A new Friday series are the OREGON UNKNOWNS, where we look at interesting aspects about our beloved Ducks that few fans know about. Some are amusing facts or stories from the inside, while others are the humorous incidents that we fans rarely hear about. Emerging out of a dark era in Duck athletics, the University of Oregon needed to find …
Recruiting Update: Oregon Looking to Re-Unite Teammates from the Deep South
Basketball Recruiting News With Oregon set to begin its tournament run this coming Thursday, west-coast big man and prized Duck target Aaron Gordon (5-Star/San Jose, CA/Rivals150) quietly set his announcement date for April 3rd at the McDonald’s All-American Game. The 6’8″, 205 lb. low post behemoth re-added the Ducks late in the recruiting cycle and is now thought to be …
Tyner Looms As Next Five-Star Challenge
I have often wondered how big-time schools like USC can get so many five-star recruits, and limit them under their star potential. For the most part, players earn their stars for a reason, but it is up to the coaches to make them realize that talent. I would like to highlight some ups and downs of past Oregon five star …
Referee Analysis: The Stanford Debacle
Larry Scott knew he had a problem. If he didn’t know it when he took the job in 2009, he certainly knew it when he brought in former NFL VP of Officiating Mike Pereira in 2011 to fix it. His referees sucked, to put it bluntly, and it was the one of the key obstacles in harnessing the growth potential …
Pro Day: From a Fan’s Point of View
For the final time, a collection of outgoing Oregon players got to show their talents at the Moshofsky Center in Eugene on Thursday. Each player has worked hard to improve his talents in the facility in their tenure at Oregon now was the time to show off those skills on their home turf in the Mo Center for NFL scouts …
Oregon Recruiting Manifesto Part 2: What Went Wrong
This multi-week series will attempt to take a reasonable, logical and unbiased look at Oregon’s recent recruiting successes and failures while analyzing the program’s recruiting philosophy under Chip Kelly. The series will then look at how that philosophy already has and may continue to evolve under Mark Helfrich before ending with a detailed breakdown of the author’s ideal recruiting blueprint. …
Stars — Injured Or Not — Shine On Oregon’s Pro Day
The stars were out in full display on Thursday at the Mo Center for Oregon’s Pro Day, both on the field and off. In the annual showcase for NFL scouts, Oregon seniors set out one last time in an attempt to woo them. Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, who owns the number one overall pick in April’s draft, …
Oregon Unknowns: Success On The Field Rips The Roof Off Autzen Stadium
Prior to when the current 89 game sellout streak began at Autzen during the 1999 season, tickets to most Duck football games came easily for those that wanted them. Didn’t have season tickets? No problem; you could often walk up to the ticket booth and purchase seats up until kickoff. That is, if you made it past the “informal secondary ticket market” – …
Where Does Oregon’s Projected 2013 Draft Class Rank Compare To Those Of The Past?
When the NFL draft was instituted in 1936, the process was so primitive that it would be completely unrecognizable today. There were no scouts, no Internet, and no combine. Instead, executives simply selected players based on rumors, word of mouth, and newspapers clippings. In fact, the first draft in 1936 took place in a hotel room with the names of …
RUDY. RUUDY. RUUUDY! RUUUUDY!!: Overachieving Ducks of the Chip Kelly Era
National Signing Day is, by now, a distant memory. We silently fist-pumped (probably at work) as preps across the nation used something called a “facks machine” for the first (and probably last) time to send their NLIs to Eugene. We looked over the tremendous haul of new Ducks recruits, nodded in approval, and said things like, “THAT KID IS A …
Recruiting Update: Helfrich to Paint Saban’s Backyard Green & Yellow!
Football Recruiting Offers/News New headman Mark Helfrich is starting his tenure with a bang. Oregon’s normally reserved practice of extending offers late in the recruiting cycle appears to be all but gone. The newly termed “The Magnificent Seven” are hot on the recruiting trail and offers are a-plenty for aspiring preps who fit the Oregon mold. Tight ends Zack Bornstein …
Oregon Has A Counter Play After All!
Read, react, adjust: that’s probably the fastest way to summarize the inner mechanisms of Oregon’s increasingly deceptive and effective play calling. With defenses constantly finding new ways to attack and defend the Duck offense, reading each scheme and then reacting to the defenders is hard enough on every down; but what Oregon fans have learned over the past four years …
