The Comeback Kids may have just seen their rebirth at Autzen Stadium.
With apologies to the cliché king and every Oregon beat writer who was going to use this for Sunday’s story — and every California beat writer who eventually did — the Ducks had the plug pulled on their season on Saturday.
Well, until quarterback Kellen Clemens returned to the game with 6:35 remaining in the fourth quarter.
After the 23-minute power problem, technically called a “control failure,” the Ducks found a groove just in time to get the win and make a few thousand Duck fans smile.
There’s hope yet, Oregon faithful.
Now that the Ducks are 6-4, they are officially eligible for a bowl game — be it the Silicon Valley Bowl or the Las Vegas Bowl. At least there are no return trips to Seattle possible.
From the sound of things in the California interview room after Saturday’s dazzlingly ducky 21-17 victory against the Golden Bears, the fans laid the groundwork for a possible Oregon comeback.
Even with California’s coaching staff having eight former Oregon coaches or players — all with direct experience with Autzen at game time — the team was unprepared for the high intensity of Oregon attitude.
Golden Bear players said they practiced with the noise levels higher than normal this week but it may not have helped.
“When you get in the game situation, it’s way different,” tight end Garrett Cross said. “I’ve never heard a stadium so loud.”
Loud? Saturday was nothing. Saturday was like listening to the Willamette River compared to when Autzen is really loud, much like the 2001 Civil War or this season’s game against Michigan.
The Oregon fans “are infamous for their noise,” Cross said.
With an announced attendance of 57,511, Oregon’s 29th-consecutive sellout at Autzen, the Ducks were still missing fans. A surprising part of the student section — half of an entire section and chunks in the others — was empty for the game.
Although the students really can’t be blamed, I suppose. Many people were expecting a blowout of epic proportions, or at least not the exciting, come-from-behind, last-chance win that Oregon hadn’t seen since early in the 2002 season.
The fans were noisy, I will give them that. In the final minutes of the game, it was rockin’ and rollin’ in the stands, even while many fans had left because of the 23-minute dark spell, rain, cold or the probability of the Ducks losing another game this season.
But after Jason Fife started to run cold, Bellotti made another change, and Clemens returned after starting the game one of six. The quarterback-by-committee system returned to its early glory of one helping the other when in need.
And the fans who remained cheered. It wasn’t as loud as it could have been, but considering how many fans had departed, the remaining ones still made an impression on the visiting Golden Bears.
“It’s something you’re always looking forward to when you’re young, playing in Division I football,” Cross said. “Autzen is different, the noise is so big. It’s really fun, it gets you really going. There’s nothing like it.”
That’s for sure. Nothing like it at all. Oregon players know it and Duck fans make it happen.