Bleacher Report - Articles by Kyle

Best Quotes By Beaver Fans at The Civil War

Kyle — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 10:18:31 -0500

I actually was at home watching it on TV. But a friend who was there told me he heard all these statements...

15. Who’s this Masoli guy? I thought they only ran the ball. Apparently our coaches thought so as well.

14. Okay throw the roses away. Anyone have sunflowers?

13. Well with only a few more touchdowns the game could have looked respectable.

12. It’s just not fair being forced to tackle one on one.

11. Our third-string running back is as good as Oregon’s Johnson and Blount. Quizz Rodgers is also the next Barry Sanders.

10. In my opinion John Canzano is one of the best sports writers in America.

9. I always complained that we need to market our team like Oregon does. Now I’m glad we don’t.

8. Phil Knight totally bought off the refs.

7. Phil Knight is the only reason they are winning.

6. Phil Knight totally bought off Mike Riley.

5. Honestly, I’m not paranoid of Phil Knight.

4. In my opinion, we’re still a pretty underrated football team.

3. I still don’t think beating USC was a fluke.

2. I’m confused, I thought The Oregonian told me we’d win because blue collar teams that work hard work hard and play gritty will never lose to stylish primadonnas that only care about publicity and don’t ever accomplish anything on the field.

Best quote overheard:

1. Honestly, I didn’t care about making it to the Rose Bowl.

Anyone overhear anything else?

Maui: Is the Future Bright For Oregon Ducks Basketball?

Kyle — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:47:27 -0500

First things first, I expected the Ducks to get beaten easily by a more physical and experienced Alabama team in the first game.

Since they wound up blowing them out, I have to say... no matter the result of the other two games...this tourney was a success for the Ducks. We watched a young team grow by leaps and bounds.

A few things I have to mention...

I believe for the first time in the EK era we will actually have big men who win games for us, not just lose them. That's crazy! Dunigan is the real deal and ready to play.

I had doubts about his ability to perform against good teams, but after watching him in Maui, I have no doubt he will be a force come Pac-10 season. Crittle is a beast and with a little bit of polish he and MD will be a force next year.

The play of Dunigan is also huge for Kent recruiting other big men to come and play at Oregon. In the past I'm sure any half-decent big man that the Ducks were fighting to recruit would be told by any other coach, "Hey don't go to Oregon, Ernie has never sent a player over 6-6 to the NBA."

Well, I think that knock on the program is just about over. This bodes very well for the future.

Garrett Sim is impressive. He took a few ill-advised shots, but so did everyone else. He seems calm under defensive pressure, knows how to run the offense, and I think if he learns how to attack the hoop a la Ridnour we're going to have a star at PG.

In three years a starting line-up with Garrett Sim, Mike Humphrey, Teondre Williams, Josh Crittle, and Mike Dunigan (please stay) will be an competing for the Pac-10 championship.

I love Tajuan Porter, but you can't deny he hurts more then he helps. He's a huge liability defensively. He is too easy to shoot over, and he gets lost on way to many screens. And right now he is not even scoring.

Everyone says he needs a strong PG to play off of, and I agree with that, but I also think there is more to it than that. A player like Porter is almost more of a supplement to the offense than he is the offense.

In 2006-07, the team had an offensive identity that didn't go through Porter, so he was just able to take advantage of what other defenses would give him. It wasn't forced, and it didn't have to be because other teams were concerned with Brooks, Hairston, Leunen, and Taylor.

It's really very simple. Porter can't create and that's why I think he shouldn't be starting. He should come off the bench, which will force the Ducks to create an offensive identity not going through him, and then he can come off the bench and give the Ducks an offensive spark when needed.

It'll take pressure off of him and give him a better chance to have an impact in the way we need him to. Ernie will never do this unless things get really bad, but he's holding the team back and we will be a better team in the long run if he does.

LeKendric Longmire can be a star, but he needs to grow three inches, and if he was three inches taller, he'd probably be playing for Duke. Dang.

