As a native Oregonian and fan of both teams, I'm very excited about the Civil War this year. For the Ducks, this is such a dangerous team, and unlike last year, they're very healthy coming into the CW this year. Despite the second half collapse, the win over Arizona was huge. Also, there has been an aura of revenge surrounding this team...they beat the Wildcats who had won 2 straight against em, they almost beat Cal in the swimming pool (errr Memorial Stadium) and now they get a bye week to rest and prepare for the CW. On the Beavs side, the win over Cal was big and should give u them confidence, but- I can't stress this enough- look out for 'zona. Thanks to your pals down the road, the Wildcats are angry and fired up (as indicated here) and are NOT going to want to drop two in a row to both Oregon teams. I expect Arizona will play some very good football, the tough Arizona crowd will be deafening, and the Beavs will have to fight hard to win this game. Oregon will not be easy either. Beavs want the Rose Bowl, but they're really going to have to earn it, as they have two *very* difficult games ahead of them if you ask me.
However the last three home meetings against Oregon State they have lost. Both in 2001 and 2002 Arizona lost by the same score 38-3 at Oregon state. Arizona's last 29-27 win was in 2005 at OSU when that team (OSU) had a losing season. Home Loss: Nov 9, 2000 Lose 33 - 9 (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/scores100/100316/100316426.htm) Oct 30, 2004 Lose 28 - 14 Oct 21 2006 Lose 17 - 10 I think OSU will win by at least a touchdown.
I'm not really worried about Arizona being fired up, and angry. The Beavs have some pretty strong motivation on their side and have even more to play for, so they should come out hard. That said, the Arizona game worries me, and it is going to be a tough, tough game.
For once, the Ducks get to lay low in the weeds while OSU keeps hearing how good they are, how close they are, etc. They got to play at Tuscon on Senior Night. They don't play well on the road and mobile quarterbacks give them fits. I'd be surprised if they outlast the Cats, while the Ducks get a nice bye week, and you do not want to give Chip Kelly a bye week.
I'm worried about the Arizona game, but I think the Beavs have a couple things in their favor. 1) Moevao played the entire game against Cal so he should have shaken any rust he had off from sitting out a couple games. 2) The Rodgers brothers just inspire me with so much confidence. They are so well grounded that you just know they will have the team prepared through their leadership on the practice field.
Actually MasRipcity if you take a look at the last 4 ROAD games (not bowl) for the Beavers the past three seasons the statistics prove you that they have fared better in the second half of their schedule. 2005 2 wins 2 losses (Oct 22 against #8 UCLA 51-28, Nov 19 against #10 Oregon 56-14) 2006 3 wins 1 loss (Nov 11 against UCLA 35 -7 ) 2007 3 wins 1 loss (Nov 3 against USC 24-3) Quizz and his brother are on high gear right now and I doubt Arizona has a plan to stump both of these.
Again, they lose to good teams on the road like your stats pointed out.The only road wins this year are against winless Washington and current 8th place UCLA, not exactly road warriors.
With two whole weeks to prepare, I bet the Ducks coaching staff is all a-twitter over what uniform ensemble they'll choose. The little angels wings things they had going last weekend were darling. But then again, the neon yellow is SO dashing. Choices, choices, choices.
Huh, just pulled the Rose Bowl selection procedures off the Pac 10 website: http://www.pac-10.org/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/111605aac.html I'll leave it to y'all to interpret and ponder possible scenarios: If a Conference team is ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) ranking system it shall participate in the National Championship Game designated by the BCS. If that is not the case, the following procedures will determine the Pacific-10 Rose Bowl Representative. The Pacific-10 Rose Bowl representative shall be that member's team with the best won-lost percentage record in Conference games. If, however, the records in Conference games of two or more members are identical, determination of the Rose Bowl representative shall be as follows: a. Two-Team Tie. The winner of the game between the two teams shall be the representative. b. Multiple-Team Ties. (1) When three or more teams are tied in Conference play, if one has defeated all others, it shall be the Rose Bowl representative. If that is not the case, a comparison of the tied teams' records against the other tied teams shall be made and the team having the best record against the other tied teams shall be the Rose Bowl representative. If two or more teams are still tied after this comparison, the appropriate two-team or multiple-team tie-breaking procedures shall be repeated among those teams still under consideration. (2) If more than two teams are still tied after the process above is completed, each remaining tied team's record against the team occupying the highest position in the final regular season standings shall be compared, with the procedure continuing down through the standings until one team gains an advantage. When arriving at another group of tied teams while comparing records, each team's collective record against the tied teams as a group shall be used. If at any point in the process the multiple-team tie is reduced to two teams, the two-team tie-breaking procedure shall be applied. If more than two teams are still tied after comparing their records all the way through the Conference standings, the team among the tied teams with the highest ranking in the final BCS standings shall be the Rose Bowl representative. If a tie remains, the teams most recently earning Rose Bowl or Bowl Championship Series automatic selection shall be eliminated. c. Ineligible Teams. Teams ineligible to participate in the Rose Bowl shall not be included in the tie-breaking comparisons, but their game results against all other institutions shall count. In determining the Rose Bowl representative when a team is ineligible to participate in the Rose Bowl, the following shall apply: (1) If an ineligible team(s) ties for first place, the ineligible team(s) shall be removed from the multiple-team tiebreaking comparisons and the remaining tied teams shall be compared using the appropriate tie-breaking procedure. (2) In utilizing b-(2) above, the ineligible team(s) shall not be used for comparative purposes with the teams tied for first place.
Says the fan of the team that is coming off a one-year experiment with uniforms that looked like they had sports bras stretched over the top of them. Sports bras, folks. -Pop
Those Beav uniforms last year are just as bad as anything the Ducks have ever worn imo. Seriously, I can't imagine what the designers were thinking.
Pop, you and I both know the wonderbra thing was a plot by Nike and it's evil underlord Phil Knight. Cripes almighty, I'm glad those things are gone.
Lets see U of O barely beat UCLA at home 31 - 24 (oct 11) whereas the Beavs winning at UCLA 34 - 6. Explain that one? Back in 2007 the Ducks lost at Arizona 34-24 and UCLA 16-0. Back in 2006 the Beavs lost at UCLA 25 -7 and won 17-10 at Arizona. I don't think your logic is fair that Beavers play worse on the road in the conference. They only have seemed to get better. Again I am betting the Beavs will win by 7 points.
