First off, yeah, what you see in the post below is what happens when the FOTB leaves me alone for the weekend. She promises it won’t happen again.
Let’s move on, shall we?
I took last week off from the cool world of blogging and it’s probably a good thing. If I had managed to write something, it would have been about how much Oregon would clobber Purdue. I had bought all the way in. If the media’s interpretation of Oregon’s skill level last week was a time-share presentation, I’d have purchased every damn unit. I blame Purdue coach Joe Tiller as much as anybody. He spent the whole week telling me that the Ducks were faster than Team Jamaica. Oregon was the nation’s number one offense. The defense was impenetrable. Blah, blah, blah…I bought every last word of it, mostly because I’m a fan incapable of thinking logically.
The truth of Oregon’s situation is that while it’s not without fault, it can still expect to beat 11 of the 12 teams it plays (and it shouldn’t roll over for USC just because Ohio State did – that’s just what being a Buckeye is all about). Beating Purdue in the fashion it did is actually more impressive than it looks on the surface if you subscribe to the idea that winning is all that matters, which I usually do (at least when it fits the argument I need to make at any given moment). They played poorly with way too many mistakes and still pulled out a win on the road against a Big 10 team. Duck teams in the past have lost games like that in spectacular fashion including a home blowout to Washington State and the debacle that was Indiana. The game gives me a reason to believe the Rose Bowl is a possibility even if I know, deep down, that some twisted piece of fate will prevent that from ever happening. After all, there are only five quarterbacks on the roster and we’re scheduled to run out of them in week seven.
When Boise State rolls into town this week, I won’t make the same mistake of assuming a blowout. As much as everyone seemed to want Jeremiah Masoli and Chris Harper at quarterback, it’s going to be a step back from Justin Roper. Neither are as advanced and both will take some time to figure out what they’re doing out there. I think the defense can carry the load while the newbies get broken in. Boise State will be starting a redshirt freshman making his first ever road start. In Autzen Stadium. Somebody get him a towel to clean up that dribble running down his leg.
I’m playing it safe this week and keeping the expectations low. The offense probably won’t be the machine we all know and love, but the defense will be stout.
PreNicktion: Oregon 24, Boise State 14
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Nick–
I enjoy your blog and your perspective on expectations. I vividly remember a Saturday many years ago, the post tailgate crowd was milling about after the Ducks had just stuffed USC for the first time in years behind a great day by Bill Musgrave, and around the parking lot you could hear the word “Rose Bowl” in many conversations. Musgrave would up getting hurt and we finished that year 6-6, and even that was cause for hope. Duck fans have always struggled with expectations. We always want the best and fear the worst, want to think of our team as an elite program and bury our head in our hands after debacles like 0-4 collapses and hideously freakish runs of key injuries and derailed expectations. Being a Duck fan is an endless roller coaster ride with some great rushing moments like “Kenny Wheaton’s gonna score” and then despairing agonies like “Dennis is down” and “they’re coming out in the Mountain Dew helmets.” On the eve of a game like this one we’re all full of anticipation and expectation, and a secret back-of-the-mind fear there’ll be another terrible day like Indiana in ’05 or BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl. The Ducks are a box of chocolates, and we’re Forrest Gump. But we know what love is. We live it every Saturday of the fall.
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I think the ducks are goin to do better than you think [54-17].
but Im not calling this a cupcake game. Boise is going home feeling like they realy did great against the pac-10 monster ducks. go them ducks!!!!!
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Thanks for the comment. That’s a pretty good description of what being a Duck fan is all about. It’s the most difficult type of team to follow. Always capable of greatness, always finding a way to break your heart.
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