It used to be the Top Ten. A team had to start the season ranked tenth or higher if they wanted to win the national championship, as every team since 1990 had done. Then along came Auburn in 2010 who cheated lowered the bar, (as they did in so many other areas[1]) of what a team’s preseason ranking needed to …
Rob Moseley knows a beast when he sees one. Moseley, the new editor-in-chief of GoDucks.com, has been covering Oregon football for more than a decade, so he’s personally seen some of the best players in Ducks history. This month, Moseley has been writing daily (sometimes twice-daily) reports from each of Oregon’s closed fall practices. Anyone reading them will notice a …
Oh my goodness, two weeks until kick off and then we can finally quit all of this quiet time and bring the noise. Then we can start figuring out if the SEC will be re-re-re-re-re-re-re-repeat as National Champs or if someone else will steal the spotlight. I know for one thing, Texas A&M needs this season to get …
Google Images Last weekend, a couple of friends and I went camping at a remote lake in the Cascade range. After arriving at our site, we noticed a beaten journal that appeared in a spot most strange. Not hidden in the dense bush, nor buried under mounds of dirt. Instead, it was sitting right there on the picnic table; as …
I’ve lived in Tacoma, Washington, for the better part of two decades. During that time, Tacoma has had several nicknames. First, it was “City of Destiny,” then, “America’s Most-Wired City.” But my favorite is the one that was just adopted, “You Can Smell the Huskies’ Desperation From Here.” Living up here gives me the unique opportunity to talk to …
Oregon Football is often defined by one word: Speed. Whether it is the grueling tempo that the offense uses, or an individual player racing past an entire defense, the Ducks do it fast. Over the last few seasons, observers would see LaMichael James, De’Anthony Thomas, or Kenjon Barner breaking a long touchdown run on the highlights and might assume …
McDonald’s will sell you a double stack hamburger for a dollar*, an astonishing food value for so little money. Chip Kelly coached his first NFL (preseason) game Friday against the New England Patriots, and served up a heap of double stacks, himself. In this case, the “double stack” is a flexible (aka “packaged”) play with one running back and four …
Kevin Cline Offense. Defense. Special teams. While Oregon may not be Alabama or Ohio State in terms of tradition, prestige, or heritage, the Oregon football program has a rich history filled with star-studded teams and immense talent in all three phases of the game. Among the long list of former Oregon football players, a handful stand out atop the school’s record books, …
Kevin Cline With the dog days of summer behind us, the Ducks have officially begun their season, diving into fall practice. Comfortably installed in their new digs, Helfrich and company have high expectations from fans and the media for this upcoming season. This month of practice will be crucial for the coaching staff to identify talent and ultimately decide who will …
Kevin Cline “The Quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little, and it will fail.” — J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings This year is one of the most important years in the history of Oregon football. During the years of Mike Bellotti, the football program was solid – very successful, but never quite reaching the …
Kevin Cline Football Recruiting News You thought I was going to lead off with Portland Trail Blazers legend Arvydas Sabonis, didn’t you? What! This is football season… oh, just you wait. Oregon is waist deep in two-a-days, and a clearer picture of the 2013 campaign is rapidly taking shape. Headliners of head coach Mark Helfrich’s first recruiting class, running back …
Gary Breedlove Amid all the off-season changes and rumors swirling around the mighty Ducks of Oregon, there is still a strong belief around the nation that these Chip Kelly-less Ducks can contend for a national title, and that the Ducks are favorites to win the Pac-12 crown. If you look across all major sporting websites, specifically at their college football previews, almost every expert has …