I know, I know. You’re tired of the crowds, you’re tired of the rain, and the people riding the bikes downtown forgot to pay homage to your Family Truckster. Your wife is making broad hints with the Kay Jewelers ads, your kids want a Kinect For Xbox 360, and the boss has given you the Clark Griswold treatment this year …
USC at Oregon preview: Can the Ducks create “Fright Night 3” for USC?
Tradition in the PAC 8/10/12 begins with the USC Trojans. They’ve won 11 national championships, 24 Rose Bowls, 18 PAC-10 championships and 7 Heismans. Before the Ducks rolled them for 613 yards and 52 points in 2009, the Men of Troy had gone 14-3 in Top Ten matchups since 2001. In their last three, they are 0-3, all losses with …
The Fish Report: Chip’s Changeups
We knew going into this season that with a new weapon in De’Anthony Thomas, and a new playbook that went from 75 plays to 200 plays—that we would see new strategies to match. What we did not expect was to see Chip changing up some of basic strategies and philosophies in attacking a defense. We have witnessed the transition of …
Cliff Harris Is at a Crossroad on the Field and in Life
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 …
Keys to the game: assorted quack, smack and facts for Oregon at Colorado
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 …
The future isn’t written: that’s why college football is so compelling
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 …
The Fish Report: QB Runs Answered & A New Play!
Why would Darron Thomas take off running in this game while not before? This is a question we tackled last week, but the answers became even more evident against Arizona. We have examples of THREE positions on the defense being Zone Read in the this game while being introduced to a new play utilizing the strengths of a true freshman …
The Fish Report: Offense Unfolds Against Missouri State
Predictions of new plays, formations, and strategies are beginning to emerge as the season progresses. I expected to see base plays with nothing new introduced in a game of which we are highly favored, but I was surprised to see some new concepts revealed. It was refreshing to see the passing game further refined with new receivers materializing to help …
The Fish Report: New Wrinkles Against Nevada
Blowouts are often boring for fans, yet this one provided some interesting new wrinkles to study. We also had some questions answered about the direction of countering defensive measures against the Zone Read, which some may find surprising. Finally, we began to see the opportunities created by opponents who commit the majority of their resources to stopping the Oregon running …
The Fish Report: My LSU Spin
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 …
We Have Changes Coming on Offense.
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 …
The Fish Report: First Scrimmage!
In Oregon we have our natural cycle of summer transformations, of the warmth with the lush green vegetation everywhere that will begin to change. We see the geese begin going south, and we now see Duck fans flocking to Eugene to live the beginning of our football season. For many of us—we cannot help ourselves, as it has become part …