Marcus Mariota is the greatest Oregon quarterback to play at the school. That is a well-accepted statement around Eugene these days. But with Mariota headed for the NFL, it’s about time to remember some other Oregon quarterbacks who have made it to the big stage. Mariota has a chance to be the highest Duck drafted in the Common Era if …
2014 was a historic year for the Oregon football team. The Ducks finished the season with 13 wins, a Rose Bowl victory and a berth in the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship Game. Now it appears the success might transfer to the next level, too. We know the NFL Draft has its surprises, but could we see multiple Ducks …
Last Saturday I gave all of you a heads up for Valentine’s Day shopping. You’re welcome for the squeals of joy and what-have-you on your way today. But the presence of Valentine’s Day made me ponder the very question of love. More specifically, what does it mean to love a team? Do I Love the Players? Not like I love …
I have lived in the Seattle area since 1998. In 2002, I joined over 38,000 others to watch the Ducks finish a disappointing season in the Seattle Bowl. Remember the Seattle Bowl? It only existed for two years, so you might have missed it if you were traveling overseas, not born yet or taking a nap. I remember four things …
With another National Championship at stake, the 2014 Ducks are attempting to accomplish something that no team before them in program history has done successfully. Under the new College Football Playoff system, the Ducks are one semifinal win away from returning to the title game, which would be their first appearance since 2011. Although that 2010-2011 team was the first to …
The Oregon Ducks enter the post-season meat grinder as butcher’s choice Châteaubriand, kings of the Pac-12 and a football behemoth with firepower in every position group. Somewhere in the hallowed halls of the Len Casanova center, big plans were drawn up for the Ducks, dreams so big they would take more than two decades to realize. Now, the Oregon Ducks …
McKalie Bellew, FishDuck.com reporter, partook in the Mark Helfrich press conference today at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex. Marcus Mariota is having a historic season, and could bring the University of Oregon their first Hesiman Trophy. Coach Mark Helfrich addressed his thoughts on Mariota’s Heisman candidacy, and what he’s meant to the Oregon program. “Marcus, in every single way, represents what you want …
The star of Saturday’s postgame press conference wasn’t the Heisman Trophy candidate who had possibly played his final home game, or any of the seniors who certainly did finish their careers in Eugene that day. Rather, it was the junior reporter whose question about “Jesus, girls and Marcus Mariota” made him a viral star over the weekend. While his delivery …
The Heisman Trophy is by far the most prestigious individual award in college athletics. A few former Ducks, including LaMichael James and Joey Harrington, have been good enough in years past to contend for the award, but no one has ever won the Heisman in the team’s history. That should change at the end of this year, because Marcus Mariota …
As with any Duck game I watch on television, the usual texts went back and forth between friends during Friday night’s game. The topics were likely the same as they were for many others watching the game: Dwayne Stanford’s breakout first half. Lofty projections of Royce Freeman’s career. (Three Doak Walker awards? Or four?) Byron Marshall’s big game in his …
“Bear Down.” It is the official motto of the University of Arizona, a slogan based on a Gipper-ish legend of a former player’s message to his team. Lying in his hospital bed in 1926, starting quarterback John “Button” Salmon told coach Pop McKale (yes, that McKale) on his final hospital visit to Salmon, “…Tell the team to bear down.” The motto …
The early 2000’s hold many fond memories for many Duck fans. Oregon was on the rise to the national spotlight, as they made a name for themselves with back-to-back 2000-2001 Pac-12 titles, and winning the BCS-rated Fiesta Bowl — finishing ranked No. 2 nationally (2001). Meanwhile, Autzen Stadium was rising – and so was a big name on the Oregon special …