With the exception of a few lightning-in-a-bottle plays, the only thing electric on the field Saturday night was the Ducks‘ yellow uniforms. Against an over matched Virginia Cavalier team, the offense looked anemic in the second half, and the defense was pedestrian for most of the game. The victory was hardly ever in doubt, but with the clock winding down …
Given that the landscape of the Pac-12 has changed so dramatically it’s worthwhile to dive into the schedule and attempt to project the teams that will present the stiffest tests for Oregon. We lost to Washington State at home last year but so far this year they look like a train wreck. The teams at the bottom of the Pac-12 (Colorado, …
Spoiled. Of the hundreds of words spoken on that show, it was the one that resonated. Yet, unlike most sports talk shows, that label wasn’t thrown at a player, but this time aimed at fans. Not the fans of the opposing team, either, but the very fans of the team around which the program centered. It was an episode of CSNNW’s ”Talkin’ …
Seventeen years ago, the Ducks football team changed its identity. With a new uniform redesign courtesy of Nike, head coach Mike Bellotti’s troops began the 1999 season looking very different from Duck teams of seasons past. Gone was the interlocking “UO” logo on the helmet in favor of the elegant “O” insignia that remains today. Gone were the yellow pants …
Mike Merrell’s Three-and-Out After a rousing win over the Idaho Vandals this past weekend, our purple friends of the north moved up two places in the Coaches Poll to the # 9 slot, while maintaining the # 8 position in the AP Poll. Oregon continues to get mixed, minced, sliced, diced and chewed for imperfections, but the pollsters just keep …
I admit it. I am one of those spoiled Oregon fans that others write so negatively of. I don’t just want to win … I want Oregon to win big and when they don’t, I am disappointed. However, since I began this website I’ve been able to view the Ducks through the prism of a 30-year ticket holder and one …
For the second consecutive season the Ducks are being led not by someone recruited to Oregon, but by a transfer. Not by someone who came in as a 17 or 18-year-old who learned the system from the ground up. Not by someone who’s knowledge of the Oregon offense was built systematically, step-by-step, day-by-day, little-by-little, until it became second nature. No, …
There is no substitute for hard work and preparation, and if anyone is the perfect Week 1 embodiment of this mantra it is true freshman linebacker Troy Dye. Dye wasted no time making an impact in his first collegiate game, loudly introducing himself to the UC Davis backfield and the yellow-clad Oregon fan base with back-to-back tackles on the fifth and …
Don’t kid yourself into thinking any concrete conclusions can be drawn from one week of college football. That said, Pac-12 foundations were poured from Eugene to College Station, Seattle to Sydney. The concrete is still soupy but with the right reinforcements Oregon has a legitimate shot at the Pac-12 … If No.1: If the Pac-12 conference continues to look mediocre … …
Over the past couple of decades, Oregon has developed into a top Pac-12 program and a force to be reckoned with on the recruiting trail. Oregon’s unique culture, exciting style of play, success on the field, world class facilities, flashy uniforms, etc., have enabled the Ducks to pull in a number of blue-chip recruits from around the country including De’Anthony Thomas, Royce Freeman, …
While I am known for being a Sunshine-Pumper when it comes to my beloved Ducks, the team of coaching consultants at FishDuck.com are much more grounded and can give a realistic assessment concerning the state of the Oregon football team after one game. Yes, you have seen opinions from sportscasters who are not any better at knowing things than the …
There’s been a lot of grousing about preseason rankings and critics. When did Ducks fans develop such a thin skin? Rather than pound the table, I say bring it on. To the national pundits we’re known as the Blur or Track Town, USA. Speed may impress, but it doesn’t always earn long-term respect. We hear it all the time. They …