Opinion: Big-Game Failure Should Signal Change For Oregon’s Football Program

When something unexpected happens once, or even twice, you put it down to being an aberration, an exception to the rule, a situation influenced, perhaps, by a series of freak incidents. When it happens three times in reasonably quick succession, you then have a problem.

The Oregon Ducks have a problem. For the third time in five calendar years, on a big college football stage, their ability to play to the standard that they set in the regular season – an astoundingly high one – has been tested, and the Ducks have been found wanting. All manner of wins and points during the regular season matter not if you can’t win when it really counts.

Let’s review the tale of the tape: in the 2010 Rose Bowl Game, the Ducks were beaten, and physically dominated, by Ohio State. A year later, the Auburn Tigers narrowly won a National Championship over Oregon, and just a handful of days ago, the Ducks were soundly beaten by another Ohio State squad, denying one of the most dominating regular season teams in recent memory their elusive first National Championship. Remember, also, that Oregon lost to LSU at the start of the season in 2011, when Les Miles’ squad had spring and summer practices to prepare.

The pattern here isn’t hard to see: that Oregon offense, spread, tempo, lightning-fast, big-scoring, that delivers so much success in the regular season, seems to be able to be examined and undone by very good teams when they have more than the standard preparation time. It’s an oft-talked about drawback to what’s otherwise a very potent offensive scheme.

It also doesn’t help that Oregon’s defense, particularly on Monday night against Ohio State, could not get enough key stops. They claimed five turnovers from Florida State in the Rose Bowl Game, which masked how many yards they also gave up. Had the Seminoles protected the football better – and, generally, played like a team worthy of being in a semi-final playoff for the right to be in the National Championship Game – the game might have ended differently.

Yes, it’s true that the ledger shows that the Ducks managed to wrest the ball away from Ohio State four times in the National Championship Game, none but the most ardent Duck fan could dispute that it was more that their players happened to be in the right place at the right time to capitalise on mistakes made by the Buckeyes. Bad fumbles, strange quarterback decisions and ugly transfers between quarterback and running back were all Buckeye mistakes, not so much errors caused by terrific defensive pressure.

For mine, Oregon needs a better defense. Why? Because, although they will generally score more points offensively than they give up on the other side of the football in the regular season, these playoff-calibre teams aren’t as porous on defense. To win championship games, you need a defense that can make tackles. The Ducks are great at nabbing turnovers – one of the best in the country, in fact – but they seemed completely unable to tackle Ezekiel Elliott and Cardale Jones, at least not before either man had ripped off a large chunk of yardage. It was as poor a team-wide attempt at tackling as I’ve seen in some time.

Conversely, look what the Buckeyes managed to do when Oregon had the football. That defensive line and linebacker corps, led by All American Joey Bosa and the vastly-improved Darron Lee, stuffed pretty much everything the Ducks tried. They limited Marcus Mariota’s influence running the ball – he was flushed to the edges, mostly, and knocked out of bounds before breaking off a big one; in short, it was Mariota like we hadn’t seen him this year: bottled up – and we watched the Heisman Trophy winner throw some pretty bad balls to wide-open receivers. It wasn't the polished Ducks squad we’re used to.

Forgive me for the cliché, but the one that talks about how offense gets the glory but defense wins the championships rings so true here. Look at the National Championship-winning teams over the last few years: Alabama, Florida State, recently, and further back to USC in 2005, LSU and Florida. What do they all possess? A killer defense.

Oregon needs to work on their fundamentals and the best way to do that is to have the best athletes coming in. The school needs to be in a position where they are recruiting legitimate talent on that side of the football, in the vein of Alabama or Ohio State. Imagine what the Ducks might be able to accomplish if they had guys like Joey Bosa or Trey DePriest or USC’s Leonard Williams on their team. They’d be downright scary, just as they are with A-grade talent on offense.

They also need to think hard about their offense, and it’s lack of success when the stakes are at their highest. These big-game flame-outs, where the Meyer’s, Chizik’s and Tressel’s of the world, can get on top of Oregon’s offensive scheme are worrisome.

By all rights, we should be talking about an Alabama-type dynasty in Eugene, were it not for these big-game failures. Instead, the Ducks have fallen too often at the final hurdle, and, to my mind, change is needed if they are to turn that around.

