Sunday Morning Sidewalk: Return of the Quack fun

As I prepared yesterday for a perfect fall day full of football, I took a little longer morning walk than normal – to the tune of an 8-mile walk. It was such a perfect morning for a walk and it seemed almost an insult to not enjoy my favorite time of year holed up in a living room watching pre-game broadcasts.

I was thinking a lot about that walk as I watched Oregon make its comeback against Washington State. What struck most was the thought that “wasn’t that a lot of fun?”

Watching football used to be a lot of fun. Love it or loathe it, the single Willie Taggart season had some elements of fun as the crowd and team got involved; but that was more manufactured fun, right? After all, swag surfing or no other reason than to swag surf might be fun, but was the football fun?

There were some times in that season when the fun seemed to be manufactured. In one three-game stretch, Oregon scored a total of 31 points; the Ducks lost to Washington 38-3 and the offense seemed to be forced. Yes, much of that had to do with the injury to Justin Herbert and no one really ready to play behind him. The team averaged 36 points per game, but there was something missing, there were too many moments of inconsistency… Autzen seemed different because the team seemed different.

I have lamented those that want to revive the past. I never really thought bringing Chip Kelly back was going to re-create the magic that happened from 2008-2014; those were special times, but it is difficult to re-create a moment lost in time; sometimes you have to continue innovation rather than trying to recreate a wheel.

In 2018, the defense got a little better giving up three points less per game, but the offense also stalled some scoring 34.9 per game. A year later – in a season that probably should have resulted in Oregon getting to the College Football Playoff were it not for the inexplicable loss to Arizona State – the defense performed significantly better giving up just 16.5 points per game while the offense – led by a future NFL rookie of the year and one of its brightest young stars- averaged 35.4 points per game. But didn’t that 35 points seem like a lot less?

I have never been one to be overly critical of coaches. I like Mario Cristobal. We got along just fine. Sure, there were moments he was not happy with some of the stuff I wrote, but that is to be expected. I have exchanged texts with him a couple of times since his departure and he is still very pleasant to me in our conversations.

Many people may disagree with me about his departure and whether it was handled correctly. If I reported every wild thing I have heard, I could have a blog just dedicated to the many theories of his departure. But I have made decisions just as difficult as his and no matter what we do when making those decisions, someone is going to be affected.

But this is really about whether or not the fun has returned to Oregon football. In his last season as Oregon head coach, the Oregon offense averaged just 31 points per game while giving up 27 points per game. The offense still averaged 5.3 yards per carry and 202.4 rushing yards per game, but when that is close to passing game totals of 221.3 yards per game through the air and a much lower scoring offense than Oregon fans had been used to; with somewhat predictable play-calling hampering Oregon at different times, the feeling was sort of a staleness.

It was like we were living a B.B. King song.

The thrill is gone away from me
Although, I’ll still live on

Did it not feel like the thrill was gone last season? And while it would have been nice for the game to have been decided much earlier than Mase Funa picked off Cameron Ward for the game-sealing touchdown, it was fun to watch this game. Explosive offenses trading blows until a big defensive play changed the tone.

What Cristobal did for Oregon was important. He proved that the Oregon program could be an elite recruiting force. But I think football needed to be fun again as well and watching yesterday – while at times frustrating – was fun again. Would I like the defense to be better against the pass? Absolutely. But the offense is something very special and the playmakers Oregon has all over the field are going to make Saturday mornings/afternoons/nights a really fun place to be again.

So it occured to me. Football is a game. And games should be fun.