Temporary banners, an unfamiliar stadium announcer, a diluted crowd, weird start time, short week, emotion-charged opponent, that’s all so much fluff. This is the PAC-12 Championship. UCLA’s come to town hoping to send out their embattled coach with a storybook victory and shock the world, but the Ducks have to ignore the hysteria and hype and win their 11th football game.
Oregon is 60 minutes away from an historic accomplishment. A win earns their third straight conference championship, and makes them the only team to appear in a BCS bowl for the last three years.
photo left: Everybody wears their game face, but a game head, heart and hands are what matters. The Ducks must execute to beat UCLA and finish a run to the Rose Bowl (AP, Greg Wahl-Stephens photo).
Chip Kelly is adamant that his team doesn’t focus on any of that. He told the media Thursday that the game means, what they earn with a win, is never the point for them. The opportunity to win is what matters. Yet the players can’t help but be aware of what’s at stake; they’ve been asked about it all week.
But in practice they prepared for #4 and #83, just like any other week. It’s the discipline and the routine that will sustain them in this. Upsets happen when better teams take their eye off the necessary things. Here are the keys to tonight’s game:
Contain the Bruin weapons; don’t allow any all-world heroics
Big upsets start with remarkable performances and legendary nights of brilliance–remember when Quizz Rodgers ran USC silly a couple of years ago? UCLA has a few dangerous players, really talented players, and the Ducks must execute their assignments to keep them from having the night of their life, prevent them from being the iceberg in a titanic disaster.
Nelson Rosario, their leading receiver, is danger #1. The Ducks have allowed a string of big games by outside receivers, Marqise Lee the most recent, but before that there were 100-yard games by Griff Whalen, Jeff Karstetter, Gerald Robinson, Keenan Allen, and Dan Douglas, which would be an alarming trend if the Ducks weren’t winning games by three touchdowns.
With Rosario it must be different. Oregon will face a big wide receiver target in the Rose Bowl in Wisconsin’s Nick Toon (6-2, 220, the Badgers are dead-certain to win the rematch on Saturday) and if they want to get there, shutting down Rosario is a key part of the deal. He’s a huge chunk of the Bruin offense with a 1008 receiving yards, a big-play threat who’s averaged 18.3 yards a catch.
Oregon has to make UCLA work for their yards, and can’t allow Rosario, Kevin Prince, Johnathan Franklin or Derrick Coleman to get heroic ideas or can’t-miss confidence in this game. They can’t allow 6-8 tight end Joseph Fauria or speedy kickoff returner Josh Smith to catapult themselves into the spotlight with a legendary night. UCLA won’t win if these two teams play to their norms. If the Ducks execute properly, they can exploit their advantages and win handily. Let fate intervene with crazy heroism, and the bad and the ugly can rear up like a pimple on the morning of the most important job interview of your life.
Start strong, dictate the pace, lead from the starting gun like Prefontaine did
The fan discontent with Darron Thomas starts with his deplorable starts. In the second and third quarters of most games, Thomas has been pretty good. But in early possessions, even dating back to last season, DT has been at his worst. High and wide. Off time, just missing, off the hands, over the head, right to a defender, what-the-hell-was-that horrible. He’s a solid leader who’s been very effective and productive as Oregon’s quarterback, but he needs to get the offense going and convert third downs in the first few series, rather than waiting for the surge.
The tendency to start slow cost Oregon the USC game, and it crippled them in last year’s National Championship. As well as the Ducks prepare, as disciplined and accomplished as they’ve been over three seasons, learning to establish that tempo and focus in first quarters would give them a much better opportunity to beat the Wisconsins, LSUs, and other marquee teams in the future. It’s fine to surge and bury teams with adjustments; it’s even better to put your foot on their neck and keep it there the whole time. For Thomas in particular, it’s time to refine the approach or the routine or the mindset, and start with more composure and consistency. If he did so, he’d go from productive to phenomenal. Strong starts are more important in big games, and winning big games is the last blank space on the Oregon resume.
Take the emotion out of it
The pregame talk and sports radio chatter will all be about the inspirational, emotional story of Rick Neuheisel’s last game as UCLA coach, and his efforts to provoke his team to play with reckless abandon and magnificent passion. The Bruins have all the leverage in this one, a shot at glory, the impossible story, the do-you-believe-in-miracles, what-just-happened sports magic. Oregon has to execute and stay on task. They have to read their keys, make tackles, catch the football, and avoid a rash of self-inflicted wounds. The upset can’t happen if the Ducks don’t cooperate. Just play better football, and the prospect of a one-week, 80-point Bruin turnaround evaporates like a John Canzano inside source.
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