Oregon Ducks Football Campus Voice: Wake-Up Calls and Bear Hunting

Well, well, well…Oregon finally showed up! Better late than never I suppose.

The Ducks' football season thus far has been like a college student attempting to awake from a deep slumber and make it to class on time.

The Boise State debacle was the alarm clock ringing uncontrollably at the Ducks, but Oregon simply slept through it.

The Purdue game was Oregon realizing the alarm was going off and hitting the snooze button in order to get some more rest.

The match-up against Utah was the Ducks recognizing that they should get up, but could use five or ten more minutes of sleep before they really, really need to get up.

Finally, Cal came to town and the Ducks awoke, realizing that they have to do something very quickly in order to get to class on time; or in this instance, get a HUGE win.

Saturday’s contest (if you can call it that) between Oregon and Cal was an eye opener to everybody, and by everybody I mean the Cal team and fans; Oregon’s team, students, and supporters; and also the Pac-10 as well as the entire nation.

I am fairly certain that if you are reading this article you know what happened in the game, but I will do a speedy recap because it feels so good to talk about this game.

The Ducks completely dominated every aspect of the match, and even when they did make a mistake, the Bears were willing to hand the ball right back to the Ducks. Maybe willing is the wrong word, but it sure did seem like Cal was handing the game to Oregon.

After Oregon’s first three games this season, it was unfathomable to think that the Ducks could put up a whopping 524 yards on offense. Even more astonishing are the 288 yards of passing, including three touchdowns to TE Ed Dickson.

Masoli was the Masoli of old, Dickson was the Dickson of old, the running game was the running game of old, and the defense was something new and astounding.

The offense has traditionally carried the defense for the Ducks, but Saturday Oregon fans saw the opposite. The statistics speak for themselves: Kevin Riley was 12-for-31 with no touchdowns; Jahvid Best had 16 carriers for 55 yards and no touchdowns. Enough said.

Because Oregon has righted the ship and won three games in a row, two against ranked opponents, the Ducks sit at No. 16 in the AP Poll.

OK, now that that is off of my chest I can continue on and describe the scene at Autzen Stadium.

It was a star-studded affair, as far as Oregon fans go, with the one and only Joey Harrington in attendance, along with basketball great Aaron Brooks.

Harrington stood on the sideline as the Oregon highlight film played right before game time. The crowd roared as his famed catch and stumble into the end zone against Texas in the 2000 Holiday Bowl was shown. Harrington revealed a joyous grin while it played, obviously amused by the crowd's reactions and appreciation for his time at Oregon.

Everything seemed perfect. How could anything go wrong on such a wonderful day of Bear hunting? I will fill you in.

Midway through the third quarter the Oregon student section began the most idiotic and demeaning cheer ever created. And it goes:

O-VER-RA-TED!!! O-VER-RA-TED!!! O-VER-RA-TED!!! O-VER-RA-TED!!!

What this chant is supposed to imply, for those saying it, is that the other team is not as good as everyone thinks it is.

The cheer actually accomplishes the opposite. If Cal is overrated, then Oregon’s win isn’t as impressive. Our drubbing of the sixth ranked team in the nation means nothing if that team is overrated!

This chant should be discontinued by all student sections and never spoken of again, for it is the most ridiculous of all. 

Besides that, this game was one of the top performances I have ever seen from the Ducks. A more impressive victory is hard to find.

Let's all enjoy this victory a few more days—I know I will—and then get ready for Washington State coming to Eugene next weekend.

GO DUCKS!!