2013: The Season That Was…What?: How Will The 2013 UO Football Campaign Be Remembered?

2013: The Season That Was…What?: How Will The 2013 UO Football Campaign Be Remembered?

Originally posted on CampusAttic.com on January 1st, 2014

    How will history reflect on the 2013 University of Oregon football season? A year of snowball fights, a suspension due to “circumstances,” a dismissal due to drug possession, bad losses before national audiences, sour grapes over not playing in the national championship (or Rose Bowl), and unrealized expectations? Will the lasting memory be that of the Alamo Bowl and proof that it is perfectly legal for defenders to completely decapitate a quarterback, just as long as their fingers don’t softly brush across the face mask?

Somebody please explain how this isn’t a penalty? (courtesy: BleacherReport.com)

     It is also without question one of the greatest years in school history, the sixth year in a row that Oregon has won at least 10 games, and only the ninth time that feat has been accomplished (2000, 2001, 2005, 2008-2013), placing Oregon ninth in the country in most wins since 2000 (111-41). The 591 points scored on the season was the fourth highest total tallied by the Ducks in school history.

    Oregon was the only school to go to four straight BCS bowls coming into the 2013 campaign and Mark Helfrich is the first coach at Oregon to win 11 games in their first year at the helm, while nobody has racked up more yards in school history in a single year than Marcus Mariota or Josh Huff in 2013 at their respective positions. So why the overwhelming reaction of a disappointing season?

Oregon won the Alamo Bowl, but how will the
2013 team be remembered? (courtesy: DuckFootballNews.com)

    Oregon (11-2) won the bowl game matchup vs. Texas in the Alamo Bowl 30-7, much in the same manner as last season’s Fiesta Bowl against Kansas State, methodically and dare I say boring. It was a dominant defensive performance resulting in the only drama coming in the form of a leg cramp by Mariota–the result of not participating full-go in conditioning work for the past month while recovering from his mid-season knee injury.

    It is that knee injury where it can be pinpointed that the season turned, a 2nd quarter partial tear of the MCL vs. UCLA, forcing Oregon to change its style of play, removing the threat of the quarterback run and making Mariota more of a pocket passer to protect his knee. Unfortunate then that the following week was the game vs. Stanford, the performance that it seems established the criticism for the 2013 Ducks and first year head coach Mark Helfrich, a six-point loss that wasn’t decided until the final minute yet the reaction seems to be the perception of a blowout.

    Looking at the numbers, statistically 2013 should go on record as the greatest season in Oregon history.

-Mark Helfrich is the first coach in Oregon history to win 11 games in their first season.
-Mark Helfrich is the third coach in Pac-8/10/12 history to win 11 games in his first year as head coach (John Robinson-USC, David Shaw-Stanford).
-Marcus Mariota is the first Oregon player to tally over 4,000 total yards in a season (3,665 passing yards, 715 rushing yards).
-Marcus Mariota is the first Oregon player to compile 40 total touchdowns in a season (31 passing TDs, 9 rushing TDs).
-Marcus Mariota became the career-leader at Oregon in rushing yards by a quarterback (1,467).
-Josh Huff broke the school record for receiving yards in a season with 1,140, breaking Bob Newland’s 1,123 record held since 1970.
-Josh Huff tied the school record for most receiving touchdowns in a season (12), and becomes the fourth player in school history to have 24 career receiving TDs.
-Josh Huff became the first Oregon player to have at least six 100+ yard receiving games in a single season.
-DeAnthony Thomas set the new school record for career kickoff return yardage (1,885).
-Oregon racked up 7,345 total yards on the season, the most in school history, and second most in the nation in 2013.
-Oregon scored 591 total points on the season, a new school record.
-Six times Oregon cracked 50+ points in a game, tying the school record (2010).
-The seven points given up in the Alamo Bowl was the lowest point total for an opponent vs. Oregon in a bowl game since the 1920 Rose Bowl (7 – Harvard).

A familiar face was in the NFL, and the Eagles looked more like
Oregon than Oregon did in 2013. (courtesy: SI.com)

    The concern coming into the year was maintaining the success under former Oregon head coach Chip Kelly, Helfrich appointed from offensive coordinator as his successor while maintaining much of the same coaching staff. Oregon proved reminiscent of the Kelly era, except in a change in offensive philosophy.

