Honestly Ducks fans, I was planning on writing a much different article today. Don’t worry, there will always be time for spitballing nicknames for Oregon’s offensive line (Mario’s Manhandlers?) Right now, it’s gut-check time. Following the Ducks’ (3-1) heartbreaking 41-38 loss to the Oregon State Beavers (2-2) on Friday night at Reser Stadium, I came to a realization: The Beavers …
Good teams win games and lose games, but truly great teams always find a way to win. This does not mean Oregon is a great team, but they are on their way to greatness. Oregon is currently 3-0, and as fans, we haven’t felt good about any of those three wins. Against Stanford, Oregon turned the ball over twice and …
Of course, I hope I’m wrong. The Ducks have (for the most part) dominated the Beavers over the past decade, so like any green-blooded Oregon fan, I’d like to see the carnage continue. But the Ducks have played with fire so far this season by slipping and stumbling past supposedly lesser opponents in Stanford, WSU, and UCLA. A revamped offense …
A few weeks back, I wrote about the possibility of seeing a specific play from Coach Brennan Marion’s highly praised GoGo offense. Though we’ve yet to see the Oregon Ducks implement the two-back look of the GoGo, we did get to see Coach Joe Moorhead’s take on the Mesh Wheel concept against the Washington State Cougars with the kind of results …
This is not the year we envisioned for Oregon’s offensive line. We all expected to have Penei Sewell anchor the left side this fall. However, the pandemic robbed us of the opportunity to watch Sewell dominate the line of scrimmage for one final season as a Duck, as he instead prepares for the 2021 NFL Draft. Sewell’s opt-out dramatically changed …
Every year there are media darlings in college football. In 2010 it was Cam Newton, willing the Auburn Tigers to victory week in and week out. 2019 had Joe Burrow and his historically great passing season, and of course the media loves teams like Notre Dame and Texas every season, no matter how good they are. 2020 has a couple of candidates …
After the No. 9 Oregon Ducks (1-0) defeated the Stanford Cardinal 35-14 this past weekend in their season opener at Autzen Stadium, I kept thinking one thing: The Ducks’ future is so bright, I gotta wear shades. One of my biggest takeaways from Oregon’s much-anticipated debut was the youth of this team. According to the University of Oregon, the Ducks’ …
Marcus Mariota is the greatest Oregon football player of all time. He won Oregon its first Heisman Trophy and still holds most of the quarterback records for Oregon. Tragically, though, Mariota suffered the all-too-frequent fate of many great college players; he was drafted early by a team that had no idea what to do with him. At Tennessee, he played in …
We have every reason to believe the Cougar Curse it is behind us. The Ducks beat Washington State last year (barely), Mike Leach has moved on, and WSU has a new head coach and starting quarterback. The Cougars seem to be descending from a certain perch of theirs. On the other hand, the Ducks are the more talented team, they’ve …
CJ Verdell is an anomaly. The junior running back has rushed for 1,000 or more yards in each of his first two seasons. Despite the high yardage total, Verdell has only just surpassed the freshman single season total of Royce Freeman, who had an astounding 18 touchdowns in his first season. Sitting at 19 career rushing touchdowns, Verdell seems to be …
The idea of the Oregon Ducks perhaps adding the GoGo offense is an exciting one. As we’ve learned from Coach Mosier and Mr. FishDuck the last couple days, the GoGo is an offense that can give defenses all kinds of fits. Though the GoGo can apply substantial pressure in the run game through its unique, twin-back formations, that pressure makes …
I never thought I would do this, but, I’m going to apply Bob Dylan to sports. (Stick with me, folks!) As Dylan once sang, “Oh the times, they are a-changin’.“ As talk of an amendment to the NCAA’s transfer rules heats up, Dylan’s words may prove more true than ever. In a move that could rock college sports to the …
