GameDay: Ducks are BCS Bound!

Trafton B.

December 4, 2010 - 8:42 PM

Holy crap, the Ducks are going to the BCS National Championship game! We're heading to Glendale, baby!!

I'm looking back on my "Ducks Football 2010 Preview" post from the beginning of September and I love thinking that we won every single game. An undefeated season for my senior year at Oregon, life doesn't get much sweeter than this. My favorite line from the ESPN article on the game came from Senior Defensive Tackle, Brandon Bair. "The best part about it is... we expected this. It's the way we prepared, the way we planned, we expected this." Doesn't that just scream National Champion?

The 114th Civil War turned out to be a typical Ducks' victory. Sophomore RB LaMichael James rushed for 134 yards and 2 touchdowns, followed closely by fellow Sophomore RB Kenyon Barner, who rushed for 133 yards and a touchdown plus one receiving touchdown at the end of the first quarter. QB Darron Thomas played an average game throwing for 145 yards and two touchdowns. I think we were a little surprised that he didn't run the ball...at all. One explanation for the conservative game plan was that back-up QB Nate Costa is out for the season and we didn't want to put our chances for a National Title in jeopardy. All I know is that Darron Thomas is going to have to play the game of his life if we have any chance at beat Cam Newton's Auburn Tigers.

Once again the headline read "Oregon Takes Care of Business as Usual." We just keep playing hard on both sides of the ball and eventually our opponents can't keep up. It wasn't a stellar performance, but it was exactly what needed to happen.

Aside from the game itself, this was my first trip to Corvallis, and I have to say that I wasn't too impressed. I understand that this is a testy day to be wearing Ducks gear, but GameDay should be a little more civil, no pun intended.

Winston, Steven and I stayed at a friend's place on the edge of campus. We walked around town Friday night and were met with cross glances and harsh words whenever someone recognized that we were wearing green and yellow. Winston actually made us walk back to the house so he could change sweatshirts. The only place we found welcoming was the McMennamin's on Monroe Street. I took solace in being able to order my favorite Porter and a plate of Cajun Tater Tots.

Saturday morning we woke up early for ESPN's College GameDay. Cam and Trey hoisted their "National Forecast: Oregon Reign" sign on 25-foot wooden poles. It towered over the crowd and definitely made it on television. Once again Beavers fans proved to be unruly. One guy with an Oregon State sign and another fan with an Auburn flag actually attacked our sign, ripping it in half, not very classy if you ask me. Luckily we had a fresh roll of duct tape to patch it back up. A roaring cheer came from the Oregon crowd when it went back up.

After our morning fiasco the Civil War tensions cooled down significantly. As we walked back to put the sign back in Cam's truck a group of Oregon State fans actually apologized on behalf of the guys that tore the sign down. I believe his words were, "Some people just can't handle GameDay, I guess." Well put, sir. I agree.

We met up with Winston's parents and headed to their friends' tailgate where we were treated with breakfast burritos. Then we headed into the Reeser Stadium to find our seats, courtesy of Molly Sanders.

What a way to cap of fall term, huh? Ducks are headed to the BCS National Championship game in Glendale, AZ on January 10, 2011. I love that we get to hear about the Ducks on ESPN for the next five weeks. For now I have to hit the books to prepare for finals week. One last push before Winter Break.