     Under Kelly, Oregon was one of the top rushing teams in the country every year, but this season Oregon was one of the top passing teams doing its damage through the air. Previously, the Ducks set up the pass through a dominant run game, this year Oregon passed early to open up run lanes.

    Even though it was a short time ago, it seems as if already the perception of the Kelly era has changed, the legend replacing the reality. Kelly lost his first game as head coach. Kelly didn’t win 11 games in his first season as head coach. Kelly didn’t win a bowl game in his first year as head coach. What he did do though that Helfrich could not was win a conference title.

     Kelly’s team didn’t reset the record books in his first year the way Helfrich’s 2013 squad did. In fact it wasn’t until mid-season in Oregon’s 42-3 drubbing of Cal in Kelly’s first year that the Ducks looked like a quality team at all, prior to that there were calls for Kelly’s head in the same regard that Helfrich-doubters have been calling for blood. But why, is it really justified in the greater scheme of things, after leading Oregon to one of the best seasons by any measure in school history?

Could Marcus Mariota and new head coach Mark Helfrich
maintain the good times was the big question for 2013.
(courtesy: Fansided.com)

    In his first season Kelly’s Ducks lost three games, in Helfrich’s first season Oregon lost two. In Oregon’s first three games of 2009 the offense looked lost, without the heroics of Walter Thurmond almost single-handedly carrying the Ducks to victories over Purdue and Utah until the offense finally found their feet vs. Cal, going 2-1 to start the year.

     In 2013 when DeAnthony Thomas suffered a mid-season injury and Mariota became hobbled, Oregon had to adjust to become a pocket-passing team, and finished the year 2-2.

    So why exactly does the Kelly mythology become so infallible compared to those calling for Helfrich’s head since the Stanford loss? Was the six-point Stanford loss really that much more embarrassing than the 11-point 2009 Boise State loss? Was players expressing their disappointment that they were out of the national championship hunt after the Stanford loss worse than the LeGarrette Blount punch media firestorm that came after the 2009 Boise State loss? In nearly every respect Helfrich exceeded Kelly in his first year, except for one–in 2009 Oregon won the Pac-12 title, despite also losing to Stanford.

     Perhaps this is the result of the unfair comparison over a track-record of work. Chip Kelly was offensive coordinator for two years before becoming head coach at Oregon, a position he held for four seasons. Helfrich held the offensive coordinator position under Kelly for four years, and has one year as head coach under his belt. So To consider Kelly’s four years in charge vs. Helfrich’s one is not an apples to apples comparison, more of a sample size is needed from Helfrich’s teams before a proper side-by-side comparison can be drawn, Helfrich needs to be given more time before being judged. 

Yet how does someone follow a legend, especially when they are tasked with trying to emulate the legend in every way?

    2013 was one of the greatest seasons by any measure in school history, if that is a disappointment then it is long past time to get expectations in check. Only one team gets to claim a national championship, meaning if that is the only measure of success then every single year is a disappointment for 124 teams.

     Professional expectations placed on amateur athletics can only lead to disappointment if this is the measuring stick. So why is Helfrich and the 2013 campaign judged so harshly solely on its inability to win a national title, something that Kelly’s Ducks were never able to accomplish either?

     GAME BY GAME SEASON REVIEW

Saturday, August 31, 2013 – Nicholls State at Oregon

Mariota & co. set new school records to open the season vs. Nicholls State,
yet for many fans it wasn’t enough. (courtesy: USAToday.com)

    The year began with a 66-3 victory at Autzen Stadium over Nicholls State. While the quality of opponent can certainly be questioned, it was far from the first time a sub-division opponent played Oregon, and in the first game of the season the Ducks set a new school record for rushing yardage and total yards in a single game. Three players rushed for 100+ yards, the first time in school history that had happened. Yet after the game there was a lot of griping, not celebrating over what the team accomplished but complaining that more should have been achieved. This would prove to be a common theme for the year.

