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Oregon Game Preview: Boise State

There are no preseason games in college football, and on the few occasions when teams are willing to be bold in their non-conference scheduling, the opening night of a season can carry a substantial amount of significance.

That's the story in Boise, Idaho, as the Oregon Ducks won't play a cupcake to ease themselves into rookie head coach Chip Kelly's first voyage as UO's sideline sultan. No, the Ducks are aiming high as they try to maintain the winning identity Mike Bellotti (now the school's athletic director) brought to Eugene. Oregon's opponent on Thursday is merely the team with the most wins in FBS competition (108) over the past 10 seasons; the team that's lost just two home games in that same span of time; and the team that's lost just five conference games in the past decade as well. This isn't an opening-game scrimmage session; it's a primetime passion play of prodigious proportions.

Oregon's number one goal in 2009 will be to knock USC off its Pac-10 throne, but if the Ducks can't turn that trick, the second-biggest point of priority for Kelly's kids is to reach a BCS bowl. In the 11-season BCS era, the Pac-10 has sent an at-large team to a BCS bowl on only two occasions, in 2000 and 2002. Since the SEC, Big 12, and Big Ten have snagged the most precious postseason tickets in all of college football, it's going to take a special resume for the Pac-10's second-place team to crash the BCS party in any season. Therefore, if Oregon is to play in a five-star throwdown in early January (as opposed to late December in the familiar cities of San Diego or El Paso), the Ducks will have to bump the Broncos and add the requisite amount of heft to their portfolio. A win over Boise State would enable Oregon to lose to USC, compile an 11-1 season record, and--under that hypothetical scenario--tout a series of accomplishments that would likely send the Ducks to the Fiesta Bowl. Without a win over Boise, UO's only ticket to a BCS bowl would have to come in the form of a Pac-10 title and a January 1 date in the Rose Bowl.

No pressure in your first game, Coach Kelly. None at all.

So, how are the Ducks going to march into Bronco Stadium and post the first statement-making victory of the 2009 college football season? The key to success begins and ends with the man under center for the Quack Attack: Jeremiah Masoli.

Last season, Boise State strolled into Eugene and thumped the Ducks, 37-32 (the game wasn't that close; BSU led 37-13 after three quarters). Coach Chris Petersen's Broncos were the clearly superior team on that afternoon in Autzen Stadium, but the tenor of the tilt was shaped in the first quarter, as Masoli left the game with a concussion. Masoli was the replacement for UO quarterback Justin Roper, injured in the Ducks' win over Purdue the week before; it was a big ask to expect the JUCO transfer to answer the bell in his first collegiate start, but when Masoli left the field, UO's quarterback situation deteriorated to an even greater extent. Four turnovers prevented the Ducks from gaining the momentum needed to intimidate the visiting Broncos and their freshman quarterback, Kellen Moore. With Oregon coughing up the pill and throwing few downfield passes, Boise State found a first-half comfort zone, as Moore--who would eventually throw for 386 yards and complete 67 percent of his passes--led a 24-point second-quarter onslaught by the reigning power of the Western Athletic Conference. As Masoli watched the second half in shorts, he had to wonder if his collegiate career would ever amount to anything.

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Over the remainder of the 2008 season, that's exactly what happened.

Masoli quickly picked up the offensive system Kelly installed at Oregon, the same system that had Dennis Dixon leading the 2007 Heisman Trophy race before a devastating late-season injury shattered Dixon's dreams of glory. Masoli became so proficient at running UO's spread option offense that the Ducks didn't have to depend on stud running back LaGarrette Blount for production. As Oregon finished its season with nuclear explosions of 55, 65 and 42 points (in the Holiday Bowl against Oklahoma State), Masoli stood at the center of the Ducks' prolific performances.

In the 55-point game (against Arizona), Masoli completed 21-of-26 passes for 298 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. In the 65-point masterpiece (against Oregon State in the Civil War), Masoli completed 11 passes for 274 yards, averaging a whopping 25 yards per completion in a big-play bonanza. In the Holiday Bowl against Oklahoma State, Masoli led a bold second-half comeback by rushing for 106 yards and three touchdowns. Running or passing, with his brain and with his brilliance, Masoli displayed the kind of command that turns the spread option from a nice theoretical concept into a roaring Ferrari that's nearly impossible for defenses to stop. If he can stay on the field in this year's battle with Boise State, Jeremiah Masoli can quiet a hostile crowd in much the same way that Kellen Moore did last season in Eugene. If Masoli maxes out on Thursday, it's hard to see how the Broncos--for all their accomplishments, including the 2007 Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma--will be able to summon up the magic needed to deter the Ducks. It would take an equally pristine performance from Moore, plus another Statue of Liberty play on a late two-point try, for Oregon to be denied if its sensational signal-caller brings his A-game to Idaho.

So there you have it: In the first headline-generating ballgame of the new college football season, a man who suffered a concussion one year ago will try to deal out the punishment to Boise State this time around. Oregon's season begins with a massive moment on the smurf turf of Bronco Stadium--if Jeremiah Masoli plays to the fullest extent of his capabilities, the Ducks won't be feeling blue when Opening Night comes to an end.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Staff Writer