• It’s an Oregon Duck power ballad by Sebastian Bach and it is absolutely awesome. Now, leave it to the WOTB to post the video on Facebook and write “Sebastian Bach (formally of Gilmore Girls fame).” Really. Draw your own conclusions. You could actually put together a pretty decent concert just on Oregon-related music. Let Bach headline the thing with On the Rocks and Supwitchugirl warming up the crowd. Book it at Matt Court. They will come.
• The Natty is becoming one of the biggest events in the history of the whole world. Normally, that’s just the typical hyperbole you’ve come to expect of this blog, but if StubHub is any indication, it’s at least kinda’ true. After all, it is tracking as the site’s top-selling game of all time and is bigger than the Super Bowl. Not only that, but it’s so big that StubHub had to stop selling tickets due to a shortfall on supply already sold.
• Iiiiinteresting. The Pac-10 is getting $25 million from Fox for its title game and other inventory considerations. This gives Fox a big time doubleheader paired with the Big 10 and leaves ESPN a little light on championship Saturday. Only the ACC game will be played on the worldwide leader. Nice to see a little competition on the market.
• Joe Giansante, I can’t even hate. Dropping Jerry Allen into the pool while he’s working seems rude, but might actually be totally awesome. I haven’t decided.
• Come on, Ken Goe. Now is not the time to complain about your access to practice. Seriously, who’s side do you think the fans are going to take? You might get a nodding approval from a few writers, but that’s it. A for effort, though.
• Auburn and Oregon players are taking opposite approaches leading up to the game. The Tigers are playing it loose while the Ducks are more business-like. No judging, here, but if I were to have an opinion, perhaps I’d say Auburn is going to get out of the game what they put into it their preparation.
• It’s SEC vs. Pac-10 and it’s about time. The two conferences haven’t faced off in a bowl game since 1989 which has obviously padded the SEC’s overall record.
• Nick Aliotti held court yesterday and won the day as far as interviews are concerned. I think he’s about done answering the same questions over and over and over again.
• The Ducks picked up a commitment from one of the nation’s best wide receivers, Devon Blackmon. It’s a good thing, but someone needs to let the kid know it’s UO, not OU.
• Not only was the playing surface for Monday’s game grown in Oregon, it was done so by Beaver fans. Insert your sabotage jokes here.

News is slowing down before the big week, so just a few links. Be sure to win the year today and say goodbye to twenty ten.

• Sooo…Washington won last night. The losing season streak is over. Sorry Oregon State, your record of 28 in a row will not be broken by the Huskies. A 7-6 season from UW is of no interest to Duck fans, though. Not with six consecutive wins in the series, all by more than 20. Remember, all that woofing they’re doing is just a puppy learning how to bark.
• LaMichael James announcement that he’s coming back in 2011 surprised me. You just don’t see players pass up the money. There will be some offensive holes to fill, but Darron Thomas and LaMichael James should make it easier for everyone.
• Is this t-shirt real? If so, society loses. Spell check, then print.
• Unfortunately, Mac Court is going out with some bad basketball. Maybe that’s for the best, though. If no one can remember what it’s really like, it won’t be missed.
• Got to agree with Nick Aliotti, we could really use a football game about now. 35 days is loooooooong.