Did the Ducks ever make the defense rotate and take advantage in this entire tournament? It seemed like the Ducks whole offense was either dumping it down low, driving recklessly into the heart of the defense, or jacking up a three off of a screen.

How about they use a double screen, swing the ball around, and force the D to play catch up while we hit the open man?

A lesson in patience I guess.

Duck Fans Suffocating in Smug over Oregon State

Kyle — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 12:56:55 -0500

Walking around Eugene today, I noticed that my feet were dragging a bit. The good ol' Nikes feel just a tad heavier on my feet, rare for my green and yellow Air Pegasus+ 25 SE iDs. The air also seems a little bit denser, a little harder to breathe in. It’s thick, and I know exactly why.

I'm suffocating in smug.

Thank you, Beaver fans.

Thank you for informing me that your 8-3 ToD (Team of Destiny) is so vastly superior to my 8-3 team that the Rose Bowl is pretty much a foregone conclusion.

Please stop acting like God himself told you that the Beavers are going to annihilate the Ducks in every facet of the game this weekend. You'd think you'd try to keep your hubris in line due to the stakes of the game.

But no, you come out and waste so much space on any Beaver/Duck-related message board that any coherent message is lost in the deep abyss of Beaver arrogance.

Take this blog entry, for example, at Building the Dam.

When you write something as laughable as, "Heck, our 3rd string running back had 60 receiving yards in the last game, which is more than LaGarrette Blount has had all season, so tailback is clearly a position where the Beavers have an overwhelming advantage in depth and overall talent." I cannot for the life of me think that you wrote that sentence actually believing it.

And, really, there is not a single sentence that you can ever type again that will have any ounce of credibility with me. I’ll never stop, pause, and say to myself, "Hey maybe he has a point." You’re losing the argument in horrendous fashion when Mr. Beaver Believer himself—John Canzano—is completely and utterly disagreeing with you.

Normally, I try to keep myself out of the oh-my-God-someone-is-wrong-on-the-Internet mindset, but it’s just too much.

Please. Stop the hubris, stop the smug sense of self-satisfaction and reveling in your team-of-destiny's inevitable march toward the Rose Bowl.

You know, I had a ToD once. A ToD season with national championship aspirations (bigger than the Rose Bowl, perhaps?). Then we had injuries to Paysinger, Colvin, Johnson, Costa, Bacon, Matthews, Leaf, and uh...oh yea, Dixon. That ToD became ToD to the Sun Bowl.

So, as a Duck fan, I've played the BCS what-if parlour game before. We had the seasons of 2000, 2001, 2005 and 2007. I know that this is your first flirtation with a BCS bowl since the thug-life season of 2000. It's been a pretty lean decade for you. I understand why you're pumped.

But, please, take some advice from a Duck homer who has been there before—this game has a funny way of humbling you.

Pac-10: We've Got Excuses!

Kyle — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 07:04:26 -0400

Ok, ok, so maybe this weekend didn’t turn out as good as Pac-10 fans would have hoped. But honestly, it wasn’t that bad. There are reasonable excuses for each loss, and it’s pretty awesome that the Pac-10 has a chance to maybe be as good as the Big East or at the very worst the Mountain West Conference. Those are two behemoth power conferences with a history of domination over mid-major competition and we shouldn’t be ashamed of it.

First let’s talk about the UCLA and Washington losses.

There is really no reason to pay attention to the final score.

Often when a ranked team only beats an unranked team by a few points you’ll hear the coach say things like, “a win is a win” and “come January no one will remember the score”.

So why doesn’t that also apply to a loss? Sure UCLA and Washington were completely annihilated, but a loss is a loss right? It’s only one game. Who cares what the final score is!

Kudos to UCLA and Washington for not letting pride get in the way these losses. They obviously realized in the first quarter of each game that there was no hope in winning and therefore, why exert the effort? Get ready for next week. Final score be damned.

