Time for Oregon to Put Up or Shut Up: Why the UCLA Game Is so Important

Every year, Duck fans watch as the Ducks fight for a respectable bowl bid. Well, there have been some up and down years as of late, and the UCLA game has always been a turning point. 

Take last year for example, after a certain game that I would rather not talk about. The Ducks had a chance to say, hey world, we can do it without Dennis "my main man" Dixon. UCLA also was struggling with quarterback issues.

Well, we all know what happened. 16-0 UCLA, and the Ducks did not look any better the rest of the way.

Enough of the past and broken dreams that I still cringe at—let's look at this year's team. 

DEFENSE? 

This is why I hate when college teams or players get overhyped—the real fans start getting their hopes up too. I started talking too much trash about our "dream" secondary.

In the two legit games we have played, Byrd has played awful and Thermon da Third has been gimpy or not even there. Patrick Chung has not played to his full level, but at least I see him trying. OK, am I being very harsh or am I being truthful?   

"It's all about the O" 

You can't completely blame these guys for an underachieving season. We're playing with our third and fourth string QBs. Show me a team that can be successful in that situation, and I'll give you a million dollars. Also, our running back combo has been successful minus the SC game. 

Back to my point though. If the Oregon D can't shut down UCLA, then they should let Jaison Williams play defense. At least he knows how to bat a ball down. UCLA yet again has a quarterback problem, and Oregon just has an all-out problem.

If it is 16-0 again, someone shoot me please!

My last words are please Bellotti, don't be so damn stubborn.