We interrupt all this talk about football to alert you to something you might be missing. Oregon women’s basketball is roaring back from a two year slumber. For the first time since Sabrina Ionescu’s 2019-2020 team, the Ducks are consistently playing hard and smart. These young Ducks are 7-1, ranked 16th and beat Oregon State on Sunday to go 1-0 …
We have had some provocative defensive analyses articles this week, and when I pulled Mr. FishDuck away for a bit–we both arrived at some similar thoughts about Oregon defense for 2023. We started this week with first reviewing the season, and then breaking down the Oregon State game while raising some great questions in the process. We have had some good discussions …
As I’ve followed and written about the Oregon Ducks defense, I’ve been thrown many twists and curveballs from what I expected coming into this year. The expectation was with our roster talent, and the genius defensive mind of new head coach Dan Lanning, our defense would be elite. What we witnessed instead was the Ducks worst statistical defense since Brady Hoke‘s …
As I start to dig into some of the fine-points of the transfer portal–I realize I’ve been looking at it primarily from the angle of the player, and not the program. Portal transfers can change a team remarkably, and the more I study and ponder it–the more my inclinations veer to sticking with high school recruits as often as possible, …
The transfer portal could entirely reshape the Oregon Ducks football program through 2023. The real question is: does it need saving? I posed this to Mr. FishDuck, who was intrigued enough to first ponder his selection of live dealer games at Bollywood, and then write his own thoughts in a Saturday article about the portal to accompany mine today. Well, …
The Our Beloved Ducks Forum has been a massive sociological experiment that I never saw coming…from so many angles. So many surprises…so much confirmation of the goodness of people, yet so many heartbreaking moments for me. It has been an indictment of the current culture, one that is not limited to those who are young. These events with those who …
Oregon finished the regular season with a record of 9-3 with losses to Georgia, Washington and Oregon State. Most programs would kill for a 9-3 record, but to Oregon fans, this feels like a lost season in which the Ducks failed to meet their own standard. Oregon is not a blue blood; we have never won a National Championship, but …
Bowl games aren’t what they used to be. In the past, they were high-intensity matchups facing two evenly-matched teams in a game that would play a big role in determining a program’s trajectory moving into the following season. Teams were generally at full strength, and it was the final chance for many college superstars to give a farewell performance before …
Oregon coach Dan Lanning has an opportunity to address issues with the Ducks defense when the transfer portal opens December 5th. Lanning must target players of need that fit the scheme he wants to run, but he also must address roster turnover. For the 2023 season he stands to lose up to seven starters who are the core of the …
For the first time in three months, outside of a bye week, the Ducks do not have a game this weekend. Of course, they should have had one last night, but they did not. Last Saturday’s soul-crushing meltdown in Corvallis has left us gameless this first weekend in December. Personally, I do not like it. So, I’m going to ramble. …
Looks like head coach Dan Lanning’s off to save the future of the Oregon Ducks football program today. After a rough last couple of weeks, the Oregon football world has been fluttering full of rumors about superstar quarterback Dante Moore de-committing from the program. This all sparked up when offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham took the job as Arizona State’s next …
Since the firing of Mark Helfrich after the 2016 season, and through the Willie Taggart and Mario Cristobal eras, we’ve heard a lot of talk about Oregon’s identity as a program. We have seen teams range from high-scoring offenses like those under Chip Kelly, Helfrich and Taggart to low-scoring nail biters from the Cristobal era. But there is one thing …
