Addicted To Quack: Blount Key To Ducks’ Rose Bowl Bid

So much talk about LeGarrette Blount, and almost none of it about, well, football. But Addicted To Quack aptly explains why the loss to Stanford revealed that it is on the field where Blount’s reinstatement will have the greatest impact:

[I]t wasn’t just Oregon’s defense that struggled to match Stanford’s physical play. Oregon failed to convert on 3rd down seven of 13 times… It’s clear the only weak link for an offense that has few weaknesses is a big, physical back, in the same vain as Gerhart, who can be relied on to move the chains in short yardage situations.Had Oregon had a big physical back to counter Stanford’s style, the outcome might have been very different.

Case in point: At the end of the third quarter with the Ducks trailing 45-28, Oregon faced a 4th-and-3 at Stanford’s 39-yard-line. In what appeared to be a blown play, Masoli was tackled for a one-yard loss, and Stanford took over on their own 40. Seven plays later, Cardinal kicker Nate Whitaker kicked a 41-yard field goal that turned out to be the difference for Stanford.

Blount might have made a difference in the same scenario. In fact, considering Oregon was trying to control the clock on that drive (that 4th-and-three was the seventh straight rushing play) to give its defense a break, Blount is likely the perfect back for that scenario. The power back that Oregon’s missed at certain points in the season.

Notwithstanding the Ducks’ 51-42 loss to Stanford, they control their own destiny down the stretch, where wins in the season’s final three games would clinch Oregon its first Rose Bowl berth since 1995. It is in these key games, Addicted To Quack argues, that LeGarrette Blount might make all the difference:

[W]ith games against Arizona State, Arizona and Oregon State left on the schedule and a Pac-10 title and Rose Bowl berth hanging in the balance, the timing for Blount’s return is as good as any. Why? Because all three of Oregon’s remaining opponents rank in the nation’s top 15 in rushing defense (No. 6, No. 10, and No. 15, respectively). And all three are far more physical than most of the defense’s we’ve faced this season. And all three will likely have watched the game against Stanford.