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Momentum?

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I just read this article on and it made me wonder how some of the savviest fans I know of would weigh in in ‘momentum.’

 

For me, momentum is real, and you can feel it, both when you got it, and when they got it.  It happens in games, battles, war, and even business.  I’ve seen it in grade school, pee wee soccer, high school, college, the Olympic, and even in the professional leagues.  We Duck fans have seen both sides of the momentum coin.

 

While the article brings back a very painful 2016 bowl game, it does make some good points.

 

I am curious as to your thoughts, oh fellow OBD fans?

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I am a great believer in in-game momentum. It was momentum that carried Keenan Howry through the savage storm and into the end zone. It was momentum that carried Bill Musgrave (all 4.95/40 of him) into the end zone at frozen Independence Stadium in Shreveport.

 

Where I believe momentum is overblown though, is when it is game-to-game rather than in-game. I have seen too many NFL teams (usually the ones that I have wagered on) come into a game on a three-game winning streak only to lay a 60-minute egg.

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I agree, in-game momentum is very real, it was a huge component of Kelly's offense, whil Mario's offense stifled any momentum from the start. 

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I have personally experienced heart pounding momentum. Nothing gets the blood pumping like coming down a logging road sitting on 102k lbs of iron and wood in 2 ft of snow and ice with a 500 ft drop on your left. One slip and momentum builds from there. Wait... wrong kind of momentum. Nevermind.

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On 12/22/2021 at 5:07 PM, Log Haulin said:

I have personally experienced heart pounding momentum. Nothing gets the blood pumping like coming down a logging road sitting on 102k lbs of iron and wood in 2 ft of snow and ice with a 500 ft drop on your left. One slip and momentum builds from there. Wait... wrong kind of momentum. Nevermind.

I know THAT Momentum too!  Got to bring a half loaded rigging truck off Bald Mt. w/no brakes back in 76!  Thats a whole bunch of momentum I wasn’t even think about!  Thanks for the flashback!

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And I believe it's the same type we talk about in games. Are you also describing the stress of fear or confidence. That's as real as it gets.

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Old mo is a fickled beast.

 

Now you have it, now you don't.......

 

MC has recruiting momentum. Like very few before him.

 

Yet his teams rarely build and sustain momentum.

 

No better example than the bowl game with TCU. Old MO was on steroids that night.

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On 12/22/2021 at 4:44 PM, PittDuck said:

While the article brings back a very painful 2016 bowl game, it does make some good points.

What bowl game? 

 

Oregon didn't go to a bowl game in 2016 and certainly not an Alamo Bowl Game ... and if we did go to such a bowl game I would have forgotten all about it.

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On 12/22/2021 at 6:16 PM, David Marsh said:

While the article brings back a very painful 2016 bowl game, it does make some good points.

We just played the part of the Texans that day.

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On 12/22/2021 at 5:52 PM, Duck 1972 said:

And I believe it's the same type we talk about in games. Are you also describing the stress of fear or confidence. That's as real as it gets.

I was thinking about the swings where it seems you can’t do anything wrong for a spurt.  Where runs break free, catches are made and points stack up.

 

Like when we were looking down the barrel of a 14-0 score from the Utes, and he dropped the ball on the one.  Up to that point, the Utes had momentum.  Everything they tried worked.  That play shifted the momentum and thus the outcome.

 

While it is as real as momentum, abject fear tends to affect me differently.

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Sounds as if our dope of a coach found a way to shunt our players brains from releasing dopamine. 

 

This is an outstanding topic.  The reason it is so for me is that throughout this past season I wondered why our team (OSU game aside) had so much trouble maintaining it (momentum) for any length of time.

 

I should have opened by answering the primary question.  Yes, I believe momentum is real.  I’ve played multiple sports (team & individual) and have felt momentum, felt in-the-zone, that feeling of complete confidence that permits your body to re-act freely without hesitation.  It is contagious. 

 

I bet we can all think of an occasion, perhaps not even an athletic endeavor, where we’ve been with a group of peers and maybe you’re bouncing ideas of one another and before you know it the whole group (even the guy that typically has zero contribution) is just feeding of one another.  It’s essentially a pack mentality and everyone is in the mix.

 

But…momentum certainly is fleeting.  I don’t know, maybe that’s why “moment” is part of the word. 

 

Now let’s circle back to how this ties into my frustration with this team.  How many times this year did it feel as if Uncle Mo was completely parked in our corner?  Travis Dye just scored to push the lead to 14 points.  The Duck just pumped-out push-ups and Autzen is hoppin’.  Even announcers would start introducing topics to keep things interesting as the game’s conclusion appears well in-hand. 

 

HOLD EVERYTHING!  Our fired-up kick coverage team has just taken the field.  Maybe they weren’t so fired-up as the other team just ran it back to the 35.  3rd down now.  Woops!  There’s an interference call because we weren’t taught to locate the ball.  There’s a 12 yard run.  What do you mean 12 men on the field and can someone tell DeRuyter the TE IS an eligible receiver.  Seven play scoring drive that the announcer will refer to as “well-orchestrated”.  Now it’s a game again.

 

Just like that we let Uncle Mo sprint from our corner.  This happened repeatedly this year and I questioned who to blame.  I mean, we have studs at all three levels of our defense!  Do they not raise the level of those around them?  Is this crew just really not that tightly knit?  I hate to think that.  Perhaps momentum is something that could have been better filtered from the top down?

 

I could puke my views on this for a while but this teams inability to put their foot on the other teams throat this year just boggled my mind.  Key moments when you wanted to see them "step-up" just didn't happen that often.   

 

Good teams seize the moment when presented with momentum.  If momentum can be fostered from the top down, I hope Lanning & Co. find a way to do it. 

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On 12/22/2021 at 7:29 PM, Jester said:

I could puke my views on this for a while...

 

While it is not a visual many would enjoy--I am nodding as I read it as we've all been there.  Outstanding post, and your description of a drive after the lead is so....accurate.  (and painful!)

 

Lanning does not realize what a low bar Cristobal created, and how we will be so happy with even average results.

 

          Was Cristobal blaming the

                    fans on this one?

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Mr. FishDuck

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INJURIES answers your question. Youth equals fear and indecision which equals slower responses which equals being beat. These kids have to learn u can't take 1 second off through out the whole game. That's called experience which equals confidence

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