Bench Him or Give Tyler Shough Some Credit?

Ryan Robertson Editorials

Tyler Shough has not been as impressive as some fans had hoped. He looks inaccurate at times, he sails passes and struggles mightily under pressure. Unlike Justin Herbert, who was only criticized before the draft for… inaccurate passing, sailing throws and struggling under pressure. Oh, maybe Herbert was just better at throwing for a lot of yards? Nope, Shough averages 277.8 …

Losing Was the Best Thing For Oregon

Ryan Robertson Editorials

Losing sucks. It makes players and coaches miserable, demoralizes fan bases and eliminates teams from the College Football Playoff conversation. Given that Oregon has never ended a season without a loss, Duck fans everywhere are fully aware of this fact. Losing has never felt good, especially to the Beavers. Especially when the Ducks should be so much better than their little …

Tyler Shough: Pull the Ball Out!

Ryan Robertson Editorials

Picture it: November 7, 2020. Oregon is playing Stanford at home, hoping to kick off a national championship bid season with a bang. Sophomore QB Tyler Shough throws for a decent stat line in his inaugural start, with 227 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He looks a little jumpy throwing the ball, and the staff compensates by running a lot …

Can Oregon Realistically Make the Playoff?

Ryan Robertson Editorials

Every year there are media darlings in college football. In 2010 it was Cam Newton, willing the Auburn Tigers to victory week in and week out. 2019 had Joe Burrow and his historically great passing season, and of course the media loves teams like Notre Dame and Texas every season, no matter how good they are. 2020 has a couple of candidates …

How Good is CJ Verdell?

Ryan Robertson Editorials

CJ Verdell is an anomaly. The junior running back has rushed for 1,000 or more yards in each of his first two seasons. Despite the high yardage total, Verdell has only just surpassed the freshman single season total of Royce Freeman, who had an astounding 18 touchdowns in his first season. Sitting at 19 career rushing touchdowns, Verdell seems to be …

Justin Herbert Should TERRIFY Mario Cristobal

Ryan Robertson Editorials

Justin Herbert improved over his college career. That is an indisputable fact that seemed to be overlooked by pre-draft NFL writers. They seemed to believe that he peaked as a sophomore and everything was downhill after that. Herbert saw his draft stock come in to question as analysts doubted his accuracy, questioned his leadership and pre-ordained him as a bust. …

The Pac-12 Was Right to Wait

Ryan Robertson Editorials

It has been a long off-season. Basketball ended early due to the pandemic, as did all other sports. The recent restart of professional sports showed that limited crowds don’t have to stop sports. Last weekend college football restarted in a limited capacity, with small crowds and every team missing players. The games were alright, but without any major teams in …

Breaking In a New QB: How Has Oregon Done?

Ryan Robertson Editorials

As the 2020 season approaches and the Ducks prepare to hand the reigns to a new quarterback, it is fair to wonder what fans can expect. How have past Oregon QBs fared in their inaugural seasons? For simplicity’s sake, QBs will only be considered if they started at least a third of the season. 2017: Braxton Burmeister Poor Braxton Burmeister. The …

The Oregon Ducks: From Offensive Juggernaut to Defensive Force

Ryan Robertson Editorials

2016 was the last year the Oregon Ducks fielded an elite offense. Justin Herbert was one of the best QBs in Oregon history, but constantly finding himself in shootouts kept the young player from achieving greatness in his inaugural season. UO’s era of elite offense started in 2007 when Dennis Dixon had the Ducks on the precipice of the BCS National …