The Oregon Ducks, America’s favorite team?

Bob Laws FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

from video In 2012, I had the honor of watching the football season with about 50 US Military Veterans.  As the calendar flipped from August to September, the ratio of fans in that little group was about ten-to-one in favor of NFL ball over college.  These were simply not college football fans, and to them, college was just not as much fun to watch as the more polished NFL. By the …

UCLA Brings Knowledgeable Fan Base — and Decidedly Average Team — to Autzen

Kim Hastings FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

www.camping-bourgogone.com Everything that I tell you folks is true.  Some things may be a little truer than others.  The conversation that I am about to share with you is, I swear, the gospel truth.  It was Monday morning about 8:45 am.  I was talking to a UCLA fan about the upcoming game.  He said, “You guys wouldn’t be any good …

Recruiting Update: Top Tight End Loves Oregon

Mark Flores FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Kevin Cline Football Recruiting Visits Oregon’s definitive 62-38 thrashing of Washington State Saturday night put the Ducks in recruiting command of one of the top athletes in the nation.  The No. 2 ranked tight end and top Oregon big board prep Bryce Dixon (4-Star/Ventura, CA) was on hand to take in the sights and sounds of Autzen Stadium.  He was …

Alabama, Florida State and Oregon Top Initial BCS Standings

Bryan Holt FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Craig Strobeck The first official BCS standings for 2013 have arrived, and with no surprise, the undefeated and reigning national champion Alabama Crimson Tide is at No. 1.  However, the rest of the field saw significant change, as upsets and the notorious BCS computer calculations once again took over the world of college football. Florida State nudged out Oregon for the …

Top 5 Takeaways From Saturday for the Neo-Duck

Josh Hall FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Craig Strobeck We’ll cut to the chase: 1.  Gary Campbell is a coaching superhero.  Forget all about Thor, Ironman or Tony Robbins, I want running backs coach Campbell as my life coach and mentor. Remember those early season complaints that Byron Marshall didn’t have the vision, patience or explosion to stay ahead of Thomas Tyner on the depth chart?  I predicted …

Oregon Continues to Win as its Schedule “Improves”

Nathan Roholt FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Craig Strobeck Worried about what we saw in Oregon’s game against Washington State last night?  Concerned about Oregon’s long-term prospects for the season?  Don’t worry; here is your weekly affirmation that everything will be ok — for now. Washington State is Much Improved . . . Yes, Oregon was a 40-point favorite over the Cougars last Saturday, but this is …

The Opponents Locker Room: Cougars Have Nothing but Respect for Oregon

Don Gilman FishWrap

Craig Strobeck Despite the shellacking on the scoreboard, the players from Washington State walked into the press conference with pride intact and heads held high. “We just got to do anything we can to win,” left tackle Gunnar Eklund said, “It’s tough, but in the end you got to get the job done.” “In the years past, around this program, …

College Football Nation: FSU Scalps Clemson and SEC in Mutiny

Jeff Hostetler FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

  This could be the best Saturday we have had in college football this season.  The upset bug was at work all around the country.  We are really starting to see who are the contenders (Alabama, Oregon, FSU) and the pretenders (Clemson, Georgia, LSU).  Team stocks are rising for the contenders and falling for the others.  We had teams in …

Cougars fight, but Ducks roll in second half

Brett Perez FishWrap

Craig Strobeck The Oregon Ducks hosted the Washington State Cougars Saturday night, in a matchup of two teams with extraordinary offenses.  One hundred combined points later, the Ducks emerged victorious, 62-38.  WSU set several offensive records (related to pass attempts, completions and yards) and QB Connor Halliday kept throwing ’til the end, but the Cougars were ultimately no match for …

The Fishwrap Pregame Analysis – Having a Holiday with Halliday, Ducks vs Cougs

Bob Laws FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

from Video This Saturday, the Washington State Cougars come to town for a 7 pm match up between the Blur and the Air Raid offenses.  Think trying to hit a cheetah with a sling shot. Now for the mandatory stats. The Ducks lead the series 45-38-7 and have won six in a row over the Cougs.  Washington State’s last win …

Chip Kelly Update: Almost Respectable

Mark Saltveit FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

from video Chip Kelly’s Eagles are surprising people — after disappointing them — after startling them, like a date with too many tattoos and no job who proves nicer and more respectful than you or your parents imagined. The Birds evened their record at 3-3 and stayed apace with Dallas with a solid, if not spectacular, win against Tampa Bay, …

2013 Mid-Term: Top 5 Ducks — so far

Sam Arney FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Craig Strobeck Now that we are halfway through the season, I thought I would take this chance to highlight some of the top players.  Most of the names on this list are the usual suspects and for good reason.  While there are players on the team whose roles go unnoticed on the stat sheet – for example, offensive linemen –  I am sticking with …