Cal’s defense did a number on the Oregon offense last year, and we already covered how Cal did that here, so now it’s time to see if Cal will do that again. Everything starts and ends with Cal’s ability to win the battle along the line, and by extension, stopping LaMichael James. I say that because stopping the run forces Oregon …

Call Chip Kelly The Granite Fox. Like Rommel before him he has a gift for commanding men, for onslaughts and misdirections, for stratagems that bedevil and mesmerize a superior force. Rommel took 3-star men and materials and extended a war until he ran out of gasoline and had to haul tanks to the front on rail and by horse and …

Simply put, it was ritual. The sports writer sat and watched the college football game or practice. Took notes. Watched some more. Gulped some coffee. Chatted up the guy next to him. Took a trip down the hallway. Composed the first few graphs of the story. Observed some more. Wrote down a few questions for afterwards. Then hurried off to …

Last year, against Cal, a team that gave up 48 points to USC, and 52 to Nevada, Oregon, who hadn’t been held under 40 all season scored a mere 15 points, and 8 of those came off of a punt return. It was one of the most painful victories you could possibly watch. To fall from such a high level of …

Like their coach, Duck fans have become perfectionists.  Chip Kelly, asked on Sunday about the Oregon running game, which rolled up 415 yards on Arizona after 416 yards on Missouri, and Kelly responded in his clipped New England interview voice that it could be better. The Ducks won by 25 on the road in the conference opener, and most Duck fans, …

If you needed any further proof of the thrashing Oregon was dealing Arizona on Saturday night, all you had to do was scan the stands in the second half, where there were more empty seats than not. A school record 288 yards rushing from LaMichael James will do that to foes and their followers. So will ringing up 35 points …

Oregon opens PAC-12 play with a road game at Arizona, and again the crucial thing is not merely winning but playing in a way that shows improvement and gets the team ready for October and November, an eight-week battle to defend their conference title. Here are some of the key factors in the Ducks’ PAC-12 opener: Keeping the Zona Zoo …

Well the PAC-12 season is upon us, and the Ducks’ quest for a sweep of the newly renovated conference begins in the desert against the Arizona Wildcats and their dynamic Airraid offense. Starting in 2007, when Sonny Dykes made his way from Texas Tech, the Wildcats began running the air raid offense. Most famously reflected in Mike Leach’s teams with …

In this context Arizona coach Mike Stoops may be the endangered species. The Wildcats, 1-2 this year,  have lost their last seven games against FBS opponents. Arizona started this season with five new offensive linemen, and they’ve struggled to protect Nick Foles. Stanford raided the Arizona backfield for five sacks in last Saturday night’s game, and they’ve given up 8 …

They said he was a step slow. They said he had gained too much weight. They said his Heisman chances were virtually nil. Some said — more like whispered — let the freshman sensation get more carries. That was until Saturday. Flashing his burst of old, Oregon’s LaMichael James rambled for 204 yards and three touchdowns against Missouri State in …

Chip Kelly often says the Ducks prepare against a faceless opponent and that their focus each game is competing against the vision of how good they can be. That theory gets the ultimate test today. An occasional laugher or one-sided matchup can be a tonic for a football team in building confidence and developing depth but two of these in …