Oregon Ducks Derailed Once Again By Lack of Focus Against Arizona Wildcats

By Tyler Brett @atylerbrett on October 3, 2014

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. The Oregon Ducks look like the best team in the Pac-12 and possibly the nation. They have a Heisman Trophy candidate leading the way and have the inside track to the conference championship and are in the thick of the national title conversation before coming out flat and blowing it during conference play against an opponent they should have probably handled with authority.

It’s an all too familiar script for the Ducks that played out once again on Thursday night against the Arizona Wildcats, much to the chagrin of Oregon fans. Due to what looked like a lackadaisical approach to the game at all levels, a top-five Oregon team lost to an unranked Arizona team for the third time in the last eight years and put their Pac-12 and National Championship aspirations in serious jeopardy.

The telling quote came from quarterback Marcus Mariota, who was once again harassed mercilessly by the opposing defense. Speaking to reporters, the Heisman candidate gave credit to Arizona for upsetting the Ducks for a second straight year, saying that it was a “testament to our conference,” and that “If you’re not prepared…you’ll lose.”

While the win for the unranked Wildcats is a feather in the cap for the parity of the Pac-12, Mariota’s assessment that the loss had to do with Oregon’s preparation is pretty troubling. This should have been a game that Oregon players had circled on the schedule for a number of reasons, most importantly the embarrassing blowout that the Wildcats laid on them last season in Tucson. This was an opportunity for Oregon to exact a bit of revenge and tighten their grip on the Pac-12 race in the process.

Instead, the Ducks looked like a team that was surprised to be playing on a Thursday night. Poor execution from the Oregon offensive line, coupled with excellent tackling by the Arizona defense, led to a sluggish start for the Ducks’ offense. They could not seem to find their footing against Arizona’s 3-3-5 defensive front and were fortunate to go into halftime with a 7-3 lead. While both offenses got on track in the second half, particularly Arizona’s with 21 points in the third quarter, Mariota and the Ducks’ offense never looked comfortable and were constantly sabotaging themselves.

Those self-inflicted wounds started early with Oregon’s first drive of the game ending on a failed 4th down attempt after a wide-open Byron Marshall dropped a perfect pass from Mariota that would have set the Ducks up for the first score of the game. Later in the first half, Mariota pulled the ball out on a read-option with nothing but green grass in front of him, but tripped over his own feet as he started running, turning a possible touchdown into a one-yard gain. All night long, the offensive line struggled to slow down the Arizona front, giving up five sacks on the  night, including two that resulted in fumbles from Mariota.

With the game tied late in the 4th quarter, the Oregon defense came up with a huge stop to force a field goal try but then gave Arizona a first down with a highly-questionable unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that allowed the Wildcats to bleed more time off the clock before running in for the go-ahead touchdown.

But the lack of focus didn’t begin and end with the players on the field. The Oregon coaching staff was similarly unprepared for this game it seemed. Just two weeks after having tackling issues against the Washington State Cougars, the Ducks’ defense once again could not get opposing players on the ground and allowed the Arizona offense to run up and and down the field on them. Despite knowing that their offensive line was lacking after giving up seven sacks to WSU in their last game, Oregon made no adjustments to their protection to give their inexperienced and overwhelmed tackles any help.

After the game, offensive coordinator Scott Frost said that Mariota was not at 100 percent for this game due to the punishment he took against the Cougars, which makes the game plan all the more confusing when broken down. In their 38-31 win against WSU, Oregon had to adjust their attack by rolling Mariota out to give him some time to make throws against the defensive pass rush. It clearly worked out but was for some reason abandoned against Arizona as Mariota spent much of the game as a stationary pocket passer. You could understand that since he was “not at 100 percent” except that Oregon still utilized Mariota as a runner with the quarterback rushing nine times in the game including on several option plays. If he’s healthy enough to carry the ball, shouldn’t he be able to roll the pocket when he’s proven himself to be extremely dangerous throwing on the move?

With the number of playmakers that this team has on offense, including track-star Devon Allen and a trio of gamebreaking running backs, it is a monumental failure for this team to only score once in a half. Arizona’s defense, while improving, came into the game as one of the worst in the country in terms of yards allowed. Yet against Oregon, they looked like the 1985 Chicago Bears at times with multiple defenders constantly swarming around the ball. Whether it be a lack of execution on the field or a lack of creativity in the playcalling, Oregon’s sputtering offensive attack was inexcusable.

All in all, it was a mind-boggling and frustrating performance at all levels. When given time, Mariota looked excellent and finished the game completing 20 of 32 passes for 276 yards and two touchdowns, though he had his first turnovers of the season with the pair of lost fumbles caused by strip sacks. But all around him, the Ducks disappointed. Receivers were not on the same page on numerous occasions, his offensive line looked confused and overmatched on many plays, the running backs failed to gain the tough yards between the tackles that they usually rely on, and the coaching staff seemed inflexible in their gameplan, running the same looks at Arizona hoping they would work out differently.

It was a recipe for disaster against a hungry team like Arizona, which took advantage of the lackluster effort from Oregon to take this win away . Now, just weeks after looking like a lock for the College Football Playoff following their win over the Michigan State Spartans, the Ducks look like they will be lucky to make it out of the Pac-12 North this fall with huge matchups still looming against the UCLA Bruins and Stanford Cardinal.

Can Oregon find answers to turn things around and get back on track to keep their Pac-12 Championship and College Football Playoff hopes alive?

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