Andrew Luck completed 12 of 20 for 251 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions to lead Stanford past Oregon, 51-42. Toby Gerhart rushed for 223 yards and three touchdowns.
Stanford finished with 505 total yards. Oregon had been giving up only 301 yards per game.
Sure, Oregon seemed to suffer a hangover from its 47-20 win over USC last weekend. But this was about Stanford’s offense dominating the Ducks defense, and the Ducks offense not being able to keep up.
What does it mean?
It means the Pac-10 is now wide-open. Arizona controls its own fate, but there is so much football left that it’s almost meaningless to speculate.
It means the Pac-10 is out of the national title hunt.
It means the Oregon vs. Boise State rankings debate ends.
And it means Stanford, at 6-3, is bowl eligible. The Cardinal haven’t gone to a bowl since 2001.
This had trap written all over it, although I still thought Oregon would prevail. The Ducks just couldn’t match the intensity it had from last week’s huge win over USC. They were emotionally spent and Stanford took full advantage of it but taking it to them for four quarters. Gerhart was amazing today and his performance may have catapulted him back into the Heisman race.
Boise State stands to benefit the most from Oregon’s loss. Some had started to question whether or not the Ducks deserved to be ranked higher than the Broncos, even though Boise routed Oregon in the opening week of the season. With the Ducks now out of the way, the Broncos can start working on that whole style points thing that they continue to struggle with.
Of course you do – he’s the Oregon running back that was viewed as a potential Heisman candidate before he decked Boise State’s Byron Hout in the face following the Ducks’ 19-8 loss to the Broncos in the opening week of the season. He was subsequently suspend for the rest of the season by head coach Chip Kelly, although not it appears that Oregon could allow him to be reinstated as long as he meets certain conditions.
Kelly said he set down academic, behavior and football-related “ladders” that Blount must achieve for possible reinstatement, which would not come before Oregon’s Nov. 7 game against Stanford.
“There’s a distinct possibility he’ll never play football here again,” Kelly said. “But the ball is in LeGarrette’s court.”
Blount hasn’t endeared himself to many within the Oregon program with his actions over the last two years. But I happen to think that this was a good move by Kelly.
If Blount has nothing to work for, what’s from stopping him from continuing to get into more trouble? Kelly is giving him the opportunity to play football again as long as he succeeds in the classroom (positive), doesn’t misbehave (positive) and puts in hard work at practice (positive). If he screws up again, then he’s done for the rest of the season, just as he was before. But if he succeeds, then he proves to himself that hard work and good behavior can get him what he wants in life.
Granted, some may look at this as Kelly going back on the suspension in order to get his star player back onto the field now that Oregon has rattled off three straight wins. But Kelly said the earliest Blount could return is November 7, which means the running back would miss the next four games (including USC on October 31) no matter what. I hardly view this as a sign that Kelly’s only mission is to get Blount back in uniform.
It’ll be interesting to see if Blount can meet Kelly’s requirements and turn a negative situation into a positive one.
Posted by Christopher Glotfelty (09/26/2009 @ 6:19 pm)
Perhaps some thought Oregon could pull off an upset by a few points, but nobody expected a blowout by these proportions. While Oregon did everything right, Cal just didn’t do much of anything. It’s strange to think the score was tied at three apiece after the first quarter. From then on, Cal decided to completely stop playing. It’s hard to even point out their mistakes. What’s obvious is that Oregon knew exactly what to do against their opponents on both ends of the field. After Oregon’s opening day loss to Boise, coach Chip Kelly is slowly getting this team back on track. This doesn’t mean he’s through refunding distraught fans, but Oregon football should definitely feel good about this win. We knew Oregon had talent — it was just a matter of when they would devour a high-ranking team.
