The best antidote for a miserable, demoralizing loss is a confidence-building win. The Ducks play host to the Nevada Wolfpack on Saturday in Autzen Stadium, and their goal is to be inhospitable and vengeful hosts. But the Wolfpack are an unknown quantity: they took last week off and have the blessing of an extra week of preparation and no in-game …
It wasn’t all bad…
First off all, I want to commend LSU for playing a great game. Certainly everyone sporting green & yellow inside and out is disappointed in the outcome from Saturday night, but it is important and somewhat therapeutic to take a closer look at what happened and take away some positives from this weekend. It was a starting point, definitely something …
Ducks fail to match LSU’s brawn
All the talk about Oregon being “Tiger Bait” wasn’t that far off. LSU chewed up the Ducks on Saturday night, controlling the line of scrimmage and feasting off Oregon’s turnovers, penalties and other miscues to saunter out of Arlington, Texas, with a 40-27 win in the season opener for both. The game was billed as one with national title implications, …
How I Learned to Love the Regular Season
Think back to 2004. Urban Meyer was the head coach at the university of Utah, and he led the Utes to an undefeated season, and a victory over Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl. Football fans everywhere started the murmur “down with the BCS.” It took another two years for Boise State to earn the next non-AQ BCS bid, and in …
Four days to kickoff, and the plot lines are now about football
Finally we have actual football to talk about rather than endless speculation or off-field misery. The Ducks and Tigers play the first big game of the 2011 college football season in four days. Chip Kelly and his coaches and players, are in a normal game-week preparation behind closed doors. With just a little news leaking out, these are the storylines …
Less than a week.
With less than a week to go, the excitement in Eugene is palpable. At restaurants and coffee shops alike the talk is all the same. Will the Ducks crush LSU now that they are missing key players? Will Oregon be able to keep up with their injured starters out and those who are suspended? I suspect it would be difficult …
Time for Kelly and Ducks to show own adjustments
In college football, you don’t want to get a bad rap. It’ll start messing with players’ heads. It’ll be heard in recruits’ homes. It’ll infiltrate columnists’ laptops. The Oregon Ducks went underground this past week, preparing in earnest for the huge LSU matchup on Saturday night in Arlington, Texas. No. 3 vs. No. 4 in the season opener. A national …
Closed practices sound strategy, but death for a fan blog
Chip Kelly’s decision to close practices makes sense from a competitive standpoint. The Ducks are working on wrinkles, innovations and subtle changes to their offense for LSU, and with the blogosphere, Twitterverse, cell cameras and loose lips out there, no sense giving anything that Les Miles and his staff will have to adust to on the fly in Dallas. But …
FishWrap Friday Game 1 Preview: Oregon vs. LSU (Part 3: Linebackers, Chavis, and the Nickel Defense)
7 days until the season begins, and despite controversy from coast to coast, there will be football on September 3rd. In the finale of this 3 part preview, first, we will have to go back and have a painful review of the National Championship game. Let’s refute the urban myth- Oregon’s offense wasn’t totally dominated physically in this game. In …
Duck games on the Deck.
Like most Duck fans, I’ve had my share of game experiences at Autzen Stadium. I’ve cheered on the team, reveled in the victories and suffered through the losses, tailgated with friends before and after in the parking lots through rain or shine. But my perspective is a little different than most of yours, at least a little bit lower, because …
Interview with an SEC honk
Kevin, the chief writer and editor of College Football Zealots, a southern-leaning football blog that covers the nation, sent me an email the other day with six questions on the Ducks: 1. Oregon has to replace a lot of starters on the front seven of their defense. Who are some of the new starters that will need to step up …
A Call For Respect And Composure As The LSU Matchup Draws Near
Football is a beautiful game, complex in nature and thrilling to watch. It is also an ugly game, one that pulls at every emotion while brutally wreaking havoc on the body physically and mentally. For the participants, they work year round for that opportunity to perform; for the fans we anxiously anticipate all year those few days when we can …
