Mike Merrell’s Three-and-Out There’s no doubt about it — Chip Kelly changed the game of college football and Oregon was blessed to have him during his short tenure. But there’s a segment of Oregon football fans who have taken it a step further and anointed the Chipster with sainthood. It seems that in everything from recruiting to play calling, anything …
With the Ducks currently on a bye week and just over half-way through the season, it is a great time to reflect on the first half of the season and look forward to the final five games. Oregon Offense Through Seven Games Despite the exceptional talent at RB and WR and a solid O-line, the struggles at the QB position have slowed …
Oregon’s 4-3 start to the 2015 season is nothing to complain about. As fans, we are all lucky to have a team to root for at all, let alone a winning one. Still, it takes some getting used to watching the Ducks play without that ranking sitting next to Oregon’s logo on the broadcast scoreboard after a 98-week streak. A dropoff in …
Sitting at breakfast Saturday morning, an older Oregon fan gave me a hearty “Go Ducks!” as he walked by. Then he approached me, leaned in, and with the protracted delivery that lets one know that wisdom is about to be dispensed, he whispered, “… but I don’t think we’re going to win today.” I told him that I couldn’t say …
Mike Merrell’s Three-and-Out What an exciting era for college football! Globalization, which began with soccer-style place kickers, has taken the next step forward with rugby-style punters, and hurry-up spread offenses are producing basketball-esque scores. It seems a pity that the one thing we can rely on — that one thing that never seems to change in an ever-changing world — …
Big 12 The Kansas State Wildcats had No. 2 TCU Horned Frogs right where they wanted them in their Week 6 matchup. Going into the second half of the game, they led the Frogs by 18 points, but the lead didn’t hold as TCU ultimately made a furious comeback winning the game, 52-45. The comeback is a story in itself, but a better story is the …
Let’s talk about toughness. Since the beginning of the Chip Kelly era and the glorious run Duck fans have enjoyed over the past several years, toughness has always been one of the biggest question marks for Oregon football. Do the Ducks have what it takes to go up against a powerhouse program and win with hard-nosed defense and grinding offense when …
In the tradition of FishDuck.com articles that make you ponder, I ask Duck fans to address questions concerning a quarterback at Oregon most have already written off: Morgan Mahalak. You will learn some new things here, and they have not come from an interview with Morgan, but from snippets of interviews with other Oregon players who have happened to mention him. There are …
There was a theme to Saturday’s game, from the pioneer uniforms to the football team reunion; much of the focus was on the past. It is understandable why that would be the concentration of everyone’s attention: Thus far, 2015 has not been a year to remember. At the halfway point of the season, the Oregon Ducks sit at a paltry …
Mike Merrell’s Three-and-Out With Saturday night’s loss to Washington State it is now pretty much official that this year’s version of Oregon football is going down as a bad year, the end of the streak, or some other description that is even less complimentary. The 3-3 Ducks are only a play a game away from being 5-1, but there’s no …
I won’t lie, it was hard. I stood nine rows back on the 20-yard line, surrounded by my fellow students and friends, watching the Ducks let opportunity after opportunity slip out of their grasps. We were wet and cold, but simultaneously numb to all other feelings but that of overflowing anticipation for the next snap. Would this be the down the …
Gambling is speculative at best, but if someone wanted to get rich quick last weekend, the opportunity was there. After Oregon and Alabama – the two winningest college football programs of the decade — both dropped their conference openers, they found themselves on an unfamiliar side of public opinion, or more specifically, of the Vegas odds-makers’ opinion. Oregon was a mere six-and-a-half point favorite over …