Oregon seamlessly shut down Cal’s touted combination of quarterback Kevin Riley and running back Jahvid Best. This was the finest defensive effort of the day as Riley had trouble finding anyone open on every possession and potential Heisman candidate Best was limited to 55 yards rushing. Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, however, couldn’t have been better, completing 21 of 25 passes for 253 yards and three touchdowns. Funny enough, Masoli came into this game without a single passing score. Obviously, this is quite a turn around. And who caught all of those touchdown passes? Just Ed Dickson. In a truly remarkable performance, Ed Dickson caught 11 passes for 148 yards.
Everything fell into place today with Chip Kelly’s Ducks. On the other hand, Jeff Tedford’s Golden Bears are left wondering how everything fell apart.
Following Oregon’s embarrassing loss to Boise State on the opening night of the college football season, a Ducks fan was so upset about what he saw from his team’s performance that he e-mail head coach Chip Kelly asking for a refund.
According to the Web site, Kelly replied to Seminary’s e-mail with a question: “What is your address?”
Sure enough, a check for $439, apparently signed by Kelly, arrived in Seminary’s mailbox, according to the Web site. Seminary was so impressed by the gesture, he returned the check to Kelly with a thank-you note, rather than cashing it.
“As a sales guy, it’s really hard to shut me up,” Seminary said, according to the Web site. “When I received that check, I was literally speechless.
“I think of Coach Kelly as a totally different person now,” Seminary said, according to the Web site. “I have a different bond with him now. … Let’s just say he lost every game as an Oregon coach. You would never hear me calling for his head. It just wouldn’t happen. The guy showed an incredible amount of class.”
I wonder what kind of storm Kelly just created for himself after this incident. Now every team he losses, he’s going to have thousands of fans e-mailing him asking for a refund.
Nevertheless, this was a cool gesture by Kelly, who was incredibly upset by the way his team performed in Boise and the actions by running back LeGarrette Blount following the game in which he punched a Broncos player. I think a lot of people will agree with Seminary’s sediments to Kelly and root for him in the future.
The Oregon football program has suspended running back LeGarrette Blount for the remainder of the 2009 season after punching Boise State linebacker Byron Hout after the Ducks’ loss to the Broncos on Friday night. Blount also had to be restrained from going after fans as he walked off the field.
Blount’s suspension includes any bowl games. Coach Chip Kelly said he will remain on scholarship.
After the game, a contrite Blount came out of the locker room.
“I should have handled that situation a lot better than I did,” he said. “I apologize. We will never have a game like this again. … The game, as it went on, just got more frustrating and more frustrating for me in general. I shouldn’t have said anything. I shouldn’t have done anything.”
Blount’s offseason also came with missteps when, according to The Oregonian, he was suspended by first-year Ducks coach Chip Kelly for poor attendance at team meetings and workouts.
Oregon and Boise State also met last year in Eugene, Ore., a 37-32 victory for Boise State. In that game, the Broncos committed two late hits that received much attention since, and last month Blount told Sports Illustrated that the Ducks owed the Broncos an “ass-whuppin’.”
It’s football – frustrations boil over, especially when a supposedly good team like Oregon plays as flat as they did last night. But Blount’s actions were completely ridiculous and it’s good to see that Oregon didn’t just slap him on the wrist. His suspension is appropriate, because he certainly doesn’t deserve the right to play football right now.
I don’t know what was said, but Hout was clearly taunting Blount and hopefully he learns from this incident too. Even though Hout won’t face any discipline, chances are that Boise head coach Chris Petersen won’t let his young linebacker escape without some form of punishment.
The 2009 college football season didn’t get off to a great start Thursday night for Chip Kelly and his Oregon Ducks.
After their thought-to-be high-powered offense racked up just 152 total yards in a 19-8 loss at Boise State, Kelly’s Heisman candidate running back LeGarrette Blount socked a Broncos player in the chin, then shoved one of his own teammates when they tried to intervene, then had to be restrained by team officials and cops from going into the stands and fighting fans on his way to the locker room.
Seriously…here’s the video:
That’s absolutely unbelievable. It appears that the Boise player said something first, but that’s still no reason to clock a guy as he’s turning away, nevertheless have to be dragged out of the stadium looking like a lunatic on national television.