College Football Bowl Season 2014-15 Villains

For every good, there’s a whole lot of bad, and we saw lots to make us cringe during the three weeks of Bowl season. Here are some of those who didn’t exactly cover themselves in gridiron glory, my Bowl season villains:

Oregon: I got into a rather interesting online conversation with some Ducks fans yesterday who tried to tell me that Oregon were the better team and that if they’d just converted those four turnovers into points… Figure that one out. The more likely situation is that a big win would’ve been made bigger of the Buckeyes had held onto the football and scored, at a minimum, field goals on that drive.

The opposite seems true to me. Oregon have a problem. We saw it in the 2010 Rose Bowl Game, where they lost to Ohio State, and in the 2011 National Championship Game, a narrow loss to Auburn. It seems that, facing very good football teams who have more than the standard amount of prep time.

I guess the old adage is true: offense gets the glory but a good defense wins championships, and Oregon came up short defensively. Like, way short. It didn’t seem like anyone tackled Ezekiel Elliott – at least, not before he’d already ripped off eight or nine yards. The inability, for the most part, of Oregon’s defenders to not tackle Elliott was astounding.

Sure, the Ducks missed Carrington on offense and Ekpre-Olomu on defense, but those absences don’t make up for Marcus Mariota being something less than his usual sharp self when he needed to be at his best. Imagine the legacy the Heisman Trophy winner could’ve left if he’d taken Oregon to a victory and their first National Championship, to go with a Heisman, and a slew of other awards en route to the NFL.

Instead, it’s a bitter post-mortem for the Ducks, and surely there will need to be some changes, given the way these big games have gone recently. Once or twice, maybe it’s just an aberration or an odd set of circumstances. Three times? That’s a pattern – and a worrying one at that.

Florida State: So, the Seminoles get whacked by Oregon, who then get whacked by Ohio State. That doesn’t say much about an FSU team who, let’s face it, were pretty lucky at times in the regular season. That luck ran out in the Rose Bowl, losing in a humiliating manner to Oregon. Their sportsmanship apparently ran out as well, with most of the team – though, crucially and importantly for his public image, not the polarising and controversial Jameis Winston – fleeing up the tunnel before the clock hit triple zeroes, and not bothering to congratulate the Oregon players. Not a good look, all around.

Arizona: Despite playing what amounts to a home game, and being in, you know, a big-time Fiesta Bowl, the Wildcats apparently forgot to turn up and play for most of the first quarter of the game in Glendale. Unfortunately for them, the Boise State Broncos were ready to go from the first kick-off, and had a 21-0 lead very quickly. The Wildcats never managed to claw back from that deficit.

Alabama: A lack of a run game late, some strange defensive lapses at key moments and a very other very un-Alabama-like occurrences contributed to the Crimson Tide’s surprise 42-35 loss to Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl. Ezekiel Elliott ran through, around and over Nick Saban’s defense for a Sugar Bowl-record 230 yards, including an 85-yard dash to seal a famous Buckeye victory.

Alas, we were denied the Saban defense vs. Oregon offense that many have wanted for so long – but maybe that’s a blessing in disguise because it might not have been the titanic struggle we all expected. A few questions in Tuscaloosa, now. Chiefly, where the offense goes without graduating quarterback Blake Sims.

Mississippi schools: Not a good New Year’s Eve for Ole Miss Rebels and Mississippi State Bulldogs, and surely both teams were relieved to see the dawn of a new calendar year after Ole Miss capitulated to Texas Christian in the Peach Bowl, followed, a few hours later, by State losing the Orange Bowl to Georgia Tech. There was a time, earlier in the season, when these two schools were ruling the roost, and it’s been quite the fall from grace since.

Baylor: Up twenty in the last quarter against Michigan State, the Baylor defense let the Spartans come roaring back to take a lead with less than half a minute to go. Still, with the way the Bears can score, it wasn't over, with Bryce Petty and the offense looking to once again score in a hurry. Except the offensive line broke down and Petty was sacked, before throwing an interception to end things. Not the Bears’ finest hour.

Oklahoma: One of the worst performances of the entire Bowl season was the Sooners capitulation at the hands of Clemson. There’s a lot written about a team being happy – or otherwise – to be at a particular Bowl game, and it seemed like, at least based on the way Bob Stoops’ men played, that the Sooners weren’t happy to be playing in the Russell Athletic Bowl. They turned the football over five times during an insipid performance that forced Stoops to fire a bunch of long-time assistants. It was 40-0 at three quarter time, and didn’t end much better for the Sooners, the final score 40-6.

