Good Luck Ducks, Week 3:

Last week's game against Tennessee proved to be a bit nerve-wracking from the start. It's always such an emotional roller coaster for a college football fan, although this year I've decided it's probably best to not try and mix pregame caffeine with alcohol during games (best just to stick with the beer.) With baseball, you can usually shrug off a loss because there are 161 games that count just as much, regardless of the opponent or the situation (unless your team happens to be 6 games out with just over a couple of weeks left in the season.) In college football, however, the entire season can change on one single play. National title hopes can sway to just merely hoping your team will be bowl eligible so you can watch them one more time around the holidays.

I'd be lying if I didn't say that the first quarter of the Tennessee game was starting to bring back haunting memories of other recent big games against non-conference opponents that the Ducks have been frustrated in. One needs to look no farther than last year's opening loss against Boise State to show when lofty expectations piled upon a team that is overmatched and just plain isn't ready can doom a football game. Fortunately, after a lengthy lightning delay, the Ducks found their way and proceeded to steamroll the home team. Certainly, Tennessee is no Boise State (it's really funny to actually say that) this season and is expected to be no better than a .500 team, but for awhile there it was looking like the Ducks might be intimidated by a crowd that could have filled nearly two Autzen Stadiums.

Also, nobody got punched. It's really strange that "the punch" isn't mentioned at all on LeGarrette Blount's card, as if there would be no question to the casual observer who actually didn't know just about the only thing Blount is known for these days as to why he only carried the ball 22 times last year after an extremely successful first year with Oregon. Blount was a last minute cut by Tennessee after being undrafted this year, but has caught on with Tampa Bay and may even get a chance to play on Sunday.

Now it's on to Portland State, who the Ducks will face the FCS Vikings for the first time since 2006 when they won 55-12. There isn't a lot to say about this game other than to hope that no one gets hurt. PSU may actually be significantly better than their Week 1 opponent, New Mexico, but they still play at a lower level than the Ducks. Darron Thomas will get another low leverage situation to work on his game before the season begins in earnest with a road game against Arizona State.

Game time is 3:15 PDT at Autzen Stadium with local television coverage on CSN Northwest. It's been soggy in the Willamette Valley and that's not expected to change at all the rest of the weekend.