By Dietrich Moore

For the first time all season my introduction has a different twist, which is what happened to the fate of the Oregon football team today versus the Arizona Wildcats.  The game was one the Oregon Ducks knew they would be in a tough battle but no one expected the turn of events that occurred in this game.  Today’s game was one of mixed emotion, momentum shifts, and hype surrounding the Ducks’ quest to a national championship.  All week I was reading about how the #2 spot in the rankings was cursed due to USC, South Florida, and Boston College all losing after they secured the #2 ranking.  The third time is a charm but what about the fourth?  I’m not saying there is a curse on the #2 ranking but the Oregon Ducks became the 4^th team to fall from the spot after attaining the position. 

The impact play of today’s game was obviously Dennis Dixon’s injury to his knee that occurred late in the first quarter.  Prior to Dixon’s injury the Duck offense picked up where they left off after a bye week bye moving ball at will.  Dixon ran the offense as he did all season which spelled “bad news” for the Wildcat defense.  Dixon’s 39 yard scamper on their first possession made it look like Oregon would be in control and they were until Dixon went down. 

If you want an example of how important and impact full a player can be to his team I hope you paid close attention to the momentum and emotion shift that took place after Dixon went out of the game.  Dixon’s injury not only impacted the offense but the whole team.  It seemed like the team was never the same until the offense scored with 7:53 remaining in the 4^th quarter on a 17 play 71 yard drive that lasted just over 4 minutes.  For the first time since Dixon went down I saw some emotion and excitement on the Oregon sideline. 

The offense was obviously not the same after Dixon went down.  Brady Leaf who is an experienced quarterback is not the ideal fit for the spread option offensive system.  When Leaf entered the game the Oregon offense started to rely more on Jonathon Stewart to carry the load.  Stewart rushed for 100+ yards for the 12^th consecutive game.  The Wildcat defense was able to key on Stewart with Leaf not providing the option threat.  The Oregon offense went from a spread option offense to just a spread offense that suits Leaf’s strengths as a pocket quarterback.  However, a non-mobile quarterback became a sitting duck when his ankle was rolled on shortly after entering the game.  I give Brady Leaf a lot of credit for playing injured as he showed a lot of guts and toughness. 

The Arizona defense was able to change their game plan by focusing their attention on Jonathon Stewart in the running game thinking Oregon would try to ride him to victory.  However, every time Stewart touched the ball you saw the defensive pursue him with no concern for Leaf running.  When it came time for Oregon to throw the ball the Wildcat defense brought pressure which forced Leaf to make hurried throws that resulted in close interceptions and passes behind receivers. 

The Oregon defense didn’t get off to a hot start in the first half as they gave up 4 big plays that propelled the Arizona offense to score 17 points.  The defense continued to mix up and disguise different looks and coverages to confuse Tuitama.  The game plan worked early in the game when Jairus Byrd picks off Tuitama on Arizona’s first possession on a long pass attempt.  The interception was later made up for when a Dennis Dixon pass attempt to Derrick Jones was picked off in the end zone.  The 45 yard return gave the Wildcats good field position which set up their first score.  The interception in the end zone was one of the plays that created a momentum shift in favor of the Wildcats. 

The Duck defense pressured Tuitama but this week it seemed like the defensive backs for Oregon were not in position on receivers when the ball was thrown as in previous weeks.  The Oregon defense had some trouble tackling in the first half which was evident on two of Arizona’s first half touchdowns. 

The Oregon defense responded in the second half holding the Arizona offense to only 3 points and giving the Oregon offense an opportunity tie the ball game.  I noticed a different attitude and determination with the defense in the second half.  The Duck defense did not give up one big play in the second half but created a couple turnovers.  The Kenny Row forced fumble created yet another momentum shift in the game but quickly diminished as the Ducks could only produce a field goal off the turnover.  Let’s be real, the Oregon defense did what they needed to do to put the team in a position to win.

To sum things up I will say this…

There are 3 phases to a game which consist of offense, defense, and special teams.  In every pregame speech that Coach Bellottii gives to the team one of the famous quotes by Bellotti is for the special teams to “be special”.  The special teams unit was not special in a game where they were needed the most.  In addition to an interception that was run back for a Wildcat touchdown, the punt team allowed a return in the second quarter that created yet another momentum shift and propelled Arizona to a 20 point lead.  The only somewhat shining moment on special teams was the Kwame Ageyman fake punt run which, unfortunately for the Ducks, ended in a fumble that Arizona recovered. 