• OTP was asked to defend LaMichael James in his Heisman candidacy for Norman Einstein’s Sports & Rocket Science Monthly. It’s tough going when you’re up against the sensation that is Cameron Newton, but I like to think it worked. And yes, I am giving myself the top link.
• Okay, here’s the deal ya’ll. If you’re not votin’ for the Duck, you’re being a bad fan. Get out there and vote! Do it over and over and over again until Old Dominion is beaten into submission and admits it doesn’t have the chops to hang with the best mascot the world has ever known. Oh, and here’s how that pesky school from somewhere else in America (I don’t know where) is improving its vote quantity. Fight fire with fire, people.
• Believe it or not, this is the second time I’ve had a link to PopSugar.com. But hey, Reese Witherspoon loves her Ducks, and it’s gotta’ be shared. H/T to the WOTB, of course.
• Chip Kelly ’bout to get paid son (OTP is so freakin’ hip, I don’t even know how to stop it). USA Today says Kelly stands to lock in $4.3 million in bonuses and contract guarantees with one simple win in the Civil War. Win the day, win 2015-16.
• The thought of the NCAA trying to regulate the ever-changing landscape of how we communicate is laughable. But most of what they do seems like comedy in slow motion anyway.
• We interrupt Civil War week to tell you Oregon baseball landed another stellar recruiting class. Sounds like getting better athletes on campus is contagious across all sports.
• Nick Aliotti has four things his defense must do to stop Oregon State. Well, crap, there goes the element of surprise.
• Oh, there goes OSU again, not benefiting from Nike. I assume they will burn the dollars reaped from the sales related to Saturday’s Giant Killers motif.
• What if Oregon and Auburn both lose? I can entertain half of that question, but to imagine the Ducks losing this Civil War is just poppycock. Poppycock, I tell you!
• Everyone seems to be digging for that, “well, it happened this one time, so it could happen again” story. Listen, Oregon’s not losing, okay? Understand? Good.
• Here’s a fascinating study where researchers used cadaver legs to test the impact of turf vs. natural grass on knee injuries. Cadaver legs, knee injuries…oh, there’s a Greg Oden joke in there somewhere, but I’m not feeling up to it.
• I love being on Oregon State’s mailing list. I get to find out about auctions where I can bid on an authentic game ball used during the Beavers 36-7 win over #20 USC…which was historic…and important…right? Time’s running out!
• Congratulations, you drunken crazy people incapable of holding it together for a football game. You have set an Autzen Stadium record for ejections.

Key ingredient? Oregon offense. No, it's true.

Someone’s always good for a quote whether it’s Chip, Nacho or someone else. In this case, coach Kelly let everyone know Oregon’s offense isn’t for you to understand. “It’s like the secret to Coke,” he said. We’re not telling anyone.” On to the links.

• First off, loved the Register-Guard coverage of the game. Top notch, gents. Click the link to get a list of their stories. The Oregonian’s coverage can be found here. I’m sure it was also good, but I went through so much stuff I forgot how to read by the time I got there. It was a big day of national coverage, so let’s do the rounds.
• Pete Thamel of The New York Times was on hand and says Oregon is a step ahead of everyone else.
• Sports Illustrated was on hand. Andy Staples made note that Oregon beat yet another faceless opponent. Stewart Mandel makes note that Oregon’s defense is underrated, but isn’t sure defense is what’s going to win a championship this year.
• ESPN had triple team coverage of the game. Ivan Maisel compares Oregon to a travelling Broadway play. He also gets Nick Aliotti to admit beating USC was a big deal. Control your coaches Chip! Bruce Feldman says the Ducks are like that imminent Mike Tyson knockout punch from the boxer’s heyday. Every Pac-10 fan’s favorite Ted Miller notes Oregon is more than a two-person team. There’s gotta’ be at least, like, three guys out there.
• More superlatives here from Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports. And from Michelle Smith of AOL Fanhouse.
• It’s not all sunshine from the national reporters. Matt Hayes of the Sporting News lazily claims we know nothing about this Oregon team and that this is still the same team that lost to Boise last year. Yack!
• Dr. Saturday notes Oregon puts in another day at the office. Ho hum.
• And rounding out the national perspective, Dennis Dodd at CBSSports.com tries to nitpick, but it’s a fruitless effort.
• From the same writer that brought you the infamous Jurrell Casey quote, this story states that whatever mystique the Coliseum had, it’s gone.
• One more story from LA media perspective, this one chock full of USC quotes including Matt Barkley stating, “They’re flawless.”

Enough of that USC game. We finish on a couple non game-related links:

• With eight games down, talk is going to increase about where Oregon’s offense fits historically. It’s already being discussed. The Ducks are just 1.1 points per game off an NCAA record that has stood since 1944. With 65 against Washington, the Ducks are right on pace.
• Recognize this? If you don’t, it’s LeGarrette Blount hurdling a defender Sunday on a run that sent him over 100 yards for the day in Tampa Bay’s win.

