Fear of the Blowout

Darren Perkins Editorials

Move over, Ohio State. As huge as that 2021 non-conference game was for the Ducks and the Pac-12, it does not reach the heights of this year’s epic Week 1 matchup against the defending National Champion Georgia Bulldogs in Atlanta. Unless, of course, the Ducks get blown out; then Oregon fans can downplay the significance of this game. They can …

USC to Join Ohio State as the “Big Two” of the B1G

Darren Perkins Editorials

Back in February, I posted an article that rubbed many Duck fans the wrong way. I made the “sin” of “defending” USC. I essentially said that with the hiring of Lincoln Riley, along with recently bringing aboard a competent athletic director and a renewed commitment to football, USC would be back on top of the Pac-12 along with the Ducks. …

UCLA’s Newfound Cash Comes With a Steep Price

Darren Perkins Editorials

One of Oregon’s favorite ex-coaches is now on the move to the B1G Conference as the skies in Los Angeles will soon be turning green with all the cash that will now be falling upon Westwood. But, rest assured that money will not be the only thing falling, as Bruin football will now be falling to the bottom of the …

Two Potential Pac-12 Trap Games For the Ducks

Darren Perkins Editorials

Which unheralded Pac-12 programs will rise up and possibly defeat our mighty Oregon Ducks? Last year, of course, the 2nd of October went down in infamy as one of the worst Oregon performances in recent history, as the Ducks fell to an awful Stanford team that finished 3-9. Good teams will almost always have a close call or two during …

Is Bo Nix Winning the Heisman a Total Pipe Dream?

Darren Perkins Editorials

It is summertime, which for football fans is a time to ponder anything and everything from the very likely, to the completely insane. And, while saying that Bo Nix could win the Heisman Trophy is not completely insane, it does seem a bit far-fetched at the very least. I pulled Mr. FishDuck away from reading Vwin a while to discuss …

Oregon-Georgia: I’m Betting on a Close Game

Darren Perkins Editorials

I was taken slightly aback the other day after learning that the betting line on the Georgia-Oregon game has the Bulldogs (give or take) as 17-point favorites. Certainly, I understand Georgia being a solid favorite, as they are the defending national champions while also playing a de facto home game, but essentially predicting a blowout? C’mon man! Have the oddsmakers …

New Hires by Ducks and Pac-12 Inspire Hope

Darren Perkins Editorials

As we hit the one-year mark in the hiring of new Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff, I couldn’t help but correlate it to the Ducks’ hiring of new head coach Dan Lanning. While there is still a long way to go in determining the overall success of these hires, there is certainly one thing that both have inspired for Oregon fans… …

Oregon Ducks, Pac-12 Flop in the Draft

Darren Perkins Editorials

While it is always a great sense of pride when an Oregon Duck is selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, especially in the Top 10 (Kayvon Thibodeaux was picked 5th overall by the New York Giants), it is of even greater frustration that no other Ducks were selected. I went to the Paul McCartney concert here in Spokane …

Could Ty Thompson be the No. 3 Quarterback?

Darren Perkins Editorials

Last week, while skimming through the OregonLive.com sports pages, something caught my eye that made my brow sharply rise as I caught a partial headline reading: “Jay Butterfield gets No. 2 QB reps.“ Hmmm… What a surprise it would be if the highly-touted Ty Thompson fell to third on the Oregon depth chart. I have not seen anything official on any depth charts …

Altman Needs to Find Alpha Dogs

Darren Perkins Editorials

The good news for the Oregon basketball program is that after the Ducks’ two previous trips to the NIT under Dana Altman, they bounced back the following season the reach the Sweet 16. The bad news for the Ducks is that the 2021-22 basketball season was full of disappointment. As mentioned in yesterday’s FishDuck posting, Altman was frustrated that he …