For a moment there, Oregon saw a chance open up to win the Pac 12 North division, and via that the conference. Marcus Mariota saw a chance to win the Heisman trophy once again. But then came the unfortunate visit to Tuscon. Mariota was intercepted twice, Arizona beat the Ducks 42-16, and all that’s left now is some pride to regain in the Civil War game.
Arizona beat Oregon by 26 points, rallying behind Ka’Deem Carey running for 206 yards and four touchdowns. Arizona might not be Stanford in terms of the depth and defense, but they’re a power team as well, something that turns out really makes life hard for the Ducks, who haven’t really been the same since that demoralizing loss in Palo Alto, revealed for the weaknesses many people thought they don’t have.
It’s not like Arizona have too much to play for. At 4-4 in the conference, all that’s left is giving a bad spin on their inner-state rivals’ season. Other than that it’s simply looking ahead into the future, trying to build on a win against the number 5 team in the BCS standings and until two weeks ago, the second-best team in the nation according to most, or even better than Alabama.
Carey became the school’s all-time leading rusher with a huge performance, reaching 3,913 career yards rushing, breaking the mark of 3,824 set by Trung Canidate from 1996-99. He got a lot of help from quarterback B.J. Denker, completing 19-of-22 for 178 yards, throwing two touchdown passes and running for 102 yards as well.
It seems that whatever held Oregon together disappeared the moment they lost to Stanford. De’Anthony Thomas said it was no big deal going to the Rose Bowl, so Oregon now have no chance of making that BCS Bowl game and probably another one in general, even though the season isn’t over yet and things can still change. Arrogance? Some might say that, but it’s simply a team so confident of its offensive system that it didn’t try to change anything after it clearly stopped working for everyone to see.
For Arizona, it’s mostly about getting that Marquee win this program has been missing for a very long time. Oregon, arrogant or not, are one of the best programs in College Football over the last five years, reaching four consecutive BCS games. Ending that streak, along with their hopes of winning the conference, is something this unremarkable group will carry with them for a very long time.
This is a crazy win for our program, for our coaching staff, for our players, for our seniors. Everything went great today. Those seniors will have a memory that will last them a long time.
Oregon? Stunned is probably the best word to define the overall feeling in Eugene after the last three weeks, with a win over Utah to cloak the problems. It’s hard to tell if an Oregon State game can rally the troops if the prospect of making it to the Rose Bowl couldn’t. For many of these players, the only losses they’ve conceded have been in close games. Marcus Mariota himself admitted he’s never been blown out like this in his whole life. Hard to say what a loss like this can do to a program that’s in some sort of tilt.