Suddenly, Autzen Stadium is a haunted house for the Ducks — and everybody else in the Pacific-10 Conference wants to get in for free.
Maybe the Oregon evil came out of the egg shell with the scarier-than-hell new mascot prior to USC’s 44-33 spanking of the Ducks on Saturday.
Maybe the ghost was around all along, but we were too blind to see the imperfections.
At this point, the shock of the Ducks’ two-straight losses is irrelevant. What matters is that, lately, their blemishes have outweighed their good qualities.
In their biggest challenge of the season, the Ducks showed their true colors, which is apparently more yellow than green.
Don’t let the final score fool you. USC manhandled Oregon. The only reason the game appeared close in the end is because the Trojans put in their bench warmers, who would probably start for Oregon’s secondary.
In the pass-happy Pacific-10 Conference, Oregon’s corners have shown to be too young, too short and too slow to keep pace. In their defense, though, Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said USC’s offense would’ve burned the Ducks no matter what defensive scheme was called.
But the list goes on.
The defensive line, as big as it is and as good as it is against the run, has been closer to scoring with Britney Spears than hitting opposing quarterbacks in the last two games.
“If we don’t get better, (losing) is something we’re going to have to get used to,” Oregon linebacker David Moretti said.
It’s not entirely fair to pick on the defense, though. In a team game, Bellotti said, the burden falls on the entire team.
The Oregon offense, playing against the best defense it’s seen this year, proved fallible Saturday. Onterrio Smith was brought back down from heaven and held to under 100 rushing yards for the first time this season.
Jason Fife, while hard to fault his effort, has yet to win a big game.
After running through a weak preseason schedule that posed few problems for the defense, the Ducks have hit the reality wall. And like a fly on the windshield, it’s not pretty.
Come December, it’s probably not going to seem any better.
With two losses, the thought of a national championship is long past. The Rose Bowl? Ha. The Holiday Bowl? Don’t even think about it.
The fourth-place Ducks are a long shot to get to El Paso, Texas, for the Sun Bowl, given to the conference’s third-place team. The best bet is that the Ducks will spend Christmas in Las Vegas for the aptly named Las Vegas Bowl, bestowed upon the Pac-10’s fifth-place team, or maybe even the Insight Bowl in Phoenix for finishing fourth.
The bowl season, however, is far from the forefront for the Ducks.
“We work very hard … and I believe my kids deserve to win, and we’ll make sure that happens,” Bellotti said.
It starts with a winning attitude, which is hard to grasp when you’re losing. The Ducks are missing their once-resounding swagger, and must find it if they hope to find another win.
“This is definitely the lowest point in my career, and for many other guys on this team,” Oregon defensive tackle Igor Olshansky said. “It’s going to sink in in the next couple of days.”
If Oregon doesn’t get its Ducks in order, it’s going to sink in for a lot longer than that.