It’s an easy narrative: Oregon has a chance to exercise their demons by avenging their only loss of the season to Arizona in the rematch in the Pac-12 Championship game on Friday night.
But don’t let anyone fool you. For the Ducks, this title game is not about revenge. It’s about a championship.
It’s a three game playoff for Oregon now. This game is just step number one.
That loss to Arizona was the schism in what has become a potentially famous season for the Ducks. Oregon could have folded after going down to the Wildcats at home on a Thursday night in a cloud of boos, doubts about coaching, and
What happened was the Ducks picked themselves up off the mat and became the most dominant team in college football.
By far.
Not only has Oregon not lost any games since they played Arizona, they haven’t played any close games – and if you cite a 59-41 win over Cal as a close game, you have an idea of what the second half of Oregon’s season has looked like.
There is no great team in college football this year. The only undefeated, Florida State, could have five losses and even that might not be as damaging as the fact that everyone hates their team.
Alabama, more than likely to be the SEC representative in the playoff, has a question mark at quarterback and a defense that just gave up 628 yards to Auburn.
Oregon has had the best regular season in the country. Over the last seven years, they have the most wins in college football with the Crimson Tide. The Ducks are experiencing an era of excellence that is beyond rare in college football.
One of these years, they need to cash in with a national championship. Because believe it or not, one day Oregon won’t be as good as they have been since Chip Kelly walked through the door in 2007.
This is the year.
Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota isn’t going to just win the Heisman Trophy, he’s going to win it in the biggest landslide in the modern era. If he loses even one vote, it will be a travesty.
It’s not just that Mariota is clearly far and away the best player in college football, it’s also that he doesn’t have any real competition for the prize. The battle in New York will be for second place even if the Ducks lose to Arizona.
The end is in sight now. Arizona is a good team. They probably have the best coach in the conference in Rich Rodriguez, who has only been vindicated further by the failings of the Michigan program since he was fired, and the Wildcats have a scheme that can give Oregon problems.
Still, this is the same Arizona team that lost 17-7 to a UCLA team that has been exposed as a fraud time after time this year. It’s the same team that needed a near-miracle to eek out a one-point win over a very mediocre Washington team two weeks later.
It’s a team that needed a Hail Mary to beat Cal. They had close non-conference wins over UTSA and Nevada, and while it’s plenty prudent to respect a team that has beaten you twice in two years, Oregon should know that they are better than Arizona.
This game is about the Ducks. The last time these two teams met, Oregon’s offensive line was in shambles, and their new defensive coordinator was struggling to survive in the deep end.
Oregon has grown since then. The offensive line is healthy, Royce Freeman has emerged as a star, and Pellum’s defense – while it will certainly conceded points – has found its groove.
In 2013, Oregon was coming off a soul-crushing loss to Stanford and wasn’t ready mentally to play when Arizona crushed them in Tucson.
It’s different this time. Oregon’s best against Arizona’s best.
You’ll hear this stat plenty this week: Excluding games against the Wildcats, Mark Helfrich is an astounding 22-1 as a head coach. Excluding games against the Wildcats, Oregon has been almost totally immune to being upset by teams with lesser talent.
Arizona has always been a tough team for the Ducks, back to the days of Rob Gronkowski and Mike Stoops and Mike Bellotti.
The Ducks’ last two best chances to win the national title were in 2010, when Oregon beat Arizona in a tight game the day after Thanksgiving, and 2007, when Dennis Dixon tore his ACL and Arizona knocked the Ducks out of the hunt.
So yes, revenge is an easy narrative. It’s also the wrong one.
The Ducks will be focused, but beating Arizona isn’t the endgame. The end game is what comes after Arizona on New Year’s Day and maybe a week and a day after 2015 begins.
There has to be urgency about this season, not just this game. Oregon has greater goals than pushing aside a pesky rival.
Mariota – unquestionably the best in program history – is almost certainly gone after the year, and without the best quarterback in the country, what Oregon has left isn’t quite national championship material.
Everyone at Oregon has to understand that the championship window is never open forever. The Ducks have years of great football ahead of them, but not years like this.
It’s a three game season now. Pac-12 title, national semifinal, national championship.
This is Arizona. More importantly, it’s step one.
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