No one in 1965 said Cassius Clay could beat Sonny Liston, the reigning World Heavyweight champion. The odds were eight to one against the challenger, but Clay trained and thought differently, knocking his opponent out with better boxing skills and tactics. He became one of the greatest fighters of all time, better known as Muhammad Ali. This Saturday our beloved Ducks play …
It’s late in 2019, and another Oregon Ducks football season has just ended. The morning has broken gray and gloomy, rain flinging itself against the glass facade of the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex as if delivering a million tiny blows from an angry sky. Willie Taggart swivels his desk chair to look out of his rain-dappled window onto the practice fields. The …
Dominant. If the performance of Oregon’s offensive line against California had to be summed up in one word, it would be dominant. We saw flashes from the offensive line early this season and then witnessed the hiccup against Arizona State. On Saturday night at Autzen Stadium, everything came together for the guys in the trenches. Mario Cristobal has done a fantastic job …
Like the crack of someone opening the first beer at a party, the new Oregon staff is perking up ears and turning heads, giving the program a “national championship vibe.” Oregon signed a top-25 recruiting class in only seven weeks, causing a positive buzz and attracting high-caliber talent. Something has changed. That change is Willie Taggart. Early on, we discovered his amazing ability to recruit, something Eugene has …
It might seem silly to talk about dynasty the Monday after a disastrous victory against California. Just as the Ducks started to look competent on both sides of the ball, Justin Herbert, Royce Freeman, and Dillon Mitchell suffered injuries. All of this coming at a time when the Ducks are already thin at quarterback (Herbert’s backup wasn’t practicing at quarterback …
Have you ever had such conflicting feelings from an Oregon football game? Such despair at all the injuries and such pride in how the defense continues to improve in perhaps one of the greatest games by a Duck offensive line – when the team really needed it. Simply put … “I am pissed at the coaches, yet I am proud of what …
Oregon’s three-game victory bubble burst in the desert last weekend as Arizona State kicked a field goal with 2:34 left to knock off the Ducks 37-35. After impressive success in non-conference play, the offense misfired from the start and breakdowns in all phases of the game showed that coach Willie Taggart and his staff have some serious coaching to do …
One of the best running backs in the state of California the last three years has been C.J. Verdell of Mater Dei High School in Chula Vista. An all-state first team running back in California (Cal-Hi Sports), Verdell put together an impressive high school career including back-to-back 2,000-plus yard rushing seasons according to MaxPreps. In all, he rushed for 4,855 yards and …
Welcome to this week’s edition of X’s vs. O’s! Today, we will be discussing one of the ways the Ducks exploit defenders’ simultaneous run/pass responsibilities. The example today is an RPO concept Oregon used in their game against Arizona State. “RPO” stands for Run-Pass Option. On an RPO, the play is set up as a run, but the Quarterback (QB) …
Fall is both football season and back-to-school time, so let’s grade head coaches in the Pac-12. They need most of the following for success: The late great Bum Phillips said it best about top football coaches: “He can take his’n and beat yourn and take yourn and beat his’n.” The best coaches adapt and mold players into cohesive units, finding …
If only Saturday’s loss had been to USC, Stanford, or Washington — against one of the Pac-12’s better programs — I’d feel much better about things. I could say that the Ducks are a legit top-25 team, that they scratched and clawed to the bitter end against one the conference’s premier teams, and almost pulled it off. I could say …
My wife burst into the infamous FishDuck.com ManCave late Saturday night and shouted, “What was that huge THUD out there?” I told her … “That was us Oregon fans coming back to Earth.” There is no sugar-coating that game. The Ducks lost to a 1-2 team known for poor defense and are known by all to be in the bottom half of …