It's that time again! After listening to nearly an entire summer of college football talk, all of the endless amounts of speculation, anticipation, conjecture, rhetoric, hype, tempering of expectations, bravado, humility and borderline insanity culminate in a football game played between two teams that hate each other on a field painted in the wrong color in a state known primarily for its potato exports. Do I care to make a prediction? More than any other sport I follow closely, a team's college football season simply cannot be predicted until the team steps out on the field. There's far too much player turnover, and in Oregon's case this season, even a new head football coach.Oregon's opening game against Michigan State 11 seasons ago, to me, was one of the biggest turning points in their program. Many point to the unlikely Rose Bowl appearance in 1994, followed up by a (better) Cotton Bowl team in 1995, but those teams couldn't score. Without having any real expectations or any idea of how this team was going to perform, Ruben Droughns and Akili Smith flattened a highly touted Michigan State team at Autzen Stadium in 1998 and have been known for their offensive prowess ever since. It was a jaw-dropping game to me, seeing a junior college transfer run around like they were playing 11-on-6. Droughns suffered a major injury later that season, but rebounded for a solid senior season and has hung around the NFL ever since.
Tonight's game is a bit of a revenge game. Boise State took a couple of cheap shots at the Ducks, giving QB Jeremiah Masoli a concussion in the process and generally smacked the team around on their own field. Hopefully the Ducks will get their revenge on the scoreboard, and not in the dirty tactics that the Broncos use (though I wouldn't mind seeing these guys get hit a bit.) The game will be on national TV tonight (ESPN) at 7:15 PDT. And, yes, I actually took a vacation day to watch this as I normally work nights.
And thus begins another season of Good Luck Ducks. Admit it: you missed it, didn't you?
Yikes! Needless to say the game didn't turn out how you had hoped last night. And what a fiasco after the game! To cheer you up I sent a package of Cardinals' card your way, hope it helps.
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