The Oregon football team had a bye week last weekend and only fans in Eugene may have noticed. The Ducks have remained a topic of conversation throughout the nation following its 34-33 win over Oklahoma on Sept. 16.
Everyone is chiming in.
Oklahoma fans, Oregon fans, college football enthusiasts and media – everyone has an opinion. The controversy centers on an onside kick the Ducks recovered that led to the go-ahead touchdown, a 23-yard reception by wide receiver Brian aysinger.
The Pacific-10 Conference later ruled an Oregon player touched the football prior to going the required 10 yards and Oklahoma should have gained possession. The results stand, however, and Oregon is 3-0 while Oklahoma is 3-1 following a 59-0 victory against Middle Tennessee.
The Oregon-Oklahoma game was discussed on a variety of networks and publications, including an appearance by Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon on ESPN.
The Pac-10 suspended the officials for one game. The suspensions are staggered, and official Dave Cutaia worked USC’s 20-3 win against Arizona on Saturday. Replay official Gordon Riese, who failed to overturn the call on the on-side kick, was granted a one-year leave of absence from the Pac-10.
Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said that, to his knowledge, no other Pac-10 officials have been suspended in his tenure as coach.
“However, we’ve had other games of this magnitude where officials have made mistakes and nothing happened,” said Bellotti, who didn’t agree or disagree with the suspensions. “They have been admitted, acknowledged, official errors that took points off the board or whatever.”
Misplaced in the controversy is the way Oregon came back from 13 points down to win the game. Oregon players haven’t forgotten, nor have they let the uproar overshadow the win, linebacker Blair Phillips said.
“As far as it goes in the locker room, everybody’s happy about the win,” Phillips said. “We’re 3-0 and no matter what people are saying or what’s going to happen, you can’t really take a win off the schedule.”
Paysinger said, “Whether it went our way or not, we still played as hard as we could. The media or the officials, they can say what they want but when it comes down to it, we won the game and that’s all we really care about.”
Week ahead
Oregon is now focusing on next week’s match-up at Arizona State. The bye week has allowed the Ducks to recover from injuries following physical wins against Fresno State and Oklahoma.
“We have a couple of guys banged up and it will give us a little time to go into conference play a little bit healthier than we have been,” Phillips said.
Defensive tackle Jeremy Gibbs is nursing an ankle injury. Wide receivers Cameron Colvin, James Finley and Garren Strong have dealt with various ailments. After the Fresno State game, Oregon lost cornerback Jackie Bates to a broken leg.
Losing Haberly One key loss is linebacker Brent Haberly, who broke his arm in the Oklahoma game, and is likely out for the
season, though there’s a chance he could return for a bowl game.
“He is our quarterback on the defense,” Bellotti said. “He gets our front aligned – that’s a huge role – and obviously, Blair Phillips is going to have to take over that role now and be a great mental player as well as a great physical player, and he can do that.”
Phillips assured Oregon’s win last week when he blocked Oklahoma’s last-second field goal attempt.
Bellotti inserted A.J.
Tuitele alongside Phillips, and he responded with 10 tackles, a tackle for loss and a sack.
“A.J. will be the guy to answer the immediate question of who’s going to start and who’s going to play the most,” Bellotti said. “We still need to look at the depth there and getting other bodies on the field to keep the defense fresh going into the fourth quarter.”
This isn’t to say they won’t miss Haberly’s experience – they will, Phillips said.
“He’ll still be in meetings and still watching film with us, but at the same time, you’re not going to have that rock on the outside,” Phillips said.
Clutch catch
Paysinger’s game-winning touchdown provided him with a measure of redemption. His 58-yard performance against Oklahoma followed his combined total of 56 yards in the team’s first two games.
“Big confidence booster. I mean in the past I’ve been inconsistent or injured,” Paysinger said. “I haven’t really
gotten the opportunity to make any big plays, but it finally came around. When something like that comes around, you snag it.”
Catching the pass proved a challenge in itself when he found himself wide open with the game on the line.
“Honestly, it’s as if time just slows down,” Paysinger said. “Especially, if you’re wide open, there’s no excuse for dropping it.”
Next two weeks
Saturday’s match-up between Arizona State and California offered a preview of Oregon’s next two road opponents, starting with the Sun Devils in Tempe, Ariz. next Saturday.
California overwhelmed Arizona State with six first-half touchdowns en route to a 42-14 halftime lead and an eventual 49-21 win.
Quarterback Nate Longshore efficiently operated Cal’s offense, completing 18 of 26 passes for 270 yards, four touchdowns and an interception. His counterpart, Arizona State quarterback Rudy Carpenter, struggled, completing 16 of 36 passes for 177 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions.
On the ground, Cal running back Marshawn Lynch gained 124 yards on 17 carries. Arizona State’s Ryan Torain ran for 191 yards on 24 carries.
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