HELFRICH_ALAMO.JPG

Oregon coach Mark Helfrich at the Ducks' Sunday pep rally.

(Thomas Boyd/The Oregonian)

I don't think this afternoon's Alamo Bowl should serve as any sort make-or-break evaluation for Oregon coach Mark Helfrich.

Bowl games are artificial, tricky and hard to handicap. They are glorified exhibition games. They usually come a month or more after the end of the regular season. It's always hard to know which teams are at the bowl site to play, which to party, and which key players might already have one foot out the door.

You would like to think the right head coach will push the right motivational buttons, but it's rarely that simple in a second-tier bowl involving a team that had designs on a national title.

Helfrich is a work in progress. He is relatively young and inexperienced for a head-coaching job at a program like Oregon.

If you go that direction, you're making a commitment to the long term. You should expect your coach to make mistakes in his first season at the helm. The hope is that he will learn and grow from the mistakes he makes, and the payoff will be worth it in time.

Athletic director Rob Mullens and whoever else signed off on the selection had to know Helfrich would be learning on the job. If they didn't. they should have.

This never was going to be seamless transition.

The Ducks are two-touchdown favorites today. But this essentially is a home game for Texas and the Longhorns figure to be emotionally jacked to win for departing coach Mack Brown.

Rob Mullens

The tangibles say Oregon will win -- especially if the Ducks are telling the truth when they say quarterback Marcus Mariota is healthy and ready to perform at the level he did through the first two-thirds of the season. The intangibles favor Texas.

As for Helfrich, he could still prove to be the right choice to lead the program in the seasons to come. But this game should not be a decisive factor in that determination.

OK, links:

The Oregonian's John Canzano:

at Sunday's Alamo Bowl presser.

Austin Meek of the R-G:

for their own good.

Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News:

, who failed to deliver this year.

Max Olson of ESPN.com:

for Texas.

Ted Miller and Kevin Gemmell of ESPN.com

today.

Andy Staples of SI.com

Brown's farewell.

Graham Watson of Yahoo:

on a winning note.

Motivation should not be lacking

in the Alamo Bowl.

the UO assistants duck questions about their interest in the job.

The

was about Oregon trying to control the message.

Helfrich says

late in the season; what does that say about the backups?

Helfrich: there is

in place.

Andrew Greif of The Oregonian

in a video shot by Molly Blue on the River Walk.

The Oregonian's Molly Blue has two videos from Sunday's Alamo presser;

, and

Five

in the Alamo Bowl.

The

at the Alamo Bowl.

So

signify? (Ducks' rundown).

Longhorns

to knock off Oregon.

R-G analyst

for the Ducks; so will running the ball and stopping the run.

The R-G's

as the Alamo Bowl looms.

Ducks will

against injury-riddled Texas.

The

and the Oregon offense.

Injuries

this season.

Aaron Fentress of CSNNW.com

in special teams; and

the edge.

Kurt Kragthorpe of the Salt Lake Tribune

today.

Oregon State

the team.

Marques Tuiasosopo

as tight ends coach.

Edgy

satisfied.

The

Stanford underclassmen.

Special teams

in the Rose Bowl.

Arizona State coach

"monumental."

A

great.

Two

in the Holiday Bowl.

Who has

Arizona or Boston College?

Reserve QB

if the Wildcats need him.

RichRod

in his coaching career.

UCLA

because of a young offensive line.

The

Duck Sports Now.

The

Beaver Sports Now.

-- Ken Goe