LaMichael James had a breakout performance in 2010 that solidified Oregon’s run to the national title game. Will we see something similar from Kenjon Barner?

This is a rough weekend of games on the outset.  Not a ton of drama to be found anywhere.  Notre Dame plays at Wake Forest, which means that they’ll win by 10 and Lou Holtz will once again talk about how Notre Dame is national title worthy because they beat bad teams while looking awful.

These are the weekends though when stuff goes down.  Things go wrong.  This weekend gives me the feeling that chaos will ensue!

Florida State (-31) at Maryland

I love that Maryland has a freshman, converted linebacker at quarterback, and he throws better than Tim Tebow.  This pick is to balance out any other losses I have this week.  The Seminoles are a dangerous team and the defense should take advantage of a few mistakes by the greenhorn quarterback.

Arkansas at Mississippi State (-6)

Arkansas is really bad.

Mississippi State is a darling.  There’s something about their old south leanings and constant stream of mediocrity that is endearing to me.  Mississippi State is one of those teams that can’t perform against top level content but can handle their business against lesser opponents.  They were beaten easily by Alabama and Texas A&M, but dominated teams that are worse than tem.  Arkansas is worse than the Bulldogs and I like the Bulldogs to pull away late.

Iowa at Michigan (-17)

Michigan minus everything!

Texas Tech (+10) at Oklahoma State

The Cowboys are fresh off a big win over a stone-cold West Virginia squad.  Texas Tech has the best defense in the Big-12.  These two teams now square off in Stillwater.  While both teams are very different, they are similar in success.  With a toss-up like game I’ll take the points.  The Red Raiders have a good shot at pulling the upset and they’ve done it before this year.

Washington (-21) at Colorado

Colorado sucks

Ohio State (+2.5) at Wisconsin

It is pretty crazy how well Wisconsin has rebounded since the beginning of the year.  In rough games against UTEP, Utah State, and a very good Oregon State, the Badgers have seemingly turned this season around after making some personnel switches in the coaching ranks.

Ohio State has struggled on the road.  They had a close win over a questionable Michigan State squad

USC at UCLA (+4)

The USC defense made the Oregon offense look like it was playing air.  I don’t remember a single play where Oregon got stopped and I said, “well that didn’t work.”  The Bruins spread has a great running back and quarterback.

The UCLA defense though will struggle immensely against the USC passing attack.  For UCLA to win the Bruin linebackers need to ball real, real hard.  Silas Redd cannot get loose and pressure has to get put on Matt Barkley.  At worst I see a backdoor cover scenario.

I’ll be pulling big time though for UCLA to win this game because I do not want to play USC in the PAC-12 title game.

Oklahoma (-12) at West Virginia

Can you believe that West Virginia was once atop of the Top 25 rankings?  They were easily in the top 5 and were BCS dreaming with the Heisman being Geno Smith to lose.  A lot of things can happen in four weeks.  The Mountaineers have lost four straight, including a 55-34 loss at Oklahoma State.  Yikes.

The difference in this game for me is the Oklahoma defense, which is fast and solid.  They won’t give up tons of yards and points to West Virginia, and will probably create a few short fields.  I also don’t see how West Virginia will slow down Oklahoma and the Belldozer.

California at Oregon State (-14)

Word on the street is if Oregon State wins, Corvallis will be one of two landing spots for College Gameday next week.  Don’t blow it Beavers, this time they could actually be coming to talk about how great you are instead of sending off the Ducks to the national title game like two years ago!

Cal’s rush defense did well against Oregon but let the secondary out to dry, getting absolutely shredded by Marcus Mariota.  The Bears did a good job of taking advantage of Oregon’s weakened defensive line.

Oregon State is not a sexy team, but they are fundamental, disciplined, and are synergistic.

Stanford at Oregon (-21)

This is just a mismatch.  Oregon is way faster than Stanford’s defense.  I wrote a whole preview at Addicted to Quack so check that out for sure.  Basically, if Andrew Luck couldn’t beat Oregon, Kevin Hogan isn’t going to.

Kansas State (-13) at Baylor

If Collin Klein needed a defense to rebound from last week’s average performance, there isn’t a much better option than the Baylor defense.  Baylor has gotten torched multiple times this year.

Kansas State is staring the BCS national title game in the face and all they need to do is win out.  The Wildcats play the slowest brand of football in the conference and go up against the fastest opponent in the conference.  Kansas State thrives off of a positive turnover margin and Optimus Klein doing his thing and not kissing his wife.

This actually happened! Alabama Lost!

