It may be true that sometimes good things fall apart so that better things can fall apart. But after a frustrating, silly and sloppy performance by the Oregon Ducks on Saturday, it seems like an illusion.
So many questions today, but I’ll start with the big one: What did we just watch?
Oregon blew a defensive pass cover, then doubled down with an aiming ejection, a frustrated kickoff return and a muffled punt return. The attack coughed the ball. The defense failed to leave the field.
The state of Iowa held up well with a 34-17 win at the Fiesta Bowl.
No disrespect for the nine-win Cyclones, but they moved on like one of those disciplined old Stanford uniforms, making solid plays while watching with delighted eyes as the Ducks helped their most sloppy football of the season.
Three fumbles. An interception. The quarterbacks of two Ducks entering and leaving the game with no apparent logic. I was surprised that coach Mario Cristobal did not cover his eyes with the mask in the fourth period. There was no doubt that Iowa State was the most experienced and disciplined team, but Oregon just played dull football.
“We obviously don’t play according to our standard,” said Cristobal. “It is an execution game and, in critical situations, we do not train or execute well enough. But we suffer losses as a team; we don’t point the finger. “
Final Ducks record: 4-3.
They also deserved it.
I could list a long line of excuses for the loss, looking at the ongoing pandemic and the expensive preseason deactivations. I can point out that the OU was the least experienced team in America this season. But it’s too late in the season for apologists to think and I’m already focused on 2021.
Cristobal and his team needed to get better and more efficient production on Saturday. If there is no course correction decided off-season, the Ducks will enter the next football season and be ridiculed in Ohio in week 2.
There are 245 days until the opening of the 2021 season against Fresno State at Autzen Stadium. One Saturday after that, the Ducks go to Columbus to play against a Buckeyes team that will enter the season set for the college football playoff. I hear a lot about Oregon wanting to create a physical and sensational football identity. I see the recruitment rankings. I like the message, but on Saturday, I didn’t see anything on the field that mirrored that.
This has to change this off season.
Less talk. More action.
In addition, the Ducks must choose a starting quarterback. Offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead took Anthony Brown Jr. and Tyler Shough on and off the field as if he had pulled two sports jackets from the nearest one and couldn’t decide which one to wear. I kind of hoped he would just throw them out there at some point. Because the net result was a complete loss of offensive pace.
I like Shough. But not while he is coming back to pass while looking over his shoulder. The same goes for Brown, who looks as calm and comfortable as a guy reading a magazine on a park bench when he’s in the stream. But the two defenders pressed hard in the second half on Saturday, as if they were in an autumn camp fighting for a snap. It was a horrendous shot failure by the Oregon coach and ended up being a terrible distraction.
If you’re like me, you woke up on Saturday wondering if Oregon would make a statement about your place in college football. The Fiesta Bowl was the perfect stage. Iowa looked like the top-ranked team in the country that Oregon could still beat. It was set up very well for the Ducks.
So instead of taking a trophy, they tripped over themselves.
Fumbles happen. Sometimes interceptions do as well. I’m more concerned with the overall clumsy feeling of the performance. It was like watching an old friend show up for a coffee meeting, his hair disheveled, his stubble unshaven, his shirt undone, splashing things all over his body. You kind of wonder what’s going on and then settle down to hear about it. You know, see if you can help.
Ducks need to help each other.
I love Oregon’s talent, but I hate the team’s lack of leadership on the pitch. It is up to Cristobal and his coaching staff to promote it before the next season. The trajectory is there if the Ducks want to merge into the type of team that wants to grab it and do great things. But it will take a huge off-season effort on the part of players and coaches to join the candidates in college football.
After the game, Cristobal pointed out that the state of Iowa reminded him of his 2019 Ducks team. That unit, led by quarterback Justin Herbert and an experienced offensive line, won the Rose Bowl title. He’s right. The cyclones were prepared and experienced. They played smart and did very little to help the Ducks. It was a recognizable advantage.
I believe in what Cristobal is building. When he was hired, I predicted that he had made it to the playoff in the first five seasons. Next year is number 4. In the next eight months, Oregon needs to solve its football sins and be real to itself about what it will take to make the leap for the rival.
Cristobal arrived in Oregon from Alabama, where they tell each other the truth of football and win very well all the time. I watched the disjointed performance of the Ducks on Saturday and I couldn’t help thinking about what Paul “Bear” Bryant used to say to people when they asked how he built his empire.
“I told them that my system was based on the ‘ant plan’,” said Bryant once, “that I had the idea of observing an ant colony during the war.
“A lot of ants working towards a common goal.”
That’s why Cristobal’s post-game quote – “we lost as a team”- stayed with me. He is an avid reader, especially training biographies and motivational books written by former Navy SEALs. Cristobal is turned inward. He will be able to handle the defeat with more difficulty than anyone, but the OU coach needs to know that there is a lot of off-season work and difficult fixes to make.
The fading of the second half in the loss to Oregon State was one of the few disappointing low points for Oregon this season. Another was the inability to score more than 17 points in the loss to Cal. But Saturday’s Fiesta Bowl flop was a complete mental and physical breakdown.
Out of character?
I hope we can say that one day. Oregon being defeated on the pitch is one thing. What I didn’t like was how the Ducks seemed scattered and empty doing this.
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