Out west, Oregon Basketball has become comparable to the legendary comedian Rodney Dangerfield. Oregon gets no respect. Take a look here at this year’s pre-season media poll: 2020-21 PAC-12 MEN’S BASKETBALL PRESEASON MEDIA POLL TEAM (first-place votes) POINTS 1. UCLA (9) 251 2. Arizona State (5) 246 3. Oregon (7) 241 4. Stanford (1) 209 5. Arizona 173 6. USC …
Every year there are media darlings in college football. In 2010 it was Cam Newton, willing the Auburn Tigers to victory week in and week out. 2019 had Joe Burrow and his historically great passing season, and of course the media loves teams like Notre Dame and Texas every season, no matter how good they are. 2020 has a couple of candidates …
You are not supposed to have a bit of a sickening feeling coming from your stomach up after a win. After a loss sure, but not after a win-right? I wondered what this yucky feel and uneasiness was about after the game, and then I recognized it from some years in the past. It comes to you when you realize …
There are some big keys to watch for today that have not been discussed elsewhere, and this is the site for such contemplation. Time for my Saturday GameDay articles again, and the only negative is a short season of them! Join me in the comment section below this article, where we will discuss what to look for before the game, …
After the No. 9 Oregon Ducks (1-0) defeated the Stanford Cardinal 35-14 this past weekend in their season opener at Autzen Stadium, I kept thinking one thing: The Ducks’ future is so bright, I gotta wear shades. One of my biggest takeaways from Oregon’s much-anticipated debut was the youth of this team. According to the University of Oregon, the Ducks’ …
Read options, designed quarterback runs, multi-level RPOs, numerous deep passes … are we sure the team that wore green and yellow at Autzen last Saturday was Mario Cristobal’s Oregon Ducks? The Ducks’ offense still has the same ground-and-pound mentality that head coach Cristobal loves, but for the first time in a while, Oregon’s offense feels … creative. It has only …
Marcus Mariota is the greatest Oregon football player of all time. He won Oregon its first Heisman Trophy and still holds most of the quarterback records for Oregon. Tragically, though, Mariota suffered the all-too-frequent fate of many great college players; he was drafted early by a team that had no idea what to do with him. At Tennessee, he played in …
We have every reason to believe the Cougar Curse it is behind us. The Ducks beat Washington State last year (barely), Mike Leach has moved on, and WSU has a new head coach and starting quarterback. The Cougars seem to be descending from a certain perch of theirs. On the other hand, the Ducks are the more talented team, they’ve …
CJ Verdell is an anomaly. The junior running back has rushed for 1,000 or more yards in each of his first two seasons. Despite the high yardage total, Verdell has only just surpassed the freshman single season total of Royce Freeman, who had an astounding 18 touchdowns in his first season. Sitting at 19 career rushing touchdowns, Verdell seems to be …
I wonder if the Oregon head coach is snookering everyone, as he has the Ducks winning by a good margin against Stanford, but they didn’t look overly impressive. The offense is showing some surprises, yet mostly keeping it vanilla. The team’s superior depth from recruiting is beginning to show, but they’re not Alabama-good yet. Is this Oregon ball-coach trying to …
First, the bad news: with every football season there is uncertainty. This season is already bad. Shadowed by COVID-19, which has the potential to cancel games, or the season in the worst case, the Pac-12 schedule has been shortened to seven games and doesn’t begin until November, closer to winter than autumn. Add to this Oregon coach Mario Cristobal‘s challenge …
I never thought I would do this, but, I’m going to apply Bob Dylan to sports. (Stick with me, folks!) As Dylan once sang, “Oh the times, they are a-changin’.“ As talk of an amendment to the NCAA’s transfer rules heats up, Dylan’s words may prove more true than ever. In a move that could rock college sports to the …