ICYMI: Oregon Blows out Florida State in Rose Bowl

((ht: espn.com))

It was a close game at the half.

The Oregon Ducks went into the locker room at halftime with an 18-13 lead over the undefeated Florida State Seminoles with a berth in the National Championship game on the line.

And no, even the Ducks couldn't have imagined what would happen next.

The once-invincible Florida State team, winners of their past 29 games started making mistakes.

Four straight Seminoles turnovers led to Oregon points.

The Ducks scored 27 points in the third quarter. And the game was over.

A 41 point 2nd half gave Oregon the statement win they were looking for, their first over a Top 2 team ever. The Ducks beat the Seminoles 59-20. And it could have been worse.

QB Marcus Mariota threw for 338 yards and 2 TD's and ran for 62 yards and another score, leading his team to the win.

As for FSU star Jameis Winston, he had a tough day. He threw for a lot of yards, but had an interception and perhaps one of the ugliest fumbles you'll ever see.

Oregon moves on to the National Title game versus Ohio State in Dallas.

Notes:

--Many of the FSU players left the field before shaking hands with the Oregon players and coaches. A big breach of sportsmanship that should be addressed. (Winston and several others stayed for a long time to congratulate the Ducks)

---Several Oregon players may--and should be in trouble for what they did after the game. A video showing them on the podium mocking the FSU Tomahawk chop and chanting "No means no" has been making the rounds. Once made aware of it, Oregon coach Mark Helfrich said they players involved will be disciplined.

Here's the video from Fox Sports West producer Bear Heiser:

Stanford's Statement, We Are Still Hanging Around, Cardinal Defeats Ducks 26-20

Florida State fans are rejoicing.  Number 2 Oregon has a loss.

In a game that had the west coast buzzing Stanford raced out to a 26-0 lead until the middle of the fourth quarter.  Oregon rallied as Marcus Mariota threw two touchdown passes but the rally fell short.

Stanford defeats Oregon 26-20.


"Our guys played extremely well today." Stanford head coach David Shaw said. "The fact that we've won two in a row against these guys, credit to our players, the coaches and preparation. Bottom line, they didn't give it to us. They didn't give it to us. We had to play our game and finish the game at the end, and we did."


"Our guys competed, no question." Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich said.

The Ducks defense couldn't figure out how to stop Stanford running back Tyler Gaffney who had a school record 45 carries.  Gaffney ended up with 157 yards rushing and a touchdown.

"Tyler Gaffney ran the ball tonight the way running back backs are supposed to run the ball in this game of football." Shaw said.

"Oregon's really good at filling in with their safeties, with their backside backers." Gaffney said. "It came down to lowering the shoulder and hoped for the best."

Marcus Mariota ended up 20-34 for 250 yards and two touchdowns.  Mariota admits he banged up, the knee brace he wore against Stanford is evident of that but he's not making excuses.

"I've got to learn to play with it."  Mariota said. "I've never really played with a knee brace before, so that's something that I've been doing in practice and getting used to."

With the Oregon loss Florida State sits in good shape to be Alabama's opponents in the BCS National Championship Game.

That is if the season ended today.

Oregon chooses OC Mark Helfrich to be Kelly's successor

Mark Helfrich (photo courtesy GoDucks.com)

EUGENE - To anyone following west coast college football, Chip Kelly's successor at Oregon should not be an unusual choice.

Offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich was named as Kelly's replacement early Sunday morning. Oregon will officially announce the promotion Sunday afternoon, and will continue Oregon's penchant for staying inside the family with hiring choices.

Another candidate for the job, former Stanford OC Pep Hamilton, was hired to be Chuck Pagano's OC with the Indianapolis Colts.

Kelly was in the middle of a coaching carousel soap opera, turning down the Cleveland job to stay in Eugene. Kelly surprised everyone when he turned around and took the Philadelphia Eagles' vacant coaching position. I guess the Cleveland job really IS that bad.

That reversal opened the door for the 39-yr old Helfrich, whom many said from the beginning would replace Kelly - maybe even being talked about for over a year. Helfrich had been Kelly's OC for the last four seasons.

Helfrich will be the third consecutive Oregon offensive coordinator that went on to become the Ducks' head coach. Kelly took over for Mike Bellotti in 2009, and before that, Bellotti was Rich Brooks' successor in 1995.

The HQ is also hearing that wide receivers coach Scott Frost will be promoted to offensive coordinator.