Kenjon
Barner and up-tempo Oregon fly by USC, dream matchup vs. Alabama on everyone's
mind
7 hours ago
LOS ANGELES
– LaMichael James, who left Oregon as the best running back the school has ever
seen, stood underneath the tunnel at the L.A. Coliseum and talked about the
greatest offense he's ever seen.
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| Kenjon Barner celebrates with teammates after scoring in the first half. (AP) |
And really,
what else could he say? His former team, the Oregon Ducks, had just dropped 62
points on USC (which scored 51 in a losing effort) in a game that should have
Nick Saban's head spinning.
Yeah, we'll
get to Saban in a moment.
But back to
the Ducks, who showed Tinseltown why they're college football's version of
George Clooney. On Saturday, they scored early – touchdown No. 1 came one
minute, five seconds into the game – they scored often – five TDs by halftime –
and they scored with ease – nine TDs total on 14 offensive possessions.
Five of
those came from Kenjon Barner, who racked up 324 yards rushing (a school
record) and still wasn't the Ducks’ offensive leader on the night. That award
went to freshman Marcus Mariota, who threw for 304 yards and ran for 119 more.
In a
nutshell, this is Oregon football: try to score on every single play and if they
don't, line up as fast as they can so they can try again.
And this is
why it's so enticing to root for Alabama vs. Oregon in what would be the
juiciest season finale in years.
It was just
last month that Alabama coach Nick Saban cried foul over the hurry-up offense,
saying that it doesn't allow defenses to line up, puts them at greater risk of
injury and insinuated that it was ruining the game.
"I
just think there's got to be some sense of fairness in terms of asking: is this
what we want football to be?" he wondered allowed.
This bit of
whine came after Saban's Crimson Tide beat up Ole Miss, a Pinto of an offense
in comparison to Oregon's Ferrari.
Chip
Kelly's full-throttle attack is a sight to behold. There's nothing flashy about
it, other than it always seems to move forward. (Barner rushed the ball 38
times against USC; 36 of those went for positive yards.) They run stretch plays
to the left, stretch plays to the right, their receivers block downfield really
well, and just when you think they're going to run it again, boom, Mariota pops
one over the top.
It's a
double-barrel attack that can endure even 484 yards and five touchdowns from
Matt Barkley.
The
"We are SC" crowd is surely wondering now if Lane Kiffin is the
future of the program, this after loss No. 3 in a season the Trojans entered
ranked No. 1 in the polls. But really, what could Kiffin do? His offense
slapped 51 points on the board and never had a chance.
The
question now is, does anyone?
Going into
Saturday, the obvious answer was Alabama. But after struggling to hold back an
LSU team whose offense is as explosive as a golf clap, it's clear the Tide are
not the world-beaters we thought they were. (Somewhere, Steve Spurrier is
chuckling about that.)
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| Kenjon Barner scores in the third quarter of Oregon's win over USC. (Getty) |
But if
there is a team that can slow the Ducks, Alabama is it. And if there is a team
that can slice through the stiff 'Bama defense, it's Oregon.
When asked
if he would relish the chance to take their hurry-up attack against Alabama,
Barner refused to take the bait.
"I'm
not thinking about Nick Saban," he said. "I'm just focused on playing
Oregon football."
That's what
makes the prospect of Oregon vs. Alabama in the BCS title so intriguing.
Yes,
there's still a long way to go between now and then, and Kansas State and Notre
Dame are still in the championship picture. But this – Oregon vs. Alabama – is
the dream matchup to end the 2012 season.
It would be
strength vs. strength. Cardiac Kelly vs. Systematic Saban. West Coast flair vs.
Southeastern tradition.
Simply, it
would be the two best teams in college football playing in a championship game
not even a four-team playoff could guarantee.
It'd be so
perfect, it would almost make us forget how much we hate the BCS.
Almost.
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