Pac-10 Week in Review: Oregon Gets Lucky; USC Stymies Nebraska

by user Deuelio

Everyone is talking about the Pac-10 but it is not the kind of talking the conference wants. Its not talking about victories by Pac-10 teams over Big 12 teams (Oregon…sort of, Washington State, USC and Arizona State) it’s the Pac-10’s lousy officials and how they cost Oklahoma the game at Oregon. In the interest of full disclosure, I attended the game as a Duck fan and I continue to be a Duck fan, despite the “criminal” calls against the Sooners. Here now is the Pac-10 week in review, version 3.0.

Officials help Ducks Overcome Sooners

No other way to say it because had the stripes gotten the call right, the Ducks would have lost. Oregon dominated the game statistically if not for four costly turnovers; Oregon likely would have walked in this game. The vaunted OU defense looked like Swiss cheese, surrendering 501 yards to a fast paced Oregon offense. Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson, held in check for most of the game, exploded for 145 yards in the fourth quarter enroute to 211 yards on 35 carries. Oregon’s own #28, Jonathan Stewart was at least his equal, rushing for 144 yards on 23 carries.

So much has been written about the game providing links to all the relevant articles (which I love to do) would be nearly impossible. Instead of that, I will try to recap the game from my standpoint, a football fan in the stands of a great game.

Oregon jumped up early and looked ready to extend a 10-3 lead to 17-3. But Oregon could not crack the OU defense in the second quarter and allowed the Sooners to stick around. Still, the Oregon defense didn’t give Peterson and the Sooners much room, allowing just two first half field goals and leading at the half 13-6. Oklahoma exploded in the second half and outscored the Ducks 27-7 to grab what seemed like an insurmountable 33-20 lead late in the game. Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon rebounded from a shaky performance to lead the Ducks down the field and scored on a 16 yard touchdown run to bring the score to 33-27 with 1:12 remaining

Here’s where the fun begins or the misery begins if you’re an Oklahoma fan. Oregon attempted the onside kick and it appeared to be touched by Oregon’s Brian Paysinger before it went 10 yards. The officials instantly blew the play dead, even though nobody from either team had possession. OU fans will tell you that Allen Patrick recovered the loose ball and it should have been Sooner ball. However, the refs blew the play dead the moment the pile started meaning that anything that happened after the whistle was pointless. The refs awarded the controversial kick to the Ducks, despite a lengthy review that failed to turn the ball back over to the Sooners.

It gets worse for the beleaguered Sooners. Moments later, with momentum fully in Oregon’s favor, the refs missed another call when they awarded a pass interference call on a Dixon pass across the middle, even the though the ball appeared to be tipped at the line. Sooner fans will lament this call as well, but they should really lament their defense on the next play. That’s when Paysinger burned Oklahoma’s weak coverage and hauled in a perfect pass for the TD. The extra point gave the Ducks a 34-33 lead.

It gets even worse for the Sooners. Now, stellar defensive back Reggie Smith returns Oregon’s squib kick 55 yards to the Duck 27. After running Peterson to the middle of the field, the Sooners stopped the clock with two seconds left. Garrett Hartley’s 44 yard field goal was blocked by Oregon’s Blair Philips, touching off pandemonium in Eugene and weeping and gnashing of teeth in Norman.

What follows next shows just how awful certain people can be. Rather than swallow a very bitter pill, certain Sooner fans took out their rage on a retired schoolteacher, issuing death threats and profane phone calls to the replay official. Oregonian blogger received similar treatment as Sooner fans hailed the missed call among other things, “an injustice” and “criminal”. What follows next is a letter from Oklahoma President David Boren calling for the game to be stricken from the record book and the officials suspended.

Whew.

I’m glad we haven’t lost perspective. Certainly a horrible way to lose. I’m a Duck fan and I would be livid had the roles been reversed. But I believe I’d stop short of death threats and a call for the game to be expunged from the record books. It’s silly and childish, and it really makes the Oklahoma fans and leadership look sad.

