Bigger Faster Stronger: A story of a Wolf-like Duck Flock
By Editorial Staff
Great news out of Eugene this week the scoreboard is still functioning…Personally this game spoke a lot to me as an exercise science major (I did not go to school for journalism or English as iav dee pointed out commenting on my article LaMichael James: Best Oregon Running Back? “great double negative, James had an incredible 2010 season, but I don’t think he was not an NFL ready tailback.” Fansided, I have since created a personal motto: Win the sentence.) The Ducks won this game in the offseason, Saturday September 10th was an exclamation mark on Oregon’s recruiting class from the last few years. How about the Duck! This mascot is working out a cardiovascular pace. I hope whoever is behind the mask wants a toned looked because that many pushups won’t build mass in the chest/triceps area.
Think back to the last time you tasted a food or drink that wasn’t very good. Maybe you didn’t have water handy at the moment and you carried around that off taste for a minute. My memory goes to cheap whey protein and how great is it when you can flush that taste out of your system. That has to be the feeling in the Ducks’ locker room this weekend.
Monday I said that Oregon will want to jump out fast and really push Nevada’s defense in the first quarter and that Darron Thomas would be the player of the game. I thought that Oregon would use numerous screens to get the offense going and they ended up catching Nevada in a number of blitzes that allowed Oregon to run both tailback and receiver slip screens for huge yards. Congratulations Darron Thomas you had one of the greatest games (statistically) in Duck history! Oregon needed this to happen and we all got what we wanted. Oregon is a better program than Nevada. Nevada has a spectacular coaching staff and I wish them the best, but this game featured two teams of different calibers.
Nevada is not LSU and in week 2 Oregon isn’t the same team as in week 1. Still, the Ducks did not play down to the level of Nevada and that is a great sign. The offensive line looked much better. The defense made some great plays and how about the special team play? A blocked field goal along with a punt return for 6, nice work gentlemen!
Five plays determine a football game and this week Oregon had them all and made them early closing the door on the Nevada Wolfpack.
1. 11:31 1st Quarter, on 4th and 5 to go Oregon decides to go for it. Big play for both Chip Kelly as a coach and Darron Thomas: Thomas scrambles for a first down.
2. John Boyett blocks a Nevada field goal attempt with 4:17 to go in the 1st quarter. Great effort I can’t say enough about the play that this kid makes. He sells out leaping over the top of Nevada’s right side to stop 3 Nevada points.
3. With 3:01 on the clock in the 1st quarter Oregon’s o-line makes a huge play. A simple zone read handoff turns into big yards setting up a Darron Thomas TD pass. If you get a chance go back and look this play up. Nevada is playing their corner off so Oregon’s WR makes a great read and pushes vertical (driving Nevada’s corner back) then cracks down on a safety. Meanwhile the ducks play side guard and tackle wall off and push Nevada’s D-line out of the play creating a huge hole for the Duck tailback.
4. Troy Hill makes a great read and is credited with an interception against a Nevada play action roll out pass.
5. In the second quarter after Hill’s INT the Ducks execute a great pass play against man coverage. James who lines up at tailback releases up field on a fade route. Oregon’s play side receiver runs a post route to the middle of the field this act takes the corner with the receiver leaving James wide open down the sideline. This play showed great pocket presence from Thomas, he made the right read, and throw a great ball to James.
On a side note it was good to see home grown (from Hillsboro Oregon) TE #32 Colt Lyerla catch a TD pass. I first met Colt when he was in grade school, the kid was barely as tall as my hip and now he is a 6’5 stud for the Ducks great job Colt!