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 …
There are some things that everybody who has anything to do with athletics should learn, and this holds true for athletes, coaches, friends, family and fans. Two of these things are winning with grace and losing with grace. The Ducks won this weekend, taking down Colorado, 41-24. The win was a relief after the previous week’s drubbing from Utah, but …
Confusion. Okay, now that I’ve answered the entire question of the article I guess I’ll just go home … … Kidding. But seriously, confusion is the only appropriate answer for how the Ducks game unfolded. Over the course of this article, I will do my best to shine a light on some controversial moments, but trust me, I am not …
Mike Merrell’s Three-and-Out The Oregon Ducks certainly came out the “little brother” against the Utah Utes Saturday night. Being branded a little brother smarts. And no matter what happens, you will be reminded from time to time that you are the little brother. That creates a bit of an attitude that you will live by — like it or not. …
Others Receiving Votes: Toledo (68), Oregon (64) It was following a game against Utah in 2009 that the Ducks last found themselves voted off the AP Top 25 island, so it is only fitting that a game against Utah, mark their first return outside of it in six years. The 98 weeks in-between provided a glorious run of historical proportions …
“Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.” Last week I wrote a satirical article in an attempt to point out the unrealistic expectations of many Oregon fans. It was heavy on irony, saying exactly the opposite of what I meant in most instances. And now, just one week later, reality and expectations came crashing down upon …
Predicting a game is hard … ask any athletic director in college football, who are often required to anticipate the quality of their opponents as far as a decade ahead. Contrast that challenge with the fact that TV networks rarely make scheduling decisions sooner than 12 days before broadcast. The variables are myriad. From weather to attendance, to finance … …