Watching the 2nd half, it just seemed highly possible (if not inevitable) that the Ducks would ****e the bed and lose. But if furd were up 24-7? No way they'd do the same. And you knew the guys in the white jerseys weren't making any mistakes during that comeback. There's a lot of hand-wringing on Oregon's board about how all the brain cramps were on the Ducks' sideline and how furd just doesn't do that.
Is this game just a good reminder that having smart players is more important than most people think? There are a couple obvious reasons: (1) penalties (2) football players have a lot of plays to remember, and smart players are less likely to forget the details.
But there seems to be more to it - Rob Pelinka, who played BB for Michigan in the 90s, once commented on how they'd build a big lead against less talented teams, but that teams like Rice and Duke and NWU were less likely to get rattled and give up, that they understand it's "one play at a time". They're also less likely to make huge mistakes when they go up big themselves, and less likely to go into a downward spiral (and forget their plan) if they do make such mistakes. We saw Oregon do both those things last night.
Seems like this is a big part of furd's rise to the top, but shouldn't we benefit from this effect as well?
Is this game just a good reminder that having smart players is more important than most people think? There are a couple obvious reasons: (1) penalties (2) football players have a lot of plays to remember, and smart players are less likely to forget the details.
But there seems to be more to it - Rob Pelinka, who played BB for Michigan in the 90s, once commented on how they'd build a big lead against less talented teams, but that teams like Rice and Duke and NWU were less likely to get rattled and give up, that they understand it's "one play at a time". They're also less likely to make huge mistakes when they go up big themselves, and less likely to go into a downward spiral (and forget their plan) if they do make such mistakes. We saw Oregon do both those things last night.
Seems like this is a big part of furd's rise to the top, but shouldn't we benefit from this effect as well?