Saturday is Utah v. Oregon. You remember these teams, right? Last year’s #2 and #9 ranked squads? September 19th was supposed to be something of a titanic clash between two teams that have risen from college football’s scrap pile over the last 15 years. But in just two weeks, a couple of confident fanbases have become a sad sight of uncertainty.

We’ve seen Oregon twice and the results make us nervous. Utah stumbled their way into less-than-spectacular wins over Utah State and San Jose State leaving Ute Nation (is it nation? Do you guys consider yourself a nation?) slightly unimpressed with themselves.

The unnerving events of weeks one and two have dropped expectations for both sides and we’re just trying to grasp what it all means. We’re even saying the same things (from Utah fan site blocku.com):

There was just too much turnover on the offensive side of the ball to justify extremely high expectations. But I’m not sure we expected it to be this bad. Yes, they’re undefeated and hold the nation’s longest winning streak, but it feels like the other shoe is about to drop on the season.

Okay, the whole winning streak/undefeated thing doesn’t apply to Oregon, but don’t you kind of feel the same way?

Still, the results of Saturday are going to leave one group feeling a lot better. The other? Nothing short of Tony Robbins could rehab the collective psyche of the losing fan base.

It’s amazing how quickly moods can change. All it took was two weeks to unravel a mountainous level of confidence. Back and forth trash talk between schools is at an absolute minimum. Boise State, this is not. We’re all so worried about our own problems, who has the time to point out the faults of others?

Sure, Utah is bumbling around (5 turnovers in two games) shooting themselves in the foot, but so is Oregon. And if we try to point out that the Utes struggled with San Jose State, it’s not like the Ducks won anyone over with a two point home win over Purdue. Go ahead and highlight a key injury (RB Matt Asiata) to last year’s Sugar Bowl champions and they’ll point right back at TJ Ward.

Point is, we have two teams that need to prove something to themselves and to their fans. Only one is going to leave Saturday feeling a little more self-assured. The other, well, only Tony Robbins can unleash the power within.

I meant to do this last week, but I must have got knocked cold by a LeGarrette Blount right cross because my memory on Friday went bad and I forgot. Better late than never. I’m expecting 100% accuracy this season.

Stanford @ Wake Forest
I admit, I have a thing for Jim Harbaugh. He speaks his mind. He’s not one of those coaches that just sits there and spews talking points. So when he said the following in a post by Ted Miller, I smiled.

“If you’re playing a team from the opposite coast, let’s see if we can screw them on the time of kickoff,” he said. “If it’s a West Coast team playing on the East Coast, you play as early as possible and if it’s an East Coast team playing on the West Coast, you play as late as possible.”

He’s right, of course, and the smart pick is Wake Forest so that’s what I’m going with despite a strong inclination that the Cardinal might pull this one off.

The Pick: Wake Forest

Idaho @ Washington
You might ask why I’m smiling so much. My response would be (1) it’s kind of creepy that you know I’m smiling and (2) there is at least a possibility that Washington loses this game and sets a Pac-10 record for most consecutive losses. Is it going to happen? No, but it could and you have to have been pretty damn terrible to surpass a record that Oregon State set twice during 28 years of ineptitude.

The Pick: Washington (Congratulations! You’re all winners!)

UCLA @ Tennessee
Unfortunately for the Pac-10 this year, most of its key non-conference games are being played on the road. It could be a good conference with a bad draw. That’s how it goes. Slick Rick is still working on officially ending the dynasty in L.A. and hasn’t had time to figure out how to pull a win out at Rocky Top. This one could be ugly.

The Pick: Tennessee

E. Washington @ California
Now here’s a game you would find in the SEC. Top ten team meets Div. I FCS school. It’s one of those picks where I should have a handicap. I should have to guess the number of times Andy Ludwig calls for a screen pass on third and long to get any points for this pick. Actually, we already know the answer to that (hint: every damn time).

The Pick: California

Hawaii @ Washington State
Great, the Cougs buy out of next season’s game against Hawaii the very week they have to play the (Rainbow) Warriors. Why do you do anything that could remotely effect the attitude of the team you are playing, especially when it’s one of two games on the entire schedule you have any chance of winning? Bah, the Cougs can still handle this and get the Pac-10 above .500 against the WAC.

