Too sloppy. Too many penalties. Not explosive enough on offense. But if we’re pointing out reasons for the lackluster performance by the University of Oregon football team on Saturday, I’m blaming the absence of a program spirit animal.
Cal beat the Ducks 21-17.
Oregon is counterfeit.
Where is the hard-scrabble identity? Where’s the passion? How about the jet-fueled response after being embarrassed by Oregon State a week ago? This was winless Cal, after all. I expected all week that the Ducks would make the Bears regret the City of Berkeley even cleared them to play.
Nope.
Oregon (3-2) looks just like everyone else all of a sudden. Not great, not terrible. Just ordinary. Worse than that, the Ducks play with hollow eyes. That’s evident in two straight losses, both as a clear favorite.
Someone might think about flying ex-Oregon linebacker Troy Dye in for Washington week, cue up “Shout!” and get him a towel to wave on the sidelines. Or summon the great Ted Lasso for a few wise words of inspiration because this UO season has officially hit a swoon. .
Maybe this kind of step-back should have been expected after losing Dye and Justin Herbert to the NFL Draft. Outland Trophy winner Penei Sewell opted out before the season, too. So did Thomas Graham Jr., Jevon Holland and Brady Breeze. That wasn’t just a line of talent walking out, but also, a parade of on-field leadership that took years to grow.
First-year quarterback. All-new offensive line. Five-star recruits are great. But I’ll bet Mario Cristobal would love to have a few more five-year players right now. Because next Saturday the rival Huskies will come to Autzen Stadium and Oregon’s coach may not have a good enough answer.
“I see a team that’s really trying,” Cristobal said. “I see a coaching staff that’s working their tails off. And we haven’t done well enough the last two weeks.”
That’s where Cristobal finds himself today.
Oregon lost its star players, some of them unexpectedly due to the delayed season and pandemic. That created a sudden and clear void of leadership on the roster. The young, talented players are promising, but they’re nowhere near ready to lead. Especially in tight games. Most of the returning players weren’t in leadership roles last season. They looked to Justin Herbert, Dye, Sewell, Holland, Breeze and some others.
Nobody in the conference was hurt by COVID-19 defections as hard as Oregon. Cristobal hasn’t used it as an excuse, but certainly it’s an explanation for what we’re watching. The Ducks are young, inexperienced, and short on the kind of on-field leadership that shows up in the fourth quarter of conference games. I’m also surprised at how soft they are in the trenches.
Still, Oregon held Cal to 1.9 yards per rush — and lost.
The Ducks out-gained the Bears 368-271 — and got beat.
Cristobal’s team averaged 6.1 yards per play — and he ended up with the “L.”
As the fictional Lasso once said: “If you would have told me that I’d be drinking tea at three o’clock everyday… I would have punched you in the mouth.”
The point here isn’t to be an apologist for the UO program’s lack of performance. Just to help explain it. There’s something missing in Oregon’s approach. The penalties, missed assignments and lack of poise in the crunch are symptoms.
Said Cristobal: “We’ve got work to do.”
Oregon can still win the North Division. It might beat Washington and stroll into the conference title game vs. USC. Maybe this blasted season will end with Cristobal lifting the Pac-12 championship trophy, just like he did in 2019. But if that happens, given the trend it will be a miraculous accomplishment.
Noah Sewell? Kayvon Thibodeaux?
They’re both still teenagers.
Tyler Shough?
He threw only 15 passes a year ago.
It’s not like a freshman or sophomore can’t be a leader. But if you’re left relying on a line of them in college football, you’re essentially on a high wire in heavy winds. The Ducks were asked to come up with a response-performance against Cal, and instead, managed 17 anemic offensive points.
Cal isn’t good. Don’t be fooled. Oregon played down and lost. It’s really that simple.
Last season, I watched Oregon beat Washington at Husky Stadium in front of a sold-out stadium. Dye, the senior linebacker, played with a cast on his hand. After the game, he ran around the stadium like the program spirit animal, giving high fives to Ducks’ fans who were leaning over the railing. Then, Dye did something I’ll never forget.
He looked around at the end of the win over UW to see if anyone was watching him. The Huskies were headed to the locker room. Everyone else was focused on getting out of the stadium. Not Dye. He snuck to midfield, plopped himself down on the “W” and performed a snow angel with a giant smile on his face.
That kind of joy takes time to grow.
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