Lets take a look at the “all senior OL” as our Oregon source likes to point out.  Here is a shot of the starting lineup from the 2002 bowl game and see how many seniors are on there when you look at a preseason write up of the line.

http://www.collegefootballnews.com/Pac_Ten/2001_Previews/Oregon_O_Preview.htm

"Offensive Line: They'll have to play around a bit with the line and they'll need some time to jell. Senior left tackle Jim Adams is their best player and can play guard if needed. Sophomore Joey Forster will return at right guard and is versatile enough to play center. Senior Ryan Schmid starts at left guard. The need sophomore Dan Weaver to step up right away at center and junior Phil Finzer to be an immediate star at right tackle. 320-pound Corey Chambers and 330-pound redshirt freshman Michael Delagrange will back him up."

Jim Adams – Senior
Ryan Schmid – Senior
Dan Weaver – Sophomore
Joe Forster – Sophomore
Corey Chambers - Junior (looked up seperately online with a google search)

I thought they were all seniors?

Another quick note about the offensive line since the picture shows the stat that they allowed only 11 sacks.  Gary Danielson who was doing the color commentary for the Colorado game pointed out that the reason Oregon had given up the fewest sacks the last three years in the Pac 10 was because Bellotti's offense moves the pocket with roll outs and quick passes to make it harder for defenders to get angles on the quarterback.

Skill Players

As for the "NFL quality" offensive skill players, that is true if by "NFL quality" you mean they made it to the pros and have hung on for a couple years.  He had two very good college receivers who went into the NFL (Parker, Howry), he also had a tightend who is in the NFL (Peele), and both running backs are in the NFL. But notice the careful wording of this statement, it simply states they made it to the NFL,  but it does not mention how they have done at the next level.

First the "NFL quality receivers"

4th round pick Samie Parker – 1 year, 9 receptions for 137 yards, 0 TDs. (A sophmore in 2001)

7th round pick Keenan Howry – 2 years, 3 receptions for 18 yards, 0 TDs.  Kick Returns 14 for 316, 0 TDs. (A junior)

4th round pick TE Justin Peele – 3 years, 29 receptions 232, 3 TDs. (A senior in 2001)

If these guys were so good that they helped carry Harrington then you would expect some better numbers then this.  They could become very good NFL players just like they could be out of the league in a year.  But if they are only considered 4th round picks they must not have been overly impressive to scouts even though they were on a national championship caliber team.  Maybe they were physically bigger then the DBs and that is what helped them.  Howry 5'10", Parker 5'11" guess that doesn't work either.

Is that the type of talent can carry a QB to be a Heisman finalist and a top NFL pick?  Harrington was overrated but you have to give him at least some credit for helping lead his team to a 25-3 record over 3 years.

The Running Game

Next is that Harrington was blessed with two 1000 yard running backs who wore down defenses every game which let him accumulate large passing statistics late in games against tired defenses.  This statement has been mentioned many times so it would be appropriate to see how they did in college and where they ended up in the pros.

First of all, if you are pounding a team with the run and they are worn down, why would you start throwing it around, especially if you have two good running backs?  That is just bad football.  If the running game is that successful, and the defense is so tired, you would want to stick with what was working.  That is if you believe our Oregon expert and his evaluation from watching the games that Harrington padded his stats late in games against tired defenses.

Oregon

At the end of the regular season (11 games) Morris had 960 yards and Smith finished with 1007 (Morris went over 1000 with the bowl game).

What doesn't get mentioned is that Smith had three games where he had a combined  514 yards (285, 131, 98).  So in the 11 regular season games he had 514 of his 1007 yards in 3 games.  It took him 8 games to get his other 493 yards.  That is a 61.6 yard average in those other games.

Well maybe they took turns being the workhorse each game.  That sounds good, lets take a look at what Morris did in those same games.

In those exact same games that Smith had 514 yards, Morris had 423 yards (175, 110, 138).  That is a combined 937 yards between the two in those 3 games.  The total for the whole regular season was 1967 yards.  Almost half (48%) of their rushing yards for the season came in 3 games.  Hardly the basis for a making a conclusion that Harrington threw against tired defenses in the second half every game.  Look at the game summaries I posted and you will see that Oregon had the lead most of the time and in several of the games it was the running backs who racked up big yards late in games against smaller, worn down defenses.

NFL Stats

2nd round pick RB Maurice Morris –3 years, 100 attempts for 518 yards, 0 TDs.

4th round pick RB Onterrio Smith – 2 years, 231 attempts for 1123 yards, 7 TDs.