The Pick: Washington State

USC @ Ohio State
Last year, this was a no-brainer. This season, it still is but with just a hint of intrigue. After all, it’s in Columbus and features Terrelle (I really want to visit Oregon…no, seriously, I’m going to visit…just wait a little longer…I need to make this recruiting thing last a few more months…Surprise, I’m going to Ohio State) Pryor who should make it difficult for USC’s defense. Still, come on, it’s Ohio State in a game against a good team. Easy pick.

The Pick: USC

N. Arizona @ Arizona
They seem to play this game every year. Or maybe they alternate it with ASU. I don’t know. I don’t really care and I’m kind of annoyed I have to spend any time debating who will win this game. So I won’t.

The Pick: Arizona

Purdue @ Oregon
Either Oregon is in complete disarray and is about to slide into the worst season in program history or it’s completely fine. We’ll know more Saturday. The bet here, and it’s because I’m a total homer, is that Oregon will prove in a big way that they have a lot left to say about this season.

The Pick: Oregon

Oregon State @ UNLV
Fortunately, if things do go sour quickly for Oregon, we can always flip it over to this game instead and watch the Beavers execute their annual big early loss on the road (someone be sure to tell my Beaver family I’m kidding. I need money for my wedding next year).

The Pick: Oregon State

I’ve spent so little (as in zero) time this week on the actual matter of Purdue vs. Oregon. There’s a reason for that. For the Ducks, Saturday isn’t really about Purdue or any other team. It’s about redemption. It’s about proving that those who held them in high esteem to begin the season were correct (come on, Oregon, I have a reputation to uphold here).

The opponent is inconsequential, but seeing as how the Boilermakers will still be playing at Autzen, it does make sense that I give it this one post to think it through.

I’m a bit light in my Purdue knowledge. They have essentially started all over after the retirement of Joe Tiller. Things will be different under new coach Danny Hope. Want proof? How about the Boilermakers 315 yards rushing in the opener against Toledo? 234 of them belonged to Ralph Bolden, a sophomore. In total, Purdue rushed the ball 39 times against 28 passes. It’s not that they’ve never won a game by rushing the football, but 50 passing attempts in a game was not uncommon under former coach Tiller. I would imagine 315 yards rushing was pretty much unheard of.

It would seem this is a team that’s going to rely on the ground game. First year senior quarterback Joey Elliot just about equaled his career numbers in one game, which isn’t saying much. He tossed three interceptions to go along with his three touchdowns. If you’re starting a senior that’s never really played before, it’s usually a good sign that quarterback isn’t going to be your strength.

FOTB likes this combo.

On defense, if one game is any indication, Purdue looks soft. They gave up 423 yards passing against Toledo. While Oregon looked anemic attempting to transfer the ball from one player to another via the air, you have to think there are going to be some serious opportunities for the passing game. This may be just what Jeremiah Masoli needs to get his touch back.

Admittedly, I haven’t done enough homework on Purdue and making a prediction on this game is like trying to show up and pass the final without taking the class. But it doesn’t really matter. This game is completely about Oregon. They are a better team with better players and are at home. If the Ducks play like we expect, it shouldn’t be close.

Week 2 Predictions

• PreNicktion: Oregon 42, Purdue 21

• FOTB Prediction: Black helmets, green jersey, black pants, black shoes. She says they haven’t earned the carbon helmet yet. You can simulate this combination here.

I’m not missing an opportunity to rag on the Pac-10 for their TV deal this season. I don’t want  new Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott to think for one second that the current deal they have in place is anything short of an abomination.

Well, here we are in week 2 and we have our first crisis across the airwaves.  The Oregon-Purdue game, which has been scheduled months in advance, all of a sudden has a conflict with Seattle Mariners baseball in the Pacific Northwest. That’s right, Oregon. Your TV is showing a baseball game in a stadium that’s 282 miles from the location of Saturday night’s contest. The Fox Sports Net contract strikes again. We’ve been told how lucky we are to have a valuable “national” partner in FSN, yet the game isn’t even available in the state it’s being played in.

