When you’re a winner, it’s surprising how fun stats can be. And unless you’ve been trapped in a Chilean mine for the past three months, you know that the 2010 Ducks peppered the score sheets with numbers, averages, and totals that perfectly underscored their image of being the fastest, highest-scoring team in college football. Yeah, we all know about the forty-something points per game. The lightning-quick organization and execution between plays? Yawn. All us Duck faithful have been aware of these stats in some capacity since Jake Locker was the frontrunner for the Heisman. Don’t worry, I got some good stuff for ya. Here’s the first of several weekly posts to come on stats and facts that I’ll bet you didn’t know about your 2010 Ducks.
This week’s topic: Mileage
*The Ducks covered a nation-leading 8,793 yards (26,379 feet) on the football field this season, or 4.996 miles (21 feet, or 7 yards, short of exactly five miles).
*LaMichael James ran 1.1 mile of that himself, but Darron Thomas took the team on his back accounting for 1.9 miles of the Ducks’ season progress.
*Honorable mention to Cliff Harris, accounting for the hungriest .44 miles of team-total yardage I have ever seen.
*The Oregon defense allowed opponents only 2.55 miles, half of what Oregon’s “O” gained on the season. This earned Gang Green the ranking of 34th best defense in the nation -BUT- that stat is deceptive…
*…Because of the scoring and frenetic pace of the offense, the defense was on the field for an amazing 963 plays. Only 10 [mostly terrible] other teams’ defenses were on the field for more plays this season. TCU’s defense, which technically finished first with 1.68 miles allowed, actually played the least amount of plays (714) of any of the 120 D-1 teams . Fact is, if TCU’s defense would’ve played the extra 249 plays that Oregon’s defense did, it would’ve only been 482 yards better than Oregon. That in mind, ponder how tough Oregon’s opponents were relative to TCU’s. Now you tell me who had the best defense in the Nation.
*Coincidentally, Auburn’s defense also played 963 plays; allowing a whopping 659 more yards than Oregon. Put that in your War Eagle and smoke it, SEC fans.
*Lastly, GET IT TOGETHER, CHIP! The Ducks lost an entire half-mile (800 yards) to penalties this season. This earned the Ducks 101st place in D-1 for following the rules. How can we expect to win a natty with that many penalties? Maybe Oregon really is the new “U”…
Return of the Quack 
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