After Joe Walker slashed through the line to dump a Stanford Cardinal running back to the turf, the fan behind me leaned over and said, “God, I love that kid.” Yeah, a lot of other Oregon fans agree; this year, Walker has emerged as Oregon’s go-to linebacker when the Ducks face the run. Against rush-happy Stanford, he had nine tackles …
“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm, and harmony.” – Thomas Merton After attending college for three years now and absorbing as much enlightening knowledge as a naive 21-year-old is capable of, I feel that I can say one thing for sure. Life is about balance. Balance of work and play. Health and vices. Pleasure …
Having a Heisman-hopeful, such as quarterback Marcus Mariota, is always exciting for a team. However, the timeless saying “Defense wins Championships” has been proven correct time and time again. With that being said, the Duck defense — which is arguably the best it has been since the departure of Defensive Coordinator Nick Alliotti — is possibly what could finally land …
There is a reason why defensive line guru Jerry Azzinaro was the one Oregon position coach who joined Chip Kelly on the Philadelphia Eagles’ coaching staff. The 3-4 defensive scheme and two-gap technique are just as important to Kelly as the fast-tempo, zone-blocking, and packaged plays. Azzinaro was Kelly’s right-hand man in installing the 3-4 as the base defense at …
Through three glorious weeks of college football, teams across the country have had their depth tested. Look to the east and observe a USC defensive line run over by a mediocre Boston College team in a below-average ACC conference. Look to the south and see a backup quarterback carried off the field heroically on teammates’ shoulders after managing a shaky …
I was at the Oregon Club meeting 20 years ago in 1994 when Nick Aliotti christened the name of the “Gangrene” defense, and I recall the howls at the name. I remember thinking that “Gang-Green” was clever and fits us so well … but alas that was not the right spelling. I have been asked to consider a short (if …
The departure of Kiko Alonzo and Michael Clay after 2012 made last season a rebuilding year of sorts for the Duck linebacker corps, and some maintain the Ducks’ run defense suffered accordingly. The numbers reveal that the Ducks gave up 169 ypg on the ground, up from 142 ypg the year before. How much that attributed to the extra loss …
Kevin Cline Is the bye week over yet?! It feels like the off-season all over again. I have already watched each game multiple times and will inevitably be watching them again. While any bye week is horrible for fans, this is a particularly good bye week for Oregon. After getting three games under their belts, the Oregon staff will now …
Welcome back for the second of my two part segment. The wait is now over as I release my top five most important players for the upcoming season. I know many of you will have differing opinions on who should be in the top five and where they should be ranked. Keep in mind that this is my opinion as …
In a Spring Game that saw just about every healthy player on Oregon’s roster, redshirt freshmen defensive back Oshay Dunmore, quarterback Jake Rodrigues, and newly added junior linebacker Joe Walker established themselves in an otherwise “name’s game” matchup. At the prep level, both Dunmore and Rodrigues lined up as signal callers for their respective offenses heading into the 2012 edition …
Courtesy of Kevin Cline Photography It is almost upon us, folks. Finally, we get to experience a little dose of what we all love so much, to get us through the next 4 months. The Oregon Ducks spring football game is this Saturday at 11 am. I will most definitely be in attendance to show my love and to check …
Football Recruiting Commitments Oregon addressed a position of concern when newly offered linebacker Joe Walker (2-Star/Wilmington, CA) chose to pledge his commitment to head coach Chip Kelly & Co. Walker, a 6-3, 230 lb. west coast junior college standout, is Oregon’s second commit in the 2013 linebacker corps. “I just thought the coaches were honest. I like the players, and …