Problem Solving with Stanford-Oregon

Nathan Roholt FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

If you are an Oregon fan, chances are you woke up happy on Sunday morning.  (Unless you really celebrated on Saturday.) That extra hour of sleep was nice, certainly. The enjoyment of that victory can’t be overstated. But the greatest source of happiness was things returning to normal again. Oregon is on top of the conference, and Stanford stopped pretending it …

Two Reasons Why the Cardinal Defeated the Ducks in ’12 and ’13

McKalie Bellew FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

It’s game day Duck fans, is anyone as excited and anxious as I? As I read through some of the news articles regarding today’s game I am finding so many different views and so many different opinions of what should be looked for in this Duck/Cardinal match-up. In an article on ESPN’s Pac-12 blog, Five Things to Watch: Oregon-Stanford, the …

Grasu Talks Football, Basketball and Twitter

Max Thornberry FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Caleb Couturie of FishDuck.com spoke with Hroniss Grasu today at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex after practice. The Ducks’ offensive line has been in the news all season, particularly when it was banged up and allowed 12 sacks over two games. Now it is back and ready to roll with redshirt senior Grasu leading the charge. With stars such as Marcus Mariota and Royce Freeman …

Royce Freeman, Oregon Ducks

Run Royce Run!

Omar Garibay FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

The Oregon coaching staff has been adamant and clear about one thing all season long, and after seeing his performance on friday night, they might have to change their stance. Freshmen running back Royce Freeman had his third straight week of over 100 yards rushing in Oregon’s win against Cal. If he keeps having these type of performances, the coaching …

Sunday Reaction: Ten Important Notes From the Cal Game

Caleb Couturie FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Well, there we have it. Another Ducks win by double digits, Oregon beats Cal for the sixth straight time, and the collegiate history at Levi’s Stadium gets kicked off with a Ducks win. As of right now, if the season ended today, Oregon would make the first ever College Football Playoff (loud cheers heard throughout Eugene). Experts predict it would …

Player Profile: Dwayne Stanford, the Comeback Kid

Laura Brehm FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Just before the 2013 spring game, tragedy struck Dwayne Stanford: a knee injury took him out for the entirety of his sophomore season. In order to take advantage of his eligible years, the only option was to redshirt. This was a heavy blow to the true freshman who was one of the lucky few to appear in all 13 games …

Football Mysteries: Player Names, Home Team Losses and Inter-conference Play

Mike Merrell FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Mike Merrell’s Three-and-Out More so than most years, this college football season has produced much which, on the surface, just doesn’t make a lot of sense: home teams frequently losing, hardly anybody staying undefeated, a log jam of one-loss teams that threatens to be impossible to sort out, and yes, even players’ names. Making sense of players names, home team …

Now or Never: How Next Season Will Decide the Fate of Certain Ducks

Steven Holstad FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

When a new class of freshmen arrives to a football program, it’s always a mixed bag. Players of all positions gather from different high schools or junior colleges, states and backgrounds, to come together as teammates. Some are prized recruits coming in from premier high school programs; some are lesser-known players that the coaches hope are diamonds in the rough. …

Duck Receivers Are No Passing Fancy

Casey Fluegge FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

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 …

NFL goal helps Oregon tight end Pharaoh Brown push past tragedies

Victor Flores Men of Oregon: Players and Coaches

When Pharaoh Brown called his mother on graduation day, he sounded calm. Jeannetta Smith assumed her son was pulling another prank, but this one angered her. “This is not how you play,” Smith said. Brown wasn’t joking. His friend, Fred Zuber, had drowned hours earlier. He sounded calm because he was in shock. Brown, Zuber and three […]

Offensive Positional Units: Scenarios, Predictions and Three 1,000-yard Rushers?

Jackson Long FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Steve Francis With a returning offense capable of ridiculous stats, expectations run high across the college football landscape for Oregon’s 2013 campaign.  New head coach Mark Helfrich and his team have set a high bar for themselves, and as is the natural tendency for sports fans everywhere, the Duck faithful also have soaring hopes for their team.  While perfection is …

Duck Football 6-Pack: Oregon’s BIG receivers

Josh White FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Photos courtesy of Kevin Cline In most of the close games and eventual losses during the Chip Kelly era, a common theme seemed to surface consistently.  An opposing team that was able to slow the run game enough force the Ducks to throw would sometimes find that Oregon couldn’t. The 2012 game against Stanford aside, we saw opposing teams like …