Blount, who has been disciplined before by Oregon, will no doubt be suspended. For how many games is anyone’s guess, but Kelly (who is in his first year at Oregon) certainly has a mess on his hands both on and off the field. It’ll be interesting to see if Kelly kicks Blount off the team indefinitely. If so, the Ducks will lose their best offensive weapon.
Preseason Ranking: No. 16 in AP Top 25; No. 14 in USA Today Poll.
Key Returning Players: LeGarrette Blount (RB); Jeremiah Masoli (QB); Ed Dickson (TE); C.E. Kaiser (OT); Jeff Maehl (WR); Bo Thran (G); T.J. Ward (S); Will Tukuafu (DE); Walter Thurmond III (CB); Clay Matthews (LB); Spencer Paysinger (LB).
Key Losses: Patrick Chung (S); Max Unger (C); Jairus Byrd (CB); Jerome Boyd (LB); Ra’Shon Harris (DT); Jeremiah Johnson (RB); Mark Lewis (G); Nick Reed (DE); Cole Linehan (DT); Justin Roper (QB); Terence Scott (WR); Fenuki Tupou (OT); Jaison Williams (WR).
Player to Watch:LeGarrette Blount, RB.
Blount didn’t get off to a great start in ’09, as he was suspended for missing strength and conditioning workouts in February, then reported to spring practice in April in less than ideal physical condition. (He weighed 10 pounds heavier than his normal playing weight.) But things started to turn around in early August, as Blount reportedly dropped 20 pounds off his spring weight and then showed off his new frame by rushing seven times for 52 yards in a recent scrimmage. Along with his quarterback, Jeremiah Masoli, Blount is Oregon’s top playmaker and the backbone of the offense. He’s a bulldozer and as long as he can stay healthy (he was nicked up earlier this spring), he should be in store for big season.
- YARDBARKER (via SbB) unveils Oregon’s hideous new uniforms. They have new uniforms you ask? You bet…and they’re hideous…again.
- SPORTSbyBROOKS has the ludicrous story of a youth baseball coach who had an opposing player arrested for what “intentionally” hitting one of his players with a pitch and kicking a batting helmet. Ridiculous.
Check out LeGarrette Blount’s run in Oregon’s 42-31 win over Oklahoma State in the Holiday Bowl Tuesday night.
This game was absolutely crazy. There were 24 points scored in the first, 28 in the third and 21 in the fourth but 0 in the second. Apparently the defensive coordinators figured things out for 15 minutes and that was it.
The task was simple enough for Oregon State – beat Oregon on Saturday night and they would set up a date with Penn State in the Rose Bowl. But the Ducks crashed the party, beating the Beavers in a wild, 65-38 shootout in Corvallis.
Oregon State still has a shot at the Rose Bowl, but now they must have USC lose to UCLA next week. That would put the Beavers in a three-way tie with Oregon and USC, which would mean all hell breaks loose. If USC beats UCLA, then the Trojans would play Penn State in the Rose Bowl and open up an at-large bid for either Boise State or Ohio State.
Even though Boise is undefeated and the Buckeyes have two losses, the Broncos won’t necessarily get the at-large bid because they don’t play in one of the bigger conferences ala Ohio State. It might not be fair, but it’s the way the system is set up. Essentially the BCS only cares about one thing – figuring out which two teams are the best in the nation. They could care less about the rest of the matchups.
You could essentially make an argument for either team. The only team Boise beat with any substance was Oregon. But they beat the Ducks in Eugene, which happens to be one of the toughest places to play in college football. Ohio State’s most impressive victory was in East Lansing when they beat Michigan State, although how would Boise have done against USC and Penn State (two teams that beat the Buckeyes)?
Personally, I say Boise deserves the at-large bid more. It’s tough to go undefeated – I don’t care who’s on your schedule. But I think Ohio State will get the bid because the folks handing out the at-large invitations are more worried about having two schools from bigger conferences than whether or not the teams are deserving.