Texas A&M Curses Demons and Beats Alabama

The Aggies last year were a punch line for second half destruction.  No lead was safe, no matter what size, when Ryan Tannehill was at the helm of the Aggie offense.  Those demons were exorcised when Texas A&M didn’t blow a 20-0 win in what is probably the biggest win in team history.

Led by Johnny Manziel, the Aggies played near perfect.  They limited mistakes and jumped out to a big lead, forcing Alabama to deviate from their formula that has led them all year: get a lead and pound the ball between the tackles.

The result was a very un-Saban performance.  AJ McCarron threw his first interceptions of the year, with the second being at an incredibly critical moment.  There were fumbles, which are incredibly rare.  The game ended with Alabama jumping offside.  This did not look like the Alabama team we’ve been watching all year.

The SEC is Out of Luck

Alabama has a lost and the SEC’s streak of national championships is at risk.  There are three undefeated teams so the SEC needs a minimum of two teams to lose in order for Alabama or Georgia to make it to the national title game.

It is relieving to me that a one-loss SEC-champion isn’t getting in automatically over other undefeated teams.  All the SEC-hype was starting to make me worried if the SEC should secede and just form its own league.

What’s hilarious is that Lane Kiffin, sworn enemy of the SEC is what the conference needs most.  He’s the Captain Barbosa from Pirates of the Caribbean of college football, a necessary evil that is the last option that you have to go through to get what you need.  USC plays Oregon and Notre Dame, two undefeated teams.

The Heisman Race Thickens

Johnny Manziel has to get an invitation to New York for the Ceremony.  He’s one of the leading rushers in the SEC and easily the most amazing quarterback to watch.  He has over 1,000 yards and 15 touchdowns, on the ground.  His completion rate is 68% and has thrown 18 touchdowns to only 6 interceptions to go with 2,780 yards.

Kenjon Barner of Oregon was held under 100 yards and that was partially due to a wrist injury that held him out for about a quarter.  This does not outshine his 5 touchdown, 300+ yard performance though at USC.  Barner was overshadowed by Marcus Mariota, who tied a school record 6 touchdowns and is 6^th in the latest Heisman polls.

Collin Klein continues him Optimus Prime run.  Although he had only two touchdowns in the win over TCU, the rest of the season has been so spectacular he’s earned an off game.  However, people remember what you do in November a lot more than September.

Then There Were Three

With Alabama’s loss the lone undefeated teams in the title hunt are Oregon, Kansas State, and Notre Dame.  It is a win and you’re in situation for Kansas State and Oregon.  Notre Dame needs one of those teams to lose to make it to Miami.

Kansas State’s toughest test is against Texas.  Notre Dame still has to travel to USC but that is the lone tough game.  Oregon however, has to play Stanford, Oregon State, and USC or UCLA, but most likely USC.  That’s two top-15 teams and a dangerous USC squad.

Half the Big-10 Title Game is Set

Wisconsin will represent the Leaders division in the Big-10 title game.  The conference has been a joke for most of the season but Ohio State is undefeated and Wisconsin has bounced back since their beginning of the year slump.

Whoever wins the conference title game will probably be decimated by whichever PAC-12 team they play, but hey, Pasadena is a lot better than anywhere in Big-10 country come New Years Day.

Players of the Week

Johnny Manziel went 24/31 for 253 yards and 2 touchdowns, adding 92 yards on the ground through 18 carries.  His performance was amazing.  He scrambled for extra yards and hit receivers downfield through small windows.

Marcus Mariota picked up the slack when Cal sold out to stop the run.  In return, he threw 27/34 for 377 yards and 6 touchdowns.  He also added 42 yards on the ground with only six carries.  He has the touch on the deep ball Oregon has been missing since Dennis Dixon graduated.

Highlights of the Week

Kenjon Barner had a day leading Oregon over USC.

Oregon jumped Notre Dame in the polls with the top four now reading Alabama as number one, Kansas State second, Oregon third, and Notre Dame fourth.  Many college football experts predict the Ducks will jump the Wildcats if Oregon wins out, setting the stage for the biggest culture clash ever in Miami should the Tide face the Ducks.

Alabama Continues Its Drive Through Time, Remains Number 1

Everyone knew what was going to happen in this game.  There would be suffocating defense against ultra-conservative offenses and something weird would happen resulting in a winner.

Down 17-14 with less than a minute to go, the Crimson Tide marched down the field and scored the game-winning touchdown on a screen pass.  Eddie Lacy and Yeldon, the Alabama running backs, went for 159 yards on 22 caries.

