Wow. The Beavers continue to be the Giant-Killers.
Last year, they knocked off #1 USC early in the season, turning a bad season into a good one and surprising, oh, I don't know, EVERYONE. Then, this year, they went into the Cal Bears game as firm underdogs, but underdogs who everyone knew to be wary about. And, again, they shocked a highly-ranked unbeaten, downing the #2 Bears 31-28 in one of those "I knew it would happen" "upsets" that noone saw coming, yet noone finds shocking.
OSU has loved playing spoiler. Let's look at what they've done the last few years to solidify their status as one of the sure-fire spoilers of the NCAA.
2007: Defeated #2, undefeated Cal 31-28.
2006: Defeated #1, undefeated USC 33-31.
2005: Defeated #18 Cal, 23-20
2004: Took #3 LSU to overtime before losing 22-21.
How any team looks past OSU confounds me. The Beavers may not be perennially ranked, but they are not a team to be taken lightly in any season.
Meanwhile, the Ducks avoided a rehash of last year, when they lost a heart-breaker to Cal and then went into a shame spiral, by coming off of a bye week to absolutely man-handle WSU by a final score of 53-7. This is one of those games where Oregon should've won, but every Ducks fan in the land was nervous because the Ducks of the last couple of seasons have had trouble pulling it together after a tough loss.
The game featured two players going down, WR Cameron Colvin (who's UO career is certainly done with a broken right ankle) and over-used backup RB Jeremiah Johnson, who suffered an ACL tear and is thus out for the season.
I don't think this spells the end for the Ducks. Colvin, who was highly-touted when he was signed to a promise sheet, has been sporadic at best for the Ducks. His highlight this season is a dropped ball leading to Oregon's shouldn't-have-happened loss to Cal (I don't believe in laying it all on one guy, but that play was a make-or-break for a team that needed that catch to survive).
JJ has been a stable performer, and appears to be the Duck's smash-mouth touchdown-type back. He's the back-up to lead RB Johnathan Stewart, who hasn't been used enough and who now will have the opportunity to highlight his talent more.
Neither loss is a good one, but the Ducks have the tools to succeed. A schedule that looked entirely winnable at this point now holds a little more intrigue, and probably one extra loss, but the Ducks will make a decent bowl for the first time in a few years. Maybe even the Rose Bowl.
And this is looking like a great year to score some Civil War tickets. Better get on it now...
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