Friday evening, the Ducks experienced a blow to their recruiting momentum. Highly-recruited four-star LB Bryce Youngquist committed to the Oklahoma Sooners despite saying in June there was a “90 percent” chance that he would commit to Oregon. This comes on the heels of Oregon narrowly missing on many of their top linebacker targets in the class of 2015. More recently, in addition …
What if the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil began a chain reaction that set off a tornado in Texas? This notion raised by MIT meteorologist Edward Lorenz has implications for causation in physics, economics and yes, football. The rise of the spread offense in the 21st century generated a butterfly effect on defenses. Coaches in bastions of the …
Most legends we hear about have one thing in common — they revolve around heroes. These legends also follow the same pattern of having a hero’s story arc. The hero comes in as a savior with a bright and promising future and has a major fall — only to rise again stronger than ever. During his time in Eugene, Kiko Alonso …
Looking at Oregon’s 2015 schedule most fans tend to only talk about Michigan State, Stanford, and USC. Yes, those are all very big games that will decide the fate of the 2015 Oregon Ducks, as well as the landscape of College Football. But there are other games Oregon fans need to be aware of, games that are very close to …
News Linebackers headman, Erik Chinander, is rapidly becoming one of the Pac-12’s more formidable recruiters. The second-year coach has found his niche among the nation’s elite defenders. Last week, outside backer Bryce Youngquist (4-Star/Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rivlas250) indicated his program decision may come sooner than expected as Oregon continues to fill its depth chart of the future. A longtime target, Youngquist has gone …
ESPN writer Kevin Gemmell understands Oregon and its offense more than your typical national writer or talking head. As he correctly points out, “What do you think of when you think of Oregon? Fine, after all of the uniform combinations. You think of offense. And specifically, the ground game.” OK, so he has the requisite “too many jerseys” one-liner, but he understands that …
In major Division 1 college football, it’s rare to see an athlete play both offense and defense. The reasons are quite simple: with a roster of more than 100 spots available on college football teams, players are able to become more specialized as depth increases. This allows players to get more in-depth training at a certain position, and helps prevent overuse, …
In my last article I discussed all that Gary Campbell has done for the Oregon Duck program and his impressive collection of game-day suits. Even though his collection of suits is impressive, he may not even be the best dressed coach at Oregon. There is one man who can challenge him for college football’s best dressed coach and that is Don …
It’s mid-July and the time of year when college football fans are in limbo. Spring practices have been over for close to two months and fall camp is still a couple of weeks away. Fans are looking for anything to read, watch, discuss or interact with regarding college football. It is the time of year when fans dissect their favorite …
Expectations have become perpetually high in Eugene for the Oregon football team. The Ducks have been ranked in the top five of the preseason AP and Coaches’ Polls for each of the last four years. The Ducks have then backed up these expectations by making it to the National Championship Game twice in the last five years and by being …
Offensive tackle Jake Fisher may end up leaving a legacy at Oregon far beyond winning a ton of games; he may have changed the perspective and attitude of the Duck offensive line forever. Tyler Johnstone said it well in a Chris Dufresne article for the LA Times. “He’s not a ‘win-one-for-the Gipper’ guy. He doesn’t give speeches. He’s just a …
Charles Nelson is a perfect picture of what Oregon football represents. Athleticism, strong work ethic and above all a willingness and ability to stretch himself. The sophomore exploded on to the scene as a rookie, showcasing his physical capabilities as he caught 23 passes for five touchdowns, averaging 14.2 yards per catch. Nelson has spent the offseason training with the defense, …