Sunday morning after a game day is always a bit odd. In the past, I would get home somewhere between midnight and three AM – but with the RV, I get to hang out, get some rest, and drive back refreshed in the morning. But that also tends to cut into my day as we still have to unload the RV, take it to the parking garage, then run our normal Sunday errands. While I am driving, though, there is plenty of time to reflect on what we saw the night before.
One of the thoughts that really started to creep into my mind was how much the record for total touchdown passes affected the mental aspect of the game, not just for Dillon Gabriel, but for the rest of his teammates as well. While specific research on college football teams or players losing focus when approaching record-breaking milestones is limited, sports psychology literature indicates that athletes often experience increased pressure in these moments.
I doubt anyone is going to say that – and I think Dillon Gabriel has been working on staying focused on games – but it was really a fleeting thought as I wondered about how sluggish Oregon started the game and some of the focus issues.
I don’t think that the chase for records is the sole cause of the sluggishness. I don’t even think it is a primary cause; it is always difficult to navigate a college football season unscathed. In some ways, the sluggishness reminded me a lot of the 2010 game at Cal – coincidentally where current Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi was coaching at the time. In that game, some key plays made the difference in a much tighter 13-10 game.
When Maryland closed to 29-18, these thoughts seemed far more pervasive than a final score where the Ducks won by 21 would tend to suggest.
More thoughts kept flooding in, and I wondered why we tend to see things in different shades when trying to cover the team. Part of the issue – of course – is that we only see what happens on Saturday, so we are left to wonder why we see what we see. The other issue is that we really evaluate this in an ‘as if’ attitude. We look at the game ‘as if’ the team should always execute every play flawlessly and then wonder why they falter. Jabbar Muhammad gave us a reminder earlier in the week when he mentioned that ‘the other team has guys on scholarship too.’
Yes. They do. And they have coaches who are paid very well to design game plans. Mike Locksley is an exceptional coach. While his team may not have as much depth as Oregon, they do have a solid QB and two very good wide receivers.
So, I ended up circling back to the final score: 39-18. A three-touchdown win in which the defense held another opponent to less than 300 total yards of offense and held Billy Edwards to 100 yards less than he had been averaging coming into the game.
Sure, there were sluggish moments, but I guess some perspective changes how I see that sluggishness. Oregon is 10-0 for the first time since 2012. They have a shot at some history still, and I do know that the team is in pretty good health, all things considered, as they head toward the Big Ten Conference Championship Game and a berth in the 12-team College Football Playoff. Not bad for a game that looked sluggish when analyzing it on a play-by-play basis.
Long drives sometimes help. Sometimes not. But it was a more peaceful thought to ponder such questions following a win.
