The only thing that scares me about what we saw in Tuscon...

[Greydrake]

I could only imagine the focus of attention he would have had coming in as a decoy on that last play.

[dthomas=ddixon]

The beevs don't have near the talent & speed that Arizona has. The reason their D was so affective for the 2nd & 3rd quarters was their incredible speed up front. The beevs can replicate that scheme all they want but they won't have a chance. Just look at last year when they had a much much better D.

And same thing offensively. They have a pretty weak line that has given up a lot of sacks. They've gotten better as the seasons gone on but they still aren't anywhere close to what Zona has up front. They have 2 players on Offense that you have to worry about. Keep the rodgii contained & their offense will do nothing. All you hear is how balanced their offense is. Really? Since when is 2 players accounting for 80% of your yards & points "balance"?

Ariozona was flat out a really good team playing out of their minds at home... and we still won. The beevs are a one dimensional team with a mediocre D coming into Autzen with a Rose Bowl on the line. They have no chance.

[goducks75]

The beevs don't have near the talent & speed that Arizona has. The reason their D was so affective for the 2nd & 3rd quarters was their incredible speed up front. The beevs can replicate that scheme all they want but they won't have a chance. Just look at last year when they had a much much better D.

And same thing offensively. They have a pretty weak line that has given up a lot of sacks. They've gotten better as the seasons gone on but they still aren't anywhere close to what Zona has up front. They have 2 players on Offense that you have to worry about. Keep the rodgii contained & their offense will do nothing. All you hear is how balanced their offense is. Really? Since when is 2 players accounting for 80% of your yards & points "balance"?

Ariozona was flat out a really good team playing out of their minds at home... and we still won. The beevs are a one dimensional team with a mediocre D coming into Autzen with a Rose Bowl on the line. They have no chance.

No chance? In the sport where we've seen such upsets as App State over Michigan and Indiana over Oregon (at Autzen no less)? Doubtful. Especially since OSU is better than both those teams that pulled those upsets.

That said I do like our chances and pretty much agree with everything you said except that last piece. Their defense is down but they do have Paea who can cause lots of problems for our running game if he blows up our O-line and Keaton Kristick is a solid linebacker himself. Our passing will be key in this game and if Masoli is as smart throwing the ball as he was in the 4th/OT/2OT of the UA game then I REALLY like our chances.

[HugeInTheEug]

OSU has worse O/D lines than Arizona though. I think we'll be able to take advantage of that.

I'm excited for the Kenny Rowe vs. Michael Phillipp battle.

[goducks75]

OSU has worse O/D lines than Arizona though. I think we'll be able to take advantage of that.

I'm excited for the Kenny Rowe vs. Michael Phillipp battle.

Their ends aren't as good but Paea can give us plenty of trouble if utilized properly in their defense. You can bet Greatwood will have him doubled and tripled all night. Their O-line isn't as big and may not be as talented as Arizona's but they have been doing well enough this year and with players as good as Quizz and James that's really all you need. Our defense has quite a challenge but I have a better feeling about how they will perform in the CW compared to Arizona and Stanford.

[brich75]

...is what Arizona dialed in on offense. Those quick outs, WR screens, gashing running plays are ALL plays that Oregon State loves to run, and probably does better than Arizona at this point.

Yes they do run those plays.. I don't think they run them better than Zona at all. Zona's WR and O-Line are much bigger faster and stronger than OSU. I dont think we will have as much trouble stopping oregon states offense..

[duckfan22]

ive been through alot of civil war games. you can throw out what
osu did vs all the other teams as well as what oregon did against them.
it will come down to special teams, who has prepared best. and who makes
the fewest mistakes. i dont see osu stopping oregon at all. only oregon will
stop themselves. oregon will have a plan to stop osu. both teams will pull
out all the stops. we will see things we havent seen all year. going to be
i think a great game. and in my opinion both teams will take out the buckeyes
in the rose bowl. i believe oregon prevails in the cw.. go ducks

[woundedknees]

One thing I know from experience... Throw the predictions out the window.

[gofightingducks]

Oregon State is a very good team and that is why they are still in the Rose Bowl hunt. You can throw everything out the window when it comes to rivalry games. I think this one will be a shoot out. Oregon will eventually wear down Oregon State's D like they did Arizona's but I expect Oregon State to play very well offensively and put up some points.

[wlduck]

The thing that scared me was Arizona's defensive game plan and how effective it was for most of the game. They did a good job containing our zone running play by keying onto LaMichael James and making Masoli beat them. They held us to the fewest amount of rushing yards (175) since the Boise state game. I think LaMichael James only had 8 carries that first half and I'm sure most of those were on the 2 scoring drives.

They held us to 14 points going into the fourth quarter......

I've never seen a football game were a team caught so many BIG breaks before.

We were good, but we definitely got lucky that game.

