“You can go downhill and give up, or you can get back together and refocus”.
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After the game, someone on WSU’s Twitter feed had a little fun at the expense of the Ducks and their Lewis-and-Clark themed helmets.
Oregon has constantly possessed one of the most dominating offenses over the last few years, and that was fueled by both an outstanding passing attack and a running game teams couldn’t seem to stop. The sophomore averaged 9.1 YPC and acted as Oregon’s most effective offensive weapon throughout. After punt exchanges from both Washington State and Oregon, Lockie took back over and managed yet another Oregon touchdown as Royce Freeman ran into the end zone for a 31-21 lead. On the first drive of the second half, Jeff Lockie threw the ball into the turf on a key third down, giving the ball back over to the Washington State offense. “We are trying to get better every week. That has been our goal ever since this offense started”.
Alie saw the field against Colorado Buffaloes last week, completing four-of-nine pass attempts for 83 yards, including a 43-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Brown in the fourth quarter in Oregon’s 41-24 win. But the Cougars quickly dropped off, losing six or more games each of the next four seasons, and by the end of 2007, Washington State was at the bottom of the Pac-10 pecking order.
Oregon was ranked 114th in the nation for passing yards allowed going into the game, allowing an average of 287.2 yards a game. Oregon has thrown for 178, 176, and 123 yards in the past three games after not being below 200 in the previous 27 games.
In OT, Oregon got the ball first and scored on two plays – a 16-yard run by Royce Freeman to the 9-yard line and a Jeff Lockie pass to Bralon Addison.
Vernon Adams Jr., who was named Oregon’s starting QB just prior to the beginning of the season, broke the index finger on his throwing hand in the Ducks’ opener against his former team, Eastern Washington. “We had them where we wanted them with five minutes left in the game and we didn’t finish”. Win all three and we’re looking at a 5-3 team on a hot streak when they get a home game against Arizona November 15. I looked up to see a swarm of Wazzu players celebrating; I couldn’t help but laugh.
Of course, that was all well before the Oregon-Washington State game started. “In his post-game interview on Saturday, Mike Leach said, “… they don’t have one guy on their roster who didn’t have an offer from 15 other schools”.
“We’ve been down that road, the Utah game in particular he just couldn’t throw it down the field”, Frost said. “We did that”, Portland State head coach Bruce Barnum said, according to the team’s website.
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Gone are the days of Marcus Mariota’s magic and big play after big play, spreading opponents out and sprinting past them.
