The season is here!
Every year I am emotionally torn between the joy of football season starting and the harsh reality that summer is ending and cold weather — which really means something here in frigid Spokane — is on the horizon. It is my own personal “Sunday scaries” for the year.
With the Ducks playing a tomato (or is it “potato”) against the Idaho Vandals (yawn) on Saturday, my attention will be focused on other, sexier, games:
Clemson-Georgia: Big names but could get ugly.
South Dakota State (2023 Subdivision Champ)-Oklahoma State: It would be a fun upset.
Miami-Florida: What silliness will Mario assault us with this year?
Notre Dame-Texas A&M: Will A&M ever step up? All that money, all that misery.
USC-LSU: LSU also plays UCLA this year. I thought that was unique.
North Dakota State-Colorado: Please, dear Lord, please! (You guys know what I mean!)
Practice time is over, time to play the game, for real! (Photo credit: Steven Chan)
DJ Uiagalelei and the Power of Changing Positions: Georgia Tech 24, Florida State 21
He is what he is, folks.
Which is not a very good quarterback. Watching him throw the football is like watching Shaquille O’Neil shoot a free throw.
It’s painful.
I take no glee in saying that. After all, the kid has worked hard his whole life with the goal of being a great college quarterback and go on to play in the NFL. But it is not going to happen. He has serious middle-to-deep-range accuracy issues. You cannot make a living throwing screen passes. At 23 and in his fifth college season, it is safe to say this will not change.
Reality sucks.
So, I say, he should switch positions. Crazy, huh? Of course, this will never happen, but why not? What do he and Florida State have to lose? Nothing. FSU went with Uiagalelei in the transfer portal to be a system quarterback and provide stability. Well, after Saturday’s loss to Georgia Tech, that strategy has FSU looking 7-5 squarely in the face — which is going to get a lot of guys fired.
Uiagalelei has topped out on his “upside” at quarterback, but with his size and athleticism why not move him to the edge or defensive end like his younger brother Matayo with the Ducks? This would come down to a matter of “want.” But, if the goal is to make millions of dollars in the NFL, then it is safe to say that it will not happen at quarterback.
I think back to Oregon wide receiver Jaison Williams who played for the Ducks from 2004-2008. At 6-5, 242 lbs., Williams was an athletic freak. And, while he put up great numbers in his time with the Ducks, he also dropped more passes than an old sailor dropped F-bombs. He was the ultimate drive-killer with his untimely third-down hands of brick.
With such unpredictable hands, this guy was never going to sniff an NFL sideline.
I remember thinking at the time that he should switch to the defensive side of the ball, which would at least, possibly, give him a shot at the NFL. And, keep in mind that 20 years ago Oregon was not strong in recruiting in the trenches, so why not try to mold a guy with God-given athletic attributes into something he might be able to take to the next level?
But, I digress.
Drugs: Michigan Playing the West Coast Game
Much has been made of the four new West Coast teams needing to adapt to a more physical style of play and better defenses in the new Big-10 Conference. But, few have noticed that the B1G (Big 10) of B1G schools, defending national champion, Michigan, has adapted and overtaken the Pacific schools’ states in marijuana production.
As John Canzano reported, dispensaries in Michigan sold 24.2 million “units” while California sold ‘only’ 17.3 million — making Michigan the “highest” producing weed state.
If only Jerry Garcia were alive today, would the Grateful Dead ditch San Francisco and the West Coast for Detroit and the Midwest? One thing is for sure, he’d have to be really high to leave the Golden State for Kid Rock’s backyard.
Darren Perkins
Spokane, WA
Top photo credit: Steven Chan
Natalie Liebhaber, the FishDuck.com Volunteer Editor for this article, works in technology in SLC, Utah.
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Darren Perkins is a sales professional and 1997 Oregon graduate. After finishing school, he escaped the rain and moved to sunny Southern California where he studied screenwriting for two years at UCLA. Darren grew up in Eugene and in 1980, at the tender age of five, he attended his first Oregon football game. His lasting memory from that experience was an enthusiastic Don Essig announcing to the crowd: “Reggie Ogburn, completes a pass to… Reggie Ogburn.” Captivated by such a thrilling play, Darren’s been hooked on Oregon football ever since. Currently living in Spokane, Darren enjoys flaunting his yellow and green superiority complex over friends and family in Cougar country.