Canzano: Oregon Ducks set the stage for postseason
PS: Someone please call Kenny Wheaton.
EUGENE — Oregon coach Dan Lanning showed up at the stadium on Saturday. So did Washington coach Jedd Fisch. The Ducks and Huskies athletic directors, assistant football coaches, and players were all present at Autzen Stadium.
59,603 fans were here, too.
One notable absence: Kenny Wheaton.
“I won’t lie to you,” he told me Saturday night, “my heart hurts.”
Wheaton sat on the sofa at his home in Dallas while Oregon clobbered Washington 49-21. Lanning got a spoonful of retribution by beating UW for the first time. Fisch got his rivalry initiation, a baptism by TDs. And 30 years after “The Pick” — the guy responsible for it said he didn’t get an invitation.
“They’ve forgotten all about me,” Wheaton, 49, said.
More on that teeny, tiny oversight in a moment. First, we must deal with Oregon's dominance on Saturday and how promising it all feels. There was so much right about the Ducks’ performance. The offense was efficient and lethal. It piled up 458 yards. The defense was smothering and attacking. The Ducks recorded 10 sacks and 16 tackles for losses.
Oregon finished the regular season 12-0. It’s off to the Big Ten Conference title game in Indianapolis next weekend. Amid sky-high stakes on Saturday, UO did what Ohio State and some others failed to do — it delivered a knockout uppercut to the chin of an upset-minded rival.
Next: Penn State in the conference title game.
After that: the unknowns of the College Football Playoff.
“That was a fun one,” Lanning said as he walked into the post-game news conference.