The college football season has officially begun,
but everything really gets moving on Saturday... and especially here
in the Northwest, where the third-ranked Oregon Ducks will take on a
really high quality opponent in Nicholls State. Nicholls State? Oh, brother. Well,
at least there are some other interesting things to watch for in Oregon's
first game of the year aside from the outcome.
Lots of people think that there will be
a drop-off in the offense because Mark Helfrich took over as head coach when Chip
Kelly skipped out for Philly. Lots of people think the Ducks offense
will suffer because Chip's not around. Lots of people are wrong.
Remember when Mike Bellotti left and people wondered how Oregon would
do with an untested guy at head coach.... that was Chip five seasons
ago. And aside from that opening game debacle at Boise State,
(remember this?) I think things worked out pretty well.
Clearly Oregon will not be tested this
week. As it happens, Nicholls State played their last game in the
state of Oregon as well- it was the hurricane-delayed game at Oregon
State last December 1st.... and OSU scored 77 points, the
most in their history. Even with a whole year to prepare for the
Ducks, I don't see it being very different- and for the record, the
most points Oregon has ever scored in modern-day history is 72, which
they did twice, most recently against New Mexico during the
undefeated regular season of 2010. (They did score 115 one game, but
that was 1910. Admittedly, against Nicholls State, even that record
is in jeopardy.)
The other day I was talking to someone
who thought the Ducks would go undefeated, and I said “yeah, until
De'Anthony Thomas goes down with a season ending injury in the first
game.” Repeating this story has gotten me several punches on the
shoulder. Truth is, DAT is small. He's probably all muscle,
but let's be honest, what good is 180 pounds of muscle if a 300 pound
lineman sits on you? Yeah, you're right.... DAT will never be caught
by a 300 pound lineman. But a fellow who runs DAT fast is in danger
of leg injuries- remember Bo Jackson was never the same after his leg
injury. Getting caught and dragged down is bad news for everyone,
but I've seen really fast guys get one drag-down tackle and never be
the same. Let's hope it doesn't happen to DAT man. I don't expect
him or any of the starters to play after midway through the second
quarter, when it will already be a five-touchdown advantage for the
home green.
The thing I'm most looking forward to
is the game differences between Chip and Helfrich. No matter how
much they say “everything is the same,” the truth is everybody
organizes things a little different. You may do some things exactly
the same as your parents, but often, you will add your own little
notch to something that you've seen them do a thousand times. So as
similar things will be between Chip and Helfrich, there will be
differences, from game management to the sideline setup and
everything in between.
And I'm looking forward to Helfrich
taking some steps to making this team his own. He's obviously done
that behind the scenes, now he does it in full view of the Oregon
faithful. How does he react to a bad call? How does he react to any
call? What does he do when it's fourth and short? What does he do
if it's fourth and.... anything?
Any way you look at it, the Helfrich
era hits the ground running Saturday at one, and I'm looking forward
to it. Lots of people will be watching.
Photo courtesy: Gamedayr.com
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