In November, the Oregon Ducks (15-8, 3-8 Pac-12) seemed to be a prime contender for a deep run into March Madness, winning its first 13 games and reaching the No. 10 ranking in the AP Poll. That incredible start now seems miles away since they reached conference play, as the Ducks are 10th in the Pac-12 standings, and they have only seven …
Duck Recruiting — Evaluate the Meal, Not the Ingredients
Two of the signature days on the football calendar brought the season to a close last week. The first was last Sunday in the form of the Super Bowl, sport’s biggest spectacle, but also one of the truest meritocracies; the team that executes better on the field wins, and does so by presumably having the best combination of player talent …
Wait-and-See as NLI Comes and Goes
It’s the easiest thing to do — to make snap judgments or knee-jerk reactions. Those are what this world is based on (smartphone and twitter in hand.) However, in this instance — and it’s the same every year — the results from college football’s ultimate exploitation event, National Letter of Intent day, won’t be seen for another 2-3 years, and …
College Football Nation: SEC Rules and SEC! SEC! SEC!
First off, it has been a busy week for me. Not so much with National Signing Day (NSD) and paying attention to recruiting but more on the family aspect. My wife and I welcomed our 2nd child on February 1st. I know she will be a great child because she was born before the Super Bowl, allowing me to not …
Joseph Young vs. Arizona State
TEMPE, AZ.- After an emotional roller coaster of a loss to the Arizona Wildcats on Thursday evening, we wondered how much more of a beating could the Ducks take before saying enough is enough. On Saturday, Oregon looked to push themselves beyond all of the adversity they have faced this season, and outshine the Arizona State Sun Devils. This was …
Oregon’s Success Doesn’t Depend on Recruiting Rankings
Oregon will never win any recruiting championships. While teams such as Alabama, USC and LSU tend to dominate in the rankings, the Ducks rarely crack the top-15. Year after year they bring in solid, but unspectacular recruiting classes, yet year after year, Oregon takes those same recruits and turns them into champions. Why is that? What is the key that allows teams without …
The Unholy Mess That Is Football Recruiting
National Letter of Intent day has come and gone. How your Webfoots fared depends on who you ask. National publications list Oregon’s class in the 22-26 range. Those posting on Oregon message boards rank the class anywhere from “The bestest class in the history of classes, sure Hall of Famers every one,” to a class on par with the likes …
Smallest Mistakes Have the Biggest Impact
TUSCON, AZ.- The Oregon Ducks jolted out of the snow in Eugene just in time, as they took on Arizona Thursday night. The Arizona Wildcats proved that they were beatable, as they lost their first game of the year earlier in the week to the Cal Golden Bears, and the Ducks saw this as an opportunity to strike while Arizona …
Oregon Ducks Football: Six Standout Performances From 2013
When the clock hits zero at the Super Bowl, it also serves as the conclusion to the football season each year. Seemingly long after all of the bowl games have been played at the college level, the NFL has a way of temporarily filling the void before dropping fans into the abyss of the long off season. Events like National …
The Rise and Fall of the Kamikaze Kids
Following Oregon’s disastrous 1971-72 season, Dick Harter was finally able to land his first outstanding recruiting class that included guard Ronnie Lee, guard/forward Mark Barwig, forward/center Bruce Coldren, and center Geoff Nelson. Along with the holdovers from Harter’s 1971-72 team, five sophomores from the 1971-72 freshman team, and three walk-ons, the four freshmen would form the original version of the …
Dick Harter — King of the Kamikazes
For a school that boasts an NCAA title and two Elite Eight appearances this century, its noteworthy that its teams from nearly four decades ago would remain arguably the most memorable and popular in program history. The “Kamikaze Kids” are legends at Oregon, as is the man who led them: Dick Harter. Harter’s arrival at Oregon can be traced back …
Oregon Football Recruiting Analysis: Grading the Class
National LOI signing day is a lot like Christmas for those of us who follow recruiting. A few of us have rich parents and expect the world, while others come from blue collar families. All of us wake up early and wait in agony for mom and dad to come downstairs so that we can start opening presents. Sometimes, we …