Surprisingly, Mettenberger was the biggest surprise.  When the Tigers were averaging 2.8 yards a carry, Zach Mettenberger showed up and completed 69% of his passes and 298 yards through the air.

Oregon Outguns USC at the Coliseum

While LSU and Alabama were locked in to a defensive slugfest, the Ducks were victorious in a shootout against the USC Trojans.  Oregon only had to punt once the whole game when they were trying to ice the final outcome.  Otherwise the only things that slowed Oregon were a missed field goal and a fumble.

Barner was the man of the night, rushing for 321 yards on 38 carries to go with 5 touchdowns.  Statistically impressive, Marcus Mariota outshone Matt Barkley, barely making any mistakes.  Mariota went 20 for 23 and 4 touchdowns with 96 yards rushing.

Matt Barkley went 35/54 for 484 yards and 5 touchdowns with 2 interceptions.  Silas Redd rushed for 92 yards.  Marqise Lee blew up and had 12 receptions for 157 yards and 2 touchdowns.  The Trojans early touchdowns came off long bombs to receivers when the Oregon defensive backs broke down.

USC was -2 in turnover margin and is much better than the score indicates. It was a very Lane Kiffin-USC Trojan performance.  All the talent with none of the execution.

Notre Dame Lucks Out, Again

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish continue to make Lou Holtz look smart.

The Fighting Irish are destined to make it to a BCS bowl game.  Somehow the Irish escaped another overtime game, squeaking by on a score of 29-26 in triple overtime over a then 4-4 Pitt team.

Due to a lack of execution by the Panthers and a series of misfortunate events, the Golden Domers were able to outdo the Panther field goal with a touchdown.  The final score may be misleading because the Domers committed 3 turnovers while outgaining Pitt 522-308 in terms of yards.

Everett Golson threw the ball a lot, 23/42 for 227 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception.  Golson also rushed for 74 yards and a touchdown in 15 carries.

The Notre Dame team is characterized by its stingy defense, led by Manti Te’o.  The offense continues to be just good enough to get a win, often playing down to the quality of opponent.

The only challenging team left on the schedule is a trip to USC in the last week of college football.

Texas A&M Takes it to Bulldogs

With the win, Aggie head coach Sumlin now has as many SEC wins as Derek Dooley.  The Aggies beat the Mississippi State Bulldogs by the score of 38-13.

The elite SEC defense could not hold up to the Big-12 offense.  Johnny Manziel threw 30/36 for 311 yards.  He rushed for 129 yards on 21 carries and added two touchdowns.

Johnny “Football” Manziel will lead the Texas A&M Aggies when they take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa next week.  The Aggies have maybe the one threat that has hurt the Tide in the past.  They have an offense that can score a lot of points, a defense that just might be good enough, and a quarterback that can run and throw.

Player of the Week

The no-brainer here is Kenjon Barner.  He was an absolute workhorse against USC carrying the ball 38 times.  It is baffling to me how he had to convince his own fan base that he should have been the Heisman frontrunner all along.  Barner rushed for 321 yards and 5 touchdowns, averaging 8.4 yards a carry.

Highlights of the Week

Oregon takes a trip to USC where they beat USC last, looking to revenge last year’s loss.

Washington (+4) at Cal

The Friday night game to wrap up an entertaining Thursday night game.  Washington goes on the road a week after topping their second top-10 opponent of their season.  Keith Price has been hit or miss, and when he’s forced to throw the ball all the time because the rushing attack is lagging, he struggles.

Cal on the other hand hasn’t really looked good at any point this season outside of their stomping of UCLA at home a month ago.  Zach Maynard has been average and the Bears were held to only 3 points against Stanford in the big game before getting rocked by Utah.  The seat must be hot under Tedford.  This is a pick against the Bears.

Texas A&M at Mississippi State (+7)

Texas A&M makes their first road trip in the SEC to the land of a thousand cowbells.  Johnny Manziel looks to continue his magical run through the SEC season as a freshman.  Manziel ran through Auburn last week like everybody else in the conference.

Mississippi State’s only loss was on the road at Alabama.  The Bulldogs have had a pretty easy schedule thus far sans Alabama, and it is a little crazy to think that we are in week 10 of the college football season and we don’t know how good Mississippi State is.

I don’t think the 38-7 loss to Bama is as bad as the score indicates.  There were some bright spots.  I like the Bulldogs as the underdog at home.

Stanford (-28) at Colorado

Colorado is awful.  Stanford, no matter who their quarterback is, will score points, and a lot of them.

