Ducks can't afford any letdown against ASU

Watching the Ducks score 14 points in the final minute and a half to beat Oklahoma last Saturday all seemed funny to me.

Less than a few minutes before Oregon fans made Rich Brooks Field look like the ending scene of Animal House, their team had trailed by 13 points and was on the verge of dropping its third game to the Sooners in as many seasons.

I recall a conversation I had with Luke Andrews of the Oregon Daily Emerald as we were making our way out of the press box and down to the field. At the time, Oklahoma led by 10 and was threatening to score again with six minutes left in the fourth quarter.

From the field, it looked like there was a bomb scare at Autzen Stadium. Everyone was making their way toward the exits; even country music star Toby Keith, who was watching the game from the Oklahoma sideline.

“This might get ugly,” I said to Luke. “But who knows, we might be witnessing the most unbelievable win in (Oregon) history.”

Where's a bookie when you need one?

The win was nothing short of Herculean, but now the Ducks must re-focus and prepare for Arizona State, their biggest game of the season. That's not a misprint, mind you. NEXT week's road matchup with No. 20 Arizona State is the real main event; the game after THE game.

I say this in light of Oregon's last “big win” over a non-conference foe. Not their 47-14 triumph over Montana in 2005, but their 31-27 shocker over fifth-ranked Michigan in 2003.

The Oregon faithful remembers the game well, but would like to forget what followed after: three straight losses beginning with a 55-16 rout against Washington State. Goodbye BCS, hello re-building year.

After shocking the college football world again last weekend, albeit in controversial fashion, the Ducks find themselves treading the same ground as in 2003; undefeated, ranked in the top 15 and hearing BCS whispers. As the Cougars showed Oregon three years ago, this can all change with one game you happen to take lightly.

The Ducks can't afford to get big-headed. They need to solidify their win over the Sooners by doing one simple thing: getting over it. After their bye this week, they face their second of three straight top-25 teams with the Sun Devils followed by Cal. They can easily lose both games if they don't take them one at a time - not that head coach Mike Bellotti needs to remind his players.

“It seems overwhelming, but coach is always telling us ‘one game, one game, one game,'” Ducks wideout Jaison Williams said after Saturday's win. “If we would've looked ahead, we would've got beat today, but we didn't. We played for every down, every second. That's what you got to do to keep winning games, and that's what we're doing.”

We've all heard the ‘next game is our biggest game of the season' speech by college football players and coaches in light of Division I lacking a playoff system. It's a hackneyed sound bite, but it might as well be a battle cry for the Ducks.

For them, Arizona State is the new Washington State; a second chance for Oregon's other foot to drop on solid ground, an opportunity for Oregon to put the flash-in-the-pan theory out of consideration.

“We don't want to repeat history; we want to make history. ... We want to make a statement,” Williams said.

Williams and the Ducks did that last weekend, but have a bigger one to make next Saturday.

Scott J.Adams is the outdoors editor and a sports writer for The World. He can be contacted by phone at 269-1222, ext. 237 or by e-mail at sadams@theworldlink.com.