back at the hotel from the duck game. What an absolute beatdown. Nobody, and I mean nobody saw that coming. This is the way the I felt Oregon could play this year, it just took a few games to get there. If they can play at this level rest of the year they are going to win the conference. As masoli goes so does the team. Wow.
Congrats Ducks. This was what we all thought we'd see back at the beginning of the year. In a way, Blount getting kicked off the team was a blessing in disguise. He was out of shape and LaMichael James plays hungry... and so does that LB who's now running the ball. I am very surprised that Kelly managed to pull it together as quickly as he appears to have done since the big shake-up after W1. James could be a star in the making. He was impressive all along in practice. I'm glad to see that he got his chance. Amazing how many new faces have outperformed many vets this season.
Also, do you follow the logic in why I like Oregon to upset USC more than Cal? Guys like Masoli are USC's worst nightmare. (Jake Locker too.) It was the Masoli factor that has finally appeared to kick in. His passing game is 80% better than it has been up to now. Give him a couple more weeks and he will be a genuine dual threat to the max. He will continue to improve.
I feel vindicated about our early predictions. Too bad it took a while longer than expected, but the season is still young and the Ducks are very much in the Pac-10 race.
:toast:
Recap:
OSU +2, 1.5 units L
AZ +3, .5 unit W
Geo -12.5, 1 unit L
Stanford/ UW OVER 51.5, 1 unit L
UW +8.5, .5 unit L
1-4 -3.5 units
The one that hurts the worst is the over on uw/stan. Stanford had the ball on the uw 2 yard line with under a minute to go and couldn't pound it in to get that over. All that said, after witnessing the Oregon victory I am having a hard time getting dissapointed on anything CFB related this weekend...
Just a couple of thoughts on what I see:
First, Oregon. What a dominant performance, I had said if they get good qb play that the 7 points was gift. Well it was. I don't think that anyone saw that coming though. If Oregon plays like that every week they will run the board. PS. I told you that Ludwig was a terrible OC. Oregon defenders were quoted saying they knew what was coming every play.
Second, Stanford. Physical. Physical team. A very solid win for them, they are going to be a real player in the race this year. The only thing that might get them in trouble is injuries. The way Gerhart plays he absorbs a lot of hits. I had predicted this summer he would be the top back in the conference this year, and if he stays healthy it will happen.
Third, USC. This is not the same USC team. This team is beatable, I am liking my under 10.5 wins season bet more and more.
Fourth, OSU. What the HELL! They put up 32 points and that should have been more than enough to beat an AZ team with a raw QB, without top RB and TE. The OSU defense is TERRIBLE. Thank God I hedged my bet down. I have signifigantly downgraded this team in my mind. The offense isn't the problem here. For the first time in in a long while it is the defense and I have doubts whether it can fix itself this year.
Fifth, CAL. I think they will be OK this year. They just came into the game this week expecting a pillow fight. They were a beaten team by halftime. Riley is what we thought he is. Inconsistent. It's hard to see stuff like this on TV but he was getting the shit kicked out of him. Halfway through the 2nd qtr he got hit by Kenny Rowe and came up wobbly. From that point on the bears were toast. I wonder if Phill Steele caught the game? Both CAL lines were dominated by Oregon. I expect that if they have any pride you will see one hell of an effort this week from them.
Lastly; this is one crazy season. I can't recall a season where it has been so difficult to handicap these teams from one week to the next. That is why I have been betting fewer units last few weeks and been actively hedging my bets when given advantagous line moves. The only ones making the big $$ this year seem to be the books. I'll continue to be conservative on my plays and try to be more contrarian in my thinking...
OSU +2, 1.5 units L
AZ +3, .5 unit W
Geo -12.5, 1 unit L
Stanford/ UW OVER 51.5, 1 unit L
UW +8.5, .5 unit L
1-4 -3.5 units
The one that hurts the worst is the over on uw/stan. Stanford had the ball on the uw 2 yard line with under a minute to go and couldn't pound it in to get that over. All that said, after witnessing the Oregon victory I am having a hard time getting dissapointed on anything CFB related this weekend...
Just a couple of thoughts on what I see:
First, Oregon. What a dominant performance, I had said if they get good qb play that the 7 points was gift. Well it was. I don't think that anyone saw that coming though. If Oregon plays like that every week they will run the board. PS. I told you that Ludwig was a terrible OC. Oregon defenders were quoted saying they knew what was coming every play.
Second, Stanford. Physical. Physical team. A very solid win for them, they are going to be a real player in the race this year. The only thing that might get them in trouble is injuries. The way Gerhart plays he absorbs a lot of hits. I had predicted this summer he would be the top back in the conference this year, and if he stays healthy it will happen.
Third, USC. This is not the same USC team. This team is beatable, I am liking my under 10.5 wins season bet more and more.
Fourth, OSU. What the HELL! They put up 32 points and that should have been more than enough to beat an AZ team with a raw QB, without top RB and TE. The OSU defense is TERRIBLE. Thank God I hedged my bet down. I have signifigantly downgraded this team in my mind. The offense isn't the problem here. For the first time in in a long while it is the defense and I have doubts whether it can fix itself this year.
Fifth, CAL. I think they will be OK this year. They just came into the game this week expecting a pillow fight. They were a beaten team by halftime. Riley is what we thought he is. Inconsistent. It's hard to see stuff like this on TV but he was getting the shit kicked out of him. Halfway through the 2nd qtr he got hit by Kenny Rowe and came up wobbly. From that point on the bears were toast. I wonder if Phill Steele caught the game? Both CAL lines were dominated by Oregon. I expect that if they have any pride you will see one hell of an effort this week from them.
