Oregon quarterback Bo Nix threw for only 173 yards and two interceptions while his defense surrendered 49 points to the defending national champion Georgia to open the season.
Now the Pac-12 squad was sporting pink football jerseys.
As two isolated data points, it would lead some to ask…
What kind of Mickey Mouse organization names their team the Ducks?!
‘The Ducks’
Daffy Duck’s question to Bugs Bunny in Space Jam was a pointed jab at the NHL’s Mighty Ducks hockey team, which of course was created (and owned) by Disney after they started their Mighty Ducks movie and TV franchise.
In Eugene, however, Nix and company have seemed to have found their ‘Flying V’ and have put themselves right back in the middle of the College Football Playoff conversation.
The Ducks have quacked off six straight victories scoring over 40 points in each contest; hosted Gameday that had WNBA superstar Sabrina Ionescu singing Wedding Crashers and Lee Corso chasing a runaway live duck; and had Phil Knight’s Nike team doing some of their best design work yet.
Those uniforms—like any Oregon uniform set—are to die for. I need a helmet/jersey combo set immediately.
Oh yeah, and Oregon easily handled No. 9 and unbeaten UCLA where a surprise onside kick and 28-10 second quarter helped the Ducks lead by 18 at half. They extended that to 22 early in the fourth quarter.
Bo Nix was named Alabama’s Mr. Football his senior year of high school. He fell in love with Auburn when they beat Oregon in the BCS championship game, and then started at Auburn for three years that began with a come-from-behind win against the Ducks.
Now he has transferred to Oregon for a final year where he is still looking to check off a few more lofty accomplishments: Pac-12 champion; Heisman Trophy and National Champion.
What makes all of this so much better, and relevant, to even the casual CFB fan is that all of this—the QB1 story; the Duck on the motorcycle; the pink unis; Gameday—matters.
The Pac-12 is at long last back and in every game matters to send one of four teams to the CFP to represent a conference who has not had a representative since Washington in 2016 and Oregon in 2014.
Oregon has Cal and Colorado next before closing with a tough stretch of Washington, Utah and Oregon State. A Pac-12 title game may be with one-loss USC for an opportunity to get to the CFP.
The Fraudulent ACC
The Pac-12 used to be the biggest laughingstock in CFB; now it is almost assuredly the ACC.
Clemson had four turnovers that resulted in no less than a 21-point swing against Syracuse and benched DJ Uiagalelei in an ugly 27-21 win that had fans rushing the field.
We know getting on the field after each game is tradition at Clemson, but my God you still don’t ‘rush’ it quite like this. You causally saunter on slowly after your victory. There are not many unwritten rules in CFB, but if you are a perennial national champ then you do not get to rush the field as well. You cannot have both unless truly special circumstances dictate it.
It wasn’t backup, five star QB Cade Klubnik who sparked a rally. It was Syracuse extending a key Clemson drive with not one but two personal foul penalties (the first on 3rd & 25!)
The Orange had seven second drives where they punted the first six times and then threw an interception on their final drive to seal their fate. They could not stop tailback Will Shipley and were simply overpowered as they tried desperately to preserve their 11-point lead.
The overwhelming general consensus is that these Tigers are leaving something to be desired and the problem for the nation is Dabo and company know how to survive and advance.
The second problem is that the teams trying to take Clemson down are all frauds. Florida State and N.C. State both shriveled in the big moment; the ‘Cuse could not capitalize on four turnovers; and the Wake Forest defense could not stop DJ from having an out of body experience.
Clemson only has two ACC games left and unless they lose both they will be back in the ACC championship game. They host an average Louisville team and a Miami team that just turned it over eight times to Duke.
The larger question will be can the Tigers survive a road trip to South Bend and a rivalry game against South Carolina (who just added to Texas A&M’s misery) to stay perfect?
If they can, then they will likely steal a Playoff spot from a better one-loss team like Oregon or Michigan or Alabama or (well, the list goes on) a la undefeated Florida State in 2014 (and we all know how that went).
SEC Dominants and Big 12 is Well-Rounded
Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama. Still the top of the league and the nation. Still an interesting scenario when the Vols and Dawgs meet in two weeks.
But the SEC has proven they are still the best. LSU came out of nowhere to go on a 42-3 run to route previously unbeaten and top-10 Ole Miss. There is a case to be made that four teams in each division should be ranked; and that does not include Florida who beat Utah to start the year.
Meanwhile, in the fly over states, TCU stays perfect and at the top of the Big 12 with a 38-28 win over Kansas State. Although, both the Wildcats’ first and second string QBs left with injuries. That extends a remarkable stretch of injuries starting QBs have suffered while playing the Horned Frogs:
Dillon Gabriel - OU
Jalon Daniels - Kansas
Spencer Sanders - Ok St (injured the previous week; re-banged up vs TCU)
Adrian Martinez - K-St
But Max Duggan, Kendra Miller and Quentin Johnson have been lights out in their four Big 12 contests, where they have proven to be a near unstoppable second half juggernaut that has mounted second half comebacks in the last three games (the last two by double digits).
Oklahoma State bounced back for a 41-34 win over Texas to keep their hopes alive. Otherwise it’s anyone’s guess as who can win on any given Saturday. Next weekend features the Pokes vs Wildcats and the Red Raiders vs Bears to highlight the top and middle of the league.
Big Ten Blowouts & World Series
Ohio State and Penn State dominated Iowa and Minnesota respectively to set up an intriguing matchup between the two this weekend in Happy Valley.
Ohio State has looked to be on another level all year, and the Nittany Lions got mauled by Michigan a week ago. But this game has some serious history—most notably in 2016–and if anything strange happens and Penn State should win, then it will be interesting to see what happens to close the season and if there might be a three-way tie in the east.
In other news, Bryce Harper and the Phillies beat Juan Soto and the Padres (Nats’ fans shed a single tear) to advance to the World Series to face the Astros who swept the Yankees.
This seems like Houston’s year, and despite Harper batting like a man on fire, it is hard to see the Astros losing to an NL East team for a third time in four years.
I’m out of my depth, but I’ll predict Astros in five.