I agree we got some big breaks, but don't forget the plays that went the other way. The phantom face mask call, the replay booth failing to overturn the trapped ball that led to the AZ field goal just before half, and even the call against TJ Ward for the strongman pose ( I happened to turn to the Cal-Stanford game a few minutes after that and saw a similar demonstration after a play- no flag).

[liberalduck]

I think Coach Kelly is making a mistake not to bring in Blount for those short yardage situations like the last one of the game. It took us 3 tries to punch it in from 2 yards out. If Masoli hadn't barely slipped between those 2 defenders, we would have faced a difficult 4th down decision. There were other situations like that where we needed short yardage for 1st downs.

I get that Blount is at the bottom of the depth chart, and I'm okay with that. But he is also a different style of runner, and when you need that different style you use him regardless of the depth chart. It is no different than in basketball, when you need either a shooter or a defensive specialist. Has he forgotten how Blount used to drag along the first 1 or 2 tacklers last year until more tacklers came along?

I just don't get why Blount is at the bottom of the depth chart. He served his punishment and has been practicing all along. It's not as if he just took the season off. He is clearly better than any other running back on the team, save James. And can you imagine the possibilities with James, Blount, Masoli, Dickson and Maehl all on the field together. On short yardage situations a defense would have to guard James, Blount and Masoli coming out of the backfield. Ouch! Now that would be a headache.

[spinseeker]

The thing that scared me was Arizona's defensive game plan and how effective it was for most of the game. They did a good job containing our zone running play by keying onto LaMichael James and making Masoli beat them. They held us to the fewest amount of rushing yards (175) since the Boise state game. I think LaMichael James only had 8 carries that first half and I'm sure most of those were on the 2 scoring drives.

They held us to 14 points going into the fourth quarter......

I've never seen a football game were a team caught so many BIG breaks before.

We were good, but we definitely got lucky that game.

I agree we got some big breaks, but don't forget the plays that went the other way. The phantom face mask call, the replay booth failing to overturn the trapped ball that led to the AZ field goal just before half, and even the call against TJ Ward for the strongman pose ( I happened to turn to the Cal-Stanford game a few minutes after that and saw a similar demonstration after a play- no flag).

Check out the 'picture is worth a thousand words' thread. There's a good picture of the facemask. It was a double. I thought it was phantom as well, til I saw that pic. Also, that flexing was right in front of, almost at the ref. It was the dumbest thing for someone to do. I would throw the flag. Just rewatched the asu game, though, and Talmadge Jackson did the same thing. He was next to our sideline after the play though, not in the middle of the field facing a ref.
That behavior is rediculous, especially at such a critical juncture.

[Oregonian]

The thing that scared me was Arizona's defensive game plan and how effective it was for most of the game. They did a good job containing our zone running play by keying onto LaMichael James and making Masoli beat them. They held us to the fewest amount of rushing yards (175) since the Boise state game. I think LaMichael James only had 8 carries that first half and I'm sure most of those were on the 2 scoring drives.

They held us to 14 points going into the fourth quarter......

I've never seen a football game were a team caught so many BIG breaks before.

We were good, but we definitely got lucky that game.

I agree we got some big breaks, but don't forget the plays that went the other way. The phantom face mask call, the replay booth failing to overturn the trapped ball that led to the AZ field goal just before half, and even the call against TJ Ward for the strongman pose ( I happened to turn to the Cal-Stanford game a few minutes after that and saw a similar demonstration after a play- no flag).

Check out the 'picture is worth a thousand words' thread. There's a good picture of the facemask. It was a double. I thought it was phantom as well, til I saw that pic. Also, that flexing was right in front of, almost at the ref. It was the dumbest thing for someone to do. I would throw the flag. Just rewatched the asu game, though, and Talmadge Jackson did the same thing. He was next to our sideline after the play though, not in the middle of the field facing a ref.
That behavior is rediculous, especially at such a critical juncture.

You'd throw the flag for somebody celebrating a good play?

Nice to see even fans have given up on pride in football.

[woundedknees]

IMO, most excessive celebration penalties are ridiculous, especially since once these guys get to the next level, it is generally tolerated.

"Yeah, kid, I know you just made the play of your life, but I'm gonna take away the benefit of the accomplishment and punish you for enjoying the moment!"

There is a fine line between exuberance and stupidity. Too often the refs err on the side of the latter.

[spinseeker]

See, I don't think flexing your arm muscles to everyone celebrates the good play. Players are allowed to celebrate a play with their teammates, not show off like 'I'm so good, look at these muscles'. That wasn't a team celebration.

As the rule is written, I would throw a flag at that. As far as the rule, I think it is unfairly written and enforced, both of which lead to confusing and game changing calls. He wasn't doing anything to the player he tackled or the other team or even any specific fans in general, so I think it should not be called 'excessive'. But excessive only has to exceed what is allowable. Unfortunately, that is not much.