I feel like I whiffed on Oregon 2009. I thought they were a sure thing. Maybe not “Pac-10 champions sure thing,” but absolutely a challenger. Now, it’s a different story. Oh, they might still be a top tier team, but they might just unravel into the bottom, too.
Don’t take this the wrong way. I didn’t jump from any bandwagons because of a tougher than expected win on Saturday, but I did have a bit of an epiphany.
This is a young team. And with youth comes unpredictability. The bright and shiny names added to the numerous preseason awards watch lists made it easy to avoid that fact. As I watched Purdue and Oregon put on a thriller of a game, I started to get confused. How could Oregon look so brilliant and so perplexing from one series to the next. There was no consistency either way. They weren’t constantly bad and they’re weren’t always great, but they were both. There’s really only one explanation for something like that – youth.
It might seem obvious. The make-over of both the offensive and defensive lines has been well-documented, but we all know how easy it is to underestimate the importance of positions that often go manned by those without household names.
You hear LeGarrette Blount, Jeremiah Masoli, Walter Thurmond III, and TJ Ward and you’re ready to gift wrap a 9-11 win season. But reality hits hard and the truth is, the inexperience of this team almost ensures that “elite” will have to wait. Whether it waits another two weeks or an entire season is left to be determined.
I’m not condemning Oregon to a losing season. I actually think that’s a hasty opinion and unlikely scenario considering the talent and consistency of this program in the last 15 years. I’m simply saying that the expectations that the Ducks could replace 7 of 9 starters on the two lines and look like a polished, veteran team was misguided.
The offense had exactly one player on the entire two deep against Purdue that is a senior. One. Out of 22 players. And in case you think there’s experience in those youngsters, only six of them came into this year with more than a full season worth of games played. That’s games played, not started. It should come as no surprise that the offense is struggling to find an efficient rhythm so early in the season.
The inexperience is stunning on offense and while there are more seniors starting on the defensive side of the ball, the story isn’t all that different. Four starters and six on the two deep are in their final year of eligibility. That makes for a total of seven seniors out of 44 players on the two deep.
I’m not trying to rationalize a rough start nor am I trying to set an excuse for a difficult season. All I’m trying to say is I was wrong. This isn’t the team I thought it was. Not yet, anyway.
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Its a tough thing to do getting experience on the fly. But when you compare this last game with the first one I would say the guys are doing a pretty good job of it. GO!!! DUCKS!!!
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Enjoyed the article. We all overestimated this team, at least initially. It will hopefully be very fun watching the team and coaching staff grow and become more consistent as the season progresses. While a BCS bowl is likely out of reach, I’m quite excited for the rest of the season.
jtlight
http://www.addictedtoquack.com
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Ducks took a major step forward on Saturday. At times the offensive flashes from last year were back. Yes, there were mistakes including a dropped “sure touchdown” pass but the Ducks dug deep and got the job done.
The counter to inexperience is for the veterans to step up. We saw a much improved Masoli against Purdue and if he continues to gain confidence that is a major factor. I think Masoli starts the season slowly and then builds.
Still, I think you are right that this is not a team likely to win the PAC-10. To a certain degree I think we all believed our own hype. I’m thinking 8-4 and a good bowl game would be a fine seaason.
Whatever they do – win or lose – these are our Ducks!!
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You are right, the offense is young. We have watched a huge learning curve from Boise State to Purdue. I am hopeful that it will continue at a quick pace because Cal is less than two weeks and there will be no forgiveness for mistakes.
Utah is in a similar situation as Oregon so it should make for a good game (good if you like hard fought close games). However, as with any game, Oregon holds the potential to score at will. “Potential” being the key word.
In the post game interview of Chip, it sounds like he has seen the problem with Masoli failing to check down through his progression and find the wide open Tight End, Dickson. I think Masoli was a little better about getting through his progression but he is still hesitating. The one pass to Paulson across the middle was open for quite a while before Masoli threw him the ball. Paulson ran about a 8 yard turnaround and stood in the open for a few seconds. I’m sure that Kelly has a pattern to the progression and that Paulson should have seen the ball shortly after turning around. The problem is that Masoli locks on to his first receiver, hoping for him to somehow get open, and he doesn’t proceed to his next receiver. I’m sure that Chip is making sure that Masoli continues to work on this.
I was happy to see Masoli run the ball a couple times on pass plays where no one was open, at least that he saw. Last week he tried to force some balls and threw away some instead of putting his head down and picking up some easy yardage since the flat was WIDE open.
In any case, it appears that the whole offense is getting better and they need to. The defense needs to improve also. It was kind of ironic that they scored 14 points to keep the Ducks in it but they also gave up 36 points. The defense needs consistancy and for Pete’s sake, someone teach the defense how to cover a receiver on 3 and long.
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Jamere Holland
Ed Dickson
Andre Crenshaw
3 Seniors on offense.
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Jamere Holland is only a junior. Andre Crenshaw was listed third on the depth chart for Purdue. I know he started, but let’s face it, that’s James and Barner’s show back there.
Here’s a link to the depth chart I used:
http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=3743320
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Inexperience is right! When you leave off Ward, who didn’t even play, that left 3 senior starters on defense and only 5 on the two deep.
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