Oregon/ASU Review

Fresh Hop Fest at Oaks Park.
Originally uploaded by pete4ducks.

A bit late yes but just wanted to write a bit about the Oregon/ASU game. I was lucky enough to be able to go to the game which was the first one I have attended since Nevada. The Sun Devils came to play and are a team who plays much like a classic Dennis Erickson squad. Hard hitting aggressive defense and an offense that likes to get vertical. In addition like many Dennis Erickson teams of the past the Sun Devils sometimes play out of control and this leads to stupid penalties (see Burfict, Vontaze). For the second time in two weeks Oregon fans had a throw up in your mouth moment when Darron Thomas grabbed his knee and exited the game. In came Bryan Bennett for his first meaningful playing time and to the delight of all Duck fans Bennett led Oregon to back to back td drives and put the game away. I am not sure we learned much about Bennett’s ability to throw the ball but I think it is pretty clear that is more of a running threat than Darron Thomas is. I don’t think ASU had any idea he was so quick and Bennett made them pay when they didn’t spy him. Oregon put up over 300 yards on the ground which was a pretty impressive performance against what was considered the Pac 12’s top defense. Had it not been for a pointless clipping penalty by Lavisier Tuinei, Kenjon Barner would have put up 200 yards rushing which would have meant four straight games an Oregon running back put up that figure or better. Kenjon proved that he can put up a 30 carry game, run between the tackles and still showed the flashes of his breakaway speed. We had a Cliff Harris spotting as well who might have made the key play of the game with his pick and long return of a Brock (6 foot 8!) Osweiler. Helmet stickers to Kenjon Barner and Mark Asper. Oregon by the way has now won 15 consecutive conference games it would take another 13 to break USC’s remarkable run in the previous decade. This week Oregon is off to Boulder in a game I expect Oregon to give players like Bryan Bennett, Tra Carson and Rashuan Vaughn some meaningful playing time. The game might not be as large a blowout as one may expect (giving 34 points on the road to a conference foe is pretty absurd) but Oregon should easily win.