A Disturbing Trend

In June of 2010, I graduated from the University of Oregon. Before graduating from that place of higher education, I considered myself a big fan of their athletic program, and after my time there, I became an even larger fanatic of Ducks Sports. Last night I watched the Oregon Ducks lose in the BCS National Championship game to the Auburn Tigers 22-19. It was a sad sight to see, but one that I was not totally shocked by after watching the entire game. The Oregon Duck Football Team has achieved unbridled success over the past two years, but they have also suffered painful setbacks in two of the biggest games that they have participated in. In those two games (2010 Rose Bowl and 2011 BCS National Championship) I noticed a disturbing trend in how the Ducks played in each game that can be stated in three simple words: They Got Scared.

It seemed in both the Rose Bowl and the BCS Title Game that the brevity of the moment got in the heads of the team and the coaching staff. In a way that is unique to the Oregon Ducks, they have calmly bullied lesser teams into submission with their pace of play and overall talent as a team. Yet in the bowl games, the inherent talent disparity is closed because both Ohio State and Auburn have the same quality of talent that Oregon does if not more (as far as depth is concerned) and the pace of play is less of a surprise to their opponents because those teams had almost a month to five weeks to condition and learn how to play quickly. With those advantages now negated, it comes down to who wants it more and who plays mistake-free football and that is something that Oregon does not do well.

Something that I have mentioned about the New York Jets in the NFL this year is that they are the biggest bullies in the league, but if you punch them in the mouth and prove you are not scared, then the bully begins to cower away and stray from their strength. This is what has happened to the Ducks, they have been punched in the mouth and instead of sticking to their guns and fighting back, they have cowered and try to beat their opponents with deception. A perfect example of this comes from last night's game when the kick return and punt return teams of Oregon were absolutely stuffed by Auburn. Oregon even twice tried to run kick return reverses, which are slow-developing plays that only work if the opposing team is deceived, which almost never happens anymore. The return teams for Oregon were one of the biggest strengths on the entire team and multiple kickoffs were returned for touchdowns throughout the year when the returner caught the ball and just found a hole and ran. Then in the biggest game of the year the Ducks decide to try and run kick return reverses? Why?

The Oregon coaching staff had a tendency to make certain decisions in certain situations, like go for it on fourth down when the ball is too far to kick a field goal and too short to kick an effective punt. Yet those decisions to be aggresive and earn the name of "Big Balls Chip" (which the students of UO graciously call the head coach Chip Kelly) were suddenly gone. On more than one occasion in both the Rose Bowl and the BCS Title Game, Chip and the Ducks coaching staff decided not to go for it on fourth down on the opponent's side of the 50-yard-line and punted. Granted, the Ducks made a couple of aggresive calls, one that worked and one that did not (the fake punt that resulted in a first down which was followed on the same possession with a fourth down run on the one yard line that was stuffed) but there were multiple opportunities for the Ducks to be aggresive and put the pressure on Auburn and Ohio State and the coaching staff got conservative. Along those lines, it seemed that the coaching staff was a little tight, a little scared, and the players always play in the image of the coaching staff, so if the coaches are playing tight and not to lose, then the players will play tight and not to lose. If you play that way, you end up losing.

I think the Ducks could actually win the National Title next year, but there has to be a change in attitude within the coaching staff and with the players. These men have to believe they can beat any team they play when the Ducks play their game. If you don't believe that you can beat any team when you play your game, then you have already lost. It seems to me that when the Ducks score 36 points in the last two bowl games combined (which is 13 points fewer than what they averaged per game in the 2010 season) that the Ducks didn't play their best. At some point, the finger has to be pointed at the Ducks themselves.