To Those Leaving, Thanks for the Memories. Marcus Mariota?

Austin Willhoft FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

What a way to end the last home game of the season! Last night, the third-ranked Ducks destroyed Colorado, 44-10, in a match-up that honored the seniors of the team. Plus, all the fans respectably acknowledged quarterback Marcus Mariota as the entire College Football world expects him to forego his senior year and enter the 2015 NFL Draft. Furthermore, Mariota …

Malone and Lowe Reflect on Oregon Careers

McKalie Bellew FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Today is the day… the last time we will get to see some of our favorite Oregon Ducks on our beloved Autzen field again. A bittersweet day indeed. 247 sports caught up with two seniors, Derrick Malone and Keanon Lowe. In this article, Senior QuoteBook: Lowe and Malone reflect on Oregon careers by Will Rubin, each athlete is asked about certain …

Derrick Malone All Smiles as his Senior Year Nears its Close

Caleb Couturie FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

It’s hard to believe that as nice and as happy of a person as Derrick Malone is, that come game time he’s one of the fiercest and most feared linebackers in the Pac-12. I mean, honestly, you just want to hug this guy. He’s constantly upbeat, and there is a smile on his face during every comment he makes. It’s always a little …

Derrick Malone Ready for One Last Shot at Stanford

Caleb Couturie FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Derrick Malone has been around the block. The redshirt senior will play his fifth game against Stanford on Saturday, a team he has gone 2-2 against during his tenure at Oregon. In the two years Malone actually saw any playing time, Oregon went 0-2. Will Malone come out and say that this game means more to him than another game? No. That’s not …

Mark Helfrich Optimistic About Direction of Program and Royce Freeman

Caleb Couturie FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Mark Helfrich believes Oregon is headed in the right direction. Oregon performed well against Washington, but what was so notable was the giant leap they made in their most needed area of improvement: run D. Over the last two games, our run defense had been giving up an average of 268 yards/game, and last night they came out and held UW …

Ducks Success Hangs in the Balance

Alex Towne FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm, and harmony.” – Thomas Merton After attending college for three years now and absorbing as much enlightening knowledge as a naive 21-year-old is capable of, I feel that I can say one thing for sure. Life is about balance. Balance of work and play. Health and vices. Pleasure …

Arizona Wildcats: “Lightning Strikes Twice”

Mark Saltveit FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

The Arizona Wildcats upset Oregon for the second year in a row Thursday night, and coach Rich Rodriguez was exultant after the game. “I don’t know if anybody picked us. … Not on the road. Lightning doesn’t strike twice. In fact, [the end of] our video we showed our guys last night actually showed a guy getting hit by lighting …

Winning the Trenches: The Key to the Oregon Ducks and Philadelphia Eagles’ 3-4 Defenses

Joe Kearns Analysis

There is a reason why defensive line guru Jerry Azzinaro was the one Oregon position coach who joined Chip Kelly on the Philadelphia Eagles’ coaching staff. The 3-4 defensive scheme and two-gap technique are just as important to Kelly as the fast-tempo, zone-blocking, and packaged plays. Azzinaro was Kelly’s right-hand man in installing the 3-4 as the base defense at …

DeForest Buckner: A New All-American Emerging?

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Talent Evaluation

There are some interesting defensive tactics that appeared in the Alamo Bowl win in addition to the continued emergence of DeForest Buckner on the defensive line. His star has been rising and the trendline of his growth manifested itself again in the Oregon Spring Game. Let’s look at what he is doing so well, and how Defensive Coordinator Don Pellum …

Duck ‘Backers Set to Flock to the Ball in 2014

Casey Fluegge FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

The departure of Kiko Alonzo and Michael Clay after 2012 made last season a rebuilding year of sorts for the Duck linebacker corps, and some maintain the Ducks’ run defense suffered accordingly.  The numbers reveal that the Ducks gave up 169 ypg on the ground, up from 142 ypg the year before. How much that attributed to the extra loss …

2013 Mid-Term: Top 5 Ducks — so far

Sam Arney FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Craig Strobeck Now that we are halfway through the season, I thought I would take this chance to highlight some of the top players.  Most of the names on this list are the usual suspects and for good reason.  While there are players on the team whose roles go unnoticed on the stat sheet – for example, offensive linemen –  I am sticking with …

“Good” Bye

Sam Arney FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Kevin Cline Is the bye week over yet?!  It feels like the off-season all over again.  I have already watched each game multiple times and will inevitably be watching them again.  While any bye week is horrible for fans, this is a particularly good bye week for Oregon.  After getting three games under their belts, the Oregon staff will now …