Uninspired Ducks & Banged Up BYU Meet In Sin City!
Wednesday, December 20th 2006(Bob Acton)

The Las Vegas Bowl is the second game on the College Bowl docket and will be played Thursday in Las Vegas. The largest online sportsbook and casino SuperBook.com opened the number at BYU -6, but the line has been falling rapidly and now sits at -3. Oregon has issues at quarterback and lack of lack of motivation.

"It's not where we wanted to be, but a bowl game's a bowl game and you've got to take it for what it's worth. We have an opportunity to play in the postseason and a lot of teams don't." Oregon linebacker Brent Haberly, summing up the feeling of the Ducks, who were once ranked No. 11 nationally and thought to be in the hunt for a Pac-10 title.

BYU has their own problems on defense!

Starting cornerback Ben Criddle and his backup, Kayle Buchanan, are doubtful for the bowl game. The other starting cornerback, senior Justin Robinson, is coming off a shoulder injury. Backup safety Corby Hodgkiss is hobbled and backup cornerback Tico Pringle was suspended early this week.

Oregon has a 7-12 all-time bowl record, with its winning percentage in bowls being the worst in the Pac-10. Ducks coach Mike Bellotti is only 4-5 in bowls with the Ducks. Oregon has lost its last three bowls, the 2002 Seattle Bowl, the 2003 Sun Bowl and last season's Holiday Bowl. The Ducks did defeat Air Force in the 1997 Las Vegas Bowl, prevailing 41-13.

The Ducks have traveled to 10 bowl games during coach Mike Belotti's 12-year run in Eugene. This is the first time Oregon has played in a bowl prior to Christmas since the 1997 Las Vegas Bowl. This should be a high-scoring affair with two teams preferring to throw the ball, instead of relying on a physical brand of football, making for a potentially explosive affair. A side story to this game is Oregon offensive coordinator Gary Crowton. He coached BYU before stepping down under pressure after the 2004 season.

The Ducks are in a state of flux with a quarterback change being made in the regular-season finale, when Oregon went with Brady Leaf instead of season-long starter Dennis Dixon. Don't look for the starter to change as Dixon was turning the ball over too often. When the Ducks keep control of the ball, they average 31 points and 436 yards per game. Not bad. Ranking 107th in turnover margin is the problem.

The only thing that could keep BYU QB John Beck from being a first-rounder in next spring's NFL draft is his age. He's 25, and that may scare off some teams that won't think he'll be ready to play until he's nearly 30. He's also only 6-2, 216, but you can't argue with his stats 3,510 yards, 30 touchdowns and six interceptions in 11 games.

The over/under is 62 and I expect some major fireworks!

Bob Acton

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