Heart

[dthomas=ddixon]

This team has so much heart. Masoli practically willed this team to a victory. After how bad he played in the middle quarters to come back & just make clutch play after clutch play... nothing short of incredible. He's supposedly too short & doesn't have a good arm but he makes some of the most absurd, unbelievable plays. And he does it consistently! Masoli is the heart of this team & it showed tonight.

The D after getting ripped multiple times in the game stepped up huge & shoulda had the game won in the 1st OT. The lack of size & talent on D is easily made up for with the amount of heart & ferocity that they play with. Guys like Bair & Cliff & Rowe define this D. Cliff has zero experience, is way undersized but plays with a complete lack of fear & makes incredible play after incredible play. Bair is way too small to be playing DT... yet he is just a beast on the line. Rowe is small for a LB, but he is an animal at DE. The scheme on D can really suck sometimes but when it counts, these guys step up & always get the ball back in our Offenses hands.

Then theres LaJames just willing himself to the first down marker on that one run, dragging & pushing his way 3-4 more yards with guys on his back. Something he's done all season. We have team full of imperfect players that have almost glaring flaws at times but they just OVERCOME. It's incredible. A team like this would have completely folded in the past. Not this year.

This team has so much heart & deverves every bit of success they achieve. Kelly has instilled such an awesome attitude into these players & the program as a whole. We still have one more game to go but no matter what, this will be one of my favorite Duck teams ever. Now just destroy the beefers & get that Rose Bowl bid. You deserve it Ducks.

[VinnyKnuckles]

Great post, I agree completely.

[briarduck]

I agree as well that game had drama...it almost gave me a heart attack!

GO DUCKS!!

[greenyellow]

Kelly has made this team into a hardened team that doesn't seem to flinch at anything. Not to knock Bellotti, but his teams would seem to fail at the first sign of trouble. Even when they behind in the Stanford game, you could see the players continuing to fight to the end.

[picksix]

NOW lets finish it and BEAT Oregon state!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[VinnyKnuckles]

Not to knock Bellotti, but his teams would seem to fail at the first sign of trouble.

Not sure about that. Harrington's teams seemed to have plenty of heart as well, winning many games in comeback fashion.

It probably has more to do with the players than anything else. Both Masoli and Harrington are leaders playing the most important position and often seem to be at their best when it is needed the most.

[woundedknees]

Joey would be all over the sidelines during the offensive rest periods, pumping the team up and infusing them with vitality... A huge part of being a leader is refusing to let your fellow players concede the field.

It's infectious!