TCU at West Virginia (-4)

TCU expects to have their quarterback, Trevone Boykin, back, but he will be dealing with a slight knee injury.  The horned frogs also surrender 22.4 points a game and bleed points to teams with good offenses.  The running game has also been struggling so far this season.

On the flip side, I’m interested to see how West Virginia responds. They got bum rushed by Texas Tech and then blown out by Kansas State.  I think West Virginia is much better than a 4-point favorite against TCU.

Arizona (+3.5) at UCLA

UCLA controls their own destiny to the Rose Bowl.  If Oregon beats USC, then both of these teams control their own destiny to the Rose Bowl.  It is crazy.  The two up-start teams in the PAC-12 South square off.

The lone blemish for UCLA is their loss at Cal, which was pretty embarrassing.  They scraped by against Arizona State and beat Utah by a score.

I like how Arizona can score a ton of points.  They kept it close with Oregon State, beat USC, rolled over Washington, and I like the odds of them continuing their streak against UCLA.

Nebraska (-1.5) at Michigan State

Yuck.  Nebraska is probably going to make the Big-10 championship game, and that makes Jim Delaney cry.

Nebraska can score a lot of points, but Michigan State has probably the best defense in the conference.  The real tiebreaker is that Michigan State lost to Iowa.  I had to put in a Big-10 team at some point.

Illinois at Ohio State (-28)

Illinois is almost the Colorado of the Big-10.  They lost to Michigan by 45, lost by 18 to Indiana, 28 against Penn State, and 31 to Arizona State.  How does Ohio State not win by more than 28?

Oregon (-9) at USC

I already wrote my keys to victory for each team over at Addicted To Quack.  The truth is, I see a pretty good chance of Oregon winning by two touchdowns.

USC has faded in the second half of almost every game.  They faded against Arizona, couldn’t pull away from Washington, and got rocked by Stanford.  USC has all the tools to be amazing.  Their biggest issue is depth.

Largely, USC just isn’t well coached.  They look underprepared for their games and in close games and situations that teams practice tirelessly, they look totally lost.

Oregon on the other hand hasn’t every really looked lost under Chip Kelly except for his first game as head coach.  The defense for Oregon has been stellar, forcing turnovers and not giving up big plays.  Oregon’s starting lineup hasn’t even played a full game yet this season.

Eddie Lacy and AJ McCarron head to Baton Rouge to take on the LSU Tigers. Roll Tide!

Alabama at LSU (+9)

For some reason the home team in this season has struggled.  Especially with the stadiums that Alabama and LSU have, it is mind bottling that the home teams don’t have a significant advantage.

This year, LSU gets the Crimson Tide at home.  A few months removed from the most embarrassing loss in recent memory, the Tigers want blood.  The loss in the national title game was so overwhelming it unfortunately takes a little of the magic away from one of the most impressive regular seasons in college football history.

Alabama clearly has the advantage.  Their defense is the best in the country and love to stop the run.  The Tide secondary is the best at defending the pass in the country.  Pair that with a balanced offense, and the Tide are tough to stop.

There is something eating at me thinking that LSU can pull this off.  It could be because I love chaos and a Tide loss with the Tigers running the table means a SEC team won’t make the national title, or it could be I secretly love Baton Rouge.  Weird stuff happens in Death Valley, and I expect the Tigers to at least keep it close.

Oklahoma State (+9) at Kansas State

There’s something sneaky about this matchup.  9 points is a lot to give to a conference game between teams that are dangerous.

The Cowboys can score points.  They are averaging 44.3 points a game, but surrender 23.1  Maybe I’m giving too much credit to a team that has only looked good compared to the last few years of greatness.

Collin Klein though leads the Wildcats, a married man who finally kissed his wife and never went on a first date.  It takes a special guy to pull that one off.  The Heisman frontrunner continues to lead the Wildcats on a march of destiny.  Can they continue their winning streak at home?  They’ve already played West Virginia, the rich man’s Okie State.  I like the Cats to win, but not cover.

Arizona State at Oregon State (-4)

Cody Vaz takes the reigns as the starting quarterback for the Oregon State Beavers, replacing Sean Mannion.  The magical run for the Beavers came to an end but could still make it to a BCS game and finish in the top 10.  If the Beavers win every game except for Oregon, they could be selected over the Trojans or the PAC-12 runner up for the Rose Bowl.

Taylor Kelly, the quarterback for Arizona State, has performed well against every team not named Oregon.  However, they travel on the road to a team whose defense has been pretty solid so far this season.  Does Mike Riley have enough magic left in the tank to get to the Civil War game in three weeks?  What gives me hope is that Oregon State gave four interceptions to Washington and almost came back to win.

