College Football Nation: No Quarterback at USC and Sonic Boom Buns

Jeff Hostetler FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

By this time next week you will be happy or sad for multiple reasons.  Your favorite team will have taken the field and either given you hope for the season or made you dread the rest of it.  The majority of fans will witness their teams feasting on early-season “cupcakes.”  A few teams will step up to the plate in …

Revisiting the odd, yet brilliant, career of Darron Thomas

Victor Flores Men of Oregon: Players and Coaches

from Video The last few years of Darron Thomas’ football career have been remarkably strange for someone who was an elite college quarterback.  In fact, those three words – “elite college quarterback” – can be thrown into the pile of Thomas weirdness because there are some people who do not think the former Oregon quarterback was all that great. The …

National Crises Solved Here

Kim Hastings FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

onpoint.wbur.org Good morning, birds of a feather.  It has been said that sports are an escape from the problems of the world.  I suggest that they are more important than that.  We all know that this country has some problems that it needs to solve.  The world of sports offers not just a distraction, but solutions. Dependence on Foreign Energy: Political …

No One’s Crashing The Party: The Real Contenders for the Crystal Football

Nathan Roholt FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Kevin Cline On Monday, we looked at who could potentially crash the National Championship Game, but we all know that is not happening.  It’s going to be two of the five teams below that play for a title.  But who has the best chance?  Let’s find out, unlikeliest to likeliest. 5) Stanford The last three years, the Oregon-Stanford game has …

PAC-12 Talent Rankings: Who’s on Top?

Chris Charbonnier FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

There is no debate: in college football, nothing is more important than talent. The overwhelmingly positive correlation between talent and winning says it all. While many factors go into becoming a successful, winning program, no other has as much of an impact as talent. There’s a reason coaches take recruiting so seriously. This week, we look at the four most …

The Freakish Boseko Lokombo is Ready to Dominate

Victor Flores FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Rob Moseley knows a beast when he sees one. Moseley, the new editor-in-chief of GoDucks.com, has been covering Oregon football for more than a decade, so he’s personally seen some of the best players in Ducks history. This month, Moseley has been writing daily (sometimes twice-daily) reports from each of Oregon’s closed fall practices. Anyone reading them will notice a …

Which Current Ducks Have A Shot at the Record Books?

Joey Holland Editorials

Kevin Cline  Offense.  Defense. Special teams.  While Oregon may not be Alabama or Ohio State in terms of tradition, prestige, or heritage, the Oregon football program has a rich history filled with star-studded teams and immense talent in all three phases of the game. Among the long list of former Oregon football players, a handful stand out atop the school’s record books, …

Fall Camp Update – Which Players are making the biggest impressions?

Luc Hancock FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Kevin Cline With the dog days of summer behind us, the Ducks have officially begun their season, diving into fall practice.   Comfortably installed in their new digs, Helfrich and company have high expectations from fans and the media for this upcoming season.  This month of practice will be crucial for the coaching staff to identify talent and ultimately decide who will …

Ducks’ Championship Quest Stands at a Pivotal Moment

Don Gilman FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Kevin Cline “The Quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little, and it will fail.” — J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings This year is one of the most important years in the history of Oregon football. During the years of Mike Bellotti, the football program was solid – very successful, but never quite reaching the …

Recruiting Update: The Dancing Bear Returns

Mark Flores FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Kevin Cline Football Recruiting News You thought I was going to lead off with Portland Trail Blazers legend Arvydas Sabonis, didn’t you? What! This is football season… oh, just you wait. Oregon is waist deep in two-a-days, and a clearer picture of the 2013 campaign is rapidly taking shape. Headliners of head coach Mark Helfrich’s first recruiting class, running back …