Non-LaGarrette Blount Thoughts on Oregon-Boise State

That's right, I'm taking a break from all things Golden Bears. 

And that's right, I said it: this article will be free of any mention of the name of a certain Ducks running back wearing No. 9.

Anyways, I wanted to start out by setting up my anticipation of this game, which was supposed to be a high scoring shoot-out.

I understand that all college football fans have been deprived of their favorite game for nearly eight months now, but for the past week, I've been trapped in my college apartment with a case of the flu and a broken Internet connection (don't quite know which one's worse).

Last night at around 6:30pm, things finally started to align; my Internet was fixed and I was set to watch an online stream of the contest.

Before the first score of the game, I was witness to two missed field goals by the Broncos and two three-and-outs by the Ducks, and started switching back and forth between glimpses of the Raiders/Seahawks preseason game that featured NFL gridiron heavyweights Mike Teel and Bruce Gradkowski.

Needless to say, I thought the 19-8 game was less than satisfying for me, especially since my Internet stopped working again around the start of the third quarter.

On to my musings, both serious and not:

—Sorry, but all trick plays on two-point conversions done by Boise State, no matter how funky the formation is, will always take a back seat to the Statue of Liberty play against Oklahoma (no offense, Michael Choate).

—Give the Broncos defense a lot of credit, but even though expecting a Holiday Bowl repeat performance from Jermiah Masoli yesterday may have been a bit too much, Ducks fans can't be happy with seven rushes for 14 yards.

—Incident involving some running back aside, could Chip Kelly have had a more disastrous debut as head coach? Shut out in the first half without any first downs, eight points. I'm not sure who I'd least want to have been during halftime on Thursday: Chip Kelly, or the Ducks offense facing him in the locker room.

Clearly, the Ducks had major question marks, particularly with the departure of Max Unger from the O-line and the loss of key receivers. I'm just surprised a football team could come out that flat on a game that not only had national prominence, but one that the Ducks clearly had circled on their calendars since last September.

—Not that the Broncos don't have some things to straighten out. Three fumbles (two by Kellen Moore and one by Richie Brockel) and two missed field goals by Kyle Brotzman took a bunch of potential points off the board.

Yes, Boise State will be favored to win the rest of its games, but more miscues like that may at least give the Broncos some scares.

—Speaking of scary: those uniforms...for both teams. I've never been a fan of Oregon's ever-changing wardrobe during the school's tenure as Phil Knight's guinea pigs and last night's all whites (particularly with those funky-looking green feathers on the shoulder pads) were certainly not pleasing.

At least they made the team stand out on the smurf turf.

It was quite trippy trying to make out those all-blue bodies running around on the field (maybe it was my video stream). Then again, if the Broncos had worn their other outfits, we would have had two teams in all whites going at it in Boise.

Oy...

—Lastly, I would have to remind people (in fact I sort of had to remind myself) of the following: there will be other games after this match up.

For Boise: yes, the momentum from this win is certainly huge; yes, the team got it's signature win, and should be given credit for it. The Broncos must remember, though, that it makes the need to avoid slip-ups even greater now.

Going in to the season, one loss would likely cost Boise State a BCS bid, and that certainly doesn't change now.

As for Oregon, I'd like to offer some history:

Last season, Oregon State opened the year with two road losses—an upset defeat at Stanford, and a shellacking at Penn State; the Beavers nearly won the Pac-10 (if it weren't for your team's work in the Civil War).

The year before, UCLA had two bad early blunders on their schedule (a blow-out defeat at Utah and a home loss to dreadful Notre Dame), but were still in position (albeit in a wacky year) to win the conference in the last week, despite playing in 2007 with four different quarterbacks.

And yet another year before that, Cal dropped their drawers on national television against Tennessee, but bounced back well afterwards (ending up with a share of the conference title).

I'm not saying this loss won't be hard to get over, but the Ducks still have considerable talent, as well as the luxury of playing all of the major conference contenders (Cal, USC, Oregon State) in the friendly confines of Autzen Stadium.

Many pundits have used Thursday night to define the Ducks' season for them, but if Oregon responds correctly, the team's 2009 campaign can be reclaimed.

It may feel like the season just ended (for one player, it did), but in reality, the mindset for both squads should be that it has just started.