My keys to victory can be found here.

And Boom Goes the Dynamite

“Wow, that is a LONG time!”

As you all know, or should know, it’s Husky Hate Week here at SFAS. And boy do we love to hate those damn Huskies. If (when) the Ducks beat U-Dub[1] on Saturday, it will mark the glorious ninth straight time that the Seattleites have fallen to our mighty men of Oregon. And if (when) Chip Kelly shakes Steve Sarkisian’s hand following what I hope to be a Husky drubbing of goliath-sized proportions, it will ensure that the storied tradition of LastTimeUWBeatUO hash tags lasts another year. Because we love Hate Week so much, we’ve compiled a veritable Shiva blast of LastTimeUWBeatUO facts for you to rub in your Husky loving friends’ faces.[2] Add your best LastTimeUWBeatUO fact in the comments section.

LastTimeUWBeatUO, the Cleveland Browns quarterback was both Kelly Holcomb and Tim Couch, who both started eight games in 2003. Since then, the Browns have started Jeff Garcia, Luke McCown, Trent Dilfer, Charlie Frye, Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn, Ken Dorsey, Bruce Gradkowski, Jake Delhomme, Seneca Wallace, Colt McCoy, and finally Brandon Weeden. Twelve QB’s since then! There must be some causation between calling yourself the Dawgs and being terrible.

LastTimeUWBeatUO, we had a white president.

LastTimeUWBeatUO, SARS was an epidemic, proving to everyone who hates birds because they’re flying, disease-carrying dinosaurs that they are right.

LastTimeUWBeatUO, I had just worn an awesome Batman costume for Halloween. I did not, however, have the foresight to talk like I was gargling hot asphalt.

LastTimeUWBeatUO, Tyrone Willingham was the head coach at Notre Dame, leading the Irish to a 5-7 record. Still happy you poached him from the Golden Domers, Huskies? If I recall correctly (and I do because I looked it up on the interwebs,) he led your beloved to an 11-37 record including the best Washington team to ever grace this Earth, the 0-12 2008 squad. Tyrone Willingham, the highest paid troll ever.

LastTimeUWBeatUO, Dane Cook was popular. His first comedy album Harmful If Swallowed went double platinum. Amazing for two reasons: A) people actually still bought cd’s and B) they chose to buy Dane Cook…like I said, amazing.

LastTimeUWBeatUO, Beyoncé and Jay-Z released “03’ Bonnie and Clyde” and “Crazy in Love,” unbeknownst to the public setting the stage for the birth of the child that would save us all from the coming apocalypse, Blue Ivy Carter.

LastTimeUWBeatUO, RGIII had just become a teenager earlier that year. Just a few years later he’d be dropping 67 on the Huskies in the Alamo Bowl.

“Seeya later, Nick”

LastTimeUWBeatUO, Kanye West hadn’t even dropped a full studio album yet. AND IN THAT TIME SPAN HE’S ASCENDED TO GOD STATUS WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WASHINGTON??!!!???!?

LastTimeUWBeatUO, the Baconator had not yet been invented. A dark, dark time in human history, indeed.

LastTimeUWBeatUO, we were still using the third generation Apple iPod. There have been 21 models of iPods released since then. That doesn’t even include the invention of the iPhone.

LastTimeUWBeatUO, video game graphics looked like this. Since then they’ve improved just a little.

LastTimeUWBeatUO, Pluto was still a planet.

LastTimeUWBeatUO, the classic TV series The Simple Life with Nicole Ritchie and Paris Hilton was broadcasting its first series.

LastTimeUWBeatUO, Madonna and Britney Spears made out at the VMA’s. If that happened now it’d just be gross.

LastTimeUWBeatUO, Priest Holmes was a near-unanimous 1^st draft pick in fantasy football. Holmes went on to break Marshall Faulk’s NFL record for total touchdowns in a season in 2003 with 27.

LastTimeUWBeatUO, Massachusetts became the first state to offer legal marriage to same-sex couples.

LastTimeUWBeatUO, no one had ever heard of a facebook. Mark Zuckerberg launched “Thefacebook” on February 4, 2004.

Arizona State ran a nasty political ad against the Duck, also known as Puddles, also known as Donald because he is Donald Duck based off a handshake with Walt Disney.  The bash was part of their attempt to blackout the game against Oregon on Thursday, October 18th.

At the beginning of September, “the Duck,” as he’s being rebranded by the school, announced his run for Presidency with Jerry Allen serving as translator.  So far he has promoted the use of bread crumbs instead of pretzels and the Free Gummy Bears initiative.  All of those videos are posted below.

