step. This is not a knock against Darron Thomas or LaMichael James and certainly not against Kelly. I don’t think Oregon has been outcoached or outclassed in any of these games. It’s simply a case of personnel and what types of players Oregon attracts.
The behemoth, country-strong linemen that have given Oregon fits are unlikely to board a plane to Eugene any time soon. Schools like LSU, Auburn, Oklahoma and Alabama will forever hold the advantage of sitting on fertile recruiting ground. College athletics are, in many ways, a never-ending turf war. You could say that Kelly is simply at a tactical disadvantage.
In spite of all this, there’s little reason to believe Oregon won’t succeed this year. The Ducks will defeat Nevada tomorrow, and they might even go undefeated the rest of the way.
But the LSU game will always lurk as a dark cloud in the rearview mirror, a reminder of how far this program still has to go.
Malee: As season moves on, LSU loss will stick with Oregon
Daily Emerald
September 8, 2011
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