Three Critical Questions Heading into Spring Practices

Austin Willhoft FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Starting on Tuesday, March 31st, Oregon will officially open up their facilities to kick off spring practices. The NCAA permits only 15 spring practices, which Oregon will take advantage of in order to prepare and showcase old, along with new, talent. So, without further ado, here are three important questions going into spring practices: 1. Who’s going to step up on the …

Remaining Ducks with the Most NFL Potential

Steven Jackson FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

The University of Oregon is not often thought of as a hot bed for NFL talent. Mainly because of the lack of “can’t miss” prospects and the issues some of the “draft experts” have with the no huddle system we use to win more football games than any other school since 2010. But that’s an argument for another time. The …

Three Impactful Ducks for 2015 Football

Austin Willhoft FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

With the 2014-2015 football season in the books, Oregon football has begun its 2015-2016 campaign by gearing up for spring practices — training players to be in championship-caliber form. Important players such as OT Jake Fisher and CB Ifo Ekpre-Olomu’s departure from Oregon will be noticeable on the field next season, as they were the leaders of the team. All in all, if the …

Looking Ahead to 2015: Three Reasons Ducks Will Repeat as Pac-12 Champs

Spencer Thomas FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

The collective wisdom from popular media seems to be that the Oregon Ducks football team will take a step back in 2015. On January 19, ESPN’s Ted Miller predicted that the South Division will produce the Pac-12 football champion next season. Other recent articles have focused on how Oregon must improve, or adapt, in the post-Marcus Mariota era to repeat …

Despite Loss of Mariota, Ducks Will Be Fine in 2015

McKalie Bellew FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

There are a lot of questions whether or not the Oregon Ducks will return in the 2015 season as talented as they ended the previous season. When a team is good, people talk. It’s the same concept for players; when a player is exceptionally good, people talk. Well, people are talking about the loss of Marcus Mariota and how it will …

Three Challenges for Three Coaches: Sarkisian, Petersen, Helfrich

Mike Merrell FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Every football program and every coach wants to win. Unfortunately, the way the game is structured, there are always going to be as many losers as winners. So, we fans should be happy if our team wins more than half the time, right? Well… no! This might work for some: Colorado, California and Wazzu would see it as at least …

Tuesday Reaction: The Best Team Won

Caleb Couturie FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

First off, congratulations to Ohio State. As badly as I wanted my boys in white and grey (should’ve been green and yellow) to come out and smother the Bucks, I can admit when we’ve been beaten. The verdict on whether it was actually the Buckeyes who beat us or us who beat us is still out. Either way, keep those heads …

The Freshman Factor

Caleb Couturie FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

I don’t even try to keep it a secret that I’m absolutely enamored with this freshman class. Royce Freeman, Darren Carrington, Devon Allen, Charles Nelson, Doug Brenner and Aidan Schneider have all made their own significant impacts on the Ducks’ 2014 season. In fact,one could make the argument that without these guys the Ducks wouldn’t have a shot at playing Florida …

A Familiar Face Back on the Line: the Return of Andre Yruretagoyena

Ashley Young FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

To say the Ducks’ offensive line has been through a lot is an understatement. Battling numerous injuries, including those to redshirt junior Tyler Johnstone, redshirt junior Andre Yruretagoyena, senior Jake Fisher and now redshirt senior Hroniss Grasu, the Ducks’ offensive line seems to have had a target on its back from the beginning. Recently, we have seen several new faces filling in …

Three Takeaways from Ducks’ Bye Week

Austin Willhoft FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Bye weeks have always been considered a good thing for any sport team, and this bye seems to be exactly what Oregon needs after a brutal game against the Utah Utes. The Ducks suffered significant injuries during the game — the biggest and most saddening was Pharaoh Brown‘s. The TE went down with a devastating season-ending knee injury. Plus, well-respected …

Somebody Call the Doctor!

Riley Bushnell FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Injuries are always key in winning. The average viewer might have thought Rich Rodriguez just always has the right game plan against Oregon after beating them for two straight seasons; however, nature sometimes plays a role. In the game against Arizona, we saw a battered Oregon offensive line. Credit to some of the backups, as they played their hearts out. …

Johnstone’s Setback Comes With an Important Lesson

Will Denner FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

When the news broke on Tuesday that left tackle Tyler Johnstone re-tore the ACL in his right knee during practice, Duck fans could do little else besides shake their heads in disbelief. It’s the latest loss to an offense, which had already lost their best receiver – Bralon Addison – to the same injury in April. Losing either a No.1 receiver or starting …