Saturday, September 7, 2013 – Oregon at Virginia

    The following week a cross-country trip to Virginia tested the offensive line’s capabilities, facing a UVA squad built around an impressive defensive front. Test passed with flying bright shimmering colors in typical Duck fashion, a 59-10 victory in Charlottesville, racking up 559 total yards, while the defense held the Cavaliers under 300.

Saturday, September 14, 2013 – Tennessee at Oregon

    Tennessee arrived in Eugene the following week, a real rarity for a SEC team to travel west. There had been many questions over if Tennessee would honor the return trip of the home-and-home series, based on recent history of SEC teams having a tendency to back out of agreements that draw them away from friendly confines.

     While not the elite of the South-Eastern Conference, Tennessee certainly was a serviceable opponent with a grand tradition. Oregon gave them their worst loss since 1918, while Mariota threw for 456 yards, the fourth best passing performance in school history.

     The 59-14 win also showed Oregon’s ability to persevere over the first major adversity on the year, backup tight end Johnny Mundt having a career day with 121 yards and two TDs replacing starter Colt Lyerla, who was held out for what Helfrich described as “circumstances” that would later lead to his dismissal from the team altogether for drug possession.

Saturday, September 28, 2013 – Cal at Oregon

    Against Cal coming off a bye week, Oregon was tested again, not so much by the opponent but by the weather. Could a collective of Californians, Texans, and Hawaiians used to sun overcome the cold near tsunami-conditions and still perform in the worst weather witnessed at Autzen Stadium since the 2001 Civil War game? A 27-point first quarter proved that in fact yes, despite a comical amount of fumbles, the severity of the weather was like water off a duck’s back, amassing a 55-16 victory over the hapless Cal Bears. The Oregon defense dominated, collecting five turnovers.

Saturday, October 5, 2013 – Oregon at Colorado

    The next week playing in Boulder vs. Colorado was another dominating performance. Colorado was still recovering from record flooding the previous week, as the storm system that wrought pouring rain in Eugene during the Cal game also devastated much of Colorado with record rainfall. Once Oregon arrived, the touchdowns fell, as Marcus Mariota threw for five scores and ran for two more, the Ducks scoring 29 points in the first quarter on their way to a 57-16 win.

Saturday, October 12, 2013 – Oregon at Washington

    With DeAnthony Thomas still hobbled but dressing down for the first time since the Cal game, Washington was supposed to be the team to possibly trip up Oregon, the first ranked opponent of the season. A 17-point 3rd quarter from Washington kept the game somewhat interesting, but not nearly enough as Oregon got the 10th win in a row over the Huskies with a 45-24 victory in Seattle. Mariota was again spectacular, throwing for 366 yards and 3 TDs and adding another on the ground, putting him at the forefront of the Heisman Trophy hype.

Saturday, October 19, 2013 – Washington State at Oregon

    It was a record-breaking day, in several regards. Oregon’s defense held Washington State to a total of 2 yards on the ground…but 557 through the air, albeit it took WSU a new NCAA record 89 pass attempts to do it, turning the ball over to Oregon five times in the process. Oregon meanwhile tallied 719 total yards in the 62-38 win, with Byron Marshall being the big star on the day in a 192 yard, 3 TD rushing performance. The amount of passing from WSU infamously led to some harsh words from Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti postgame over WSU coach Mike Leach’s decision to leave the starters in and keep throwing until the final play long after the game was decided, resulting in a $5,000 fine for Aliotti.

Saturday, October 26, 2013 – UCLA at Oregon

    The much-hyped matchup vs. UCLA was another big win over a quality ranked opponent, but a seemingly subplot to the game in retrospect marked the downfall of Oregon’s championship run. The quarterback battle got all the media attention, Marcus Mariota vs. Brett Hundley, the cream of the Pac-12 QB crop fighting for supremacy. Oregon’s defense completely stymied Hundley, but in the second quarter Mariota came up lame at one point, with what would later prove to be a partially-torn MCL in his left knee.

     Surprisingly it was after the injury that Mariota turned on the jets, the game tied 14-14 at the half turned into a 2nd half rout, Oregon shutting out UCLA while racking up four TDs for a 42-14 win. Hundley threw for a paltry 64 yards against the Oregon secondary.

