THE biggest mistake of the game is turning your back on the "D" when attempting to return a punt. There are a myriad of potential problems in this action and only one possible positive outcome... and that positive outcome is still statistically highly improbable. That play changed the whole complexion of the game.
Yet, even with that play, this game was there to be won... but cramping took out our top 2 backs and, in a crucial moment, we needed a true freshman... and that kid is TAL-EN-TED... I seem to remember LMJ having some ball security issues in 2009, his freshman year. De'Anthony Thomas will be fine.
Lost in all of the talk about how the Ducks got dominated is the fact that they did not actually get dominated. As AJ Jacobson mentioned, the Ducks had considerably more yards than the Tigers in the first half... lost in that... Oregon had the Time Of Possession edge in the first half 16:00 to 14:00... we will never know what would have happened had Barner not fumbled... but suffice it to say, the halftime score would likely not have been 16-13 LSU...
When people question why Golpashin was starting instead of someone else, I would have to imagine that, in practices, due to his knowledge of the system, he did the right thing and was in the right place more frequently than others and the coaches felt he had earned the spot.
We know that there are players who play better than they practice; well, sometimes there are players that practice better than they play. It may be that Ramsen has this problem. The more likely scenario, however, is that he allowed nerves to get the best of him... that happens with first time starters.
I also suspect, however, that others are going to quickly step up and, some of them may grade out better than others and lineup changes may be forthcoming.
As for Darron... this "he's not right for the system" is crap. In one breath we hear people say "Chip fits the system to the personnel" then hear, in the next breath "Darron is not right for the system." You mean Darron is not right for the system Chip has in place to take advantage of Darron's strengths and minimize his weaknesses? Isn't it possible that Chip has adapted this to fit Darron? I sure hope so, otherwise we are all kidding ourselves when we say Chip knows how to adapt the system to players.
FACT: Darron Thomas is not Jeremiah Masoli.
FACT: Darron Thomas is not Dennis Dixon.
ANYONE who is expecting him to be like Dixon or Masoli is setting themselves up for failure.
FACT: Darron Thomas fit this system well enough to lead the team to 12 victories last year.
We are fans and we CAN NOT turn on players when they make a mistake.
This was the first game DT has played in Texas since he came to Oregon... he had family galore at the game; he got amped and made mistakes. This happens in football. Sometimes good players have bad games.
We all know that Darron could have run the ball on several occasions... and we all BELIEVE had he done that it would have softened up the middle... but do we really think that Chip won't notice these things in film review and work with Darron to improve on them?
Further, if the WR's that dropped balls early did not drop those, would DT have began panicking like he seemed to have done? Not likely...
This loss was not Darron's fault; it was not DAT's fault or LMJ or any other individual. This game should not indicate anything in particular other than there was a team that made a TON of errors and another team that capitalized on those mistakes.
Darron fits this system just fine, thanks. Our line is LIGHT YEARS ahead of where they were at this point in 2009. Our defense, even without Kiko is considerably better than the 2009 team.
Last season our toughest opponent was our last... this year our toughest opponent was our first. As I said before the game, we will know a lot about this team after the first game, but it does NOT define the season. Good teams are not measured by how they handle prosperity, but by how they respond to adversity.
We will have that answer in 6 days.
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