Mike Riley: From Hero to Zero in 7 Days

I've got to hand it to the Beavers. They have done more damage to the Pac-10 conference in 7 days than I ever thought possible. Beating #1 USC last Thusday took the lone team East Coast media respects from the Pac-10 out of National Title implications, and also made the Rose Bowl just that much tougher to achieve for the remaining teams in the conference. Then they proceed to lose to #15 Utah when the game was theirs for the taking and reaffirm to the nation that the Pac-10 is indeed the Midwestern Conferences' bitch. And who do we have to thank for all this kick-in-the-crotch fantastic good news? Our buddy Mike Riley of course!

Before last Thursday I was perfectly content with USC running the table, playing in the National Title Game and the Pac-10 runner-up casually walking into the Rose Bowl. Now, USC could still win out, not go to the Title game, take the Rose Bowl and leave the runner up with a Holiday Bowl appearance. This means a team like Oregon who is 2-0 in Pac-10 may lose to USC, then win out, but will still fall short of a Rose Bowl appearance due to the tie-breaker USC would hold over them. Coming to that conclusion is jumping WAY ahead, but after last Thursday it may be more of a reality than anything.

For a coach who scripted a masterpiece of a game plan against USC last week I'm trying to figure out what Mike Riley was thinking with the clock management against Utah. I could delve into the 2-point conversion calls in the first half of the game that were egregiously misguided or even the prevent defense the Beaver coaches ran with 2:00 left in the game that really just "prevented" them from winning. With those errors being pointed I believe the clock management on the last offensive possession was something to be ashamed of. The Beavers got the ball back with 1:29 left in regulation and punted it off nearly 20 seconds later. 3 plays in 20 seconds!

1st Play - An incomplete pass (To a TE I think)
2nd Play - Fly sweep to James Rodgers for 1 yard and out of bounds
3rd Play - An incomplete pass to Morales caught out of bounds

I can understand that the Beavers were TRYING to march down and kick a field goal to win the game, but really Mike...KICK A FIELD GOAL? Weren't you avoiding your kicker at all costs in when you decided to for two 2-point conversions instead? You expected to just march down the field, line your kicker up and have him knock one through for the game winner? Surely, you should have at least ran the ball on 2nd and 3rd downs in hopes of at least making Utah use up their final two Timeouts JUST in case you couldn't get a first down. Instead, you ran three plays that ultimately set up a win for Utah that their fan base will be talking about for years to come.

At the bottom of all this is the need for a kicker/punter on that Beaver squad. The punter last week against USC dodged numerous bullets when he'd kick them off the side of his foot and they'd take tremendous bounces 30 yards down field. His final punt yesterday went for a measley 32 yards and allowed Utah to take over at their own 45. Hell, Utah's All-American kicker was practically in field goal range at that distance. Mark it down: the beavers will lose two more games this season due to their kicking/punting. I bet they still wish they had Alexis Serna right now:

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