Allow me to play the role of complete Oregon homer for a moment. Justin Herbert should be the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft. He’s got the size, arm, smarts and mobility that NFL teams are looking for in a prototypical first overall pick. But, whereas presumed No. 1 pick Joe “one year wonder” Burrow was coached …
“To be, or not to be: that is the question […]” — William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1 It’s also the question college football fans are asking about the 2020 season. There may be sea changes coming to athletics as we know them. Is college football big enough to withstand this crisis, or will it never be the same? …
If you haven’t heard by now, the Oregon Spring football game was canceled, and I’m sorry to break the news to you. Disappointing to say the least, because the Spring Game is a great fundraiser for local Eugene food banks, and gives Oregon fans their first look at a new roster. This year’s game was going to be one of …
The Pac-12 conference leaders met in March but with few results. Video conference was the mode rather than face-to-face, and immediate issues rather than long term issues were the focus. Some say the only positive was the savings on travel and housing, but let’s look at some of what went down. Issue: Immediate Eligibility for Transfers The Pac-12 has not …
While everyone is cooped up in their respective dwellings and wondering if the University of Oregon football team will play this fall, it seems like a good opportunity to take a look into the ugly, not-too-distant past of one the most memorable games ever played — The Toilet Bowl. On November 19, 1983, the Ducks hosted their in-state rival Oregon …
Marcus Mariota, Thomas Tyner, De’Anthony Thomas and Josh Huff combined to score only 36 points in the 2013 Oregon-Oregon State Civil War game, one of the worst outputs of the spread option era at Oregon. It was just enough to beat the Beavers. It started with a fourth-down interception by the UO defense in the endzone in the first quarter. The Ducks came back and …
In my previous articles, I’ve written a lot about dollars and cents. But enough about that. Now, I’m ready to talk college football (CFB). Let’s talk Ducks football. … But I hope you will forgive me a short interlude, an inquiry into whether the following makes sense … I’ve been to Boulder, Colorado. It is a beautiful small city adjacent …
Football players and coaches will tell you to the man that there’s no such thing as a “good loss.” They’re all wrong! The Oregon Ducks’ loss to Arizona State on November 23rd, 2019 was not just a good loss, it was a great loss, and I’m here to convince you. As I said in this article way back on January …
How do you fit five pegs into four holes? The obvious answer is, “You don’t.” You leave one out. AZcentral.com and SEC born-and-raised Andy Staples have another solution. You whittle one of the pegs down to nothing, pick up a few of the scraps and glom them onto one of the four remaining. Naturally, the one that gets carved up—according …
The Oregon Ducks Men’s Basketball team was just starting to hit their stride. As winners of six of their last seven games, including four straight to end the regular season as PAC-12 champions, the Ducks were poised to make a tournament run. As the number one seed in the PAC-12 tournament, the Ducks were set to take on rival Oregon …
It seems like yesterday the Oregon Ducks were on the verge of a free fall, trying to save face after Willie Taggart spurned the program that Mark Helfrich (despite his good intentions) nearly dragged to the gutter. But here we are, just a couple of years later, and the Ducks are right back in the thick of the playoff race. …
A recent article in The Athletic by Andy Staples outlines why the time is now for the Big 12 to raid the Pac-12 to create the Big 16. My initial reaction to the thought of the Pac-12 disbanding was utter shock. The traditionalist in me hates this. I want to preserve the conference, west coast pride, the alliance to the Rose-Bowl, …
