It’s Thanksgiving week. It’s also Civil War week. It’s the 119th Civil War. It’s also probably going to be one of the most lopsided Civil War games in a long time. This isn’t a knock on the Beavers. They have a first year coach, no experience at quarterback, and Oregon is playing as well as any team in the country. …
Perspective Key to Oregon’s Success
How a season is viewed is all a matter of perspective. Regardless of achievement or outcome, if expectations are not met, it is viewed as a disappointment. Conversely, if the result exceeds expectations, it is viewed as a success. More importantly, when those successes and failures happen is just as relevant to their perception as whether or not they happen …
College Football 2015: A Mess of a Season
Mike Merrell’s Three-and-Out The czars who run college football must be ecstatic! With just a week to go in the regular college football season, the landscape is a complete mess. For the post-season lineup, there’s all sorts of room for drama, unfairness, passing out of unjust rewards, snubbing, hypocrisy — pretty much everything that we’re supposed to like about college …
Dispelling the Myth of Time of Possession
College football’s proverbial cool kids were so ready to get rid of Oregon with Marcus Mariota out of the picture. The Ducks sat at 3-3 midway through the season. At that point, many were ready to attribute the success the Ducks have had for the better part of the decade up to an offensive system that had finally been figured …
How to Stop the Talented Trojans
Ok, so I’m just going to keep doubting the Ducks. That’ll mean that they keep winning … right? No, in all honesty, this is why I love and hate college football! It’s so maddening that the Ducks are playing as well as they are now. This means that they clearly should not be 7-3 whatever the reason: injuries, bad play …
Paybacks — That Was For 2012: Ducks Play Spoiler to Cardinal Playoff Hopes
When the College Football Playoff rankings were released last Tuesday, one-loss Notre Dame found itself among the top five, creating a stir, as the Fighting Irish were ranked higher than eight undefeated and all one-loss teams, except Alabama. The inevitable, and pointlessly early arguments about Notre Dame’s ranking soon began to bubble and squeak, ignoring the fact that these debates tend …
Mrs. Duck’s Lovely Week
Mike Merrell’s Three-and-Out In a football season that has certainly had its downs, the Oregon Ducks have emerged as one of the best — if not the best — teams in the conference. A national championship is out of the picture, but a return to the Rose Bowl, while highly unlikely, remains at least a mathematical possibility. That’s something nobody …
About Vernon Adams, the Obscure, the Melancholy, and the “Feel-Good”
I’ll be honest. I didn’t know what to write about this week. I considered several times writing to Charles Fischer and the editors and letting them know I was out of ideas, out of articles, I could write no more, I needed a break. All told, I’ve put down five articles of more than 1,500 words each since early September and had …
Oregon Analysis: Weird Cal Surprises and Season Finish
This has truly been a season of unpredictability. The Cal game turned out much different than I thought it would a month, hell, even a week ago. The good news is that things appear to be trending positively, as we all witnessed the improvement on both sides of the ball against the Golden Bears. I found some other improvements within …
Disaster Averted, New Hope Begins
A lot can happen in three games. Three games ago, Oregon’s season appeared on the brink of disaster. The Ducks were perched at 3-3, and had just lost at home to Washington State, making FCS Portland State the only team from the state of Oregon to beat the Cougars this year. If Oregon couldn’t beat Washington State, who could they beat? Were …
Jokers, Comedians and Petty Thieves
Mike Merrell’s Three-and-Out As the 2015 college football season turns the corner toward the home stretch, the Oregon Ducks are finally starting to hit on at least six or seven cylinders, but as far as a playoff berth goes – it is too little too late. Still, it’s turning out to be a reasonably decent season for a year in which the …
A Coach’s Comments: “The Problem with Oregon …”
The Grizzled Ol’ Coach, Mike Morris, has been instrumental in so many of us learning the Oregon Offense and Defense in the past four years. His “Skull” sessions with me in the FishDuck.com ManCave are legendary encounters in learning, and he does have some strong views about this team. Sometimes Mike raises more questions for us with his musings, and …