Lastly; this is one crazy season. I can't recall a season where it has been so difficult to handicap these teams from one week to the next. That is why I have been betting fewer units last few weeks and been actively hedging my bets when given advantagous line moves. The only ones making the big $$ this year seem to be the books. I'll continue to be conservative on my plays and try to be more contrarian in my thinking...
Yeah, what a year. It's been like this all over CFB, not just the Pac-10. That is itself is amazing. It's akin to a school of fish that all know when to make a left turn or change direction. So far in September, 5 top 5 teams have lost and 10 top 10 teams have gone down.
What has me perplexed too is trying to figure out where the mid-season "shift" is going to go. That's when teams that have been in a funk begin to play much better having solved their issues. Usually that involves teams with young rosters and (usually) losing records that begin to gel or play much better, thus covering when least expected. Are we talking about Oregon St. this year along with WSU and ASU etc? Doesn't that also describe UCLA who is also young and inexperienced but thus far undefeated? Mercy.
One thing remains a question in my mind about Arizona though... how much of their win was Oregon St.'s re-re-tooled defense missing their assignments (which is starting to make sense... until they pull it together in a month) and how much of that was Nick Foles? In any event, I don't think we will be hearing from Matt Scott all too soon.
It was death by 1000 cuts for OSU. This is why I am VERY nervous about taking them @ ASU. They couldn't stop ANYTHING!
As for young rosters maturing, I look at Oregon. They will return 19 starters next year. I am really liking the mental makeup of this team, chip Kelly has grown as a coach too in just a few weeks he gets outcoached by Peterson, then completely outcoaches Tedford.
Yeap. Who exactly was it that called Kelly a joke and said he couldn't be trusted? I thought I handled that little "incursion" into reality with an appropriate shot of the truth. This game was my vindication in that respect. I know Kelly, you know Kelly. Anyone who's seen what he has already done time and time again knows Kelly too.
Consistently putting together an overwhelming offense with a different group of players (3 times so far, including a 5th string QB twice) I could have guessed what was in store last Saturday... but that was a pretty a tall order based on faith and what appeared to be too little time and a true freshman RB to boot. I felt OK about just chilling and checking it out. Now I think there's a very good chance this will keep on.
This is new ground because as we were discussing much earlier, this is the first time Kelly + Masoli have a history to go by. The last time Kelly had a QB to work with at the start of the season who had starting experience, they were headed to a NC until Dixon got hurt. Here goes that "faith" thing again even though there is some history to go on. I'm going to take it slow even with Oregon.
And one more thing Ducks...
Who is the new AC that works under Alliotti now? I have a feeling that his impact was just as significant in this game as anything else that happened Saturday. I have never seen Oregon's defense play as well as it did, not even once, ever.
That was not a typical Alliotti defense on the field. The beat writers are singing praise and giving Alliotti helmet stickers, blah blah blah. That's OK. For posterity sake, let him become an icon in the Cassanova Center, have his portrait prominently placed up there with Dan Fouts, all of that. Let him be a figurehead for another 20 years. Let them even say the man is a genius to placate the old guard. I don't care.
Help me out here. Who is this new guy? (And what a hire!) I had a sneaking suspicion when I looked it up a month or so ago and guessed that Kelly may have somehow figured out a way to make it work with Alliotti, injecting the right kind of energy into the Duck defense -- something Bellotti could never do. Then I completely forgot about it. If this pans out to be true, this development is bigger news (in a NC sense) than Masoli finding his mojo again because that was expected. The Duck's excellent defensive play was the last thing I expected to see. Ludwig or no Ludwig, that was a masterful performance.
Who is the new AC that works under Alliotti now? I have a feeling that his impact was just as significant in this game as anything else that happened Saturday. I have never seen Oregon's defense play as well as it did, not even once, ever.
That was not a typical Alliotti defense on the field. The beat writers are singing praise and giving Alliotti helmet stickers, blah blah blah. That's OK. For posterity sake, let him become an icon in the Cassanova Center, have his portrait prominently placed up there with Dan Fouts, all of that. Let him be a figurehead for another 20 years. Let them even say the man is a genius to placate the old guard. I don't care.
Help me out here. Who is this new guy? (And what a hire!) I had a sneaking suspicion when I looked it up a month or so ago and guessed that Kelly may have somehow figured out a way to make it work with Alliotti, injecting the right kind of energy into the Duck defense -- something Bellotti could never do. Then I completely forgot about it. If this pans out to be true, this development is bigger news (in a NC sense) than Masoli finding his mojo again because that was expected. The Duck's excellent defensive play was the last thing I expected to see. Ludwig or no Ludwig, that was a masterful performance.
Hi name is Jerry Azzinaro. He is a TERRIFIC coach and a great hire by Kelly. People were pissed when Kelly fired the last DL coach because he was a duck. His problem was he liked to golf too much. This guy lives and breathes football. The players would run through a wall for him.
http://www.oregongridiron.com/azzinaro.html
They've also changed the scheme which is something I have been calling for for years more of a 3-4 and 3-3. Thanks to Kelly on that! I mentioned that this would be the best LB unit that Oreogn has ever had. So far that prediction is spot on. Just ask Jahvid Best what he thinks about that...
