College Football: Oregon Ducks Teach Nation a Lesson in Domination of USC
Last night, the USC Coliseum had a front-row seat to a passing of the torch in the Pac-10. Oregon walked into Los Angeles and dominated USC 53-32 and the game was never even that close.
Not only did Oregon dominate USC, they also taught the nation a thing or two in the process. Here is what else we learned about Oregon in Week 10 of the college football season.
Darron Thomas Has Not Replaced Masoli, He Erased All Thoughts of Him
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The question coming into the year was how can Oregon compete without Jeremiah Masoli?
The battle in camp came down to Nate Costa and Darron Thomas. As the start of the season approached, coach Chip Kelly named redshirt sophomore Darron Thomas his starter and they never looked back.
Thomas has thrown for 21 touchdowns and has taken this Oregon offense to a completely new level. When Masoli was at the helm, teams knew that if they could force him to win games threw the air, they had a great chance of slowing the Oregon offense. This is not the case with Thomas.
Darron Thomas: Cool, Calm and Under Control
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Thomas proved that he can not only replace Masoli but exceed him. Thomas has shown the poise of a senior on the field. For the third time on the road, Oregon faced a deficit and Thomas calmly took the field and led another scoring drive.
Throughout this year, Thomas has just continued to step up to the moment and show everyone that no situation is too big for him. Not many sophomores can play in the Coliseum and continually bring their team up and down the field in front of that crowd.
Jeff Maehl Is the Best Kept Secret in the Nation
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A couple years ago, a thin and undersized player came to Oregon and was put in the secondary. In 2007, injuries hit the Ducks team hard and this player was forced to switch sides of the ball and play wide receiver.
Three years later, Jeff Maehl is playing at an All-American level and put on a show for the L.A. crowd. Last night Maehl caught eight balls for 145 yards and three scores. While most of the attention is going to the Oregon ground game, Jeff Maehl has been the most undervalued player in the nation.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Chip Kelly Out-Coached Lane Kiffin
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USC fans have always had the ability to know that not only do they have the better talent but they always had a coach that would out-perform whoever was on the opposing sideline. For the past two years, Chip Kelly has out-coached whoever is on the USC sideline.
Last night, Kiffin came into the game with a plan to stop LaMichael James at all costs and Kelly simply laughed. The Ducks not only got James over 200 yards rushing but Thomas had receivers running free all game. Fifty-three points later, it was obvious that the Kiffin game plan had backfired.
Oregon Has Special Special Teams
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One thing that may go unnoticed about Oregon is the consistency they are getting from their special teams. So far this year, Oregon's Rob Beard has yet to miss an extra point or field goal. Their returners are giving the Ducks great field position and Cliff Harris continues to be dangerous.
To make things worse for opponents, Oregon is always prepared to make you pay with their two-point conversion shift. So far this year, when Oregon has attempted a two-point try, they are perfect.
With the offense being as dangerous as it has been, it gets a new dimension when you know you can always rely on your kicking game.
Do Not Be Fooled by the Scoreboard
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For the casual fan that turns on SportsCenter and sees the Oregon scores, they sometimes are led to believe that Oregon's offense bails out the defense. They could not be farther from the truth.
Everyone by now knows about the quick strike that is the Oregon offense but take a second to think about the opposite side of that coin. With Oregon scoring so quickly, that means the defense is on the field more than any group in the nation.
While they do allow yards, Oregon has a stingy red-zone defense that continues to get after the quarterback and force big turnovers. This "weak" Oregon defense has forced a combined four turnovers by elite quarterbacks Matt Barkley and Andrew Luck and both way under their usually high QB ratings.
Forget LaMichael, Meet LaHeisman
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When the bright lights are on and the nation is watching Oregon you can count on one thing: LaMichael James running wild.
In nationally broadcast games, here are the yards James has put up: 134, 257, 123 and 239.
Not only did he put up the big yards, James added nine scores in those games.
At his current pace, James has a chance of finishing the year with 2,000 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Shut Your Mouth and Play
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Going into this week's game, the only team talking like the No. 1 team in the nation was USC. Matt Barkley spouted off at the mouth and when that wasn't enough, Jurrell Casey decided to let the nation know the Ducks had a good QB and running back, but that was it.
While USC was talking like the No. 1 team, Oregon was playing like it.
This Is a Complete Team
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Week in and week out, skeptics talk about how Oregon hasn't proved themselves and doesn't deserve their ranking. With Oregon eight games into their season, they have shown the nation a lot and it's hard to ignore what they have been able to mark off their checklist.
Oregon Checklist
- Win on the road against an SEC team: Check (vs. Tennessee)
- Perform in the national spotlight: Check (vs. Stanford)
- Handle the pressure of being No. 1: Check (vs. UCLA)
- Handle the teams you should beat: Check (vs. New Mexico and Portland State)
- Win against elite conference team on the road: Check (vs. USC)
If the nation wants to keep doubting them, that is fine by the Ducks. They only have one goal: Win the Day.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
