With 35-17 Fiesta Bowl domination, Oregon’s Chip Kelly era (potentially) ends

0.868. Chip Kelly’s win percentage in four years as Oregon’s head coach. Before Kelly, Oregon had managed four 10-win seasons in its history; the Ducks did it four times in four years under him. Before Kelly, Oregon had attended four BCS bowls; the Ducks did it four times in four years under him. He has taken an interesting, high-quality program and made it elite. Now we wait and see whether he comes back or a fifth year, or whether he takes his show to the NFL.

The scores gave Oregon a 15-0 lead, and while Kansas State would peck away at the lead for the rest of the first half, the burst gave the Ducks some time to find their way offensively. They eventually did. They always do.

Oregon won the 2013 Fiesta Bowl’s first half in Kansas State fashion. Despite getting outgained by a tad and breezed past in time of possession, special teams play had the Ducks up by two scores.

As for the Oregon defense: The ultra-efficient Collin Klein was limited to 4.9 yards per pass on the day.

One shouldn’t say, “Everything’s going Oregon’s way tonight.” It sure does feel like that, though -- when there’s a freaking one-point safety in your favor, it is your night.

The latest evidence: Ducks punt return man Bralon Addison bumping into a teammate and falling over before the ball arrives, but still somehow catching it. As if he’s practiced that motion.

Update: According to reports, it’s only been done four times in major college football history.

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A ONE-POINT SAFETY? BET YOU HAVE NOT!

Kansas State held the ball for 20:55 of the 2013 Fiesta Bowl’s first 30 minutes. The Wildcats also trail, 22-10. That’s with Oregon’s offense doing its oft-traditional first half thing, which sees Chip Kelly probing his opponent for deficiencies before releasing the herd of wildebeests at the half. The Ducks have a scant 158 yards worth of offense to Kansas State’s 170.

This is all based on Oregon’s tendencies, of course. Kansas State still has something to say, and if not for a missed field goal and that kick runback, the game would be just about knotted up. Feels strange to blame K-State’s special teams, which has been the toast of the country to this point.

This is probably not true.

It’s about time! After a bowl season marked by these ridiculous, no-good, smack-talking brats known as college football players nowadays, it’s refreshing to see the fine young gentlemen of Oregon and Kansas State. At least, Chipper Jones sees it that way.

This comes after the University of Florida disgusted the Atlanta Braves third baseman -- not with their play in the loss to Louisville but rather their unsightly behavior.

That’s what we had on the Fiesta Bowl’s opening kickoff -- by the time I looked up around the 50-yard mark, there was one purple jersey in the frame. That Wildcat evaporated in an instant. Believe it or not, this was the Black Mamba’s first kickoff return touchdown of the year.

K-State responded with a fourth-down try on its first drive, which the Ducks stopped at midfield. Remember: Oregon doesn’t care about this game, because Kelly’s leaving! These were our pre-game marching orders, and they were incorrect.

As Oregon and Kansas State suit up for tonight’s Fiesta Bowl, there’s a small but significant reminder of things much larger than the game at hand. K-State announced plans to pay tribute tonight with a remembrance sticker on the team’s Fiesta Bowl helmets.

But there is hope! Erin Sorensen of hailvarsity.com has alerted us to an enterprising individual in the Phoenix area who has posted a CraigsList ad for a bag of Tostitos -- perhaps the last unclaimed bag of ‘Stitos in existence?

Here is how the ad appears, in its entirety:

A couple months ago, the matchup in the Fiesta Bowl looked like a possible national championship game. Now it looks like a game packed with NFL Draft prospects. The Fiesta Bowl features five players who will participate in the Senior Bowl and could have 10 players taken in the draft.

For a proper (and detail-packed) preview of the game, check out what Bill Connelly put together. Here is strictly a look at the NFL Draft prospects in the game.

Oregon finished the season with just one loss, an overtime game against Stanford where the Ducks offense failed to score more than 40 points for the only time in 2012. The Ducks rolled the rest of their Pac-12 competition, defeating ranked Arizona 59-0 and Oregon State 48-24. Kansas State spent some time at No. 1 this season, but fell to Baylor in a huge upset. The Wildcats recovered to beat Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game to finish their 11-1 season.

Thursday, Jan. 3, 8:30 p.m. ET

This isn’t really to pick on NFL people, who’ll find themselves adapting just fine over the coming years to diverse offenses that have succeeded at the college level for more than a decade now.

What we’ll definitely have to look forward to, whether Kelly stays or goes, is more of him answering questions in Chip Kelly fashion:

They don’t get a lot of excitement in Kansas. So imagine how bowled over (get it) the Kansas St. Wildcats were when they locked eyes with the Fiesta Bowl helmets for the Oregon Ducks.

In other news, K-State is still required to wear Florsheim loafers during football games.

It’s easy to take shots at the woebegone Big East. The conference is being picked apart by vultures from Chicago to Greensboro. It’s a year away from being sent from the first-class cabin to steerage aboard the HMS BCS. It’s now even not above begging schools in Greenville and Fresno to take up membership.

But you know something? When it comes to playing against the big boys in the bowl season, the Big East has more than held its own. In fact, over the past three seasons, the Big East had the best bowl winning percentage of any conference, at .647 by going 11-6.

McQuaw is a walk-on that has been with the Ducks the last three seasons. He has not played a down in 2012 after appearing in three games in 2011 as a reserve.

The Ducks will play Kansas State in the 2013 Fiesta Bowl which is scheduled for January 3 in Glendale, Ariz.