In a time when you have a phase of your game that is struggling like the Oregon offense, someone somewhere has to step up and make a play to pick up some slack.  For Oregon, today was not their day to respond to adversity that was evident after Dixon went down.  In fact, it was the complete opposite as Oregon appeared to self inflicts wounds by turning the ball over and allowing Arizona to keep the momentum.  It just seemed as though the Oregon team could not fully recover from the loss of Dixon. 

One thing to mention is that with all that I have expressed in this analysis and for what I witnessed in the game I think the Oregon Ducks are still a talented team that has responded well to adversity up until this point.  If you look at the key injuries that have plagued the Ducks losing AJ Tuitele, Cameron Colvin, Jeremiah Johnson, John Bacon, Oregon has had people step up in place of the loss of some key players.  I would like to commend the coaching staff for making the necessary personnel adjustments to continue to be successful.  If history repeats itself then the Oregon staff will have this team ready to finish the season strong.  I look forward to seeing how the Ducks respond next week against the Bruins!     

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re: re: Anonymous (IP:67.171.159.209) 2007-11-19 22:25:52 Anonymous wrote: Mike wrote: I don't understand why nobody is talking about the latest example of the complete ineptitude of the PAC-10 officials. The punt return that Arizona scored on had not one, not two, but three separate blocks in the back. The Oregon fumble on the fake punt was clearly recovered by Oregon, but the review officials still gave it to Arizona. There was a flagrant hit out of bounds on Jonathan Stewart, and each team got away with an obvious face mask. The missed calls may not have changed the outcome of the game, but they sure didn't help the Ducks. I agree there were significant calls by the officials that did not help the Ducks on a day where things went south in a hurry. I haven't been writing columns very long but as a collegiate athlete I have never publicly addressed officiating in the media. I do agree the punt return by Arizona was given by the officials. They initially threw the flag for what many thought would be a block in the back but ended up picking the flags up. That is the only call that I disagreed with from an officiating standpoint. All I have to say about the Ageyman fumble is if he doesn't fumble the officiating is a moot. It appeared to me Oregon did initially recover the fumble but in any scrum like that the ball can change hands numerous times before officials sort it out. There are other times I've seen similar situations where I thought a team recovered the ball but once the dust settled that was not the case. With all of that the Duckies were still in a position to win inspite of the bad luck the Duckies had. Quote

re: Anonymous (IP:67.171.159.209) 2007-11-19 22:24:17 Mike wrote: I don't understand why nobody is talking about the latest example of the complete ineptitude of the PAC-10 officials. The punt return that Arizona scored on had not one, not two, but three separate blocks in the back. The Oregon fumble on the fake punt was clearly recovered by Oregon, but the review officials still gave it to Arizona. There was a flagrant hit out of bounds on Jonathan Stewart, and each team got away with an obvious face mask. The missed calls may not have changed the outcome of the game, but they sure didn't help the Ducks. I agree there were significant calls by the officials that did not help the Ducks on a day where things went south in a hurry. I haven't been writing columns very long but as a collegiate athlete I have never publicly addressed officiating in the media. I do agree the punt return by Arizona was given by the officials. They initially threw the flag for what many thought would be a block in the back but ended up picking the flags up. That is the only call that I disagreed with from an officiating standpoint. All I have to say about the Ageyman fumble is if he doesn't fumble the officiating is a moot. It appeared to me Oregon did recover the fumble but in any scrum like that the ball can change hands numerous times before officials sort it out. There are other times I've seen similar situations where I thought a team recovered the ball but once the dust settled that was not the case. With all of that the Duckies were still in a position to win inspite of the bad luck the Duckies had. Quote

culley (IP:75.170.24.147) 2007-11-18 00:02:50 pac 10 officials are the worst in the nation by far they impacted the game more that anyone will know Quote

Mike (IP:76.105.217.184) 2007-11-17 23:36:24 I don't understand why nobody is talking about the latest example of the complete ineptitude of the PAC-10 officials. The punt return that Arizona scored on had not one, not two, but three separate blocks in the back. The Oregon fumble on the fake punt was clearly recovered by Oregon, but the review officials still gave it to Arizona. There was a flagrant hit out of bounds on Jonathan Stewart, and each team got away with an obvious face mask. The missed calls may not have changed the outcome of the game, but they sure didn't help the Ducks. Quote

Tough loss MADDalone (IP:208.186.134.102) 2007-11-17 13:49:57 The season isnt over yet..Oregon played hard but just couldn't pull it off. For what it's worth, a healthy O would have ran by Arizona. Quote