This blog will…

• …Never again question the enlightened wisdom of San Jose Mercury News columnist Jon Wilner. He may be a traffic-baiting, uh, (insert word for prostitute), but he was dead on regarding Stanford vs. Oregon. I refuted all ten of his points on why Stanford would win and in hindsight, he went 8 for 10. Even his silly mention of the 2001 disaster seemed spot on given that the score of that game was 49-42. This year? 51-42. My sincere apologies go out to Mr. Wilner, a man whose last name is now synonymous with a curse word in my circle.
• …Stop caring about Iowa, TCU, Cincinnati, Boise State, Florida, Alabama and Texas. Cheered like hell for Louisiana Tech Friday night. Was ecstatic when Northwestern beat Iowa. Then found out I just wasted a week worrying about irrelevant teams. Not so interested in the national picture anymore. Also not all that into writing complete sentences.
• …Call all voters who place USC ahead of Oregon hypocrites. Many voters explained to The Oregonian’s John Hunt last week that they could never put Oregon ahead of Boise State because of the head-to-head result. Now, I’ll wonder about their logic when the Trojans jump Oregon in the polls on Sunday.
• …Completely focus on the Rose Bowl. Never should have thought about anything but it. The Pac-10 is a lot more wide open now and we’ll get into that soon enough. Oregon still has some serious advantages, but for now, the important take-away is that the Ducks and Arizona both control their own destiny. The rest need help. With three games to go, you can’t ask for much better.
• …Wonder how Jeremiah Masoli ended up with at least 500 relatives. I need to eat a lot more if I want to get into that clan.
• …Not explicitly blame Nick Aliotti, but it won’t necessarily trust him either. My final conclusion on the defense is that Stanford did a hell of a job executing a game plan that was tough to defend. Oregon’s lack of size hurt as did its depleted numbers in the secondary. The Cardinal was well-balanced and the Ducks were both confused and outworked.
• …Avoid Bay Area trips no matter how much fun they are. Last year, the blog got caught in a Berkeley monsoon and lost. This year, it got sucked into Stanford”s beautiful campus and stadium only to get ambushed upon kickoff. There’s something wrong in this region. Must. Not. Come. Back.
• …Not give up on this team at all. Take Chip Kelly’s advice and allow yourself 24 hours to dwell on Saturday and then get over it. We’ve all been watching a damn good football team this season and if you think they’re done, well, exit now. This is a Rose Bowl-caliber team and it’s just three games away from getting there.

Given that coach Eddie Cochems, known as the “father of the forward pass,”  had Brad Robinson attempt the first legal forward pass in 1906, one might expect Oregon to have had a better grasp on the concept in the first three quarters of last September’s ill-fated game.

Brad Robinson attempted the first legal pass, then watched in horror as Oregon went all 1905 and ran the ball over and over again.

Yet, there they were, attempting a total of seven passes in the first three quarters of play. In that same span, they ran the ball 51 times (if my attempt to read the drive charts at ESPN is correct). Let’s see a 51 to 7 run/pass ratio…yeah, that probably shouldn’t work. And if you think it’s all because Boise landed a cheap knock-out blow to Jeremiah Masoli (see, I told you I could do this all week), consider that the lone touchdown drive of the first half for Oregon consisted of 13 running plays and one pass (the pass, consequently, being the one where Ellis Powers flagrantly…well, you get the idea).

The score in this time frame was 37-13, Boise.

At the start of the 4th quarter, Eddie Cochems started calling plays with Darron Thomas under center and the passing bonanza (25 passes, 3 rushes) yielded a 19-0 4th quarter rout of the Broncos.

Operating under the assumption that Boise will employ the late hit play at least twice (man, I can’t stop!), Oregon should still prevail because it has the luxury of four throwing quarterbacks on scholarship. Therefore, we can conclude that Oregon will easily win this game.

Of course, there is no evidence that Oregon’s defense has learned how to stop the play-action pass, but I’ll leave that to Nick Aliotti.

Note: Forward pass info is according to Wikipedia, which in academic circles is thought of as the ultimate truthful resource for knowledge.