Oregon Ducks

 

TEMPE, Ariz. -- This was not a test of the Oregon football system. If this had been an actual test, you would have seen Arizona State still in the game after the first quarter.

Some test? After an odd flurry to start the game, No. 3 Oregon was never challenged by Arizona State in a 43-21 victory Thursday night in Sun Devil Stadium, which was less than half full to start the third quarter.

We all know that Ducks coach Chip Kelly is not much for media scripts. The Washington game is supposed to be a bitter rivalry. Kelly gave that a shrug and a "Neh," and announced how much he liked and respected Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian.

The visit to Arizona State on Thursday was supposed to challenge the Ducks. It was supposed to give us a measure of redshirt freshman quarterback Marcus Mariota in a frenzied, hostile environment.

But after a horrible start -- a fumble on the second play, a 28-yard Sun Devils touchdown pass on the third -- the Ducks simply rolled. Test Mariota? He didn't need to throw. It was 22-7 after the first quarter and 43-7 at the break.

"One thing I love about this team," Kelly said, "is we don't flinch."

Oregon rushed for 329 yards. By halftime.

Mariota didn't play in the second half, yielding to Bryan Bennett and the second unit.

Arizona State entered the game 5-1, ranked 24th in the coaches' poll. The Sun Devils topped the Pac-12 in most major defensive categories and were led by quarterback Taylor Kelly, who was No. 1 in the conference in passing efficiency. While the naysayers are sure to come out -- they lost to Missouri! -- this was, at least, a solid team.

And Oregon simply curb-stomped them.

Just as they had done to the rest of their Pac-12 schedule thus far. Average margin of victory in four games: 31.8 points. And that includes three teams that have been ranked at some point this season.

In defense of the Sun Devils, they lost their best player -- defensive tackle Will Sutton -- to a knee injury just after he forced a fumble from Mariota on the game's second play. Shortly thereafter defensive end Junior Onyeali went down with a shoulder injury.

Those were major blows to the Sun Devils' defense, without a doubt.

"Losing Will was very disruptive and we did a poor job being prepared for that as a staff," Arizona State coach Todd Graham said. "So much of what we had planned was around him and you have to have a plan B and it took us well into the game to figure out what to do there. Making no excuses, we got beat by a team tonight that's a lot better than us, but we made them look a lot better by making a lot of mistakes."

The Ducks' defense fully matched the offense. It grabbed four interceptions, two which in the first half were returned inside the Sun Devils' 10-yard line. It also relentlessly pressured Sun Devils quarterbacks, recording five sacks. The first-team defense only gave up the early touchdown on a 28-yard pass. The other Arizona State scores came in the fourth quarter on a pick-six and a late tally against backups.

The Sun Devils finished with 408 yards, but gained only 202 through the first three quarters.

Mariota had an 86-yard TD run, a beautiful 6-yard scoring toss to Bralon Addison and even caught a touchdown pass from Bennett. He completed 9 of 12 passes for 46 yards, bouncing back from the early fumble to demonstrate plenty of poise. In his first road game, in Seattle against Washington State, he threw two interceptions. This was a more polished outing.

"Up in Seattle, I tried to do too much," he said.

But the Ducks aren't going to say too much. They're not into the idea of making statements.

Asked what statement a blowout win made, safety Avery Patterson deadpanned, "That we're 7-0."

Said Mariota, "I'm happy about tonight, but it's just one game."

Oregon's next, er, Super Bowl is at back at home against Colorado on Oct. 27. Then comes the much-ballyhooed trip to USC on Nov. 3.

Whether the Ducks admit it or not, they made a statement: This team is clearly good enough to contend -- again -- for the national title. But, as Kelly and players said, there's plenty of work ahead. Starting with, yes, the woeful Buffaloes.

Said Kelly, "We're going to get everybody's best shot. We know that."

Another part of this evening's statement? Everybody else's best shot may not be enough to even get close to the Ducks.

No. 3 Oregon posted a dominant 49-0 victory over Arizona on Saturday, a win so convincing it might boost the Ducks into No. 2 in the national rankings.

It was over when: A 55-yard touchdown pass from Marcus Mariota to Bralon Addison made it 28-0 with a minute left in the third. At at that point, you could feel a game Arizona team start to sag.

Gameball goes to: The Ducks defense was dominant. Arizona, which failed to score on six trips to the red zone, entered the game averaging 46.3 points per game and 604.7 yards per game. It was a total team effort, with the Ducks getting big plays on all three levels.

Stat of the game: Look at the scoreboard. See that "0" under Arizona. As far as stats go, that's pretty darn telling.

What Oregon learned, what Arizona learned: Oregon showed that it can dominate a ranked team even if its offense isn't clicking. That's the sort of thing that would hint at the Ducks taking the proverbial next step as a program. Defense wins championships, right? As for Arizona, it went toe-to-toe with the Ducks for a half, and the Wildcats can certainly rue the red-zone failures. This very easily could have been a competitive game.

What it means: After a three-game "preseason" against inferior foes, Oregon announced that it -- again -- is a national title contender. For Arizona, it found out that, despite a nice start, it's not ready to challenge three-time defending conference champions inside Autzen Stadium.

When looking across the college football landscape, one of the more common themes among elite programs is that in spite of all the talent within their programs, recruits flock to the campuses of schools like USC and Alabama.

Most of the top programs are littered with future NFL players and rely on talent and depth more so than experience. Experience helps in close games and road contests, but when you look at Alabama, Florida, LSU, USC and other elite programs, the best players play no matter their age.

In years past, the Oregon Ducks had years where they made an occasional run towards the top and while those Ducks teams had elite players, it was experience and leadership that guided them to the near the top of the rankings.

More recently however, Oregon has been on a rise up the recruiting charts under Chip Kelly and the results are beginning to show. A look at the two-deep roster and it is easy to see the progression the Ducks have made under Kelly.

Under former coach Mike Bellotti, the Ducks often relied on upperclassmen to lead them. While Kelly and his staff would prefer to have a team led by upperclassmen, they know they can't keep players like De'Anthony Thomas, Jake Fisher and Addison off the field.

During Pete Carroll's tenure at USC, opposing fans often wondered how, in spite of a loaded roster, USC could continue to haul in recruiting classes overflowing with elite talent every year.

The same can be said for many top programs and there are a number of reasons for it.

A big reason is that competition breeds success. When a team has to work that hard every day in practice just to see the field, it makes Saturdays seem that much easier.

Oregon is still not on the level of the other programs, and at least in terms of recruiting, it never will be. That being said, there are talented players now flocking to Eugene to play for Kelly and the high flying Ducks.

Ducks' freshman wide receiver Addison could have gone to almost any school he wanted to, but chose to sign with the Ducks because he knew his potential and talent would be optimized in Kelly's system. He didn't care that Thomas had two years left in the spot he will likely assume once Thomas moves on. What Addison cared about was getting better as a player and having a challenge in practice every day.

After impressing coaches and teammates alike during fall camp, Addison has already seen plenty of action in the Ducks first two games. While there have many a couple freshman mistakes early on, you can see the potential that he and the other young players on the roster possess.

Some might question whether a team can have too much young talent, thus making them an undesirable destination for recruits. While it can be a deterrent for some prospects, especially at the quarterback position, the reason the top programs are on top and will stay on top is due to the culture of competition they create within the program.

Chip Kelly's "Win The Day" slogan, is more than a catch phrase. It's a way of life. He looks for players that will buy into that mantra and lets them decide their place in the program with how hard they work.

So far, so good.