A missed block costs Oregon, not the missed kick. Sorry, I don't know the names of the players involved, but one was free and clear along the sideline with a blocker in front. Had the blocker seen the Stanford defender with the angle, he would have slowed up and cut him off, but he didn't see him until it was too late and the runner was forced out of bounds somewhere in the red zone. Several plays later, Oreg. fails on a 4th and 1 and gets 0 points out of the drive. Which brings up another point - as frustrating as it is to sometimes settle for a FG on a 4th and short, it can sometimes be the difference in winning and losing. Now, I know theres no guarantee that the Oregon kicker makes it; especially considering how shaky he's been, but at that point in the game, there wasn't the pressure of a 'miss it and lose' situation like there was in OT. It would have been the higher % call, but you can't fault Chip Kelly for not thinking his O can't pick up a yard or less.
That was DAT not blocking for Mariota,.. but lots of plays could have changed the outcome. I blame kickers because they grind my gears. Many Duck fans think he Kelly should have settled for the FG, but Chip always goes for it in those situations,.. I love his aggressiveness and hope he doesn't change. IMO, Kelly's head coaching inexperience has shown at times. There have only been a few close games, but in crunch time, I think Chip's clock/timeout/play management has been a little shaky, and twice it cost us,.. hopefully this will scare away the NFL for a while.
GDF, good to see you back, sorry about the circumstances. After the heartbreak in Tiger Stadium three weeks ago and LSU no longer controlling its BCS destiny I was pulling for the Ducks to make it to Miami and use the LSU blueprint to stomp the elephant hinie. Oh well, welcome to the "let's hope x happens, let's hope y doesn't happen" phase of your season. Pull up a chair and have a drink.
Happy Thanksgiving GDF! Sorry about the loss. It would have been cool to see the ducks make the big show! I bet the uni's would have been out of this world!
I don't know why Oregon is below Florida and Georgia, I think that was a bit of an overreaction. It should work itself out, and if ND takes care of business its moot.
Georgia,.. our schedule is tougher,.. http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/_/id/61/georgia-bulldogs Florida,.. their schedule is tougher,.. http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/_/id/57/florida-gators Oregon,.. http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/_/id/2483/oregon-ducks I'm fine with being ranked 5,.. we blew it, and we're lucky to still have a chance. Go Ducks, Go Bruins, Go Seminoles, Go USC,.. gag
I'm just repeating what the pundits were saying about why Oregon dropped behind UGA and Florida. Everyone also has conveniently forgotten about the ass-thrashing that UGA took from South Carolina.
I just don't see it, Oregon to me has been and is one of the top teams in the country. They lost to a very good team in overtime by a field goal. This is just my opinion by what I have seen, yes Florida and Georgia play in the SEC and will have a chance to work it out on the field. Oregon should not have dropped below 3 based on their loss. I do not want to see another all SEC championship, that is bullshit. Regardless if the top 5 teams are in the SEC, which I think they are right now. We play it out on the field, then the rest of the country gets a shot at us. They are the only team that should be playing the SEC champ for all the marbles. I think it goes SEC then PAC12 right now. Big 12 is slipping and has been for a while.
