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Snatching Defeat Out of the Jaws of Victory: OSU 38, UO 31
It was during the American Civil War (1861-1865) that a frustrated President Abraham Lincoln in describing the ineptitude and failure of his Union generals sarcastically coined the phrase, "They keep snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory!" In the 111-year history of the Civil War between the Ducks and Beavers a defeat is always hard to swallow, and especially difficult when it is directly related to a poor decision or mistake made by one of the "generals". In this case, it was offensive line coach Steve Greatwood who took full responsibility for the field goal unit running on the field and causing confusion after quarterback Justin Roper "shuffled" a couple of yards for better field goal position with less than 20 seconds and the clock running. Certainly no one feels worse right now than Coach Greatwood , if down the chain of command it was his job to send out the field goal team. If he had heard one simple word, "spike", it could have changed everything as there would not have been the panic created by the miscommunication. It was all set up so perfectly for kicker Matt Evensen to have a great opportunity to kick the game winner and find redemption from last year’s miss in Corvallis. The Ducks ultimately lost, not from a lack of effort or physical execution, but a breakdown of communication at a critical moment. What should have happened? Head Coach Mike Bellotti, after making the decision to "shuffle and spike", needed to make sure that the coach in charge of the kicking team was clear with that and understood his direction. I would have thought that message would have gone to special team’s coach Tom Osbourne, but evidently not, it seemed to be Greatwood’s responsibility. Mistakes happen, but unfortunately are amplified to the nth degree when the outcome of the game is on the line. The buck stops with Coach Bellotti, and that isn’t a criticism, just the nature of a job that involves as many details as he is paid in dollars. Bellotti took a bit of a risk by running a play with no timeouts to get a little better angle for the field goal attempt. These end of the game scenarios are something they work on in practice, so I’m sure there was confidence that the "shuffle and spike" was a good plan that would have resulted in a game winning field goal with but a few seconds left on the clock. If Bellotti had sent the field goal team out with 20 seconds left for a 38-yard attempt from the right hash mark, that would have left about 15 seconds for either a kickoff or one or two desperation attempts by the Beaver offense. Where do we go from here? This year has shown, in case we didn’t already know, how important an athletic, polished and experienced quarterback is to Oregon’s spread offense. The bowl game in late December will be another audition opportunity for Justin Roper and Cody Kempt. Nate Costa should be ready by spring to participate in non-contact drills and scrimmages, but may not be able to play in the spring game. Then you have two transfers from BYU: Cade Cooper, 6', 3", 215 lb, junior who led Snow Junior College to an 11-1 record as a sophomore, passing for over 3100 yards and 31 Tds. Sam Doman is a 6', 4", 225 lb sophomore who played high school ball at Canby, Oregon. It should be a very competitive quarterback battle this spring with a premium on who has command of the offense and can make plays–hopefully explosive plays.
The second greatest need at this point is to strengthen the defensive line which played better as the year went on, but could use some more impact players. Myles Wade and Simi Fili fit that criteria, but didn’t qualify academically, We will be on the lookout to see if they get re-signed this winter, Already two highly acclaimed JC D-lineman have verballed to Oregon. It would be great if they could come in for spring, but often, that isn’t the case. All other positions are loaded with talent and depth. The linebacker positions lack experience, but may be the most talented group in a long time. Everyone will get more reps during the practices for the Bowl game and the future looks bright despite yesterday’s gloomy outcome. Yellow helmets: 0-2, but much improved The first incarnation of the yellowish helmets was a disaster in every way. For their latest appearance there was a great logical improvement: a green "O" on each side. One could say the helmet yellow "clashed" with the lightning yellow jersey. I believe the yellow helmet would look best with the road white jersey and green pants, or the green home jersey with yellow pants. The very best part about the uniform selection for this Civil War was there was no Beaver black, and the team performed. well enough to win. Counting on Basketball Any loss to the Beavers (in my world) requires at least two victories by the men’s basketball team (mission accomplished last year) and a succession of at least three football Civil Wars in the future starting next year in Corvallis. Then, and only then, can there be some semblance of order returned to the Duck Universe! |
