Dear Mr. Mullens: I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore! I have been a fan of Oregon football for years (well, I started following Oregon when they went to the “Natty” in 2011) and I just cannot sit idly by and allow you and the coaches to ruin my team! I know insiders, people who …
Predicting a game is hard … ask any athletic director in college football, who are often required to anticipate the quality of their opponents as far as a decade ahead. Contrast that challenge with the fact that TV networks rarely make scheduling decisions sooner than 12 days before broadcast. The variables are myriad. From weather to attendance, to finance … …
Mike Merrell’s Three-and-Out It’s incredible and yet it’s still surprising. Beating Georgia State, 61-28, using a generous helping of second, third and fourth stringers just wasn’t enough blood for too many fans. What seems to be forgotten is that September 19 is still fairly early in the season. We’re still only half way to the selection committee’s first way-too-early declaration …
When Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston said after last year’s Rose Bowl that the blowout game could have gone either way, it was laughable. When Georgia State’s players and head coach talked after today’s game about having an opportunity in the second half to make a comeback against the Ducks, it was hard to deny. Though undone by four turnovers, …
“Did his head just bob? Was that a face-mask tug on Vernon Adams?” Steve Richardson, a long-time astute Oregon observer and fellow football analyst, stated aloud what I was thinking. We played the run back and yes, it appears that the defender reached up and grabbed the face-mask of Oregon’s new starting quarterback. A minute later we saw the replay up close …
This week’s game against the Georgia State Panthers may not have the hype last week’s game had, but that’s why this can be a dangerous, early season trap game. The Ducks are emotionally and physically drained after travelling to East Lansing and getting in a dog fight with the Spartans. The Pac-12 season also starts for the Ducks next week, so …
News Lost in the knee-jerk reaction of this weekend’s miscue is the undeniable fact that Oregon’s secondary has turned a corner — no pun intended. Oregon’s youth in the defensive backfield held Michigan State quarterback, Connor Cook, to a meager 192 yards through the air and picked the senior on a second-quarter drive into Oregon territory. While the goal remains at …
Can we learn from a tough loss? In the case of last Saturday’s game, absolutely – especially with an opponent as talented as Michigan State. The Oregon game plan featured a new play variation of the new Oregon Power Play featured last week: a Quarterback Power Play. It sounds odd, considering Oregon QB Vernon Adams is on the smaller side, but let’s look …
In a tale of two games filled with back-and-forth uncertainty, there was one single moment when it appeared the dam holding back the tide of Oregon’s offense would crumble, that despite all the challenges the Ducks faced beforehand, the points and yards were about to flow downhill. That moment was punctuated by, arguably, the most miraculous plays Oregon made against …
Mike Merrell’s Three-and-Out Adversity develops and reveals character much more than pleasant trips to the beach. That’s just one of the inconveniences of living on Planet Earth. So when your team loses on the road by a field goal to a top five team, what do you do to show the world who you are? For too many Oregon fans, …
After bringing in a strong class last year, Oregon got off to an amazing start on the 2016 recruiting trail. Some people, including myself, believed this class was going to be one of, if not the best freshman classes in UO history. Now, after key targets have committed elsewhere and other recruits have decommitted from the Ducks, it’s important to realize that …
The Oregon offense continues to evolve and progress since my instructional video series was created four years ago. Those videos have been viewed more than a million times in total! They have been helpful to fans, as well as to coaches looking to install the spread offense (Oregon style). However, defenses have become better at defending the spread, and thus the Oregon coaching …
