Thursday night football
I haven't paid much attention to the Thursday night games this year, but with tonights game featuring current #2 Oregon it looks a lot more interesting to Pac-10 fans. Oregon is taking an agressive approach to the game so far and its working for them. Dennis Dixon scrambled 40+ yards on a 4th and 3 to score a touchdown and then they quick snapped for a 2pt conversion. Will Arizona be able to respond? Apparently not as Oregon just intercepted a Tuitama long pass on the Wildcats second play of the night.
Box score here, game is on ESPN.
UPDATE Oregon QB Dennis Dixon, a leading Heisman candidate is likely done for the night after taking a bad step and wrenching his injured knee. The question now is whether he is done for just the night or done for the whole season. Can Oregon win out with Brady Leaf stepping in at QB?
UPDATE x2 Following Dixon's exit from the game Arizona has been on fire especially on special teams and now lead by 17 points going into the half.
UPDATE FINAL Arizona wins the upset 34-24
Oregon becomes the 5th #2 team to lose to an unranked opponent this season. I imagine Coach Stoops (Arizona) will be getting a good phone call from Coach Stoops (Oklahoma) after this game. Dennis Dixon continued an unlucky streak for west coast quarterbacks, we'll see if he is back for next weeks game, but Oregon is out of the picture when it comes to the national championship, can they make it to the Rose Bowl? According to the announcers this will be the first time since 1998 that Arizona has won back to back Pac-10 home games. Yikes.
That Dixon interception is unfortunate. It's a shame they haven't created a stat that changes interceptions like that to be listed as a mistake by the WR instead of the QB. And now Dixon crumples with a tweaked knee. Oregon is going to have to dig deep to win this one.
Posted by: Andrew | Nov 15, 2007 9:32:42 PM
It's become fairly obvious that there will not be a National Champion this season. Sure a team (or two (or three)) will get the BCS title and the AP title and the Golf Digest title, but they aren't going to be national champions because they were dominant or the best, they're going to be champs because the season ran out. If we kept going there would be a new number 1 and 2 team during the week of December 8 and a new 1&2 December 15. Not like last year when we knew Ohio St. was clearly the best team in CFB. D'oh!
Posted by: Sandy Underpants | Nov 15, 2007 10:17:42 PM
Most of us Trojans have been pulling for the Ducks to win out and go to the BCS title game, thus opening up the Rose Bowl slot for USC if we win out. However, if it turns out Dixon has torn his ACL as it appears from the replay, he's out for the season and suddenly Oregon's offense looks vulnerable against a very tough front seven of Oregon State. And suddenly a traditional Oregon flameout looks possible, leaving open the Pac-10 championship for USC.
Posted by: Andrew | Nov 15, 2007 10:18:08 PM
Especially now that they are down by 20.
Do they normally wear red? I think they'd look best with those blue shirts and maybe white pants.
Posted by: B. Minich | Nov 15, 2007 10:19:20 PM
By the way, this officially has been the worst season ever for teams ranked #2 in the polls.
Posted by: Andrew | Nov 15, 2007 10:19:31 PM
So, how long will the next number 2 take to lose? ;)
Posted by: B. Minich | Nov 15, 2007 10:20:30 PM
Saturday ;-)
Posted by: David K. | Nov 15, 2007 10:22:48 PM
I agree the Arizona red looks awful, but not nearly as awful as the yellow of the Oregon Ducks or Cal Bears.
A lot of people recognize that Dixon is what makes this Oregon offense tick and that is why he deservedly the Heisman frontrunner (unless his season ends tonight), however what is amazing is how something as simple as the size of Dixon's hands is what makes the Oregon shotgun read option so effective. When you have big, dark hands almost completely covering a big, dark football, it's damn hard to tell if that ball has been handed off to the running back or not, which forces the defender to effectively commit to a guess as to who really has the ball. The QB then has just enough time to react to the guess, make a decision, and either leave the ball with the RB or pull it back and take off and run. Just compare the Oregon offense with Brady Leaf instead of Dennis Dixon, or Texas' offense with Colt McCoy instead of Vince Young, and you can see the rushers are rarely confused as to who has the ball in that read option play.
Posted by: Andrew | Nov 15, 2007 10:25:38 PM
So how happy will a Mike Stoops win make Bob Stoops? This can be nothing but a positive for Oklahoma.