Thursday, November 7, 2013 – Oregon at Stanford

A hobbled Marcus Mariota couldn’t run, and the Ducks
couldn’t win, vs. Stanford. (courtesy: NYTimes.com)

    The game of the year, circled on calendars nationwide, must-watch TV with what was for most of the country the first chance to watch Oregon in action and this Mariota guy everyone was hearing about. In Eugene some students had made “WE WANT BAMA” shirts, in the worst and most disgusting example of Oregon losing grasp of the Win The Day mentality and looking ahead, deservedly receiving a lot of criticism nationwide for so callously looking past opponents.

     What people got instead was a shell of Oregon, Mariota unable to run on his torn MCL making Oregon’s offense very one-dimensional, while Oregon’s front seven showed an ineptness at stopping Stanford’s rushing attack. Multiple dumb penalties, missed blocks, missed tackles, and mental errors clouded the performance, as Oregon shot itself in the foot for three quarters while Stanford was content to slowly grind out 3-4 yards at a time.

     In the 4th quarter Oregon finally came alive, scoring on a blocked field goal and converting on an onside kick bringing the game to within 26-20. A final onside kick with a minute left couldn’t be recovered though, and long after most of the country had turned off the TV, Oregon’s comeback fell just short. Mariota had thrown for 250 yards and two TDs in a six-point loss, but the national media perception was that of a blowout and subpar performance, eliminating Oregon from any national championship or postseason award contention.

Saturday, November 16, 2013 – Utah at Oregon

    Questions remained about Mariota’s health, as Oregon fought through a difficult opponent in Utah that had earlier in the year knocked off Stanford. Mariota wasn’t running, but his arm was showing no ill effects, throwing for 288 yards and 3 TDs. What was surprising in the game was a repeat of the Stanford effort, where with the absence of Mariota as a run threat Oregon’s run game appeared non-existent, compiling a meager and very un-Oregon-like 145 yards on the ground vs. Utah’s stout defense.

     Penalties further hurt Oregon, but at Autzen Stadium the Ducks still proved the better team thanks to a 20-point third quarter, beating the Utes 44-21. The bigger event happened in Los Angeles, when USC defeated Stanford, putting Oregon in first place in the Pac-12 north. All Oregon had to do was beat Arizona and OSU in their last two regular season games, and the Ducks would host the Pac-12 championship.

Saturday, November 23, 2013 – Oregon at Arizona

Arizona’s Kadeem Carey had a career day vs. Oregon. (courtesy: SI.com)

    Despite the opportunity to capture the Pac-12 North title, public comments made by players got national attention when it slipped that some “didn’t care about the Rose Bowl.” It was a bit of sour grapes after the Stanford loss, but also telling of how under the Helfrich regime the Win The Day mentality had wavered. In this context Oregon traveled to Arizona, to a shockingly rainy Tucson, AZ to take on a 6-4 Wildcat team that had just lost to WSU the week prior.

     What the Wildcats did have was the conference’s best running back in Kadeem Carey, who ran over, around, and through Oregon’s defense, while quarterback B.J. Denker had the game of his life running and throwing. Oregon looked uninterested, dropping passes, killing themselves with penalties, and lacking effort. Oregon had its chances but failed to convert, losing 42-16 in a self-fulfilling prophecy. If Oregon didn’t care about the Rose Bowl, they proved it, as with the loss so too disappeared their chances at a Pac-21 title.

Friday, November 29, 2013 – Oregon State at Oregon

    There was still an outside shot for Oregon to make it to their fifth consecutive BCS bowl game if they could beat Oregon State, and get help from other teams. Once again Oregon showed an alarming inability to stop the run, against a team that had been one of the worst rushing teams in the country, the Beavers picking up 231 yards on the ground with a big effort from Terron Ward, brother of former Oregon safety TJ Ward.

     The game was tied at halftime 17-17, the Beavers fighting hard to get their first win in the Civil War series since 2007. Mariota looked human for one of the few times in his career, missing on throws and tossing two interceptions, but still managed some late-game heroics, connecting with Josh Huff for a late touchdown to get the win 36-35. It was a career night for Huff, nine catches for 188 yards and 3 TDs, saving the best of his career for his final game at Autzen Stadium. Now all Oregon could do was wait and see if things fell their way to backdoor into a BCS game.

