Ever since the Oregon football team beat Texas Tech 23-0 in the national playoff quarterfinals, I’d been looking forward to the Ducks rematch with Indiana in today’s semifinal game.
After all, Oregon had played Indiana close for most of the first game, which Indiana ended up winning 30-20 after Indiana scored the last 10 points, aided by a couple of fourth quarter interceptions thrown by Oregon quarterback Dante Moore.
Coach Lanning and the Oregon players had been talking about how they were a better team now, having learned from their only loss of the season. Oddsmakers had Indiana favored in tonight’s game by only four points, I believe. (The final score was 56-22. So Oregon underperformed by a mere 30 points.)
Well, my optimism about Oregon pulling off an upset lasted a whole 11 seconds.
That’s how long it took Indiana to score after their defense intercepted Moore on the first play of the game, returning the ball for an easy touchdown. At least Moore didn’t keep us in suspense this time for when he’d throw a costly interception. This photo from sportswriter John Canzano’s substack post about the game (I’m a subscriber) shows the Indiana player dancing into the end zone as Moore looks on helplessly.
Canzano spoke The Bald Faced Truth — the name of his substack — in his post-game post.
Dante Moore had a regrettable game. He threw a ‘Pick 6’ on the first play from scrimmage. Not long after that, Oregon’s quarterback dropped back to pass, had the ball knocked out of his hands by one of his own running backs, and the fumble gave Indiana the ball on the 3-yard line.
He had another fumble, too.
Also, Moore got sacked three times.
…Dan Lanning’s team looked completely lost on Friday. It was an embarrassing outcome. For the second straight season, Oregon got knocked off its feet in the first quarter of a big game. He’ll take the outcome hard. But I wrote this a week ago — and I’ll put it out there again — the Ducks arrived on this stage a year early. They’re 365 days of growth away from being able to stay in this kind of game.
Clobbered on offense.
Smashed on defense.
There was that blocked punt, too.
…Moore didn’t just have a “regrettable” game. The Ducks need to get real this offseason. He was downright terrible. College used to be a place where young people went to make mistakes, learn, grow, evolve, and if that still holds up, we’ll see Oregon’s QB back next season with fire in his eyes.
The only positive thing I could take away from this massive defeat by a far superior Indiana team is that, as Canzano noted, it sure seems like the chance of Dante Moore returning for another season with the Ducks is considerably greater now. His NFL prospects must have taken a big hit after he played so poorly today. To throw a pass on the first play of the game right into Indiana arms, that’s inexcusable.
For me, the best part of the game was when it ended and I could switch to watching the final episode of Season 1 of The Pitt on HBO Max. Unlike the football game, I was inspired by the competence, hard work, and never-say-die attitude of the emergency room doctors.
I probably should have switched to The Pitt earlier in the evening, but I wanted to see if Oregon would end the game on a positive note. Nope. I’ll say this much for the Ducks. They were consistent from start to finish. Consistently bad.
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