The Ducks immediate response was caught on film earlier today in The Duck 2012 offices.  It is pretty self explanatory.

The Duck doesn’t care.  Photo by Steve Dykes.

Oregon’s pink helmets that look real and we could see Saturday.

via @jsizzlesports and retweeted by Rob Moseley, it appears that Oregon has a set of pink helmets in the works.

While I’ve been hoping for years that Oregon will wear the retro uniforms that Kenny Wheaton wore when he made “The Pick” against Washington, this is a good second place.

October is breast cancer awareness month and this month you will see all the NFL teams wear pink in various places, such as on shoes, towels, gloves, and patches on the uniforms.  It appears that  Oregon will join them, wearing white helmets with pink O’s, facemasks, and swooshes and letters on the helmet.

It may be a little audacious to think that Oregon will also bust out all pink uniforms.  The helmets could be part of a white-green- white color combination, or any other color matched with white pants.  The white pants I think are a must because any other color would look a little ridiculous with a white helmet.  I know this because I play a lot of NCAA football.

Ideally Oregon has pink jerseys with, dare I say, black numbers?  A bold move for sure, but black numbers would be awesome.  White numbers would also be amazing and beggars can’t be choosers.

[Update] The photo is from an ebay posting.  While initially I didn’t think they would use these uniforms for Washington on a Saturday night prime time game, we could see these against Colorado when on one is watching on television and the helmets would be a way to get coverage, while also being nice.

Kenny Wheaton’s pick is made more significant because it happened against the Huskies. The Huskies are starting to reclaim conference contender status, but Oregon needs to continue the winning streak over Washington.

Welcome to hate week, Duck fans.  While the rivalry has lost its luster to the newer members of the Oregon fan base, don’t confuse that with a lack of intensity.  Sure, Washington hasn’t beaten Oregon since 2003, and it has been over 3,000 days since Washington won, but if there is one team that Ducks want to beat, it is the Washington Huskies.

In the middle of the summer I was even thinking about this game.  I was thinking about how it would be close, even though Washington would probably have an even record.  Then I thought to myself about the winning streak.  I took this thought one step further, knowing that anybody born on October 30, 2004 is living in a world where the Ducks have never lost to Washington.  Anyone just under the age of eight has never had to go through a year of Husky fans rubbing it in Oregon’s fan’s faces.  This is the world I would like to live in.

This year the game will feature a Washington team that has just beaten a top-10 Stanford team at home on a Thursday.  They have improved since their blowout loss at LSU and their defense looks much better under new defensive coordinator, Justin Wilcox.  (Wilcox is a Duck who graduated in 1999.  Guess they couldn’t beat Oregon so they had to pick up a former player to try and slow Oregon’s offense)

Oregon currently holds the record for the longest winning streak in the rivalry but is still behind in the overall record between the two teams.  I will not rest happily until Oregon takes the lead.

There’s been a growing complacency amongst Oregon fans, at least the twenty-five and under crowd.  It’s not even arguable.  Too many people are leaving the game early and Autzen isn’t reaching nearly the volume it did pre-2009.  I don’t think Autzen will ever be like it was in 2007, or even before the Duck’s 2009 Rose Bowl run and dominance in the conference under Chip Kelly’s tenure.  This can be best seen in the lack of hate towards Washington, which frankly is disgusting.  A couple years ago I wrote this:

“A few weeks ago I was talking with another Duck fan after blasting Portland State.  Eventually we got to the topic of which PAC-10 teams we like to beat up on the most.  His response was Oregon State.  My response was Washington.  I then asked where he would place Washington on the list, surprised it wasn’t at the top.  His response?  Fifth.  After Oregon State, USC, Stanford, and Arizona.

He then said, ‘You must be from out of state because you want to beat Washington the worst.’

This shocked me.  As a duck fan all my life and being completely unaware of when my fandom began because it was before my first memory, to think that someone would want to beat another team more than the Huskies was stunning.  I can understand having a hard time picking between Oregon State and Washington, but deep down you have to pick Washington.

Oregon State may be Oregon’s rival, but Washington is the enemy.”

These words still hold true.  I hate Washington.  I hate Washington with every fiber of my being.  Oregon State is the in-state rival and the Civil Wars of the late 2000’s were fantastic, but there is a healthy friendship among fans.  (This Civil War is looking like it will be a great one)  Two reasonable fans from both sides can argue about each other’s program and still come away laughing.  That doesn’t happen with Washington fans.

