First Week Impressions

After the first weekend of football in the Pac 12, one thing is clear:  it's Oregon and USC, then everybody else.  I'm not even wasting my time pretending to make a case for everybody else, but here's where I rank 'em:

1. Oregon
2. USC
3. Utah
4. UCLA
5. Arizona State
6. Stanford
7. Washington 
8. Arizona
9. Cal
10. Oregon State
11. Washington State
12. Colorado

I know Cal lost and Oregon state has yet to play, but c'mon, Cal is better (at least on paper).  Beavers will be 0-1 after this week.  And if I'm Washington, I'd be very concerned if my team had played a rebuilding MWC program with a demonstrated to be crap QB (Katz), and performed as poorly as you did at home. Oregon is gonna smoke you again this year, like they have for the last 8.

Forget The ESPYs, These Are The Duckies

DUCKIES

Clearly ESPN is biased towards the Ducks.  If you wasted your time by watching the ESPYs last night, you would've noticed that.  But forget those, here are the REAL winners: 

• BREAKTHROUGH ATH. OF THE YEAR: DeAnthony Thomas

DeAnthony Thomas' breakthrough game had to of been the Rose Bowl.

 DeAnthony Thomas aka "The Black Mamba."  In just his freshman year, DeAnthony Thomas was a freshman All-American, ranked 11th nationally in all-purpose yards, and was the only player in the nation with at least 400 yards receiving, rushing, and kick returning.

• RECORD BREAKING PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR: LMJ vs. UCLA

LaMichael James set the Pac 12 championship game standard with 219 yards and 3 touchdowns on 25 carries against UCLA.

• BIGGEST UPSET: USC beating Oregon

I'm going the other way with this and saying USC.  In a game the Ducks had to have to keep their national championship hopes alive, they came out sluggish, and #18 USC (double digit underdogs) made them pay.  They had a 24-7 lead at one point in the third quarter.  Oregon finally showed that they were better than that, and came back, but a missed fg at the end cost them, and ended their hopes of playing for a national championship.

• GAME OF THE YEAR: Rose Bowl

In one of college football's games of the year, the Ducks FINALLY got that BCS monkey off their back, and ended their Rose Bowl drought with a 45-38 win over Wisconsin.

• BEST MOMENT: Winning The Rose Bowl 

The moment the clock hit zero.

• COACH OF THE YEAR: Chip Kelly

Coached the team to a third straight conference championship and won a Rose Bowl!  Need I say more?

• BEST COMEBACK: vs. #18ASU 10/15/11

It was kind of hard to find a good comeback win because, Oregon hasn't had to come from behind in many of its games.  So I went with this.  The #9 Ducks trailed throughout much of the first half, but they woke up in the second half and took the lead for good in the third quarter, on a 3 yard TD run by DeAnthony Thomas.  The Ducks would go on to win 41-27, in front of an Autzen stadium crowd of 60,0055.

LaMichael James

• PLAYER OF THE YEAR: LaMichael James

He set numerous records this year, including: most consecutive games at Oregon with over 100+ yards rushing, and 200+ yards rushing, he became Oregon's all-time leader in rushing yards and climbed up to #2 on the list in Pac 12 history, oh and he led the nation in rushing yards per game.  Pretty shabby.  
 

Pac 12 Coach Rankings: Where Does Chip Come In?

Picked this article up today out of SportingNews, which ranks the top coaches in the Pac 12, and coming in at #1 is Chip Kelly.  Can't say I disagree...the numbers speak for itself. 


As for the rest of the list I don't really care:

2. Mike Leach (WSU)
3. Lane Kiffin (SC)
4. Kyle Whittingham (Utah)
5. Sark (UDumb)
6. David Shaw (Stanford)
7. Rich Rod (Arizona)
8. Mike Riley (OAC)
9. Jeff Tedford (Cal)
10. Jim Mora (UCLA)
11. Todd Graham (ASU)
12. Jon Embree (Colorado)


The new comers (Leach, Rich Rod, Mora, Graham) come in at 2, 7, 10, and 11 respectively.  Which brings up my only question about the rest of the rankings...why is Leach at #2, when he hasn't even coached a game in the conference yet?  In fact the other new comers should be left off the list.  At least if you're making a list of the best coaches based on what they've already done in the conference, not what they MAY do.