Monday, December 30, 2013 – Texas vs. Oregon – Alamo Bowl (San Antonio, TX)

    The BCS game hopes fell flat, some teams came through for Oregon but not enough to earn an at-large bid. It wasn’t to be, as the ACC and Big-10 took the at-large bids Oregon was vying for, leaving Texas in the Alamo Bowl as the final opponent for the year. If the game had lackluster motivation coming in compared to preseason expectations, it certainly didn’t come short in story lines.

     It was revealed publicly for the first time that Mariota had in fact been playing on a partially-torn MCL since the UCLA game, while the game also signaled the end of two legendary coaching careers — Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti announcing his retirement shortly after it was announced that Texas head coach Mack Brown was being forced to “resign” after 16 years leading the Longhorns.

Sometimes goat, sometimes great, Nick Aliotti’s always
honest tell-it-like-it-is approach
will be sorely missed. (courtesy: OregonLive.com)

     The game itself was quite chippy, with much focus being on a leg cramp suffered by Mariota, the result of a lot of running early on in the game matched with him being held out of full conditioning work for the past two months because of the knee injury. Mariota fought through the leg cramp, and carried Oregon, rushing an Alamo Bowl record 133 yards for a quarterback, and throwing for an additional 253.

     The big story though was Oregon’s defense, returning two interceptions for touchdowns, and holding Texas to only 236 yards of total offense. It was a methodical bowl game vs. Big-12 opponent defensive stand from the Ducks, a Nick Aliotti trademark during his lengthy tenure at Oregon, a proper way to send the coach out on top. Aliotti’s defenses may not have always had the greatest numbers, but it was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that given a month to prepare for a bowl game vs. a Big-12 team, Nick Aliotti is their worst nightmare.

     TAKEAWAYS FROM 2013

1) The Mark Helfrich tenure was flawed, but successful.

While it may not have met fan expectations amidst the unfair and anti-WTD “BCS or Bust” mentality, the numbers don’t lie that in many ways Oregon in its first year under Helfrich exceeded teams under Chip Kelly. Statistics don’t necessarily win games though, and the Stanford and Arizona losses remain black marks on the season that will likely leave the year thought of as more of a “what if” year rather than culmination of the capabilities of the team.

Scott Frost began the year a highly-sought coach, but ended the year
with many questions about his play-calling abilities. (courtesy: gamedayr.com)

2) Improvement is needed in the coaching staff approach.

The offensive play-calling was much maligned in 2013, despite it being statistically the greatest production in school history. Delving further into the numbers, the area of concern comes in 4th down conversions and red zone offense, areas where Oregon struggled supremely compared to previous seasons. 

At times it seemed like play-calling was made in spite of the team’s personnel, not because of it. On the defensive side Oregon was a mixed bag, sometimes the same old opportunistic sparkling defense fans have become accustomed to, but during the second half of the season prior to the bowl game the front seven which had been lauded as one of the best in school history got completely exposed as a unit incapable of effectively stopping the run. 

With the retirement of Nick Aliotti, for the first time since 1999 Oregon is looking for a new defensive coordinator, and with whomever that may be hopefully also comes a re-dedication towards winning the line of scrimmage.

3) Defensive line recruiting must seek out size, not just height.

For Oregon to return to elite status, recruiting needs to focus on not just height along the defensive line but also bulk, as the line rarely formed a consistent push or rush threat without blitz help. The recruiting height philosophy worked when Jerry Azzinaro was the defensive line coach under Chip Kelly, with the defensive scheme utilizing a lot of deception, presenting a wide variety of fronts. In 2013 with Azzinaro in the NFL, Oregon’s front rarely made its presence known, either in pre-snap deception or post-snap performance. The height didn’t result in a lot of tipped passes, but did end up with linemen on roller skates, getting pushed backwards often against large offensive lines, leading to the difficulties in the second half of the year in stopping the run.

4) Oregon has a kicker, but who will punt?