College Football Bowl Season 2014-15 Heroes

College football Bowl season is over for another year, and Ohio State are National Champions. Now that the dust has settled, here are some of the heroes from a memorable 3 weeks of football:

Cardale Jones: the Ohio State quarterback is one of the greatest stories we’ve seen in recent college football memory. Third string before the summer, second string after Braxton Miller went down pre-season, then starter after J.T. Barrett was injured in the Michigan game.

Everyone said the Buckeyes were done for. They wouldn’t get past Wisconsin, let alone a team in the playoff, and their inclusion, even after a smack down of the Badgers, was decried and derided. Yet, Jones made us all look pretty silly. After routing Wisconsin, all he did was, you know, casually beating Alabama and Oregon on the way to a National Championship. Jones belongs atop this list, because his three-game stretch at the controls of the Buckeyes offense was nothing short of astounding.

College Football Playoff: If this was the BCS era, we’d have seen a National Championship game between Florida State and Alabama, and Ohio State wouldn’t have gotten a shot. The playoff changed that, proving to be exactly what the college game has needed for so long, and now, like in the NFL, all you need now is to get hot, and a seat at the dance, and you’ve got a chance to do some damage. Good riddance to the days of the National Championship Game combatants being chosen by computer.

Ezekiel Elliott: Jones’ cohort in the Ohio State backfield, Elliott was just as good as his quarterback, ripping off three consecutive 200-yard games, including a Sugar Bowl-record 230 against Alabama’s vaunted defense. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a Nick Saban-coached squad as embarrassed as they were by Elliott’s performance. Against Oregon, the Buckeyes kept feeding the ball, and he kept grabbing big chunks of yardage. He could hardly be stopped.

Urban Meyer: In his third season at Columbus, the perennial winner has done it again, delivering a championship to Ohio State and going a long way to reviving the Big Ten as a conference. His Buckeyes defied the odds three games running, and are now deserved National Champions.

The lesson here is to never underestimate an Urban Meyer-coached team. The proof…well, we saw it clear as day at AT&T Stadium yesterday. For engineering the unlikeliest of National Championships, Meyer absolutely deserves to be spoken about in the same breath as Nick Saban now. The way things are going in Columbus, Meyer might well win another National Championship before Saban does.

Michigan State’s offense: The Spartans aren’t built for making big comebacks, and when they were down 20 to Baylor in the final quarter of the Cotton Bowl, it seemed like they were done and dusted. Not so. State came roaring back, led by QB Connor Cook, and stunned a lot of people, including, perhaps, themselves, in recording a narrow 42-41 victory.

Ohio State’s defense: Stupendous performance by the Buckeyes in slowing down Alabama and then, eleven days later, doing the same to an Oregon team that’s run up huge scores on almost all their opponents this year.

Sure, it looked worrisome for the Buckeyes when Oregon scored a touchdown on it’s opening possession of the National Championship Game, but after that, the Buckeyes stiffened, holding Oregon to just one more touchdown and two field goals. They stoned that Duck offense, and it all started with the offensive line. Full credit to All American Joey Bosa on the offensive line, and emerging linebacker Darron Lee.

I think it was the best defensive performance of the year, and maybe of the last few years. The way they put the brakes on that red-hot Oregon team was nothing short of astounding. Luke Fickell and his staff deserve tremendous credit. I bet Buckeye fans are happy Urban Meyer didn’t bow to the overwhelming public pressure and fire Fickell after a poor showing last year.

Boise State: The Fiesta Bowl has been good to the Broncos. Three visits and three memorable wins. A lighting start and a dominating first thirty minutes allowed the Broncos to coast home against Arizona, and reminded the world that, as well as being famous for some awesome trick plays, they’re a damn good football team without them. BSU keeps on keeping on, even with the departure of long-time head coach Chris Petersen. Bronco alum Bryan Harsin has stepped in, and nothing’s changed.

The Big Ten: Beleaguered conference no more! Wisconsin, Ohio State and Michigan State all won against favoured teams – Auburn, Alabama and Baylor – on New Year’s Day and, of course, the Buckeyes went on to win the National Championship. Add to that the fact that Jim Harbaugh is the new head coach at Michigan, and there’s suddenly a lot of momentum for the Midwest-based conference that was written off by a lot of people halfway through the season.

