by Jeff Newcomb, DSH columnist
Oregon began this season with a simple goal: Rise.
It was a statement, more than a desire. Rise above adversity. Rise above the hype. Rise above the media and the east coast bias, USC, Stanford, and all the lingering doubts that have kept Oregon teams in that frustrating no-man’s land of wonder and doubt. Rise, and prove that a west coast offence can compete with the best of the SEC.
Rising star: A big part of the Ducks’ rise this season has been wide receiver/punt returner Bralon Addison, who has made big plays all year, including this 57-yard reception this Saturday against Utah. Addison has nabbed 47 passes for 742 yards and 7 tds, while averaging 16.9 yards per punt return with two more scores (Walt Grondana, Eugene Daily News photo).
Oregon’s plan to Rise was simple: Practice hard. Compete harder. Win The Day.Along the way, there has been adversity. A travel game to the other side of the country. A game against an SEC foe with an outstanding front seven. A game played almost entirely in a downpour. A game played against an old nemesis in a new stadium with a copycat offense that would not relent until it was crushed silent by the mighty fist of Oregon.
And then came Stanford…Oregon dismantled its previous foes with outrageous shows of talent, speed, and precision. None were played with that killer instinct fans wanted to see in their team, and to be sure, none were played without error, but each team Oregon faced, that team fell before the onslaught like all the rest.
Accomplishment became pride, and pride cometh before the fall.Mountains are shoved from the plains of a proud earth, towering spires of majestic purples capped in pristine white that fill the horizon as far as the eye can see. And yet, with time, the elements beat them into sand and dust and spread them to the sea. The greatest mountains that ever were now fill hour glasses that mock their former might. Miniscule flecks of rock passing through a skinny glass neck recounts the hours, minutes, and days it took to weather them into submission.Oregon is no different.
The Ducks traveled to Stanford and the Ducks lost. No, scratch that. For 50 minutes, the Ducks were weathered. Eroded. Washed away. The final score of 20 to 26 is an anecdote to history, for if that game hand ended 26-0 it would have been a much better descriptor of the effort given by the Ducks on that day, but for the last ten minutes of regulation. They were, without a doubt, ten minutes of glorious anticipation that only a Duck fan would understand.
The game, in its entirety, was still an embarrassing loss.The team that traveled to Stanford was not the same team that played Tennessee. It was not the gritty team that faced Washington, nor was it the resilient team took the best shot from UCLA and walked away by four scores. It wasn’t a lack of talent. It wasn’t a lack of skill. One can only believe that Oregon could not imagine losing to a foe that had lost to unranked Utah, and barely beaten an unbeaten UCLA that the Ducks later handily disposed of by 28. The tears on the sidelines; the hanging heads and the sorry faces all told a story of privilege and shock that an opponent would not lay down prostrate before the Mighty Ducks and just go away.
And they would not go away, no matter how much the Ducks wanted them to.The team that faced Stanford was privileged. Proud. Unused to the adversity playing at a truly higher level brings, and unmindful of the loss to the Cardinal in Autzen just a year ago.
This team did not adjust. It did not respond. It only came to life after a touchdown pass and a blocked kick that occurred too late to make a difference in a game that was already lost. And then it rose. The most important thing is that it rose. At that time and in that place, Oregon picked itself up and strived for the win.
Too little, too late? Yeah, but Oregon did not go down without a fight. The tempo was right. The stakes were high. Oregon responded, through tempo, like a champion. It just fell a score short.What is it that sparks the will to rise in men? Is it hope? No, hope is merely the last respite of the weak. Is it fear? No, fear only lingers in the hearts of the untried and the unsure. Oregon was neither.
Oregon rose because it believed. The path to victory became clear when the pace of the game accelerated to a speed the Ducks were familiar with. Mariota and company actually think and react at a frenetic level most of us only dream about, and it was in that moment, when the game was compressed into a few short segments, that the Ducks rose.The Ducks live in tempo-land, where faster is better and pressure makes diamonds out of coal. Slow them down and they cavitate, becoming normal, predictable, and unable to function at the speed of mere mortals.
Stanford kept them out of high gear. Utah did not. Washington did not. Tennessee did not.The key to stopping the Oregon offense seems to be in stopping the chain reaction that leads to a nuclear eruption of points. Stanford ran the ball with impunity, maintained possession, and scored points in the process. And then they lost to USC.
Rise.
Triumph over adversity. Continue the tradition of success. Leave a legacy you will be proud of.Oregon now owns its own destiny. Stanford has two conference losses to Oregon’s one. Win out and Oregon will play for the Rose Bowl. Should FSU and Alabama improbably lose, and the Ducks win out, Oregon will play Ohio State or Baylor in the Natty. Win the Rose Bowl, and Oregon will once again finish in the top 5 in the country for the 5th year in a row, something no other team, with or without a “Stanford problem” has done in a long time. A long, long time.
Oregon will rise. It is rising now. Can you feel it? We have not seen the best of the Oregon Ducks. Not by a long shot.
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