I'm glad we are on Thursday night this week, a full two weeks without my Ducks and I just don't know if I would have made it. It is now getting real, the first BCS standings came out and as predicted an SEC team has hopped over the Ducks to take the coveted #2 spot. No worries, the SEC is like Duncan McCloud, there can be only one! In this case only one = undefeated SEC teams at the end of the year. I think Florida will lose this week to S Carolina. But that's just me.
AZ ST comes in with a 5-1 record, their only loss was a close one to Mizzou. Their defense has been stingy and they've scored 37+ in four of their games. Most impressive win was probably over a Utah team, 37-7 is a much better performance than USC (38-28). I don't like playing the common opponent card but it is fun for people to speculate so there you have it.
This is a good prime time game for the Ducks to shine, maybe even light up a solid team just to spite those pollsters. It is a shame but you almost wish Chip wouldn't take the pedal off when playing teams like Washington. Living down here in the south I hear "oh, LSU beat Wash 41-3, they scored 21 on your puny D." The headline from the LSU game - "LSU piles up 242 rushing yards...." (insert gawdy announcer voice and thunder sound here) Meanwhile, the Ducks ran for 299 and threw for more yards. Again with the common opponent. It is an SEC go to move.
What do we need - A win. Preferably another big win. K State is only .003 behind us, and Notre Dame is behind them. A little slip against an unranked team will hurt the Ducks more than a Notre Dame, you know people are chomping at the bit to allow them into a title game.
What would I like to see? Here we go...
1 - I want to see the offense hitting on all cylinders, early and consistent. Hard to believe that I'm griping about consistency on an offense that is putting up over 50 per game. But there you have it. Part of me hopes that Chip has just been testing some new things, I've really missed the jet sweep, and the back to back to back read options.
2 - I would like to see a game where Marcus Mari-O-tah breaks out. It's a prime time game with no other college ball on. His running has been solid, he's made good decisions to extend plays for the most part. But what about keeping a read option and taking it about 70 yards? That's what I want to see.
3 - I don't know who you take "touches" from, but I'd love to see DAT and Colt both with more than they have been getting. 5-7 for Colt and 15+ for DAT. I think Chip needs to find away to run about 150 plays a game to satisfy my desire to see each one of our superstars with the ball 10 times a game. :)
4 - D-fense! I love our defense. What more could we ask from them? Solid run D? Solid pass D? Big plays? Points on the board? Shut down on 3rd down? Check, check, check, check aaaand check! Looking good. They are playing well at all levels, I look for that to continue. A shut out would be nice. :)
5 - Nah, scratch that. No 5. I've been asking for a break out WR all season, I just don't know that it is going to happen at this point. Mariotah seems content to get everyone involved, and to the credit of that TEAM of WR's they are all delivering. Sure we've had a few drops here and there, but the WR's are playing solid. So I think I'll stick with four "wants" this week and not bug the WR's.
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