Today’s article is a guest contribution from Portland author/journalist Brian Libby. It was January 1, 1917. The country was just three months away from entering World War I, which had already been underway for three years. The Bolshevik Revolution was bringing Communism to the newly formed Soviet Union. Woodrow Wilson was president and Babe Ruth was still a pitcher. …
The 1957 Oregon Webfoots were an unlikely conference champion, the scrappy ugly ducklings that overachieved proving the nation to not underestimate Oregon. Decades later, Oregon would have an encore of this in eerily similar circumstance and comparable results, but the country would never again take Oregon lightly thereafter. The Pacific Coast Conference was owned by the state of Oregon that …
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 …
Why are National Pundits/Sportscasters so myopic? We are hearing their SEC version of events again to explain the obvious to the rest of us, as it happened last January. You recall how we heard of how the Auburn running game destroyed us, yet with two minutes left in the game the score and YARDAGE was tied. Bottom line is– Auburn …
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 …
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, …
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 …
This next season promises to be exciting, with new plays and changes on offense, and I am going to enjoy breaking it down. Why do I think we will have major changes? Most have not noticed that inside of the last two games and the Spring Game of last year—we had FOUR new formations introduced with a slew of different …
Oregon has never been a school to shy away from experimentation over the years. From being one of the first schools to utilize pre-snap motion in the 1940s (known as “Oliver’s Twist,” named after head coach Tex Oliver), to the edge defense in the 90s, and the innovative spread offense the Ducks run today; there has never been a fear …
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 …
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 …
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 …