Day of reckoning less than a week away for undefeated Ducks.

Byline: Ron Bellamy / The Register-Guard

The beauty of the Oregon football team's new offense, you've been told, is that it will showcase Oregon's marvelously talented playmakers.

You just never figured that the Ducks meant the kicker, Paul Martinez.

"Paul's doing a great job," quarterback Kellen Clemens said, "but we don't want to tire his leg out in the first two games."

Field-goal kickers are, to some degree, the plumbers of football. Everybody needs a good one, and often, in some very messy situations, they save the day.

But, face it, their presence generally means that something unpleasant has happened.

In Oregon's case, in the first two games this season, that's meant drives that have stalled short of the end zone, giving Martinez a chance to attempt 12 field goals and connect on 11 of them, including a school-record six in the Ducks' 47-14 victory over Montana in the home opener Saturday afternoon at Autzen Stadium.

The good news, for Oregon fans, is that the lad seems to be a talent.

The bad news is that the Ducks have seen a bit too much of him, considering that Montana and Houston represent the soft underbelly of the Oregon schedule, and things get far tougher next weekend when Fresno State visits.

In essence, the Oregon season begins now. We'll know a lot more about the Ducks a week from today, and they'll know a lot more about themselves.

Reality check, defining moment, call it what you want, the FSU game represents all that and more for Oregon.

"We find out whether or not we're for real," Clemens said. "Next week, we find out whether we're for real."

It's for real, so far, that the Ducks have scored 85 points in two games, and you'd have sold your soul for that last season.

Except their struggles in turning red-zone chances into touchdowns, and their inability to generate a running game against a Division I-AA opponent, albeit a good one, make you worry that they're not yet the real deal.

Should Clemens have to throw 30 passes by halftime against Montana?

"That wasn't the plan," he conceded. "I know we wanted to come out and establish the running game."

Ironic, really. A year ago, the complaint was that the Oregon offense wasn't stylish enough; there's style aplenty now, but after two games the Ducks are still seeking to prove that there's substance, too. A year ago, Oregon fans longed for dessert; now, maybe they realize that a healthy offense needs broccoli, too.

"The substance, I think, is the running game and it hasn't quite come together yet," Clemens said, adding: "Once it rolls, we'll roll."

Understand that the new offense the Ducks are creating with coordinator Gary Crowton is still evolving. That it might take two seasons for the team to fully implement it all, and the Ducks have played in it for all of two games.

And that they probably weren't about to show Fresno State the entire portfolio Saturday.

"Coach Crowton's mind is just beginning to open," Clemens said, suggesting you ain't seen nothin' yet.

Well, we'll see what we see next Saturday.

Because Fresno State, 9-3 last season, overtime winners over Virginia in a bowl game, No. 24 in the nation, might be the most stubborn, angry team that the Ducks play all season; the Bulldogs will believe they're better than the Ducks, and tougher than the Ducks, spoiled with their lavish locker room.

They'll find some way to believe that Oregon disrespects them, yet respect them the Ducks do.

"You won't find a non-aggressive football player at Fresno State," cornerback Justin Phinisee said. "That's just the recruiting they have. ...

"We'll definitely have to bring an extra mouthpiece."

Figure that the Bulldogs will pound at the Ducks on offense, that they'll be tough to run against on defense, and that they'll feel like they've got something to prove, even though they really don't anymore. They'll come to Autzen with the same chip-on-the-shoulder that the Ducks used to have when they played the Washingtons and UCLAs of the world.

"I guarantee they're going to bring their A games," Clemens said.

There is, you see, absolutely no doubt about what Fresno State is all about. There's no question about its identity, or personality; it's all been well-defined. What you see is what you get, every time; count on it.

It's this Oregon team that still has to prove that you can count on it, that still has to define itself, and can next Saturday, one way or another.