So yes, UCLA and Washington lost, but I’m not interested in the final score and you shouldn’t be either.

What about Washington State?

Well every conference has the ugly-step-child-I-won’t-pay-any-attention-to team. For the Pac-10 this team is Washington State. As far as I’m concerned they didn’t even play this weekend. And since every conference has a team like this, (hello Big 12’s Baylor!) it all cancels each other out. I mean seriously, who did they even play this week???

And Stanford?

They played TCU this week and LaDainian Tomlinson is a beast. No one should have expected a win. I’ll bet money LT becomes a serviceable NFL back one day.

California?

Jet lag. You can’t expect college students to be awake for a 9 am game. Hell, I went through college only taking TWO classes that started before 10am. Yes, yes, yes, Cal should have beat Maryland, but seriously 9 am? You can’t blame them for losing. Saturdays are made for sleeping-in and Cal was merely keeping its priorities in order.

As for ASU and ‘Zona?

So Arizona St. loss to UNLV team that only beat Utah St. by 10 points. Utah St. lost to Oregon 66-24. The only thing this goes to show is that Oregon is a really frickin’ good football team.

Arizona St was ranked 15th in the nation and since pollsters are never wrong this only proves how awesome the Ducks are. Arizona St. has a coach that wins everywhere he goes and one of the Pac-10s best QBs in Rudy Carpenter. Damn UNLV is good. What conference are they in? The SEC?

‘Zona…well I mean it could have been worse. They could have lost like 59-0 or something but they only lost 28 to 36. So it was a close one, and I’ll give them a moral victory since nothing was really expected of them this year.

Now what about the power of the conference?

It’s obvious the power of the Pac-10 resides in the state of Oregon…like usual.

The Beavers beat a team only a season removed from playing in the Sugar Bowl. I’ve been told that Hawaii has most of their talent back this season, so this is a big statement win for the Pac-10. Way to go Beavs!

Oregon beat a Big Ten power with their fifth-string QB. Yes I call Roper fifth string because most Oregon fans haven’t moved on from last season. We miss you Dennis.

But really fifth string—and it was like the Ducks weren’t even trying. Lulz. Oregon rocks.

Not all the power in the Pac-10 resides in Oregon though. Those plucky USC Trojans are still trying to make a name for themselves. They’re going to have to do more than beat a crap team like Ohio St. though. I think the jury is still out. I’m confident that by the end of the season USC will be pretty good.

So with Oregon, Oregon St., and USC carrying the banner for the Pac-10 conference we are in good hands. We shouldn’t expect anything less than being considered maybe the fifth or sixth best conference in the country.

Oregon Ducks: Top 10 Defeats of the Past Decade, Part III

Kyle — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 08:00:03 -0400

Take a deep breath…

3. 2000: OREGON 13 – OREGON STATE 23

Hey remember the last time anyone on a national level cared about the Beavers? You know, the last time their late-season success had BCS bowl implications? Yea that was eight whole years ago.

It happened to coincide with Oregon’s best shot for the Rose Bowl since 1995.

The long history of the Civil War is more likely to be noted for its…long history, as opposed to matching up CFB heavyweights with any regularity. The 2000 season was not any regular season though.

The power of the conference tilted to the north with Oregon, Oregon State, and Washington dominating every other Pac-10 school. The big-three would wind up sharing the conference title. It may be a very long time before we see another result like that for the Pacific Northwest schools.

Coming in to the Civil War, Oregon controlled its destiny. Win and it’s on to the Rose Bowl. Lose and watch Washington, whom the Ducks beat 23-16 earlier in the season, take the trip to Pasadena.

The only thing in fifth-ranked Oregon’s way was Dennis Erickson’s rent-a-thug team, also known as the ninth-ranked Oregon State Beavers.

Most Oregon fans remember this game for Oregon shooting itself in the foot at every turn. Joey Harrington picked a bad time to have his worst game in his collegiate career by throwing five picks and completing only 24 of 46 passes.

