A great man is always willing to be little. Ralph Waldo Emerson Zach Okun isn’t the future of Oregon football — he’s the now. All 6’4″, 315 pounds of him. The Newbury Park, California, high school junior decided to end his recruitment process almost a year in advance of national signing day for the Class of 2015. In the time …
In a June 27 analysis, ESPN’s Ted Miller rated Oregon’s receivers as “We’ll see.” Ted awarded “Great shape” to receivers for Stanford, Arizona, WSU, USC, ASU and the Berkeley Bears. UCLA, Utah, Washington, OSU and even Colorado got “Good shape.” That left only Oregon to receive the dreaded “We’ll see.” Einstein and I disagree. Just as the theory of special …
Americans are coming down with a severe case of World Cup Fever over the past week — and it has to do with team spirit. With the United States winning its first match against Ghana and playing Portugal to a draw, the national team has (so far) beaten the odds in the “Group of Death” and given the U.S. a …
The 2014 NCAA track and field season was one of the best in recent years — if not ever — for the Oregon Ducks men’s and women’s teams. After both teams won NCAA indoor championships and completed a strong regular outdoor season, the Ducks excelled in the regional qualifiers, sending a total of 37 men and women athletes to the …
Devon Allen didn’t “just” win the NCAA championship in the 110-meter hurdles. First off, there is no such thing as “just” winning at this level. You’ve got to be an absolute stud to pull it off. Next, there’s the little detail that he also broke the meet record. How big of a deal is that? Well, the previous meet record …
After a strong showing in the preliminary rounds, the Oregon Ducks’ track and field team excelled on the final two days of the 2014 NCAA Championships as their men’s team won the national team title and the women’s team finished third overall. The women’s team scored 59 total team points, while the men scored 88 total points — winning them their …
Day 1 of the 2014 NCAA Div. I Track and Field Championships at historic Hayward Field was highlighted by spectacular performances from multiple Duck athletes. Oregon’s Laura Roesler excited the home crowd while winning her preliminary heat and running the fastest overall women’s 800 meter dash of the day. Roesler spent most of the race comfortably running in third place, prior …
You may know Devon Allen’s name from his recent record-breaking hurdling performance in the NCAA Western regionals, but the redshirt freshman is still somewhat of an unknown on the football field. Allen is working tirelessly to change that unknown status by establishing himself as a difference-making receiver for the Ducks, and I believe he’s in for a huge 2014 season. …
It was one of the busiest weekends of the year for sports fans – five Game 7s in the NBA Playoffs, and most notably, the Kentucky Derby – but for Ducks fans, there was one event that stood above the rest: the Spring Game. While fervent followers of the Ducks wouldn’t miss the annual spring tilt for anything, trying to keep …
Mike Bellotti raised a lot of eyebrows in 2007 with the relatively uninspiring, no-name hire of someone named Chip Kelly out of Division IAA New Hampshire. Result: Oregon has been among the nation’s leaders in rushing since. During that span, perfecting the zone read has not only turned quarterbacks into de facto running backs, but it has made talented running backs even …
I don’t know what it’s like to be a redshirt freshman on the football team, but I imagine it’s a peculiar situation. You work so hard throughout high school to become the best player you can, and the fruits of your labor are rewarded by multiple scholarship offers from schools across the country. In your senior year, you’re the big …
Kevin Cline Every elite quarterback covets a great wide receiver (not to say that Oregon’s starting receivers aren’t good enough, because we all saw how well they played last Saturday), cue fresh-off-the-boat true freshman Devon Allen. The 6-foot-0, 187 pound wide receiver from Brophy Prep High School in Phoenix, Arizona, was also one of the country’s top hurdle and sprint …