Kevin Cline Is Mark Helfrich’s team taking on a new identity? Did anyone see that ending coming? What about Oregon’s other senior receiver? Following the closest Civil War in more than 30 years that was part of the craziest weekend in college football in recent memory, some thoughts: Mark Helfrich is Beginning to Establish His Own Identity as Head Coach Remember …
Craig Strobeck EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon looked to continue its five-game winning streak on Saturday against the North Dakota Bison. The Ducks had competed their hearts out on Friday with a dominating win against Pacific, which meant that the bench needed to contribute on Saturday to help alleviate the stress and fatigue of the starters. That’s exactly what happened, as Dana Altman … Continue reading →
David Pyles The cool Saturday was clothed in dreary gray with uncharacteristically wet weather, and it only got drearier in Tuscan for the No. 5 Oregon Ducks. Although most in press row wondered aloud if Arizona had publicized the contest at all when the game kicked off, thousands of empty seats were quickly filled as news spread that the Wildcats were putting …
from Video The Eagles consolidated their recent gains by knocking off division-leading Green Bay, 27-13. It was a solid win (and their first against a team with a winning record). Nick Foles did not have another Hall-of-Fame-type of game. He started with some tentative play that brought back grim memories of his terrible showing against Dallas, but he steadied himself in …
from Video Four weeks ago, I thought the Eagles had hit rock bottom with their 52-20 loss to Denver. If only . . . Part of that was the schedule. They had just lost to the dominant Broncos, the (still undefeated) Chiefs and the surprising Chargers. Ahead was a parade of cream puffs: the Giants, Tampa Bay, Dallas (less so), …
from Video Two weeks ago against Tampa Bay, Nick Foles was the best quarterback in the NFL. He was the NFC Offensive Player of the Week, throwing for 22-of-31, for 296 yards and 3 TDs, and even ran in a touchdown. His QBR (ESPN’s quarterback rating) was 89.8, and he was leading the NFL in completion percentage (at 58.3%) for …
from video In 2012, I had the honor of watching the football season with about 50 US Military Veterans. As the calendar flipped from August to September, the ratio of fans in that little group was about ten-to-one in favor of NFL ball over college. These were simply not college football fans, and to them, college was just not as much fun to watch as the more polished NFL. By the …
from video Chip Kelly’s Eagles are surprising people — after disappointing them — after startling them, like a date with too many tattoos and no job who proves nicer and more respectful than you or your parents imagined. The Birds evened their record at 3-3 and stayed apace with Dallas with a solid, if not spectacular, win against Tampa Bay, …
from Video Upsets shook the landscape of the BCS conversation this weekend with seven ranked teams losing on Saturday, four of them coming against unranked opponents. The initial BCS rankings will be released this Sunday, and the top tier of teams has seemed to pull away from the rest of the field, but if there is anything to be learned …
from Video 1. The coaches were right; opponents do fake injuries against Washington to beat them. This was obvious on Saturday after Oregon wide receiver Josh Huff went down with a suspicious ‘injured ankle,’ only to come back in the second half to haul in a 65-yard touchdown pass that set the tone for the remainder of the game. He …
Kevin Cline Tomorrow, the 2nd-ranked Oregon Football team will face a sizeable challenge in Seattle. A confident pack of Huskies are fired up over their close loss to Stanford, and ESPN Gameday will be on campus for the first time ever. This game against the 16th-ranked Huskies is supposed to mark the first true test for the Ducks in 2013. Most prognosticators still …
Cliff Grassmick We all love college football for a variety of reasons, one of those being the unpredictability the sport offers week-in and week-out. This week had a perfect blend of blowouts and nail biters to make for an eventful weekend. The top 5 teams in the AP Poll remained the same for the fourth consecutive week, but this past …