The team as a whole decided do their best OSU impression by getting penalized 12 times for 132 yards. Many of those penalties resulted in extending OSU drives.

Even with all the penalties, turnovers, and general sluggishness Oregon found itself on the OSU 10 yard line, down by 10, midway through the fourth quarter. It was the kind of situation that Harrington normally excelled at.

Not in this game though—Harrington would drop back for a pass, get blindsided from behind, fumble the football, and our Rose Bowl dreams faded into an orangeish-blackish haze of pompous arrogance.

You may not remember: OSU would let this game catapult them into a decade of over-achieving low expectations. But hey even the kids on the short bus need goals.

2. 2007: OREGON 24 – ARIZONA 34

Ug. I really don’t want to write about this game. The wounds are too fresh.

Even though Oregon still had two games to go after the Arizona game you just knew, you knew that if Dennis Dixon stays healthy, Oregon would be in the national title game. It took no stretch of the imagination.

Oregon’s offense was just that dominant. Heck, it was dominant even with Dixon playing the first quarter on one good leg. He was still the best player on the field. He just couldn’t plant and move sideways, and when he did the weight of Oregon’s dreams came crashing down with him.

It just wasn’t right. It wasn’t right for Oregon to lose in a way that had nothing to do with losing to the better team on the field that day. It had nothing to do with being outplayed. It was just that one player was so spectacular an entire team crumpled with him when he fell.

Oregon’s defense completely dominated Arizona except for a stretch in the second quarter when they were trying to get over the shock of Dixon’s injury. I’ll forever believe that if Dixon’s teammates knew the extent of his injury before the game they could have better prepared themselves for losing him and had a good chance to still win the game.

I’ve got nothing more to add on this one.

You may not remember: I think we remember it all too clearly.

1. 2001: STANFORD 49 – OREGON 42

Numero uno. The most epic loss in Oregon history.

I won’t lie I did consider putting the Arizona loss No. 1, as I’m still more upset about that one, but I had to recognize that if Oregon withstands Stanford’s fourth quarter rally they’re playing for the national title. No ifs, ands, or buts. It’s the only blemish on an otherwise perfect season.

Stanford shouldn’t have had the ability to win this game. Stanford was playing at Autzen when the Ducks owned the nation’s longest home winning streak. They were playing with their back-up QB. They were down 42-28 going into the fourth quarter.

Also let's not forget Oregon had QB Joey Harrington, who legend has it, at the age of four taught John Elway the art of the comeback.

Stanford obviously needed a few lucky bounces for this game to go their way.

The two things I remember the most: Stanford WR Teyo Johnson picking footballs off the top of CB Rashad Bauman’s helmet over and over again for big gains, and those two freaking blocked punts in the fourth quarter.

Oregon lore masters tell me that it was the same special teams player responsible for missing a block that led to the two crucial blocks, one of which resulted in getting Stanford within a touchdown.

The other play the game hinged on was Oregon’s decision to run a pass play on third and one at their own 30 with the lead at 42-41. Harrington was hit as he was throwing and the ball floated into the hands of DE Marcus Hoover. Stanford would get a TD and a two-point conversion on the ensuing possession.

I’ll never forget the ball bouncing out of the end zone on Harrington’s last incomplete pass attempt on fourth down with the clock expiring. I was in absolute shock; I just couldn’t accept that the clock had 00:00 on it.

The finality of the game was hard to accept and its importance would loom large as the 2001 BCS fiasco unfolded.

You may not remember: In 1995 Stanford came into Autzen and beat the Ducks 28-21. The loss would keep Oregon from repeating as Pac-10 champs and making a return trip to the Rose Bowl. Just who the hell do they think they are?

Oregon Ducks: Top 10 Defeats of the Past Decade - Part II

Kyle — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 06:00:54 -0400

Onward!

