Seven days ago, I, like many of the Oregon faithful, was excited at the prospect of a team on the rise after an emotionally taxing 2016 season. On the road against Utah, the 12th-ranked team in the country, Oregon played like a team with pride and something to lose. The defense played hard and actually made more plays than they …
2016 is in the books. Should the rebuild begin under Mark Helfrich or somebody new? I would like nothing more than to wake up today and get a blaring headline that Rob Mullens has pulled the trigger and followed the University of Texas to become one of two formerly elite programs ready to rebuild. In theory, Oregon had the purse power to …
The Oregon basketball season opened with palpable excitement. Less than a week later, fans saw their Ducks get dominated by an unranked team (Baylor) and their top-five national ranking disappear. The ship appeared to be righted after a win over Valparaiso, a high level mid-major program. The Ducks took the momentum from that win and flew to Maui for the Maui Jim …
A week ago it was reported that former Oregon athletic director Pat Kilkenny offered his support for Mark Helfrich and yet added that the fans will have their vote, their say in the future of Oregon football coaching. It got me to thinking about all the articles written on this site, the comments and all the negatives and positives I have read …
There’s no questioning that Chip Kelly revolutionized not just the Oregon offense, but college football itself. While Mark Helfrich largely sustained that offensive success with quarterback Marcus Mariota, since he left for the NFL we have seen gradual changes to the Oregon offense. The question today, as Oregon struggles on all fronts, is, are we witnessing the demise of the …
When Dana Altman told reporters that, “Trouble is eight days from today. We have to go down to Baylor and play a game.” After a 35-point victory in the team’s final exhibition, it was as if he could see into the future. Sure enough, when his 4th-ranked Ducks traveled to Texas to take on an unranked and unheralded Baylor squad, the …
There is a massive misunderstanding by many Oregon fans concerning the demise of the Ducks’ defense, and the origins of that decline. While Oregon has well-documented misses in defensive recruiting, there are many who believe that the Ducks are largely deficient in talent on that side of the ball, thus the poor performance with little hope for reversal anytime soon. …
At least the Huskies lost. That’s about all that went well for Oregon fans Saturday. The Ducks were humiliated yet again, this time at Autzen Stadium, against Pac-12 North Division rival Stanford, 52-27. The final score really doesn’t even come close to telling how poor this showing was for the home team. The story heading into this matchup between two fallen …
Oregon’s 20-year football nadir has produced three factions on this site. It is no secret that I belong to the outnumbered Root-and-Branch faction. As difficult as may be for some to hear, in this camp we’ve forecasted that Mark Helfrich will fail and have begun calling for new leadership to reverse the degradation to Oregon’s erstwhile winning culture. Then there …
Tonight the most anticipated Oregon Ducks basketball season in recent memory will begin, and the 5th-ranked Oregon Ducks will charge onto the hardwood at Matthew Knight Arena. Their goal in simple terms will be to start the season 1-0, but by winning tonight the Ducks will also extend their home game win streak to 25. It has been more than 500 days since Oregon …
Ducks Need a Miracle to Reach Bowl Eligibility After some signs of life in a victory against ASU, the Ducks returned to playing really badly in their blowout loss to the USC Trojans. With the loss, the Ducks now sit at 3-6, their worst record through nine games since 1991, when they also sat at 3-6. No one on the Oregon football …
I am mad as hell. I have had three Coaching Consultants on the FishDuck.com Analysis team tell me that, “If my players in high school used defensive technique like that – I would be embarrassed.” I can hardly believe my eyes, as coaches sit with me through intense “Skull-Sessions” and detail the bad technique being exhibited on defense. Could we have …