Notre Dame: As much as it pains me to write anything vaguely praiseworthy of the Fighting Irish, their victory over Louisiana State in the Music City Bowl (which was one of the best games of the entire schedule) was pretty impressive. I mean, LSU are a good team, and the Irish – whose late-season slump, including their 49-14 loss at the hands of USC made me pretty happy – went toe-to-toe with them. The last drive, alternating between quarterbacks Malik Zaire and Everett Golson, ended in a Kyle Brindza field goal, was a thing of beauty.

USC’s freshmen: So much for this Trojan fan to be happy about following the narrow 45-42 victory over a surprisingly good Nebraska team in the Holiday Bowl. This year’s much-hyped freshman class showed up big-time – as they also did against Notre Dame – with Adoree Jackson scoring on a 100-yard kick-off return, as well as catching 3 passes for 73 yards and a touchdown. Fellow receiver JuJu Smith also caught three balls for 66 yards. The future is bright at the Coliseum.

North Dakota State: The Bison have made history, winning their fourth consecutive FCS (Division II) championship, beating Illinois State with a touchdown inside the last thirty seconds of the fourth quarter to continue a remarkable dynasty in Fargo that hasn’t been slowed by the departure of both their head coach and starting quarterback in this past off-season. Wouldn’t it be great to see the Bison mixing it up in the Mountain West?

Ohio State’s Improbable Run Ends With A National Championship

It was one of the great runs in the history of college football, and now, the Ohio State University Buckeyes are college football’s National Champions.

In the weeks leading up to the season, star quarterback Braxton Miller suffered an injury on the practice field and was ruled out for the entire year. Enter second-string quarterback J.T. Barrett who, like the rest of his team, struggled in a mid-September loss to a not-that-great Virginia Tech team at home.

That was the low-point of the season. Something clicked after that. Barrett became a superstar, making spectacular plays both on the ground and through the air as the wins continued to pile up. Coming also, a slow and steady rise in the national rankings, the Buckeyes moving inside the top ten as more-favoured teams fell around them.

On the last weekend of the regular season, the Buckeyes welcomed the University of Michigan Wolverines into Columbus Stadium and there, late in the game, as the Buckeyes were dousing out a Michigan comeback, J.T. Barrett went down with a season-ending injury.

There goes Ohio State’s chances, we all said. Not even head coach Urban Meyer could muster a miracle from here. Third-string quarterback Cardale Jones, a relative nobody, was thrust into the starter’s gig for the following week’s Big Ten Championship Game against Wisconsin. Not many outside of the Ohio State locker room gave the Buckeyes much of a hope.

Someone forgot to tell Cardale Jones. With support from running back Ezekiel Elliott, the Buckeyes thumped Wisconsin 59-0 and controversially snuck into the four-team college football playoff. Their semi-final opponent? None other than the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in the Sugar Bowl.

That’s it, we all said. Lightning doesn’t strike twice. No way does a third-string quarterback starting his second college game. Not against a Nick Saban defense, with a good three weeks to prepare. It never happens. Alabama are too good – they’re the best team in the country for a reason, and their SEC speed is going to eat Cardale alive. Right?

Whoops! Wrong we were – yet again. Shockingly, the Buckeyes beat Saban’s Tide 42-35, with Elliott rushing for a Sugar Bowl record 230 yards (including an 85-yard touchdown to seal it), and Jones throwing deep balls like Joe Montana, to Devin Smith…who looked like Jerry Rice. Even the Buckeye defense came to the party, intercepting quarterback Blake Sims for a pick-six, and there was pandemonium in the Superdome.

Surely lightning wouldn’t strike a third time! Oregon had dispatched defending champions Florida State with authority in the Rose Bowl, and when Urban Meyer heard the final score of that game – 59-20 Oregon – during his press conference, he joked that he needed to end his chat with reporters and get to work. No kidding. It looked, finally, like Ohio State’s ascent to the summit of college football would be stopped mere inches below the top – a case of so close, yet so far.

