Oregon Beats Oklahoma State in a Shootout

I'm not really a big fan of college football in general. The play calling is just plain bad at times. Most of the defense at these colleges and universities are terrible. Most fans will only see one or two elite defenses in the country each year. Expectations for stopping offenses now are pathetic. Some consider a victory on defense when the offense only scores 28 - 35 points. Really? The expectations should be a shutout all day or night every Saturday. Thus, the reason why watching college football can be frustrating.

Anyway, Oregon beat Oklahoma in an exciting game, 42-31. The title is probably misleading as a shootout in college football is when both teams are in the high 50s. I kid. I kid. Oregon won the game on the wheels of Jeremiah Masoli who is a JUCO transfer. He had a good all-around game, amassing 18/32 for 258 yards with one touchdown and an interception. Masoli also had 16 carries for 106 yards and three touchdowns.

The game started off hot in the beginning as Oklahoma State jumped on Oregon with Dez Bryant leading the way. Dez Bryant was dominating the defenders in the first quarter and half of the second quarter. He made plays when given the opportunity which was early and often. This game illustrated another problem with college football. Most of these teams don't bump and run coverage so these big time receivers get a free release off the line. When that happens, the receive more often than not burns the coverage each time. Back to the task at hand, the game changed once Dez Bryant got injured. In the latter portion of the second quarter, Dez Bryant injured his left knee. The field was slippery all night as there were three game played on that field before last night's bowl game. Bryant was running an in-route, caught the pass, and slipped while making cut. Result was his left leg getting caught underneath him and twisting. The Ducks gained momentum after that unfortunate incident and seemed to never look back.

Both teams were scoring back and forth in the second half, though Oregon looked be the more confident and physical team. Jeremiah Masoli led the charge. He dominated the Oklahoma State defense when utilizing the read option. Masoli's physical running style seemed to pump up his teammates and even the announcers calling the game. During one of his touchdown runs, Masoli ran over Quinton Moore. He just flatten him on his 41-yard TD run. Masoli ran over another Cowboy defender earlier in the game.

Oklahoma State more than held their own in second half while exchanging touchdowns. However, they were not the same team after Dez Bryant got injured. The offense was just not able to keep up with Oregon's offense. Other players around Dez Bryant didn't step up and take the lead. Everything was pinned on the shoulders of Zac Robinson. He held his own but obviously, it wasn't good enough for the win.

Too much speed and too much Jeremiah Masoli gave the Cowboys all they can handle. The future is bright for both programs as most, if not, all of their stars will be returning next year. For the Oregon Ducks, LeGarrette Blount will probably be the featured back for the Ducks as Jeremiah Johnson moving to greener pastures in the NFL. Their receiving core will be young and probably inexperience as the Ducks main receivers who are seniors were getting most of the playing time. For the Cowboys, Zac Robinson and Dez Bryant will be returning along with their talented running backs, Kendall Hunter and Keith Toston. Expect a big year from both programs next year.

I thoroughly enjoyed this.