Hroniss Grasu Eager to Quiet the Doubters

Caleb Couturie FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

If you’re a Duck fan, you know that feeling — that of complete and utter hopelessness watching your team blow its playoff and title chances in a Week 4 matchup against lower-tier Pac-12 North foe Washington State. Then you shared the feeling after the game, where you let out a deep sigh of relief and thanked the heavens your Ducks were heading …

What We Learned: Mariota Doesn’t Deserve The Heisman

Josh Hall FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

In a recent episode of ABC’s Modern Family, Ed O’Neill’s character Jay Pritchett finds himself drawn to the town dog show. A man’s man, the family patriarch is peculiarly fascinated about entering his doted upon French bulldog into an arena where his prize could be recognized by all as the best dog on the block. Per usual with the show, …

Bye Week Comes at a Fortunate Time for Injury-Decimated Ducks

Will Denner FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

The Ducks narrowly escaped Pullman, Wash. with a road win against the Washington State Cougars last Saturday on a day that will be remembered as “Survivor Saturday.” Along with Florida State, Alabama, and Oklahoma, the Ducks faced an opponent inferior on paper, yet all four of the nation’s top teams legitimately looked like an upset was very much in the …

Stock Ticker From Around the Pac-12

Pat Pannu FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Another weekend is upon us and it’s time to take stock of teams that are up, down or right there in the middle. One of the teams listed in today’s report has a bye this week, but the same issues might be present this coming Thursday. Down Low Oregon Ducks – Injuries and defensive concerns galore  Give credit to Washington …

Gateway to the Playoffs: Ducks Don’t Coug It; ‘Noles Survive Sans Winston

Evan Gilges FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Marcus Mariota shines under pressure in conference opener  The first road trip for the Oregon Ducks was not pretty despite managing to survive. Highlighted by seven sacks, the Washington State Cougars exposed Oregon’s obvious weakness in Week 4. With three starting linemen sitting out Saturday due to injuries, the Oregon running game never got going, and the health of Mariota became a concern. Luckily we have this …

What We Learned: The Marcus Formula

Josh Hall FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

The Concept of Tempered Steel If you aren’t a huge science guy (I for one am not), you might mistake the process of tempering steel for hardening a metal. While increasing steel’s strength, tempering is actually all about softening a metal through the use of heat to make it more flexible. In season three of Oregon’s best quarterback in school …

Mike Leach Unplugged — on FishDuck.com

Jason Fowler FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

The narrow loss to No. 2 Oregon wasn’t considered a statement game, according to Cougar head coach, Mike Leach, but “a step in the right direction today.” He went on to say, “I think we just need to focus on practicing and improving, but I thought we played extremely hard the entire game.” WSU dropped this well-fought battle by a score of …

Ducks Run Defense Will Be the Difference Maker of the 2014 Season

Rob Liggins FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

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 …

Stock Up, Stock Down — Pac-12 Edition

Pat Pannu FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

We are a day away from the fourth weekend of college football and every weekend reveals high and low points for teams. Both teams listed on the low side of the chart last week turned it around (for the most part) and played much better in Week 3. Let’s see which team’s stocks are looking especially high and low this …

College Fantasy Football Week 3: Can’t Go Wrong if His Last Name Is Hill

Caleb Couturie FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

For the third consecutive week, my college team has put up huge fantasy numbers. That was thanks in large part to my starting quarterbacks, Kenny and Taysom Hill (not related) of Texas A&M and BYU, who scored 34 and 31 points respectively. Connor Halliday led the way for all quarterbacks, scoring a miraculous 45 fanatsy points. His week by week totals …

Recruiting Update: “Abominable Snowman” Set to Visit Oregon

Mark Flores FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Football Recruiting Visits Fueled by Heisman-frontrunner Marcus Mariota, the Ducks rolled over hapless Wyoming, 48-14, in Autzen Stadium. In attendance was longtime Oregon-connected linebacker Mike Tafua (3-Star/Honolulu, HI) and per our friends at DuckTerritory, may be poised to flip a previously held commitment to BYU in favor of the Ducks. Standing 6-foot-3, 225 lbs., Tafua is the hard-nosed, sideline-to-sideline defender …

Superman — Not a Cartoon — Still Airs on Saturday Morning

Nathan Roholt FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Following the big win against Michigan State last week, much of the ink spilled focused on Oregon’s suddenly clear path to the College Football Playoff. The Ducks had defeated their best opponent they would face in the regular season, and by the transitive property of college football, will win all games thereafter. Of course, Saturday showed why making such assumptions after the …