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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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A quick after-game post from Eugene

COUGARS

We've been at Autzen Stadium longer than I would have ever imagined, but we have just one more thing to do. Give you your post-game blog fix. Read on.

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• Well, this one wasn't over at the end of the first quarter, when Oregon led 8-0. So the UO band guy was wrong. But the Cougars never really got close enough to scare the Ducks too badly, mainly because the special teams failed a couple of crucial times and the offense continues to sputter inside the scoring zone. ... There is always a lot of talk about the Ducks depth, and nowhere does it show more than on special teams. Oregon has guys on those groups that would be starting for most of the rest of the Pac-12, guys who run about as well as anyone in the conference. The blocked punt is an example of that. The quickness of the Oregon rushers was impressive. Then there was the two-point conversion in which the holder, punter Jackson Rice, made a Tebow-like jump pass to the kicker, Alejandro Maldonado, who had a Cougar draped all over him but still caught the ball. ... The red zone problems are the Cougars alone and need to be fixed if they want to end the season with more than three wins. They had their opportunities Saturday and didn't cash in enough. Next week, against a California team coming off a 31-14 loss to UCLA, there should be even more. Cash in or cash out. ... Before we go, we can pass along the link to our game story.

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• That's it for tonight. We'll be back in the morning with lots more. Until then ...



Vince Grippi
Vince Grippi is a freelance local sports blogger for spokesman.com. He also contributes to the SportsLink Blog.

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