Protect the quarterback. It’s Football 101. It’s football gospel. If football had ten commandments it would be etched into one of two stone tablets, just like the original Ten Commandments. But apparently protecting the quarterback in Eugene has gone the way of that mysterious 3rd tablet, as illustrated by the classic Mel Brooks movie The History of the World: …
No one in 1965 said Cassius Clay could beat Sonny Liston, the reigning World Heavyweight champion. The odds were eight to one against the challenger, but Clay trained and thought differently, knocking his opponent out with better boxing skills and tactics. He became one of the greatest fighters of all time, better known as Muhammad Ali. This Saturday our beloved Ducks play …
Welcome back to X’s vs. O’s! In this series, we will analyze how Oregon utilizes different schemes and techniques to attack and defend the opposition. Today, we will examine a play from the 2017 Oregon spring game. Before we begin, let’s review the basics of the Cover 1 defense. A Cover 1 is a man coverage based defense that includes …
Oregon football has a legacy of accomplished receivers. Let’s examine the attributes they have had in the past and what this year’s group needs to continue a fine tradition. We’ll look at the talent side first. Speed Fast is always good. Stretching defenses is critical, and breakaway speed does that in spades! Patrick Johnson and Sammie Parker were past burners …
SPECIAL EDITION: Please tell us your predictions below in the comments section This past week, two of FishDuck’s finest made their regular-season predictions on how many games the Ducks will win this year. On Monday, young (OK “middle-age approaching”) and fatally cocky Padawan Jedi Darren Perkins predicted that the Ducks would party like it’s 2005 and win ten games. While …
“Once a Duck, always a Duck.” And, “It’s not like he went to the Huskies.” Those are the first two things that came to mind when I heard Thomas Tyner was going to graduate, transfer to Oregon State and resume his football career for a year. The former all-everything back at Aloha High School and former Duck says he’ll be …
Yep, I said it. Royce Freeman is a running back that should be in the Heisman discussion right now. Speed, power, good in short yardage and he can bounce it outside. And he offers the kind of lifetime numbers that will help East Coast writers understand how good he’s been and for how long. I’m not arguing there aren’t other great backs …
Oregon’s annual Spring Game will kick off the 2016/17 football pre-season for our beloved Ducks. The highly-anticipated action at Autzen Stadium should make for a very intriguing springtime Saturday. After every season another exciting group of players leaves the University to seek illustrious careers in the NFL, thus leaving us with a bunch of questions heading into the spring game. With alumni …
Johnny Mundt had an explosive freshman year and was turning heads nationally. However, when he was a sophomore during the 2014 season, Mundt seemed to have fallen off of the map. Sure, everyone can understand that Mundt was the second string behind the Ducks’ amazing tight end Pharaoh Brown, but why didn’t he have the same amount of playing time …
Did it start in 2012 when the Ohio State Buckeyes robbed the Oregon Ducks of highly touted all-purpose back Dontre Wilson right under their noses? Or did it begin before that when Ohio State out-recruited Oregon for top high school prospects? Either way, the 2015 recruiting class will not be different, with the Buckeyes winning this contest by a large margin …
A sigh of relief, a tear of pride and a chant of excitement … Marcus Mariota has won the Heisman. Mariota began his speech by saying thank you and that he is humbled by this award. Listening to this acceptance speech was amazing as Mariota thanked so many different people, you and I would be lying if we said we …
Ashley Young of FishDuck.com interviewed Oregon’s running back coach Gary Campbell at the University of Oregon’s Hatfield-Dowlin Complex on Tuesday. Much of Oregon’s success this season has been attributed the play of their outstanding quarterback, Marcus Mariota. There is really no argument there. However, Mariota has led the Ducks all season, and his Heisman Trophy-like play has come with a …