Week 6 - The Recap

Admittedly I was worried about this game, 8 in a row over a team in the PAC 12 is pretty solid. You have to figure at some point a team will play better than expected, or a Duck team will show up flat. Not last night, the Ducks easily made it 9 in a row. I talk a lot about being a spoiled Duck fan, at 7 minutes into the 1st QTR the game is tight, WA has a turnover and forced us to punt. Just 6 minutes later we're up by 21.

Let's start with the defense, still shutting down the opposing teams and now making the big plays we need to make. Washington ran 78 plays and totaled 353 yards. I thought the D actually let up just a tad in the 2nd half, the Husky's ended with about 4.5 yards a carry, that number was lower at halftime. I like where the D is playing. Great stuff, as young as they are they still seem to get a bit better every time. I really think that D line can continue to grow and become a dominant force.

I still haven't seen Marcus get tested. This may be the biggest question mark of the season. He's thrown some picks and made some bad decisions here and there, always bouncing back brilliantly. I have this underlying fear that it will be USC who plays a tight game with us the whole way, maybe we're down at times, they've hit Marcus on a number of occasions. I mean really rattled him, maybe even dinged him up. Will he remain as cool as he has seemed all year? I believe he will but I need to see it.

I thought the receivers had a solid game, I remember a drop very early that would have resulted in a 1st down. Nice to see Marcus lean on his TE's a little. Colt had 3 receptions, 2 for TD's. I also loved the long pass to Colt. One thing missing this year is the deep ball. Missing that play action pass that resulted in Paulson, or Maehl, or Tuinie streaking down the field 30+ yards. We will need that play in the stretch to come.

Can I gripe for a second? I know we have a ton of talent and we just won the game by 30+. Mission accomplished. But I really don't like that we only see DAT with the ball 11 times. To me what is more troubling than 11 touches is the fact that we aren't getting him into space. I'm not saying never run him up the middle, that RoseBowl record run was a straight up the middle play. Where is that "jet" sweep where he lines up as a wide out and motions across the formation getting up to speed before the ball is even snapped? Can I see that a time or two?

Gripe over, we're exactly half way through the regular season, we're ranked #2 in the country, we're 6-0 and despite losing Carson York and John Boyett we seem to not be lacking leadership on the team. Those 2 guys, my heart goes out to them. GREAT players and GREAT people. I've said this before but Boyett has been one of my favorites all time at Oregon, I really enjoy his style of play, his attitude and his work ethic. York is an O lineman so they don't always get the love but again, great attitude and fantastic work ethic.

Quickly to wrap up, Kenjon had another just solid effort. Byron Marshall seems to get better every time we see him. Funny to me that Byron was a top recruit in the country but doesn't seem to get attention because 2013 recruit Tyner is tearing the record books to shreds in his senior year. That may be the best 1-2 punch we've ever had. AND, Marcus still has 3 years left. Future looks bright.

Here's to a week off and a road game to AZ ST!


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