Mike Bellotti's Time Has Run Out at Oregon

I hate to say it—I do realize there's loyalty to the Oregon coach who's been at U of O since 1995—but Mike Bellotti's reign as coach should be ending soon.

One thing can be said about his teams: They are all hype. When it comes to a big game, Oregon rarely shows up: 5-6 in bowl games, including a three-bowl losing streak, although they did win their bowl game last year.

131 wins and 77 losses is a pretty good record, including one conference championship and one tie for the conference championship.

But look at the past few years, when he's had a really good team that was supposed to be up there in the conference standings and was a supposed favorite for winning the Pac-10. This year it's shown already, losing 44-10 to USC.

It must be frustrating for Duck fans to watch a team with so much talent give up 41 points in a row. That's inexcusable for a coach of Bellotti's caliber.

There are other games as well. The Ducks were ranked 11th in the nation playing a solid California team, which was ranked 16th, and they never showed up at all and lost 45-24. Last year the Ducks were ranked 11th as well, while Cal was up 10 places to No. 6, and the Ducks lost 31-24 in Eugene, which is supposedly one of the hardest places to play in the Pac-10.

I'm sure Oregon fans don't want to remember this, but that was from when they played Cal in Berkeley.

The Ducks were No. 2 in the land and lost to Arizona 34-24. Then they were ranked No. 9 and lost 16-0 to UCLA, and then ranked 18th and lost to Oregon State 38-31 in overtime. That's from last year.

People will say No. 1 QB Dennis Dixon was hurt. Last time I checked the Ducks had two majorly talented running backs in Jonathan Stewart and Jeremiah Johnson. Even if Dixon was hurt, there was still a running game.

In the 2006 season, the Ducks were ranked 15th and lost to Washington State 34-23. Later on in the season Oregon was ranked 21st and lost to USC 35-10.

In 2005, the Ducks were ranked 25th playing the No. 1 team USC and lost 45-13. The Ducks eventually were ranked No. 5 and lost to Oklahoma, who was ranked 23rd, 17-14.

In 2004, the Ducks were ranked once at 24th and lost to Indiana, 30-24.

In 2003, the Ducks were ranked 10th and lost to then-No. 21 Washington State 55-16. After that game they were ranked 19th and lost to Utah 17-13 and were not ranked again.

In 2002 they were not ranked but lost in the Seattle in their bowl game.

In 2001, the Ducks were ranked No. 5 and lost to Stanford 49-42—the only time they lost that year, when they ended up as the No. 2 team in the country and won the Fiesta Bowl.

I think it's interesting to note that since Jeff Tedford left after the 2001 season to go coach the California Golden Bears, the Ducks haven't done so well against ranked opponents.

In fact, most of the time Bellotti's teams are just like the one that showed up yesterday: no discipline and a lack of intensity. Once they realized that they were not going to come back, the team gave up.

It's time for a change in Eugene, and it starts with Bellotti.