[Roberton3]

Two years ago we were up 11 points in the first half when he surprised us with an onside kick. 

I agree with pretty much everything you said, but I'm going to nitpick on this one example.  The key on that play wasn't that the Stanford team was surprised -- it was that the referees were surprised.  There was a Stanford player in great position to field that kick, but Oregon took him out with an illegal block before the ball got there.  The referees totally missed it.  Even this reinforces your general point, though.  An extra benefit of Oregon's approach is that by taking the referees by surprise, they can get away with stuff like that.

[Roberton3]

Two years ago we were up 11 points in the first half when he surprised us with an onside kick. 

I agree with pretty much everything you said, but I'm going to nitpick on this one example.  The key on that play wasn't that the Stanford team was surprised -- it was that the referees were surprised.  There was a Stanford player in great position to field that kick, but Oregon took him out with an illegal block before the ball got there.  The referees totally missed it.  Even this reinforces your general point, though.  An extra benefit of Oregon's approach is that by taking the referees by surprise, they can get away with stuff like that.