Sure, they’ll join the game in progress and there is some deal worked out with Comcast to deliver the game to as many people as possible in its entirety. And hey, if you have the FSN package, you can flip to a different affiliate that is playing the game. Sounds great! Bet SEC and Big 10 fans don’t have to work that hard to see a game that is supposed to be nationally televised.

Where’s Mike Riley when you need him? I’m thinking we all need a little “Hip, hip, hooray!”  in our lives today. Football season is supposed to be fun; instead, it feels like a chore, something you have to get through. I’m starting over and re-seeing the team as I did before.

Stuart Smalley in a self-help seminar broadcast to all of Oregon, "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!"

Saturday, Oregon takes the field at home for the first time this season. It’s a chance for rebirth, a chance to forget whatever you thought you saw in Boise. It wasn’t real, it didn’t happen, it’s removed from memory. You might notice the fancy ranking and disorienting hype are missing, but it’s only temporary while the Ducks spend a few weeks reminding us all why we believed in the first place.

Oregon will win Saturday and they’ll do it in a way that convinces you there’s still a dangerous team lurking, ready to seize the opportunity in front of them.

We can leave the whys and the hows for later. Right now, we all need a shot of confidence, some positive affirmation. After all, this is still a team that finished number nine a year ago, piloted by the same talented quarterback with playmakers all over the field. Flawed? Sure. Problems? Without a doubt, but I can’t see them. Not today, anyway.

LeGarrette Blount talk will persist for the entire season. We’ll all make sure of that. However, for the Oregon Ducks, it’ll be their ability to put it behind them that may define the 2009 campaign.

Saturday, Purdue comes to town for the second of a two-game series. The Boilermakers, much like the Ducks against Boise, would love to avenge a home defeat from a year ago. For Oregon, it’s an opportunity to start anew and redefine not only the season’s promise, but the program’s newly minted reputation in the wake of their trip to Boise.

The first step was taken by Chip Kelly on Friday who swiftly punished Blount and removed him from the team for the season. It was a necessary move for the program, the university and blood-thirsty moralists everywhere.

If Oregon is to still make a run at the top of the conference, they’ll need to start with their play at the line of scrimmage. Oh, and everything else, too. Boise State was a debacle, plain and simple. I’m not convinced the problems are easily fixable, but I do know there are some talented players and dedicated coaches that are better than what they showed in the season opener.

On talent alone, Oregon should beat Purdue, but if the offense can’t establish a running game, make better decisions in the passing game and find better play-calling from its coaches, talent won’t matter. Defensively, improvement is needed, too. 3 and 7 to 3rd and 13 shouldn’t be so easy. Not being able to line up correctly is inexcusable. Tackling requires more than arms.

It’s almost like you scrap it and start all over. This is game 1. The goal doesn’t need to be changed, it just needs a shot of confidence. Regroup, work out the kinks (more like giant, complicated knots) and make that run for the roses.

The Ducks are two weeks and a day from launching into their formidable non-conference schedule against #14 Boise St, unranked Purdue and #18 Utah. Let’s take a look at what’s going on in camp with each team.

Sept. 3, @ Boise St., 7:15 pm on ESPN

• The Broncos are sorting out their starting linebackers in a competition that involves six players for two spots.
• The preseason hasn’t been kind to Boise’s defensive line and it just got thinner with an injury to freshman DT Greg Grimes. They also recently lost an offensive lineman that was in the mix for a starting spot at guard for the season.
• WR Titus Young will apparently be a handful for the Oregon secondary. Hopefully, the Oregon coaching staff and players did a crash course in “Boise play action 101.” The same article says replacing Ellis Powers won’t be a problem. Two players are vying to replace the departed safety, but no mention is made about the ability of either player to deliver cheap shots to quarterbacks (yeah, I said it).
• In the Broncos lone scrimmage so far, returning quarterback Kellen Moore “looked sharp” and Boise St. managed to slip in two successful trick plays. No doubt, Oregon had better be ready for something, well, unconventional.
• From reading through the many reports, it’s hard to say which unit is faring better, but it does seem like Boise’s passing game is going to be tough to stop.

