Until June 16th of this year, Duck fans counted on Cliff Harris to be one of the strengths of Oregon’s drive for another successful season. Even then, everybody hoped Cliffy would go back to being Cliffy, the dynamic, wonderfully gifted athlete with the flair for the memorable quote or the highlight film moment. As a sophomore he set a school record …
If there was ever a game to close the playbook and run our basic stuff—this was it. The Buffs are rebuilding and decimated by injuries, thus we could have just run our most rudimentary plays and won easily. Yet Chip pulled new plays out of the playbook for us to examine, and it begins to make one wonder why? Is …
Rick Neuheisel may not ever coach a game against the Ducks again. You might recognize his Bruins from any number of recent uninspiring performances such as last Thursday, where they were blasted on ESPN by a newly Stoops-less Arizona team 48-12. It was the first conference win this season for the Wildcats. After the game, Slick Rick seemingly was in …
OK, I’ll admit it. I started writing this Oregon at Colorado game story way before the contest ended. Like at the end of the first quarter. No need to tarry. Sort of a writer’s version of the no-huddle, hurry-up spread. Yes, the game wasn’t over at that point. Yes, college football is so unpredictable that teams sometimes do — inexplicable …
The keys to the game are different for this one. An Oregon loss is so unlikely, given the dismal state of the Colorado football program, which is a walking MASH unit at 1-6, that this game is more about what the Ducks achieve and accomplish to push forward in their season. The old coaching cliche is true; this mile-high massacre …
Yawn, the pro offense is so boring isn’t it? [tubepress video=”PQ4mIfC6qyU” embeddedWidth=’534′ embeddedHeight=’314′ title=”false” length=”false”] Predictions: Colorado didn’t have the horses to keep up with an ever-improving Oregon team before all the injuries, and now, they definitely don’t. Bryan Bennett, or Darron Thomas, LaMichael, or Kenjon it doesn’t matter who’s out there, Oregon still has the advantage in …
Following the 2000 “Desert Miracle” victory over Arizona State, the high-flying Oregon Ducks were now soaring solo atop the Pac-10 standings. A week later on November 4, 2000; Oregon traveled to Pullman, Washington for a date with Washington State. Coming off a natural high following a miraculous win over the Arizona State Sun Devils, Oregon remained the only unbeaten team …
How lucky can we be? Chip Kelly has been running the Spread Offense at Oregon for five years and I just set up the video tutorials about the basics of the Oregon Offense just this last summer in preparation for this year. The Spread Offense has become a staple of college football, and defenses are getting better in their counter-strategies, …
It was a momentous day in Autzen Stadium history. Televisions nationwide tuned in to see the carnage ensue, expecting #4 BYU to showcase their dominance over the up-and-comers Oregon in sleepy Eugene, OR. But what they got was something far different, as what should have been a celebratory time in the spotlight for BYU’s superstar quarterback Ty Detmer instead became …
Every season has its rhythm and plot lines, its unexpected twists and turns, moments of glory and disbelief. There’s the seemingly overwhelming adversity and miracles of belief. There is triumph, pleasure and disappointment. Few seasons are perfect, but perfection is always an elusive possibility. The Ducks came damn close a couple of times. And they’ve shot themselves in the foot …
This week, one of the most egregious cases of pay-for-play extortion in the history of college football was ruled by the NCAA to be a non-issue. Despite sworn testimony indicating that the father of former Auburn quarterback Cam Newton sought some $180,000 in compensation from Misissippi State University, before his son eventually signed with the Auburn Tigers instead, the governing …
Going into Saturday night’s showdown with Arizona State, the Oregon Ducks knew they would be without LaMichael James, their All-American running back. Halfway into a locked battle with the Sun Devils at Autzen Stadium, they found they would have to carry on without star quarterback Darron Thomas, too. Missing their two top playmakers, facing a 24-21 deficit, could things have …