Oregon flashes familiar fireworks, and its season flashes before its eyes

Oregon 43, California 15. If there was a theme tonight (one that didn't have to do with the Ducks' uniforms, anyway), it should have been the official return of the Oregon Death Star on a national stage. The last time we saw the Ducks' warp-speed offense on national television, it was being methodically snuffed out by LSU in a season-opening loss that effectively ended any hopes Oregon had of returning to the BCS title game before they could begin. A month later, here the Ducks were again, back to their usual, earth-scorching ways — right up until the second play of the fourth quarter, when their fate suddenly seemed to rest on the right arm of the most prolific running back in America. That's not to suggest that they were just waking up: The Ducks came in as the highest-scoring offense in the country at 52 points per game, thanks to consecutive, stat-padding routs at the expense of overmatched defenses from Nevada, Missouri State and Arizona, and they leave that way...