Football is a strange game. Well, all sports are. But it’s mainly in football that I can watch my favorite team win, yet feel almost like it was a loss. Conversely, I can watch my favorite team lose, yet feel almost like it was a win.
Tonight the Oregon Ducks defeated James Madison 51-34 in Eugene. I believe Oregon was favored by 21 points, so the 17 point margin of victory wasn’t far off from the expectation that #5 seed Oregon in the College Football Playoff would handily beat #12 seed James Madison.
Especially since James Madison only got into the playoffs by winning the Sun Belt Conference championship, which gave them a pass into the playoffs even though they aren’t close to being the 12th best team in the country.
The box score explains why, as a Ducks fan, the game ended with me feeling kind of depressed.
The first half ended with Oregon up 34-6. The Ducks scored on their first five possessions (they went for two on their first touchdown, but failed, which is why they had 34 points rather than 35). And they scored rapidly, just 4-6 plays on most or all of the touchdowns.
I was thinking about their next opponent in the playoff quarterfinals, Wow, Texas Tech players and fans must be watching this game with trepidation, because the Ducks look unstoppable on offense and tough on defense.
Then the second half happened.
James Madison outscored Oregon 28-17 after halftime. I began thinking, Wow, Texas Tech players and fans must be watching the second half with glee, since Oregon is looking eminently beatable by a team of their caliber. After all, James Madison, a team with inferior players from a mediocre conference, kicked Oregon’s butt in the second half.
The ESPN boxscore shows for the entire game James Madison rushed for 186 yards and Oregon 201 yards. James Madison passed for 323 yards and Oregon 313 yards. So in that sense the game was basically a draw. Fortunately for Oregon, James Madison had 13 penalties for 113 yards, and Oregon only had 5 penalties for 71 yards. A bunch of the James Madison penalties came when they were in the red score threatening to score, which helped Oregon and hurt James Madison.
In the first half Oregon looked like a potential national champion. In the second half Oregon looked like it didn’t even deserve to be in the playoff. Naturally I hope when Oregon plays Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl on New Year’s Day the first half team shows up. So does Oregon coach Dan Lanning, according to a story in the Portland Oregonian, What Dan Lanning said after No. 5 Oregon beats James Madison in College Football Playoff.
EUGENE — No. 5 Oregon defeated No. 12 seed James Madison 51-34 Saturday night at Autzen Stadium.
Dan Lanning recapped the 12th win of the season for the Ducks (12-1), who advance to the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff to face No. 4 Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl.
Below is initial live updates from Lanning’s postgame press conference. A full transcript will follow.
DAN LANNING
— “Somewhat of a bittersweet game.”
— Didn’t play to standard defensively in the second half.
— To not have same success in second half as first half was “disappointing”
— Explosive plays allowed and third down defense was not good enough.
— Could have been better defensively in the first half as well.
— On second half: “You got to be able to choke somebody out. We didn’t do that.”
— Malik Benson continues to come through
— On Dante Moore: “He can handle a lot of situations.” Did well again.
— JMU does a lot offensively by design, not a surprise even early.
— “We weren’t playing well” and put depth in. Matter of how they finish.
— Thinks Theran Johnson will be OK.
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