Sept. 12, Purdue, 7:15 pm on FSN (note: FSN might suck but we don’t have to listen to 4 hours of “Did you know Bob Griese played at Purdue?” this year)

• Only four coaches remain from long-time and now retired coach Joe Tiller’s staff. For a team that struggled in 2008, new blood is probably a good thing.
• New coach Danny Hope is high on his freshman class which makes sense considering it’s his first recruiting effort. Expect to see more than a few freshman on the field in Eugene.
• It’s not on-the-field news, but Purdue adding names to the backs of their jersey’s satisfies one of my biggest pet peeves. Teams that think they’re too good for names have always bugged me. USC, Notre Dame, you get the idea.
• Uh oh. The same article mentions two quarterbacks will play this season. That’s always a kiss of death for your season. The instability probably has a lot to do with the fact potential starter Justin Siller was dismissed for academic reasons in the spring.
• Not  much is expected of the Boilermakers, but from various articles, I get the impression coach Da nny Hope doesn’t care what others are saying. He seems to be bringing a new, fresh attitude and is promoting as much competition as possible. He’s been quoted saying “we can field a very good football team in 2009.”

Sept. 19, Utah, 12:30 pm on ESPN

• The most important position is still up for grabs in Salt Lake. Coming off the heels of its second scrimmage, Utah has two quarterbacks in a dead heat even though true freshman Jordan Wynn was previously named #1 on the depth chart. One thing  is certain – the starter won’t be last year’s backup Corbin Louks who has announced he will transfer to Nevada after getting demoted.
• A redshirt freshman is playing defense for the first time ever and is already listed on the two deep.
• The Utes have suffered a couple season-ending injuries in camp, one to a senior running back, the other to a freshman defensive back.
• Program turnover seems to be a major theme. Both the offensive and defensive coordinators are new, though both were hired from within the program. Three other assistants were hired to replace departed coaches. Additionally, the team has to replace the face of its offense from a season ago, quarterback Brian Johnson as well as two defensive players that were drafted by NFL teams.

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

He went to school where?

Football is not fun except it’s actually a lot of fun. The players are terrible except they are awesome. The coaches are clueless, except they are all members of Mensa. Such is the emotion of a helpless fan with uncontrollable emotions on a Saturday afternoon.

Oregon got its first test of the season today and came out victorious. Without question, there are issues on the team, most notably at quarterback. The wide receivers also revealed themselves as less than perfect for the first time this year. To all that, I say so what? A win is a win is a win. The defense mostly lived up to its preseason hype, Matt Evensen is a legitimate threat at kicker and the running game…oooh boy is it pretty. There will be losses, but plenty of wins. Today, we celebrate and live to fight another day.

Yeah, it's a petty point, but look at it!

Along the way to the happiness of victory, I was glad to be apart of the official launch of the Bob Griese for God campaign. If ABC wasn’t having him reminisce about his trips out of the locker room, Purdue was having him lead the cheers to start the 4th quarter. We saw pictures of him playing basketball, some old video of him playing football, discussed his abilities as a kicker and generally anointed him as creator of the next Earth. We get it! You went to Purdue! Congratulations!

When Griese and his boothmates weren’t fawning over all that is Bob, we were left wondering if the officials ever learned how to spot a football. It’s a small point to pick at and certainly on the road, you tend to have a tougher time with the calls, but after a few ridiculous spots, it’s just plain obnoxious and I can’t let it go without a small note. Notice how I didn’t mention anything else about the officials? Notice how I didn’t mention the refs complete lack of understanding regarding what constitutes a horse-collar tackle? I didn’t even mention the stupidity of some of the pass interference calls. Nope, I’m bigger than that.

After riding the roller coaster for four hours, it’s always nice to come to a safe stop. Where the season goes is anybody’s guess. I’ll enjoy it, but I’ll also hate it. Now, will somebody please tell me where Bob Griese went to college?