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. …
Welcome To Football, Johnny Loyd
You may be familiar with the name “Johnathan Loyd” if you’re an avid Oregon basketball fan. And if you were in attendance for the highly-anticipated spring game, you’ll remember chuckling as the voice of Autzen, Don Essig, introduced the freshly-tackled first-year senior with the quip: “Welcome to football, Johnny Loyd.” It’s been awhile since Loyd stepped onto a football field and …
Duck Receivers Are No Passing Fancy
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 …
Oregon Receivers Are the Key to Ducks’ Explosive Run Game
When analyzing Oregon’s offense, it quickly becomes clear they have an uncommon number of explosive plays. According to ESPN’s PAC-12 Blog, an explosive play is defined as any play that gains 20 or more yards. In 2013 the Ducks were able to gain 20+ yards on a single play 106 times. 42 of these were rushing plays; 14 of which …
Keanon Lowe: Senior, Leader, and Now Oregon’s Top Returning WR
EUGENE, Oreg. — 22-19. Those were the numbers on the scoreboard as time expired in the 2011 BCS National Championship game. The heart of Oregon Duck fans around the country melted as the opportunity to win a national title had come and gone. No crystal football in the trophy room, no rings to be worn on the fingers of Oregon …
Who Will Be Josh Huff’s Heir Apparent on My Desktop?
If a picture is worth a thousand words, I should stop typing right now and just post a pictorial of Josh Huff’s Oregon football career. With nary another word, it might win me a Pulitzer in the sports writing category — if there is such an honor. Put it this way, no Oregon player from 2010 through 2013 graced my …
Offensive Positional Units: Scenarios, Predictions and Three 1,000-yard Rushers?
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 …
5 Oregon receivers who put the “go” in Go Ducks
Oregon Football is often defined by one word: Speed. Whether it is the grueling tempo that the offense uses, or an individual player racing past an entire defense, the Ducks do it fast. Over the last few seasons, observers would see LaMichael James, De’Anthony Thomas, or Kenjon Barner breaking a long touchdown run on the highlights and might assume …
2013 Breakout Players
With the season still a little over two months away, all of the talk that’s going on is the release of the Oregon sanctions and those entailed. Of which I am very satisfied with the outcome. But I thought I would take this time to distract myself by making some predictions on who I think will be some of the …
Receiving Corps Thinning, Opportunities Rising
When the news arrived Friday that Dwayne Stanford, the lanky, 6’5″ true sophomore receiver, was going under the knife to fix a potentially serious knee injury, panic began to spread amongst the Oregon faithful. With Mark Helfrich now leading the charge, it’s expected that the Ducks could be looking to the air more this season, which will require the receivers to …