You could feel it in Eugene during the days leading up to Saturday. You could feel it on the plane rides down through Phoenix, and eventually to Preston Smith International Airport in Lubbock Texas. You certainly could feel it amongst the roughly thousand or so Oregon Duck fans who set up shop in Jones AT&T Stadium on Saturday afternoon to watch their team take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
It was a sense of confidence, with a hint of braggadocious arrogance. The Ducks were coming off of an 81-7 blowout win over Portland State, while the Red Raiders were recovering from a 35-33 double-overtime loss to Wyoming. This should be no contest in the minds of Oregon fans; just another stop of the path towards a Pac-12 title berth and a potential spot in the College Football Playoff.
In the famous words of Lee Corso, “Not so fast, my friend.”
The Ducks got the job done against Texas Tech, winning 38-30 in a dramatic game that saw fireworks in the final sixty seconds. It wasn’t pretty, but the college football season is never a beauty contest. Rather, it often resembles an obstacle course, and the teams with the fewest scrapes and bruises at the end of the day are the ones left standing.
Oregon got nicked up a bit on Saturday night, but they will be the better for it in the end. They leave Texas with a 2-0 record, and can still have their sights set on grandiose endings to the season. None of it will be possible if they aren’t able to clean some stuff up along the way, though.
That was my major takeaway from Saturday night’s game in Lubbock. Here are some of the others: