The state of Oregon has created exceptional athletes for the University of Oregon, and few ever made the “bigs” quite like a player from a tiny farming community in Oregon, and yet who was one of three brothers to play and star for the Ducks. Oregon has had many sets of brothers playing football, but three brothers? In more than …
Few Oregon fans have heard of Jim Loscutoff and even fewer know much about him, yet in his first season at Oregon he averaged 10.3 points per game and 12.8 rebounds per game. That rebound average is still 4th on the all-time list for the Ducks, holding strong since the 1950-1951 season. Of course, this was before many of the greybeards …
Entering the 1944-1945 basketball season, the Webfoots—as the Ducks were then known—were expected to field an inexperienced team that would dwell in the cellar of the Pacific Coast Conference’s Northern Division. Late 1944 was a momentous time. Not only was World War II raging in Europe and Asia, but here in the United States we had a presidential election pending. Locally, …
The year 1928 was a bright one for Oregon sports but was also a decisive one for the United States as 1928 was a presidential election year. Republican Herbert Hoover versus Democrat Alfred Smith was the main event, but there was also a socialist candidate, Norman Thomas, in the mix. The Democrats tried to claim Hoover was not a United States citizen, however, …
Can you imagine your beloved Ducks achieving a 9-1 record, winning a share of the conference championship, finishing the season ranked No. 8, and not going to a bowl? Well, imagine it, because it happened to Oregon’s 1933 team. While 1933 is a way back, this is a piece of Duck football lore everyone should know and be proud of, as this …
Oregon fans know of the “Tall Firs”—winners of the 1939 NCAA National Basketball Championship—by famous players like Admiral John Dick and Tall Firs coach Howard “Hobby” Hobson. Yet few realize that coach Hobson also coached the University’s baseball team, achieving nearly the same level of success that he did with his basketball program. The Oregon Ducks experienced a golden age in baseball from the …
Oregon has had some pretty exciting offenses over the years, and those offenses have been led by some of the best minds in the business. Some Duck offensive coordinators have had relatively unremarkable careers after leaving Oregon, others went on to great accomplishments. Several years ago, I wrote an article on the offensive coordinators who coached at Oregon prior to Mike Bellotti. It’s …
Over the past several decades, Oregon has had a number of offensive coordinators with rates of success all over the board. Most of us are familiar with College Football Hall of Fame recent inductee Mike Bellotti, Chip Kelly and Mark Helfrich, who eventually became Oregon head coaches, and Jeff Tedford and Dirk Koetter, who left the Ducks to take over …
There was a time, in the darker days of Oregon football, that Len Casanova managed to land a highly-prized fullback — Jim Evenson. He was touted as the kind of running back who could help turn a program around. Evenson was born in 1947 in Hillsboro, Oregon. Eventually his family moved to Vancouver, Washington, where Evenson would graduate from Fort Vancouver High. …
What were a person’s entertainment choices in Eugene on a Tuesday night in February, 1943? It was the height of World War II and choices were limited. You could go dining and dancing at The Holland, go ice skating, or catch a double feature at one of the area theaters. There was one other option on February 1st. You could …
Following Oregon’s disastrous 1971-72 season, Dick Harter was finally able to land his first outstanding recruiting class that included guard Ronnie Lee, guard/forward Mark Barwig, forward/center Bruce Coldren, and center Geoff Nelson. Along with the holdovers from Harter’s 1971-72 team, five sophomores from the 1971-72 freshman team, and three walk-ons, the four freshmen would form the original version of the …
For a school that boasts an NCAA title and two Elite Eight appearances this century, its noteworthy that its teams from nearly four decades ago would remain arguably the most memorable and popular in program history. The “Kamikaze Kids” are legends at Oregon, as is the man who led them: Dick Harter. Harter’s arrival at Oregon can be traced back …