Another Saturday at Autzen.

David R.

October 3, 2010 - 5:35 PM

I hit my second wind at around 3 a.m. on Saturday and headed over the Autzen to be on the production of College Game Day. It's always a cool feeling knowing that you are a part of the mayhem behind a live show seen all across the country. It's not every day you get to see Kirk Herbstreit and Erin Andrews up close and personal. The fans went wild every time the show went live and the cheering was relentless for two hours. After the show was over I made the slow walk back to my house to rest up for the main event.

In a game that at one point looked like a potential upset, the Oregon Ducks rallied from behind to beat the number nine ranked Stanford Cardinal, moving the Ducks up to number three in the polls.

Stanford came out firing and took and early 21-3 lead. As optimistic as I usually am with our team, I have to admit I was a little worried. It was somewhat discouraging to see the nation's worst mascot (Stanford's tree) doing more pushups than the Duck. Oregon stormed back with a couple of scores but still Stanford took an 11 point lead into the break.

Considering my in-game responsibilities it was a pretty light game, so I was able to spend a good deal of time watching the Saturday's best game. The student section was expanded for the start of conference games and Autzen was as aloud as ever for the entire game.

The second half seemed to be where the wheels fell off the bus for the Cardinal. Oregon's offense caught fire and never looked back, putting up points left and right en route to another 50-point game. Our offense seems to score at will, even against a defense who some thought might come out and put the clamps on our young quarterback and his crew. A late touchdown burst my LaMichael James put the exclamation point on what some considered the first real test of the season for Oregon. Stanford's quarterback was impressive but Andrew's Luck ran out against an Oregon defense that had him on the ground all day. "Big play" Cliff Harris joined the fray with a pair of interceptions that further halted any comeback attempt Stanford had up its sleeve.

Fans flooded the field after the game and the entire day was another fantastic College Game Day weekend in Eugene. As the Arizona Wildcats have moved into the top ten, is it out of the question to think that this renowned ESPN production might return to Eugene during Thanksgiving weekend? Not at all.

I was able to spend the third quarter of the game up in the press box listening to the crew that operates the jumbotron in Autzen. With multiple camera men around the stadium it can be hectic to coordinate everything that appears on the screen. "Cut to one, ok back to the crowd, get loud (animation on the big screen) get loud, ok back to the snap!" The man in charge was constantly directing his crew on every next move, always mixing up what was seen on the screen. It was fun to be at the highest point in the stadium and to hear an entirely different perspective of the game.

The Ducks will head to Pullman next weekend to take on the WSU Cougars. I know it doesn't sound like the most exciting game of the weekend, but it is certainly one that the Ducks must win in order to stay atop the Pacific 10.