7. 2006: OREGON 25 – CAL 45

With the Cal, USC, and ASU games in 2007 receiving national attention in a completely different stratosphere as Duck fans are accustomed to, it’s easy to forget that just a season before, the Oregon—Cal match-up received almost as much hype as the Cal—Oregon match-up in 2007.

Both games matched-up top 15 teams, both games were broadcast on ABC, and both games were perceived to be a knock-out round to see which team was going to challenge USC for the title.

Of course, Game Day was missing for the 2006 tilt…so let’s emphasize almost here.

What really gets to me about this loss is how Dennis Dixon’s season went straight down the toilet after it. Dixon was starting to get attention on a national scale as a top tier QB after his performance against Oklahoma, but then he ran into a 16^th ranked Golden Bear team.

This Cal team seemed to know every play, every audible, every decision that Dixon was going to make. He finished 20-36 for 236 yards and three picks on the day, including his first pass of the game. He was never the same the rest of 2006.

Lots of people blame Gary Crowton for Dixon’s 2006 performance. I think we can blame Jeff Tedford as well (and his spies).

Of course, it wasn’t just Dixon that tanked. The entire team gave up on the season after it was obvious a Pac-10 title wasn’t there to fight for anymore.

In my mind, the 2006 season can be summed up in two games. Oregon 24 – Cal 45 and Oregon 8 – BYU 38. One game is really just an extension of the other.

Oh, there was also that interesting Oregon win versus Oklahoma…but that’s another story (mu ha ha ha).

You may not remember: Jonathan Stewart sucked too. He ran for 25 yards on 18 carries. There was absolutely no excuse for Snoop not to run for at least 1,000 in 2006, but he didn’t.

I’ll go ahead and put another heaping pile of blame on Mr. Crowton. Take that Gary! You go win your national championship somewhere else!

6. 2007: CAL 31 – OREGON 24.

NO CAM NO! DON’T DO IT! DON’T STICK OUT THE FOOTBA….. AH #@$%. GOD @#$@ PI#$%#$ OF *&$.

To be fair to Colvin, I wasn’t really thinking that as he stuck out the ball. I’d have done it too- being only a yard away from the end zone.

What irks me is that the Ducks had so much going for them in this game.

A chance for revenge against Cal. A chance for D Dix to redeem himself. College Football Gameday. Autzen. Chip “your-defense-makes-me-laugh” Kelly.

I really didn’t think the Ducks would lose this game. I mean I knew they could, but in my heart, I didn’t believe it could happen.

In retrospect, what is silly about this game is that the year before the loser of the Oregon-Cal match-up dropped off the face of the planet and decided not to show up for the rest of the season.

Then in 2007, it was the WINNER of this high stakes brouhaha that decided to lay it down.

Silly Cal, don’t you know big wins are for momentum? You’re not supposed to let a win like this catapult you into losing against the Beavers. We almost beat the Beavs with our fifthstring QB, so no excuses about losing Longshore please.

Okay, now it is time we say goodbye to the California Golden Bears. They will make no more appearances on this list. Good riddance.

You may not remember: Dennis Dixon threw only 4 interceptions last season. In my opinion his only LEGIT interception came when he was picked off by a Cal LB at our 30. All the others were tipped or bobbled. You were the man Dennis.

5. 1998: Oregon 38 – UCLA 41 (OT)

The number five and four choices were a tough pick to decide what order to go in. Basically what it came down to for me was which one am I angrier about. When I think about it that way, it’s really not close.

The Oregon-UCLA game was really ground breaking for the program…and you could argue for the Pac-10. It matched-up the No. 2 and No. 11 ranked teams in the nation. College Game Day made their first ever appearance on the west coast for this match-up.

The amount of attention laid upon this game was certainly new to Oregon fans. Please remember that in 98 ESPN didn’t have five channels yet, and the internet was still referred to as the information super-highway.