Except that Cardale Jones and Ezekiel Elliott and that Buckeye defense threw conventional wisdom out the window, and set about dismantling Oregon. The Ducks scored early and looked dangerous early. It was 7-0 in the blink of an eye. Then, that powerful Ducks offense, statistical leaders in so many important categories during the regular season, produced just a touchdown and three field goals after that first drive.

I watched the remarkable performance unfold, almost not believing what it was my eyes were seeing – and I’m certain I wasn't alone in that. Oregon went for it on fourth down at one stage, and were stoned by the Buckeye defense, led by All American Joey Bosa. Four Ohio State turnovers didn’t matter. Imagine if the Buckeyes had scored at least a field goal on those possessions where they gave the football away? Another 12 points, at least, on top of the 42 they did score. And the way they were driving when basic football skill errors resulted in them handing the football back to Oregon.

When the Buckeyes held onto the ball, they made yards, and, more often than not, scored points. Australia’s Cameron Johnston was called on to punt for Ohio State just a handful of times. Smith only caught one ball, but it was for 45 yards, and it set the Buckeyes up with 1st and goal.

No, this was the Cardale and Ezekiel Show. When Jones wasn't barrelling over nose tackles to get the first down, Zeke was ripping through the suddenly-porous Oregon defense. They couldn’t stop him all night. Where was the Duck defense we saw in the Rose Bowl?

The end result was a 42-20 win. Perhaps Ohio State should feel aggrieved, because their domination probably deserved an even more comprehensive win. Yet, that will matter little to the team, their coach, the friends, family, the legion of Ohio State fans and the title-starved state of Ohio.

Nor will it matter now to Coach Meyer. We can say it with certainty – he is every bit as good as Nick Saban, and perhaps the two men, already equal, to my mind, in terms of ability, will soon be equal in terms of National Championships won. Remember, Saban never had to deal with twice losing the heartbeat of his team, only to start an untested third-stringer to win it all.

Without a doubt, this is Urban Meyer’s finest moment. Prior to the season, it was thought that the Buckeyes were a year away from challenging college football’s elite. Perhaps they are now a year away still…from another National Championship! With the core on both offense and defense returning, it’s not an unlikely prospect.

On a grander scale, the Big Ten should thank Meyer’s team for they have, in the space of just three games – the grand total of Cardale Jones’ college experience, and what a three-game resume it is to behold – managed to entirely change the perception of an entire conference. Everyone thought the conference was old, slow, and irrelevant nationally. Now, they boast the National Champions.

Furthermore, the Buckeyes win is a vindication for the college football playoff system, and they bare fitting winners. Under the old BCS format, the Buckeyes would never have gotten a shot at the National Championship. It would’ve been Alabama and Florida State squaring off, and college football fans would be much worse off as a result.

Congratulations, Ohio State. One for the ages!

2015 CFP National Championship - Ohio State vs. Oregon: Australian Foxtel / ESPN TV Guide

Today is the inaugural CFP National Championship Game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, pitting the Oregon Ducks against the Ohio State Buckeyes, not only for the right to be known as college football's National Champion, but also for a slice of history, for the chance to be forever recorded in the annals of history as the first National Champion in the College Football Playoff era.

ESPN Australia/New Zealand is super-serving coverage for fans here, ahead of (and after) the game itself, which kicks off shortly after 12.30pm AEDT.

Hot off the press, here are all the details of ESPN's programming for the 2015 College Football National Championship Game that takes place Tuesday afternoon, January 13, 2015. 

IMPORTANT: Oregon vs. Ohio State will be broadcast on both ESPN and ESPN2 concurrently, and the ESPN2 feed is the 'Film Room'; coverage, featuring ESPN analysts Chris Spielman and Tom Luginbill along with coaches Dan Mullen, Pat Narduzzi and Mike Reilly breaking down every play, all game. It was a very-well received broadcast element in America last year, and a good way to get a deeper understanding of the plays as they happen. Check it out!

Tuesday 13 January 2015 

College Football Live (7.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD) College GameDay - Arlington, Texas (8.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD) Championship Drive (10.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD) National Championship Game (12.30pm; ESPN/ESPN-HD) National Championship Game [Alternate Feed TBC] (12.30pm; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD) SportsCenter (4.00pm; ESPN/ESPN-HD) National Championship Game [Replay] (5.00pm; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD) National Championship Game [Replay] (9.00pm; ESPN/ESPN-HD)

Additionally, I'll be live blogging the game on The Roar. Join me!