Mike Merrell’s Three-and-Out Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby wishes someone would have told him ahead of time that his conference would be punished for not having a championship game. It’s a sad fact of life: Some things you just have to figure out for yourself, and that one shouldn’t have been too difficult. The truth is, the Big 12 tried …
Just like all Duck fans last night, I was at the edge of my couch eager to see who would win the 2014 Heisman Trophy. I immediately jumped up when I heard the announcer slipped the word “Marcus” out of his mouth. Mariota is Oregon’s first winner of this prestigious award, along with being the first Polynesian/Hawaiian. Though most people …
With another National Championship at stake, the 2014 Ducks are attempting to accomplish something that no team before them in program history has done successfully. Under the new College Football Playoff system, the Ducks are one semifinal win away from returning to the title game, which would be their first appearance since 2011. Although that 2010-2011 team was the first to …
Finally, the Heisman Award has won — and won big. If there was ever a time when the Heisman Award, college football and the sport in general needed a win, right now was pretty much that time. And after a string of losses, the Heisman Award won the big one when Marcus Mariota accepted the stiff-arm trophy. Had Mariota stiff-armed …
While final scores do not always indicate as much, most people agree that heading into a bowl game — as in the case of Oregon vs Florida State in the first ever College Football Playoff Semifinal — the initial advantage is to the defense. Why? Because it will be nearly a month since either team will have played a game, …
The year was 1894. What were people doing in 1894? They weren’t on the internet and it’s certain that Twitter didn’t exist back then — and what about touch screen phones and GPS systems — did they exist? Nope. Technology was pretty much unheard of during that time. Most people were probably reading newspapers and using this device called the typewriter. But in …
The Oregon Ducks football team is one of only a few NCAA teams using a high-tech GPS device for training and practicing purposes called the Catapult. This device helps coaches and trainers keep track of their athletes in ways that haven’t been possible until now. So, you’re wondering what the Catapult is. Well, the product’s website catapultsports.com says, “Catapult is a physiological/biological monitoring …
Just like those associated with Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Georgia and others, I too was swept up in the Josh Sweat madness. The five-star prospect chose Florida State, a team both close to home and with a recent history of winning. The decision made sense, but at the same time it stung a little. Why didn’t he want to be a …
The Ducks are going to the Rose Bowl! After lengthy deliberations, the Oregon Ducks were confirmed Sunday morning on ESPN as one of four teams in the first College Football Playoff. The New Year’s Day semifinal playoff games are No. 2 Oregon vs No. 3 Florida State in the Rose Bowl and No. 1 Alabama vs No. 4 Ohio State in …
America’s Team Last week, I wrote that Oregon’s likeliest path (if the Ducks kept playing) was a dream scenario of games against Arizona, Florida State, and Alabama. Then the Selection Committee decided to jump TCU up to three last Tuesday, trying to ruin everyone’s good time in the process. In the end, logic prevailed (depending on your perspective), and that …
Mike Merrell’s Three and Out Despite a mid-season hiccup that had bandwagon fans clinging for their dear fan-lives, the Oregon Ducks are in the first College Football Playoff as the Rose Bowl home team facing the Florida State Seminoles. It’s a great matchup: East vs West, North vs South, this year’s probable Heisman winner vs last year’s Heisman winner; and, …
As senior leaders for a talented Oregon team, Hroniss Grasu, Keanon Lowe and Derrick Malone understand a large weight was just placed on their shoulders. Not only will the playoffs be a different atmosphere from most of what the players on the team have experienced before, but they’re also pushing to prepare the younger guys to fill in for injured …