Hrmmm - the Pac-10, conference of champions? They do mean champion, right? (USC and who else?)
And wow, a fumble that puts the Ducks out of FG range. Followed by an 11 yard punt. 11 YARDS?!?!?!
This game is amazing.
Posted by: B. Minich | Nov 15, 2007 10:27:19 PM
Minich, the Pac-10 has more championships in athletics than any other conference in the NCAA Div 1, thats where the title comes from, although they do have a fair number of football championships over the years.
Posted by: David K. | Nov 15, 2007 10:29:42 PM
KANSAS!!!!!
Posted by: Marty West | Nov 15, 2007 10:29:53 PM
Dude, the Cal Bears have UGLY yellows. They really should wear the old school blue uniforms like they did in the Stanford Band game.
Did you see the WVU uniforms a week ago? Now those were ugly,especially considering the fact that they were wearing yellow pants to match. It was like watching a bunch of yellow zebras.
And yet another horrible punt. What's up with the punting in this game?
Posted by: B. Minich | Nov 15, 2007 10:32:48 PM
David: thanks, I didn't know that. I was mostly talking about recent football, I guess.
Posted by: B. Minich | Nov 15, 2007 10:35:17 PM
Sign: "Ducks roast in the desert!"
Reaction: Mmmmm, roast duck.
Posted by: B. Minich | Nov 15, 2007 10:40:28 PM
I love the Tiger Woods black suit, shirt, and tie ensemble.
Posted by: B. Minich | Nov 15, 2007 10:44:33 PM
Once again, #2 is playing like #2.
Posted by: lexicon | Nov 15, 2007 10:53:55 PM
KANSAS!!!!!
This game doesn't matter to Kansas. They would leapfrog Oregon anyway if they win out.
More like:
OKLAHOMA!!!
And
MISSOURI!!!
And maybe
WEST VIRGINIA!!!
And perhaps even
ARIZONA STATE!!!
But please, for the love of God, not
OHIO STATE!!!
Posted by: Brendan Loy | Nov 15, 2007 11:03:06 PM
I like how the color commentator said at one point "This is where I messed up - I played horrible with a lead". Most people probably wouldn't admit what they did wrong.
GAH! CHRISTMAS ADS! I HATE YOU!!!!!!
Posted by: B. Minich | Nov 15, 2007 11:46:19 PM
OK, I love baseball, but why on earth are we talking baseball during a football game.
Seriously. This is what SportsCenter is for.
NOO!! Not another question!!! Just go back to the game!
This has officially turned into an el crapfest game.
Posted by: B. Minich | Nov 16, 2007 12:02:29 AM
How many times can Oregon fumble?
Posted by: B. Minich | Nov 16, 2007 12:03:35 AM
OK, the talking apple for Applebees is creepy. If I am going to see those, I'm not going to that restaurant.
Posted by: B. Minich | Nov 16, 2007 12:05:05 AM
The worst part is we'll be hearing tomorrow that Oregon was overrated, not that Arizona was good...
Posted by: David K. | Nov 16, 2007 12:36:49 AM
And the Arizona fans have already jumped the fence and are waiting to storm the field. They are going nuts.
Posted by: B. Minich | Nov 16, 2007 12:42:47 AM
(They have pretty much joined the Arizona coaching staff).
Posted by: B. Minich | Nov 16, 2007 12:43:51 AM
Ore-gone!
Posted by: Sandy Creamjeans | Nov 16, 2007 12:52:25 AM
The Pac-10 schedule is a WAR. :)
Posted by: Brendan Loy | Nov 16, 2007 12:55:18 AM
I think Bob Stoops was there - so he probably congratulated Mike in person. At one point, the ref was between two Stoops, which can't have been pleasant.
Posted by: B. Minich | Nov 16, 2007 1:22:05 AM
Oregon is out of the picture when it comes to the national championship
Don't be so sure. Oregon will presumably stay ahead of USC in the pecking order, so the DUcks "just" need the 8 of the top 9 teams to all lose a game... and maybe LSU to lose twice. (Arguably, Kansas should have to lose twice, but I don't think they'll need to.)
Hey, it could happen.
Posted by: Brendan | Nov 16, 2007 10:05:28 AM
Oregon without Dixon does not stay ahead of USC, no way.
Posted by: Andrew | Nov 16, 2007 9:33:42 PM