Those who would have rushed our Ducks into a Coliseum of NC lions now know they would have been mourned as martyrs. Better to have been spared that indignity being martyred by cheetahs in Phoenix in advance.
National Championship teams do not have the luxury of excuse. Nor should we. Our coaches and team are not to be excused for tonight. Not Justin, not our play calling, our line play on both sides of the ball, nor our DBs who made a freshman look like a Pro and probably sealed our doom at the end. With the game on the line and ASU 3rd and long in deep doodoo they torched us with a head exploding, game winning touch.
The sadness is that the last twelve or so minutes told us what could have been in the preceding 48. Consistency is the hobgoblin of the just not ready in every aspect of the game.
There are times when we as fans' reach exceed our team's grasp, just like tonight. We tend to be fickle as fans, but not always dumbstruck. And if we're treated to the same experience next week against a team humiliated at home by Utah but who beat ASU at home last week, that will be our reality.
As an edit, this post was intended as a kick in the ass because we're better than what we saw tonight..so much better... and could have won this thing. We can prove that next week.
No one can deny our trajectory or goal, which is straight to an NC. We're just not there yet, nor pretend we're a final four. That will come.