Washington fans dislike Oregon fans a lot.  Personally, they think that we are crazy delusional about the Ducks.  What’s funny is the same could be said about them loving the Huskies.  Whenever the Beavers play someone, I want them to win.  I want good things to happen to Oregon State.  I wish nothing good upon Washington.  I hope they lose every game.  If for some reason the PAC-12 had to kick a team out I would vote for Washington and defend every other team to the end.

I want to go back a second to the statement that the Duck fan made towards me.  “You must be from out of state, because you want to beat Washington the worst.”  First off, I have lived in Oregon my whole life.  Second off, is this what Oregon fans have become?  Disassociated with Oregon’s abysmal football past that they don’t remember what the Huskies represent for Oregon?

Think of Oregon State as Oregon’s little brother (with all due respect).  They don’t have all the money, they don’t have all the cool clothes, and are always looking for attention but have to compete against the recent star with the worlds largest sport brand guiding it.  Is it fun beating up on a little brother?  Yes.  Does it stink when you lose to them?  Yes.  However, you’re still brothers, it’s a healthy rivalry.

On the other hand, Washington is the kid in your grade who for years beat you at everything.  Got better grades, won more awards, pancaked you in football, had the hotter girlfriend, everything.  Do you want to beat this kid in everything?  Yes.  Does it stink when you lose?  More than stinks, it sucks.  It really sucks.  It blows.

Washington has fallen on hard times.  They’ve had a collection of poor coaches, horrible player development, and many losing seasons.  In 2008 they didn’t win a single game.  You know who was happiest about this?  Me.  That 2008 Washington team is one of my favorite teams in sports, with the 2001/2007 Oregon football teams, the 2004/07 Red Sox, the 1992 Dream Team, and the 1980 Olympic hockey team.

Fans may say they don’t care about the Washington rivalry anymore, but they should.  They should take great pride and pleasure in beating the crap out of the team that used to dominate Oregon for decades.  DECADES.  You know in The Karate Kid where Daniel LaRusso learns karate to beat up the bullies that attacked him, and then beats up them up at the end of the movie?  You remember how good that felt and triumphant the kid felt?  That’s what it should feel like when Oregon beats Washington.

Oregon has gotten better coaches, players, and facilities, and is now beating up the Huskies.  Now, as a fan, you’re telling me you no longer care about being bullied for years, just because we are beating them up so easily the last few years?  That’s just wrong, we should all be stoked we are beating them this badly.

You want some specifics about the Oregon-Washington rivalry?  This should help with the hate.

The hate began in 1948, when Washington got Montana to vote for Cal to go to the Rose Bowl.  Cal and Oregon had tied that year in Pacific Coast Conference (which the PAC-10 has now claimed as an earlier version of itself) and a vote was held.  Northwest schools were supposed to vote for Oregon and the California schools were supposed to vote for Cal.  However, Washington decided to vote for Cal and got Montana to join.  Dicks.

My grandpa has told me the story of the night this happened.  Apparently there wasn’t a dry bar in all of Eugene.  There were riots.  Bigger riots than the riot that freshmen started the weekend before the first day of school two years ago.  Riots with a clearer purpose than the occupy movement outside of the Wall Street.  Allegedly, Duck fans drove up to the Washington campus and started a riot there.  You may argue that this event took place 63 years ago, and this would be correct, but people don’t forget.  You know the kid in Superbad that pissed his pants in the third grade?  Seth and Evan didn’t forget about it even though it happened eight years prior.  Duck fans shouldn’t forget about Washington screwing us out of the Rose Bowl in 1948.  Because it was horeshit.

The next year Washington said they didn’t want to come to Eugene, but it was cool if we still went up there.  Playing in Portland wasn’t too bad of a drive though and when the PCC conference shifted to the AAWU it looked like Oregon was going to be left out.  Washington didn’t care.  Seriously, fuck these guys.

Some retribution was made though when a pay for play scandal showed up in Seattle.  The dean of the UO Law School was the lead prosecutor of the case and found that Washington was guilty of providing money to players via a slush fund.  I wish I could shake Orlando Hollis’ hand, because he’s an Oregon hero.  Induct him in to the hall of fame.

Then there was the 1962 matchup when Oregon receiver Larry Hill was tackled in the end zone during what would have been a game-winning touchdown by Washington fans who rushed the field.  Can you imagine if this happened today?  The fans would’ve gotten tackled before he got five feet away from the wall and run the risk of getting tazered.

