As the season heads for the home stretch, college coaches are doing a lot more than just creating game plans. National Signing Day is starting to come into view, meaning recruiting efforts around the nation are kicking into high gear. For many coaches, the recruiting battlegrounds provide a chance to make up for disappointing seasons. For Chip Kelly, recruiting is …
What’s Up With DAT?
DeAnthony Thomas has been described as electric, scintillating, sick, and most importantly…the Black Mamba. However, I would now call him The Magician, as lately he has just disappeared. I’m not going to bore you with the numbers; we know what we have seen since the Pac-12 season began. I’m not an expert, but I do watch this offense more than …
The BCS: This Better Not Be Deja Vu All Over Again!
If you are like me, watching the BCS show on Sunday evening made your blood boil. Even though I was expecting (and bracing myself) for us to drop, it didn’t make it any easier to watch the Ducks move down to the #4 spot, despite a blowout win against the Arizona State Sun Devils. Though a rational part of my …
Recruiting Recap: “I Want to be a Duck” & New Running Backs Emerge
Football Recruiting News Last Tuesday night, I was catching up on some reading when I received a report alert via my iPhone. “Thomas Tyner decommits…” I was floored. Yet, after the initial 10 seconds of shock, I thought, “Oh, he’ll be back.” That moment of peaceful wisdom was confirmed not two days later when Tyner (4-Star/Beaverton, OR/Rivals#6RB) recommitted after taking some …
If It’s October, It’s Time For Basketball!
Can you believe that it’s time to be watching basketball again? It doesn’t seem so long ago that we were tracking how our beloved Ducks were performing in the NIT! The ride is about to start and if you’re like me then you’re eager to see our Ducks play and get into the post season. What’s in store this year? …
Oregon Surprises ASU with a New Power Read Play!
I do not know where Chip Kelly comes up with all these new wrinkles, but as someone who studies his Offense, I find that it has become an analyst’s paradise with each weekly discovery. The Arizona State game was particularly subject rich, as we saw formations, motions and plays from nearly two years ago, last year…and NEVER BEFORE SEEN. We …
Is Chip Taking Kindness Too Far?
Say what you want about Chip Kelly, but in his 3+ years at Oregon, one common theme has emerged: His teams – after finding themselves up by 30, 40, even 50 points in two quarters – have played conservative second halfs more often than not. As far as I’m concerned, it’s time for that to stop. On Thursday night, as …
A New Brand of Versatility in Oregon Football
1964 brought one of the most significant changes to the layout of college football in the history of the game. That year, the NCAA erased the rule requiring its athletes to play on both sides of the ball, marking a return to the so-called ‘two-platoon system.’ This rule change was quite significant, because it allowed players to specialize and focus …
Notes from Around the College Football Nation: Gators Swamp Spurrier and Tide Still Rolling
After this week, we can really see who made a statement to be in the title game. We can pretty much take West Virginia out of all title and Heisman talks…welcome to the BIG-12. SEC looks to place at least two teams in the BCS…so what else is new? After this week we are definitely in for a true offense …
10-25-1997: How The West Was (barely lost for UO, but…) Won Once-and-for-all for Akili Smith
October 25, 1997 Renowned Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: deep in tradition, short on victories for past Oregon teams. In the previous 26 years, Oregon had only a single victory on Trojan Turf – the jumpstart their most improbable turnaround to the 1994 season en route to the Rose Bowl. Three years later, Oregon (coming off a great win over Utah) …
Broadcast Ideas for the Pac-12 Network
There are 8766 hours in a broadcast year. If you agree with me that the 3-0 Oregon State/Pittsburgh Apparently the Pirates Sun Bowl can only be shown so many times, there are a lot of hours that need to be filled. Seeing Rick Neuheisel on a continuous loop does great harm to my blood pressure so I have come up …
HELLO, SEC…MY NAME IS OREGON
It’s too early, I know. There are five games left, I get it. But after last night, my God…it’s hard not to think “what if” when envisioning an Oregon vs. “whoever-survives-the-SEC” matchup. This is not your father’s Oregon Ducks. Hell, it’s not your slightly older brother’s Oregon Ducks. This is something different. This is something…special. The final score may have read …