Say what you will about Alejandro Maldenaldo’s career at Oregon, the mixed results in big kick moments overshadowing his great versatility, first filling in as a punter his freshmen year when Jackson Rice came down with Mono, and in 2013 handling both kick and punt duties. True freshman Matt Wogan was brought in for his big leg to be Maldenaldo’s successor, the top-rated kicker from the prep ranks. However Wogan early appeared shaky, showing difficulty in keeping the ball on the field during kickoffs, leading to questions of his ability to handle field goals. Eventually Wogan improved, and by the end showed that he has accuracy to match his power, consistently booming kickoffs into the endzone in the Alamo Bowl and converting on three of four field goal opportunities. Maldenaldo meanwhile by the end of the year was stellar as a punter. With Wogan handling both kickoff duties and field goals, Oregon should expect big things from special teams in the next three years, though next year’s punter is in question.

5) Offensive line needs to get nasty.

Oregon has speed, nobody in the country doubts this. But the past few seasons, and especially in 2013, it showed that while the Ducks may be fast, they are not necessarily strong. In the trenches there needs to be a bit of nastiness, scrappiness, toughness. Oregon had it last year with Kyle Long, but his presence was sorely lacking in 2013, as Oregon showed little ability to open big run lanes when the pass threat wasn’t first loosening up the defense. Recruiting, coaching, and training all need to look at ways to maintain the versatility of the line, while also returning to the nasty ways the unit up front once displayed when they were plowing over defenses allowing for big run lanes for the likes of LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner to reset the record books.

Byron Marshall put up big numbers in 2013, but can he become one
of Oregon’s all-time greats? (courtesy: BleacherReport.com)

6) Oregon has depth at running back, but are any of them elite?

Oregon has been spoiled with elite level talent at running back, stretching  back for three decades. Since the days of Tony Cherry, Derek Loville, and Latin Berry in the 1980s, Oregon has placed halfbacks in the NFL. Since the switch to the spread offense in 2005, the Ducks have been known as a run-first team, grinding out big chunks of yardage ranking them in the top 10 rushing offenses every year. The future looks bright with Byron Marshall (1,038 yards, 14 TDs) and Thomas Tyner (711 yards, 9 TDs), but will the tandem match the success of J. Johnson/Blount, Philyaw/Whittle, James/Barner or even Loville/Berry? 

While they were able to rack up yards in 2013, lacking was the ability to break tackles like their predecessors, nor take over a game the way the Oregon run game was able to in the Kelly era. Mariota adding 700+ yards on the ground helps immensely, but it also puts his health at risk, as evidenced by his MCL tear vs. UCLA. The running backs have to own the game, and whether the current regime can dominate like those in the past remains a question mark.

7) Marcus Mariota if healthy in 2014 should win the Heisman Trophy.

What superlatives can be added to Marcus Mariota’s 2013 campaign that haven’t already been said? He had the single greatest season in the history of Oregon football by any player ever, yet wrongly wasn’t even given an invite to New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony. For shame voters, as Mariota’s efforts and numbers outclassed others that did receive invites (looking at you, former Oregon commit Johnny Manziel). Further accolades should be given to Mariota over his efforts while injured, still putting up fantastic efforts despite being hobbled, leading Oregon to a 2-2 record in November. Odd that while TExas A&M lost four games, Manziel never took the blame, and in fact even got credited for his efforts in a loss, while Mariota in contrast got completely discredited when Oregon lost despite his still impressive numbers. With Mariota at the helm in 2014 the wins will come, and at long last the individual awards that he is so deserving of will follow.

8) The Oregon program and fans completely forgot what “Win The Day” means.

The publicized philosophy of WTD was stated often, but its meaning long forgotten before the season even began. The idea is simple, and was strongly enforced under the Kelly regime–do what you can today to focus only the tasks at hand, do your best in what you can control, do everything possible to be your best TODAY. Don’t look ahead to tomorrow, don’t look behind at yesterday, focus on winning now in whatever tasks exist before you. That was the essence of Winning The Day as explained by Chip Kelly repeatedly in press conferences, and during his time in Eugene the teams bought into it whole-heartedly. 

