Chip Kelly often says the Ducks prepare against a faceless opponent and that their focus each game is competing against the vision of how good they can be. That theory gets the ultimate test today. An occasional laugher or one-sided matchup can be a tonic for a football team in building confidence and developing depth but two of these in …
The De La Salle five: Overwhelming promise, tragic circumstance
Never before had a group of teammates from the same high school been so hyped, and not before or since has a circle of friends playing at the University of Oregon faced more adversity. In 2004, four friends playing football at De La Salle High School all decided to come play at the University of Oregon, with a fifth coming …
Tuesday Two-Minute Drill: quick notes and observations on the Ducks after two games
Hollywood called. LaMichael James, De’Anthony Thomas and Amanda Pflugrad are going to star in a new movie. They’re going to call it “Gone in 6 seconds.” Great to see the “Return of the Quack” on Saturday afternoon. I think the Ducks just scored again while I was pouring my cereal. Incredible to think how productive and explosive Duck offense was …
Heat, hornets, and there was a football game too…
Saturday brought opening day at Autzen Stadium, a time when the beer flows, the sun bursts, and thousands descend upon our happy little hole in the ground to cheer on our Ducks. It is a day that as Oregon fans we all anticipate from about an hour after the last game ends and the final beer is downed in either …
Ducks scorch Wolf Pack
If you reached into your pack to pull out the sunscreen Saturday at Autzen Stadium, or ran to get another bottle of water at the concession stand, or perhaps spent a few moments cleaning the shades, you really ought not have. Chances are you missed a bunch. Like a touchdown toss from Oregon quarterback Darron Thomas — one of six …
Keys to the game: Nevada at Oregon
Four-touchdown favorites on the streets of Glitter Gulch, the Ducks have to win the game in the trenches of Autzen, or a promising season will go bust on the second hand. To avoid a Boise State-like debacle and a horrifying tale Duck fans will tell their grandchildren by the fire at future campouts, these are a few things to look for this …
The 1958 Rose Bowl: A Recipe for Over-achievement Repeated 37 years later
The 1957 Oregon Webfoots were an unlikely conference champion, the scrappy ugly ducklings that overachieved proving the nation to not underestimate Oregon. Decades later, Oregon would have an encore of this in eerily similar circumstance and comparable results, but the country would never again take Oregon lightly thereafter. The Pacific Coast Conference was owned by the state of Oregon that …
Taking Redemption in one-week doses: a first look at Oregon vs. Nevada
The best antidote for a miserable, demoralizing loss is a confidence-building win. The Ducks play host to the Nevada Wolfpack on Saturday in Autzen Stadium, and their goal is to be inhospitable and vengeful hosts. But the Wolfpack are an unknown quantity: they took last week off and have the blessing of an extra week of preparation and no in-game …
It wasn’t all bad…
First off all, I want to commend LSU for playing a great game. Certainly everyone sporting green & yellow inside and out is disappointed in the outcome from Saturday night, but it is important and somewhat therapeutic to take a closer look at what happened and take away some positives from this weekend. It was a starting point, definitely something …
Ducks fail to match LSU’s brawn
All the talk about Oregon being “Tiger Bait” wasn’t that far off. LSU chewed up the Ducks on Saturday night, controlling the line of scrimmage and feasting off Oregon’s turnovers, penalties and other miscues to saunter out of Arlington, Texas, with a 40-27 win in the season opener for both. The game was billed as one with national title implications, …
Track athletes-turned-football players a fruitful experiment for Oregon and beyond
Oregon has never been a school to shy away from experimentation over the years. From being one of the first schools to utilize pre-snap motion in the 1940s (known as “Oliver’s Twist,” named after head coach Tex Oliver), to the edge defense in the 90s, and the innovative spread offense the Ducks run today; there has never been a fear …
Four days to kickoff, and the plot lines are now about football
Finally we have actual football to talk about rather than endless speculation or off-field misery. The Ducks and Tigers play the first big game of the 2011 college football season in four days. Chip Kelly and his coaches and players, are in a normal game-week preparation behind closed doors. With just a little news leaking out, these are the storylines …