Just my opinion.

 

My Biased Predictions For Next Season

It's never too early to make predictions for next season is it?  College football fever has hit me, so why not?  Spring games are in full effect everywhere across the country, and ESPNU as well as CBS CS are airing replays of games from last year.


My predictions might be a little biased; I think the Ducks could run the table.  They certainly have the talent to do it, but chances are they probably won't. 


Here's a look at each game, followed by my thoughts: (Home games in yellow)

• SAT. SEP. 01 Arkansas State:  First ever meeting against this team from the Sun Belt conference, who bring with them two former Auburn Tigers in Michael Dyer, and head coach (previously the O.C. at AUB) Gus Malzahn.  For Oregon this means a chance at payback against those two.  Ok so maybe the fans are thinking about that more, but Ducks roll.  Plenty of players getting playing time and experience. (W)

• SAT. SEP 08 Fresno State: Don't know much about Fresno State and what they have coming back, but I do they're going through a transition after firing Pat Hill.  New coach means new system players having to get used to.  Ducks win easily anyway.  (W)
• SAT. SEP. 15 Tennessee Tech:  Another first ever meeting for Oregon against a team I know nothing about, but know they don't stand a chance.  Another great opportunity for players to get experience.  (W)
• SAT. SEP. 22 Arizona:  Arizona has a new coach in Rich Rodriguez, who'll probably bring in his potent spread offense, but it's still the same Arizona team that Oregon has been kicking around for a while now.  Nothing new here, Ducks win.  (W)
• SAT SEP. 29 Washington State:  Another team with a new coach.  Mike Leach could be scary up in the Palouse, but not this year.  Ducks will win their sixth straight in the series.
• SAT. OCT. 6 Washington:  the poodles could be a solid team next year, but no where near the level of Oregon yet.  They have some questions to answer though...like who's gonna replace Polk at RB?  And what about the defense?  If they don't see an improvement off of last year's team, don't expect them to be any different.  They're gonna get clobbered by the upper echelon teams, such as Oregon, who will win their 9th straight in the series. (W)
• THURSDAY OCT. 18 ASU:  The Ducks annual Thursday game against another team breaking in a new coach.  The Ducks have won 7 in a row in the series, soon to be 8.  (W)
• SAT. OCT. 27 COLORADO:  Did you see how bad Colorado was last year?  Now they come into Autzen for the first time since losing 32-30 in 1986.  This one won't be that close.  (W)
• SAT. NOV. 01 USC:  Here we go, Oregon's first challenge.  The game that could determine who has home field for the Pac 12 championship.  Ducks won on their last trip to LA, 53-32, but this one will probably be closer.  I hate predicting a loss for the Ducks but if it's gonna happen, it's probably gonna be here.  For now, I'll give it one of these (?)
• SAT. NOV. 10 CAL:  Oregon has won three straight against Cal, but the last visit to Berkely was a tough one.  Oregon was fortunate to squeak out a 15-13 win.  Cal is one of those teams that wins the recruiting wars, but never lives up to their preseason hype.  Could they give Oregon a game?  Sure.  Given the fact it's in Berkely also helps.  But Oregon still wins. (W)
• SAT. NOV. 17 STANFORD:  The Ducks return home to face the cardinal, who have gotten blasted by the Ducks the last two times.  Losing Luck is a HUGE loss to overcome.  Ducks chop the tree's down again.  (W)
• SAT. NOV. 24 CIVIL WAR:  That brings us to our showdown with Oregon State, which has become more of an annual beatdown.  The gap between the Ducks and the Beavers hasn't been this wide in a long time.  The difference in talent and depth is amazing, which is why Oregon will roll, winning their fifth straight over the barkrats.

So looking at that I see 11 winnable games, with the only real threat being SC.  Whatever happens, the Ducks are almost certain to have another 10+ win season, and be playing in a January bowl game.