In 1973 a bad Oregon team beat Washington in Eugene 58-0.  This is like if today’s Colorado beat Oregon by that score.  The next year, in 1974, Husky head coach, Coach Owens, beat the Ducks 66-0 and played his starters deep in to the game, which resulted in the starting running back separating his shoulder and his quarterback breaking an ankle.

I wasn’t alive during these years, but have had Ducks close to me tell me how awful these years were.  In a sense I was brainwashed to hate the Huskies from birth.  It’s a responsibility of every hard-core duck fan to hate the Huskies.  It is your civic duty.  I’ve found it is an easy way to distinguish true fans from bandwagoners and the ignorant.  I feel sorry for the latter.

There were also all the times Washington just crushed the Ducks in consecutive seasons.  In 1995 the Washington coach campaigned to go to the Cotton Bowl over Oregon, a campaign that ultimately failed, but hey, they tried.  For that, I will not forget.  Especially when the Ducks had beaten them head-to-head in Seattle.  I’ll be the first one to say that Oregon fans are ridiculous, and at times obnoxious.  I will always say that Washington is worse.

Now imagine for a second that the coach you hated the most, signed on to coach the team you hated the most.  Basically if Lane Kiffin decided to coach Washington.  Or if Rick Neuheisel was selected to coach Washington again.  (This idea just got me really excited.  Those were great years, when my least favorite coach was coaching my least favorite team.)  Rick Neuheisel, the guy who calls for fake punts when up three touchdown as the coach of Colorado, and then talks back to Mike Bellotti with a, “Scoreboard, Baby!” comment after a 51-43 bowl in a 1998 bowl win.  DON’T YOU EVER TALK BACK TO MIKE BELLOTTI!  DON’T YOU EVER!  It was the best times when Bellotti kicked the crap out of those Husky teams, killing two birds with one stone.

Lastly, you know how they always show the Kenny Wheaton interception as the final highlight before the Ducks run on the field?  There’s a reason why that play changed Oregon football forever.  It was against Washington.  Washington was holding the Ducks down for years, and Kenny Wheaton turned around the whole conference with his pick.  It was the greatest statement play of all time.  If the same play happened against Washington State, Oregon State, or Arizona State, it wouldn’t have had the same impact.  The pick sealed the deal against the conference power, Washington, and sparked the rest of the 1994 season that would end with a trip to the Rose Bowl.  Each program has been moving in an opposite direction since the play.  Last year when these teams played and Oregon beat Washington, Oregon had a .711 winning percentage with a record of 150-61 since the play and Washington was sitting at .493, with a record of 101-104.

A win is highly probable, but there is some risk this year with Washington looking better with a defensive coordinator that is a Duck, and was the defensive coordinator at Boise State in 2009.  They have showed they can beat a really good team.  Keith Price is a dangerous quarterback and the Huskies have a talented secondary.  It may sound on the surface like losing to Washington won’t be that bad, but they are a good team and could end up controlling their own future in the PAC-12 North.  Also, as fans, having to hear from a Husky fan base that beat Oregon for the first team since 2003 would be the worst thing imaginable.  I put it to you Greg!  To share this post with your friends, to educate everyone on why the hate for Washington is not only important, but necessary.

The Ducks owe it to every former team that didn’t beat Washington.  Back when Oregon had to give away tickets to football games because no one showed up, before the Joey Harrington billboard in Times Square, and before Oregon was on SportsCenter almost every day.  Washington was beating Oregon easily and consistently.  Now it’s time to get back at them.

Fans owe it to Norm Van Brocklin, who was robbed of a 1948 trip to the Rose Bowl, Larry Hill when he should have had the game winning touchdown catch against the Huskies in 1962, and every other Oregon team bullied by the Huskies.  We should always enjoy beating the schoolyard bully, and the enemy.

Never forget, keep the hate, and fuck the Huskies.

Please:  Love the passion and the hate with the comments, but let’s be a little more sensible with what we post.  I’ve edited a few down already and can’t approve a few because of the content.  Share your fan-hatred by all means, but think a little more on the language.

As one of the most exciting players to watch in college football, the media has been following De’Anthony Thomas ever since his awe inspiring Rose Bowl performance. To add to last week’s Sport Illustrated Magazine cover, this week De’Anthony Thomas was interviewed on ESPN’s College Gameday. The interview highlights Thomas’ rise from the Snoop Youth Football League, and Snoop Lion himself makes an appearance to defend De’Anthony as the original Black Mamba, before Kobe Bryant. College Football fans across the nation tune in every week to see where the Mamba will strike next. As the season continues, Thomas has been considered alongside Geno Smith (QB for West Virginia) as early Heisman favorites.

To see the full video, click on the photo above.