This weekend’s victory over Idaho was big news for this year’s Oregon football team.
After an 0-2 start, a victory over the South Eugene High School junior varsity football team would have felt good.
The most important aspect of this victory is that it showed the young players how to win a college football game and how it feels to win as an Oregon Duck. For some of these players, the only taste they’ve known up to this point was a bitter loss to Indiana and a well-played but bland loss to Oklahoma.
The loss to Indiana was shocking and there is no way to dress it up, but the Oklahoma loss was the nasty medicine Oregon needed — yeah, it tastes terrible, but it’s good for you in the long run.
For guys like Dennis Dixon, Cameron Colvin and Jackie Bates, their Oregon careers consisted of an 0-2 record before Idaho. Forget about the 11 straight winning seasons. Before Saturday these guys had never won a game as a Duck.
Getting this win gave them the satisfaction of walking off the field as a winner in the yellow and green. They heard the cheers instead of the stunned silence. They felt the excitement of a team rolling along in the right direction.
The fact is, players need to know how to win. Being talented is great, but if you don’t have the winning attitude, talent doesn’t mean squat.
Teaching these guys to win isn’t only good for them, it also benefits the coaches. They now know they can turn to Brian Paysinger or Colvin down the stretch to give them a big catch.
They know they can send in Andiel Brown to give the team a lift at the running back position.
They know A.J. Tuitele will make the tackle when he’s the only one standing between the opponent and the goal line.
Winning gives the team as a whole confidence that they can succeed
no matter what adversity may confront them.
Confidence will help this team persevere through tough stretches.
But at the same time, how much can they really take away from
this victory?
Idaho has now played four games this season and scored a season-high 10 points against us. Ten points! A baseball game at Coors Field will see more than 10 runs — per team.
“Every win is a great win,” head coach Mike Bellotti said. But is it really a great win? The Vandals have won six games since 2000. I think there was a better chance of hell freezing over than the Ducks losing that game.
But I do see his point. A team
without a win after two games does see its first win as great, but will this propel the Ducks into the Pacific-10 Conference season like they think it will? Is a win against a team like Idaho going to straighten out previous problems?
Ball security still seems like an issue after a couple of fumbles and another muffed punt against Idaho.
This will all be tested first against the golden arm of Andrew Walter and the high-flying Arizona State Sun Devils. If you don’t remember, this is the same Walter who came to Autzen in 2002 and torched then No. 6 Oregon for 536 yards during a 45-42 Sun Devil victory. Last season at Sun Devil Stadium, he threw for 316 yards and three touchdowns while earning Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Week honors during a 59-14 trouncing of the Ducks.
In other words, the Oregon secondary needs those young guys to step up and Justin Phinisee and Aaron Gipson need to play or the Ducks will be watching balls fly all over Autzen.
In fact, every game for the rest of the season is up in the air. Other than Washington, every team in the Pac-10 Conference has shown the ability to play with, if not beat, Oregon.
This is why it is important for
the younger players of this Oregon team to know how to win and play hard. The younger guys need to take after players like Demetrius Williams, a guy who will catch ball after ball at practice and curse himself for dropping one pass; guys like Jerry Matson who worked himself into the starting lineup after walking on his freshman year and eventually gaining a scholarship.
If these young guys learn how to win, develop a hard-work ethic and listen to those that came before them, this team will be in good hands.
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