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.
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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
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