On December 22nd, shortly after noon, Washington will play Boise State in the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl. It’s a battle of teams that used to have national relevance. This week Washington Huskies head coach Steve Sarkisian said, “This is why players come to the University of Washington. To play in games like this.” That was a silly thing …
When the University of Oregon began searching for an athletic nickname in the late 1800s, the name “Webfoots” was the obvious choice. After all, until 1909 the State of Oregon was known as the Webfoot State. It didn’t become the official moniker of the student body until 1926, when then Oregonian Editor L.H. Gregory submitted the winning choice in the …
In 1970, Notre Dame’s publicity man, Roger Valdiserri, convinced the school’s starting QB, a senior named Joe Theismann, to do something drastic to increase his chances of winning the Heisman Trophy. Valdiserri suggested to the QB, who pronounced his Austrian surname “thees-man“, that he should change the pronunciation to “thies-man”, to rhyme with the name of the sport’s most prestigious …
“What in the world are the coaches doing?” Oregon’s recruiting philosophy has always been a bit of a mystery, but some of the recent happenings have left many more confused than ever. Let’s take a look at some of the recent head-scratchers. It seemed to start with Gareon Conley, a Tier-1 cornerback prospect that recently de-committed from Michigan, and by all …
What would happen if an unstoppable force were to meet an immovable object? If Oregon had received a bowl bid to play a top SEC team with an elite defense instead of Kansas State, then the college football world may have finally found an answer to that age-old question. I don’t mean to take away from the No. 5-ranked Wildcats …
Beloved stars Akili Smith, Pat Johnson, and Saladin McCullough shined brightly among the glit of “the strip” of Las Vegas at this time fifteen years ago. To this day, no game in Oregon football history compares to the explosive opening of the 1997 Las Vegas Bowl. Despite their success over the past two decades, no other Oregon game began with …
A Special Article from our Friends at the Publication MIGHTY OREGON Michael Clay, #46, 5-11, 225 Linebacker Background: Michael Clay is one of those rare players that come out of high school and make an impact as a college freshman. It was not real surprising considering his resume in high school at Bellermine College Prep in San Jose, California: Clay …
Football Recruiting News/Offers Oregon’s post-Civil War recruiting trips may have yielded a new angle in the deep South. Once a seemingly untouchable region, the walls of the “southern accent” conference aren’t so tall anymore. Somewhat of a sleeper storyline, linebackers coach Don Pellum visited and offered rising senior Zach Cunningham (NR/Pinson, AL). Oregon is a strong contender to land the 6’4″, 196 …
Does Oregon have an audible at the line of scrimmage to change the defender being zone read on the play? Sometimes the choice looks predetermined, but we might have some proof from the Civil War game that audibles are taking place as I suspected. If so, this adds an enormous burden to opposing defensive coordinators, and offers us a hint of the …
For as long as Chip Kelly stays at Oregon, we’re destined to hear the chatter about him leaving for the NFL. For the most part it’s a lot of talk, completely based on specualtion; however, after having flirted with a coaching position with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Kelly has let the cat out of the bag and the subject will …
The Stanford loss, like most of our losses over the last few years (Auburn, LSU, USC) seems to boil down to getting beat in the trenches. We’ve had some great players on both lines through the years, but we rarely seem to land commitments from the elite players at DT or on the O-line that USC, Ohio State, and even …
Sunday night’s final BCS rankings did not hold any surprises for Oregon, with the Ducks moving up one spot to #4, as expected, and punching their ticket for the Fiesta Bowl against the Kansas State Wildcats. The same cannot be said for the entire BCS, however, as Northern Illinois’s surprise move into #15 and thus BCS eligibility caught many (including …