It seems simple enough, but with “BCS or Bust” being the mantra coming into the year and expectations at completely unrealistic levels of perfection at every step or it’s considered a disappointment, the year was doomed to fail from the start. Be it the insulting “WE WANT BAMA” shirts, the “we don’t care about the Rose Bowl” comments, questions of effort vs. Arizona, whether DeAnthony Thomas could have played while hurt, and without question the massive amount of nega-Duck attitude that plagued the fan base at every step proved that while WTD was often stated, the idea behind it had been completely lost. Refocus is needed, otherwise WTD should be abandoned, as both fans and the team completely lost track of what Win The Day meant in 2013 without Chip Kelly around to keep everyone in check.

     FINAL THOUGHTS ON 2013

    The 2013 Oregon Ducks football campaign was an absolute success. Be it Mariota or Huff on the field or Helfrich and company in the booth, the year SHOULD be remembered as one of the best in school history. From an individual and team perspective, an 11-win season will go down among the best ever. Yet unfortunately and unfairly the exceedingly unrealistic expectations that get placed on the program give the perception of it being a letdown year, but the results are far from it.

     The University of Oregon Ducks football program now takes on a different perception. For decades it has been the model of stability, with coaches Jim Radcliffe, Steve Greatwood, Don Pellum, Mike Bellotti, Gary Campbell, Neal Zoumboukos, and Nick Aliotti calling Eugene home–the players changed but the coaches did not. Now Bellotti, Zoumbokos, and Aliotti are gone, a reminder that despite the years of coaching legacy there will come a day soon when Pellum and Campbell aren’t competing for best dressed on gamedays, when Greatwood isn’t coaching offensive linemen, and Jim Radcliffe won’t be Oregon’s secret weapon as the best strength & conditioning coach in the country.

     Aliotti’s retirement is the first in more to come, the old guard coaches being an evolution of the Len Casanova and Rich Brooks eras, making Oregon a place of coaching greatness since the 1950s. What will come of the future of Oregon athletics without those familiar faces will be the true mark of Oregon’s place going forward, as long before the facilities and uniforms and marketing Oregon was the proving grounds for some of the best coaches to ever diagram X’s and O’s, and despite all the glitz and toys now symbolizing Oregon football it is still the football knowledge in the coaching staff that continues to be the driving force of Oregon’s success.

     As has been seen at other schools such as USC with the hiring of Lane Kiffin or the Ty Willingham tenure in Washington, one bad hire can completely derail even the greatest of traditional powers, much less a program still establishing its mark among the college football elite like Oregon. Just because Oregon has great facilities doesn’t mean the program will always be successful, it is still the people that matter most, and the loss of Aliotti looms large in an uncertain future.

    2013 should be remembered as an 11 win season, where fans got to witness some of the best individual performances in school history, and leaving on a high note with a bowl victory giving Nick Aliotti the swan song he deserved for his decades of work at the UO.

     Most importantly, let 2013 be the end of the nega-Duck fan attitude, the bandwagon fans that criticize amateur athletes in their failure to be absolutely flawless in everything they do. Not every play has to be a touchdown, not every game has to be a 50-point victory. A 1-point win counts just as much as a 30-point win, and regardless of whether the team wins or loses the game they are deserving of support. It shouldn’t have to be stated but unfortunately needs to be reiterated, it’s tough to go undefeated. Very very very tough, and simply showing up in flashy uniforms doesn’t make teams cower in fear and forfeit.

     It’s impossible to win every single game for all-time. The expectation shouldn’t be to win every game, every award, acquire every recruit, and break every record. It is long overdue to remember what “fan” means. Oh, but you really WANTED a national championship this year, you say? Well, so did 124 other teams, but only one is going to get to claim it, and for the 120th year  in a row it won’t be Oregon, and that’s okay. One or two losses is not justified cause to abandon the team.

     Finally, 2013 remains an opportunity to reflect on where things might have gone wrong, to regroup and prepare for the next season, to use it as a measuring stick and ponder areas to improve, and hopefully remember to focus on the here and now–to Win The Day.

The Duck loved 2013, and so should you, as it was one of the best years in school history. - See more at: http://www.campusattic.com/headline/2013-season#sthash.XBBvLYe3.dpuf