UCLA was a national title contender in ’98. From ‘97 to ’98, they wound up winning 20 straight games. Oregon went from unranked to a highly ranked offensive juggernaut after Akili Smith decided to play one good season at QB so he could make a quick mil come April.

The ’98 season represented the first time Duck fans could think of themselves as real national title contenders. That all came crashing down after this game.

Oregon stood toe to toe with UCLA and really left it all out on the field. Oregon came back from a 24-7 first half deficit to tie it at 38-38 with 28 seconds left to play.

UCLA’s All-American kicker Chris Sailer had a chance to win it at the end of regulation but missed a 21-yard field goal. In OT, he wouldn’t be denied from 24 yards out and UCLA eked out a win.

Much like the 2007 season the Ducks ’98 season was completely derailed due to injuries—notably Peter Sirmon and Reuben Droughns. Reuben for the first half of the season had arguably the most dominating stretch of performances for an Oregon tailback in the history of the program.

He had rolled up multiple 200 yd. rushing performances and was closing in on 900 yds., rushing in six games. However during this epic UCLA battle, he broke his leg…so that kind of ruined things.

Who knows how many yards he was going to roll up? I think he could have gotten close to 2,000.

After Droughns went down, we were left to the run stylings of Herman Ho-Ching. He was a true master of the run around for 20 yards to gain 2 technique.

This game was definitely not a disappointment in how we lost but more the opportunity lost to do something special.

You may not remember: Oregon finished the season 8-3 and wound up in the Aloha Bowl. Tom Hansen has been screwing the pooch for a long time.

4. 2003: WASHINGTON STATE 55 – OREGON 16

Words cannot describe how embarrassing this game was for the Ducks. It was, dare I say, the most embarrassing loss in the history of the program (Thank you Sports Illustrated).

Oregon made headlines from here to Timbuktu after annihilating No. 2 ranked Michigan on national TV the week before. Sports Illustrated decided to crown the Ducks the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Readers were presented a giddy Jason Fife skipping across the goal line on their magazine cover with the next week’s edition (quack quack).

With the SI crush and jinx in full effect, the eyes of the nation were cast upon the Duck’s next game against Wazzo to see if this team was really as good as SI proclaimed.

After WSU ran out to a 38-2 halftime lead, nearly all questions were answered.

The two things I remember most about this game was the oppressive 95 degree heat and Kellen Clemens and Jason Fife combining for seven interceptions.

I have memories seared into my mind of Clemens and Fife scrambling out of the pocket running for their lives making a last ditch throw-it-across- your-body heaves to be picked off by WSU.

Fife finished the game 8-24 with three picks.

You may not remember: 2003 also featured epic beat downs by ASU (14-59) and Washington (10-42). The Ducks had a lose big or go home mentality I guess.

Next up the Top 3. A true journey into the heart of darkness. It won’t be fun, but when finished we can enter the 2008 campaign humbled. It will make our complete dominance of the conference even more satisfying.

Oregon Ducks: Top 10 Worst Defeats of the Past Decade

Kyle — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:10:54 -0400

Why on Earth would any sane person want to rehash the worst, most gut-wrenching, heart-breaking moments of their most beloved team?

Well, if you can’t learn from the past you’re doomed to repeat it right?

Okay, actually as a fan that doesn’t really matter. But you can’t appreciate highs without experiencing the lows. So with the 2008 college football season close upon us, I believe as a fan (of any team) you should take the time to remember those losses, and gird your loins for another season ahead. For most of us, sadly, it’ll probably end in disappointment. Not for my beloved Ducks however. They are pretty much a lock for the Super Bo…err… Rose Bowl.

A few things to point out – I’m not considering losses in a bowl game. That is the culmination of a season; there are no what-ifs to ponder in a Sun Bowl loss. Bowl games rarely change the direction of the program save for a national title game.

Most losses can either be put into two categories: close losses that hurt because so much was at stake or blow-out losses that exposed a fraud of a football team. High expectations meet harsh reality.

