Football forecasting and Nike Wrapup

My life is measured in football and basketball. As I walked out of the Nike Global Challenge, there was a nip in the air and my biological clock was ticking. Exactly three weeks from sitting in Autzen Stadium. Less than that to sit and watch the Beav's in Palo Alto. Lots of questions and thats when the Ducks and Beav's seem to be at their best.

For Oregon State, the Stanford game is a dangerous one. They'll be favored and have nothing to gain with the win in front of a nationally televised Thursday Night game and plenty to lose. The huge question mark is their offensive line and thats never a good sign. Stanford's Jim Harbaugh can coach. He is the only PAC-10 coach with an undefeated record against USC and Pete Carroll and Cal's Jeff Tedford. Enough said. On the other hand, Mike Riley can coach. Both these coaches have proved they can do more with less than any other two coaches in the conference. Riley's forte is defense and he and the unheralded DC Mark Banker will plug and play yet another set of unknown linebackers and defensive linemen that will have offensive coordinators wondering what type of smoke bombs and mirrors Riley has that always make the Beav's "D" formidable. The Beavers will need to hope one of their running backs is able to make hay without much line help. Quarterback Lyle Moevao has been working from a shotgun in practice and Riley always spoke of the 'shotgun' with venom and disdain but he needs to buy time for Moevao to find fan fave and team leader Sammy Stroughter downfield or it could be a long season.

Keys to the Game: OSU's weakness is the O-Line. Stanfords strength is the D-Line. Stanford actually led the PAC-10 in TFL's (Tackles For Loss) last season. The buzz in the Beaver camp is the "Brothers Rodgers" as Texas prep phenom Jacquizz and older 'bro' the Fly Sweep Specialist James don't need much space to take it to the house. If the D-Line has trouble containing the quicks of the Rodgers, look for the Beav's to coast. Stanford's achilles heel last season was giving up the 'big plays.' One cautionary flag for the Beav's is they usually start the season slow and finish strong. Riley should bring in a hypnotist so the players think its a November game. They have a big advantage in the skill positiions and it looks to be a low scoring affair. I get the feeling this will be a game where Jacquizz Rodger's is annointed the next great running back in Corvallis.

The Duck offense should be fine. Chip Kelly is flat out the best of a long line of offensive coordinators to pass through under Bellotti's tenure. When given time, he can create magic with the spread offense which is unstoppable when hitting on all cylinders. Duck fans will remember after Dixon went down there was a spell of three weeks when there wasn't even an engine in the scoring machine. Sportswriters and fans from other schools have convinced themselves that without Jonathan Stewart and Dennis Dixon that the Duck "O" won't go like last year. Not only does Nathan Costa, who's been in the program for three years, have a veteran offensive line returning and studs Jaison Williams and Ed Dickson to toss the ball to, he has maybe the best tandem of running backs in the conference to work with. Many thought before he went down last year with a season ending knee injury, that Jeremiah Johnson was having a better year than Stewart. His 4.37 40 time says he's pretty much back. Now he has 6'2 235 pound earthmover LeGarrette Blount to create a new "Thunder and Lightning." Teammates think Blount is a beast and with the Huskies without their star linebacker E.J Savannah, the Ducks have a chance to match the points they rang up on the Huskies in Seattle last season in a 55-34 win.

Nike Global Challenge-If you attended this high school hoop gem to cheer on Grant's Mike Moser and Jefferson's Terrance Jones you might have been dismayed their 'PT" wasn't all that great. If you went to watch the other stars, you were treated to some truly phenominal athletes, many who will be ringing up their points in the NBA in a few years. Several players stood out. John Wall came in as the nations top recruit and even mentioned that Oregon is still one of the top teams on his list. He has 'otherworldly' talent but though he's listed as a point guard, he played more like a shooting guard to me. Amazing ability to get to the basket and better than advertised outside shot. The team that won it all was USA II and Seattle product Abdul Gaddy, who still likes the Beav's, was the key to their success. He ran the team as a true PG should, and it didn't hurt that he had fellow Bellarmine Prep High School teammate Avery Bradley as his running mate. The duo rightfully claimed the tournament MVP Award and it was fitting in my book. One of the more fun PG's to watch was Phil Pressey, who looks like his father Paul Pressey but at maybe 5'8, didn't get Dad's height. Still, he is one of those lightning bugs who can elevate and slamdunk if need be. Just a blast to watch dribble penetrate and he'll be just a junior this year so he could grow a few more inches. I was very impressed with Ames, Iowa product, 6'5 Harrison Barnes who had a sweet shot and was great around the glass. The tourney was thick with talented 2's and 3's. Others were Royce White and Jordan Hamilton who will be leading his Dominguez team up to play in the Les Schwab Holiday Classic this Christmas Break. The most intriguing player to watch was 6'11 275 pound freight train DeMarcus Cousins out of Alabama. He shot the three and demonstrated amazing speed. Several time he got the ball at midcourt and flew in for a thundering slamdunk. I didn't see a player the entire tourney who wanted to volunteer to take a charge once he had a full head of steam. UConn commit Alex Oriakhi is one of those quiet 15/10 guys who is a smooth operator around the boards. The star of the show this weekend though was 6'3 Avery Bradley. His game was 'on.' In the semifinal against Serbia, he tallied 24 points and after Hamilton's ejection, started scoring at will, either on a vicious slamdunk are burying a barrage of three's compliments of his runningmate Gaddy. He duplicated the feat in a 117-104 win in the Championship win over USA I with the ability to make big plays every time his team needed him. I thought the duo were okay during the Rose City Showcase. Here they were the stars of the show. Whispers were they were shopping themselves as a 'package' deal but there's still lots of time before they sign their LOI's.

For Terrance Jones, he was one of six underclassmen of the 30 USA players who were chosen to play some of the best international U19 teams around. For Moser, he got lost in the consolation bracket and never got a chance to shine in the limelight. Still, the level of players both internationally and nationally was awe-inspiring. There were dunks and blocks and highlights galore. How this thing was so sparsely attended when admission is just five dollars per four game session is a mystery. The close fought FMP-Serbia against USA II was one of the better ball games I've watched all year. If they roll this out next year, you just gotta go.