Looking at some of the key stats, I’m struck by a couple. 1. Oklahoma kicked field goals of 20, 20 and 22 yards. That means three possessions inside Oregon’s five yard line, and no touchdowns. That’s pretty sorry offense. 2. Oregon turned the ball over four times…and still amassed 501 yards. Imagine if they hadn’t turned it over four times. They could have put up 600 yards and probably another touchdown or two. 3. Dennis Dixon’s consecutive passes without an interception was broken at 161. 4. The officials and replay guys were suspended for one week by Commissioner Tom Hansen thereby proving the officials cost Oklahoma the game.

But through it all, from a Pac-10’s perspective, Oregon moves to 3-0 with a bye week to rest key injuries. The next three games are huge as the Ducks travel to ASU, Cal and then host UCLA. Should the Ducks remain unbeaten until then, they will likely be in the top-five. Unless Oklahoma is successful in having the game thrown out of the record books.

USC Defense Turns Away Nebraska

USC’s Achilles heel last season appears to be their strength this year. While the offense has started slowly this season, the defense has been impressive in USC’s two early wins. USC’s offensive output reminds me of Matt Lienart’s first year under center, when the Trojans relied on a fast, hard hitting defense early while the offense grew into a juggernaut. In the weekly Pac-10 conference, head coach Pete Carroll agrees that USC’s offense is a work in progress.

“I think in general we’re growing and getting more experienced,” Carroll said. “It’s just a process for us to grow with our guys and push them to see what they can do, but I don’t have a problem with any of it (the offensive production).”

While the offense has been conservative to a point, with weapons like Dwayne Jarrett, Steve Smith and a bevy of stellar young running backs it’s hard to not cut it loose some. The Trojans moved to 2-0 with the win over Nebraska, another team that went conservative on offense. The Trojans controlled the Husker offense, allowing just 211 of total offense and 1.9 yards per rush.

Jarrett was sensational for the Trojans and quarterback John David Booty, making 11 catches for 136 yards and two scores. Booty told Randy Youngman of the Orange County Register, “"I'm really pleased, to be honest…[it] doesn't seem like we're scoring quite as fast we did last year, and all of that, but we're really kind of a scrappy group, with a lot of young guys in there, and this is my first year (as a starter).” Because of the youth, perhaps offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin has kept the kid gloves on the offense.

But USC’s policy has always been to play young kids; something that Carroll thinks has really helped his program.

“We play a lot of guys, we’ve already played 13 first semester freshmen,” Carroll said. “I’m really proud of that. I’m proud of the mentality of our players to answer the call and step up when they need to. It’s worked out great.”

But it was the veteran all-American Jarrett who paced the Trojans offensively. Jarrett was called out twice in the week leading up to the game, once by a coach, and again by a Nebraska corner. Jarrett was vindicated early, when he burned the aforementioned trash talker, Andre Jones for a 12-yard touchdown and a 7-3 lead. Jarrett also set the school record for TD receptions in a career on the second TD reception a 5-yard TD pass making the score 21-3. Jarrett now has 31 TD receptions in his career, surpassing Mike Williams for USC’s all time lead.

Nebraska’s head coach Bill Callahan is getting blasted for his conservative play calling, and as we all know, the Big Red faithful doesn’t take kindly to losing. Obviously, Callahan is boldly reinventing Nebraska’s offense by implementing the forward pass. However, against the Trojans, Callahan tried to establish the run to no avail and by the time the Trojans had surged to a 21-3 lead, the Huskers were too far gone to get back in the game. Nebraska quarterback Zac Taylor who attempted just 16 passes against the Trojans defended the game plan after the game. But it appeared that Trojans were trying to avoid a 2005 Arkansas type romp by the Trojans.

The Trojans have now won 47 of their last 49 games and one loss was a thrilling national championship game loss to Texas last year, the other was an overtime loss to Cal. They will look to keep the amazing streak going when they take on Arizona Saturday night on ABC.

Date

Fri 09/22/06, 1:03 pm EST