Your Home of the Oregon ILLINI. Oskee Wa Wa!

It's a totally different game very week. And how fast can things change - bam, just like a pick six. I've been saying it all year. Gone are the days where teams can expect to dominate simply by showing up. You just never know anymore. That's why they play the games. Chief usually doesn't opine about things non-ILLINI (why waste the electrons?), but he felt obliged to post a few thoughts and comments about the Duck demise in the desert tonight at the hands of the notorious WILDCATS. Another win in November to remember for Arizona.

For starters, football is a brutal game. There isn't a more physical game in the land. What it demands of an athelete's body is at times super-human. Let's face it, the corpus humanus wasn't designed to take such a brutal beating week in and week out. It's not a fair game. You hate to see any player go down like that, much less a legitimate Heisman candidate. But, injury is part of the deal. All teams have been there. In the end, it's really black and white - do or die (figuratively). And for what seems like a weekly phenomenon (fifth time in reality), down goes #2 BCS. What a season. And the upsets, surprises, letdowns, and otherwise unforgettable moments are not behind us yet. Mark those words.

Had Derrick Jones made the catch early in the 1st, Oregon goes up 15-0 and the rout is on. Instead, after some pong action and some great hands by Cason, Arizona puts together 31 unanswered points - doing it every which way possible. After Dixon's departure, the game took on a whole new tone. I was somewhat surprised to see how the entire team collapsed like Dennis' knee (exposing the team's character to some degree). That is not a sign of a champion. You have to be deeper than one player to win in big-time football. Nothing came easy for Oregon on offense or defense (key turnovers, etc..). And there there is Brady Leaf; he's no Doug Flutie much less a Dennis Dixon. OK, to be honest, having Leaf in the game instead of Dixon is like having an ass run in the Derby. It's just not quite the same performance. Watching leaf in the pocket attempting a completion was almost as painful as the Dixon injury.

So where do the Ducks go from here? I don't know of another team as decimated by injury at key positions as Oregon. Ride the back and legs of J. Stewart is my advice. He's a total stud - one of the best in the country. And the defense is something to be proud of after a rough start in the first half. They gave up nothing in the last 30 minutes. Surely, they'll take a beating in the AP/BCS polls next week. I don't see how they remain in the TOP-10 anymore. Their national-title hopes are gone like Willamette - valley sunshine in November.

The big winners tonight reside in the BIG-12: Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. Suddenly the national picture is much clearer (and less controversial). If the Jayhawks win out they go to New Orleans. If the Sooners win out, we could be looking at an LSU / Oklahoma rematch. But, the Ducks are done - they have no chance at the title this year. It was a great run with Dixon in charge - a great year overall. They do have an outside chance to make it to Pasadena provided they take care of business in LA and Eugene to close the season. Suddenly for the Ducks, nothing is guaranteed including two more wins (with one against Oregon State). Seems par for the course in 2007.

And a final note - is their a worse conference in the nation when it comes to officiating? Most of the blown calls weren't even close. It hasn't been a good couple of years for the men in PAC-10 stripes.