Final note – Cal, you make too many appearances on this list. Go back to sucking please.

So with very little fanfare I present to you - Oregon Ducks: Top 10 Worst Defeats of the Past Decade

10. 2004: INDIANA 30 – OREGON 24

Oh what a very bad omen for a very bad season. This loss is notable for two reasons: one, it’s the only non-conference loss to make the list; two, it’s the only loss on the list where the winning team had ABSOLUTELY no reason to expect to win the game. The Ducks came into the game ranked 24^th in the nation and with high hopes after a strong finish to the 2003 season. Indiana, on the other hand, won two games the season before.

What is remarkable about this game is that the Ducks didn’t lose by more. Kellen Clemens threw three interceptions and the Ducks couldn’t find a punt they didn’t want to fumble. Oregon turned the ball over SEVEN times and only lost by six points. It was the Ducks first non-conference loss at Autzen since 1994 and it would be the start of Mike Bellotti’s only losing season to-date. It was Oregon’s first game of the season and the Ducks were obviously ill-prepared.

You may not remember: Dennis Dixon rushed two times for four yards and threw one pass which fell incomplete. Without a doubt a sign of great things to come.

9. 2002: ARIZONA STATE 45 – OREGON 42

The Joey Harrington era was over, but for the first half of the 2002 season that was no cause for concern. The Ducks started the season 6-0 and everyone was thinking BCS. I remember it now… Oregon doesn’t rebuild, Oregon reloads! Fife for Heisman! Wow Autzen is so much bigger, we’ll never lose here again!

Oh but we will and in spectacular fashion.

For some reason it took six games before a team realized that we were starting two freshmen CBs in Alliotti’s defensive scheme that likes to put them out on an island. ASU took note and QB Andrew Walter threw for a school record 536 passing yards. It really was a ruthless assault on a helpless secondary that once you got over the anger of what you were watching you almost wanted to pity these guys for being embarrassed so badly. But then you went back to anger.

Other teams realized what ASU had discovered and Oregon would go on to win one game the rest of the season. Special blame needs to be placed on defensive coordinator Nick Alliotti. He took way too long to make an adjustment and should have known better than to let the season ride on a group of young CBs not getting much help in a stop-the-run-first defense.

You may not remember: Believe it or not Oregon actually went into halftime with a 21-0 lead.

8. 2004: OREGON 27 – CAL 28

This is the only game on the list where the Ducks weren’t supposed to have a chance to win the game and expectations were low. This game makes the list because of the awful, heart-breaking way in which it was lost.

The Ducks were slowly crawling back from a disastrous 1-3 start to the season. Oregon had won the previous three games and things were turning around. A Sun Bowl berth was a realistic possibility. But Cal was ranked #4 in the nation, and being that the game was at Cal, most Duck fans didn’t really get their hopes up.

Cal had a great D that season and the Ducks offense was meddling. That didn’t stop Oregon from jumping out to a commanding 27-14 first half lead. All of a sudden Duck fans were thinking, screw the Sun Bowl, let’s run the table and get to the Holiday!

WR Keith Allen had other plans.

The solid, but unremarkable Senior WR would leave his lasting impression on the program for all the wrong reasons. The last play of the game came down to a 4^th down last chance shot to get the Ducks into field goal range for a game winning kick.

On the play Keith Allen found himself wide-open. So wide open he could have easily pranced into the end-zone. There was not a defender around him for 20 yards in any direction.

Keith probably realized how wide open he was and freaked out. He dropped the ball that hit him squarely in the hands. Game over. Ducks would lose their final 2 games of the season and stay home come bowl season. Ouch Keith, ouch.

You may not remember: I was actually in the stands for this one. The dropped pass looked worse in person than it did on TV. TV didn’t give you a feel for how wide open he really was.

Coming up…. Losses 7 through 4. Featuring more Cal, and an awful 95 degree day at Autzen Stadium.