A lot can happen in three games. Three games ago, Oregon’s season appeared on the brink of disaster. The Ducks were perched at 3-3, and had just lost at home to Washington State, making FCS Portland State the only team from the state of Oregon to beat the Cougars this year. If Oregon couldn’t beat Washington State, who could they beat? Were …
Well that escalated quickly. After giving up 10 quick points and an end zone interception to start the game, the Oregon Ducks exploded for 31 straight points before halftime, while stuffing Cal’s potent offense en route to a 44-28 win. The game was not nearly as close as the final score would suggest; it was 31-10 at the break. The …
Vernon Adams was given an impossible task — be the quarterback who replaces Marcus Mariota. Media and fans tried to temper expectations, but it was clear from early on; no one said they expected Adams to be Mariota, but secretly they were evaluating his performance based on the same standards — winning the first Heisman Trophy in school history can …
Even on the weeks the Ducks have a bye, college football Saturdays are great. Midseason may have a large number of teams on their bye week, and many highly-ranked teams delivered blowouts Saturday, but that doesn’t mean Saturday wasn’t filled with plenty of sneaky good games. It started with a pair of quadruple-overtime games in the first two blocks of …
Oregon’s 4-3 start to the 2015 season is nothing to complain about. As fans, we are all lucky to have a team to root for at all, let alone a winning one. Still, it takes some getting used to watching the Ducks play without that ranking sitting next to Oregon’s logo on the broadcast scoreboard after a 98-week streak. A dropoff in …
Sitting at breakfast Saturday morning, an older Oregon fan gave me a hearty “Go Ducks!” as he walked by. Then he approached me, leaned in, and with the protracted delivery that lets one know that wisdom is about to be dispensed, he whispered, “… but I don’t think we’re going to win today.” I told him that I couldn’t say …
Much to many a Duck fans’ delight, Vernon Adams returned to the field to lead the Ducks in vanquishing the University of Washington Huskies. He was very effective converting on third down and made several great downfield throws when opportunity arose. This analysis focuses on one of Vernon’s traits that almost assuredly aggravates his coaches, but is even more aggravating for …
Let’s talk about toughness. Since the beginning of the Chip Kelly era and the glorious run Duck fans have enjoyed over the past several years, toughness has always been one of the biggest question marks for Oregon football. Do the Ducks have what it takes to go up against a powerhouse program and win with hard-nosed defense and grinding offense when …
In the tradition of FishDuck.com articles that make you ponder, I ask Duck fans to address questions concerning a quarterback at Oregon most have already written off: Morgan Mahalak. You will learn some new things here, and they have not come from an interview with Morgan, but from snippets of interviews with other Oregon players who have happened to mention him. There are …
Mike Merrell’s Three-and-Out With Saturday night’s loss to Washington State it is now pretty much official that this year’s version of Oregon football is going down as a bad year, the end of the streak, or some other description that is even less complimentary. The 3-3 Ducks are only a play a game away from being 5-1, but there’s no …
Confusion. Okay, now that I’ve answered the entire question of the article I guess I’ll just go home … … Kidding. But seriously, confusion is the only appropriate answer for how the Ducks game unfolded. Over the course of this article, I will do my best to shine a light on some controversial moments, but trust me, I am not …
It’s the start of Pac 12 play! Who is excited? I know I am! The Ducks kick off conference play against Utah Saturday in Autzen Stadium. It’s move-in weekend for the students (that includes myself), so you know the student section is going to be pumped. Last week, we found out that Vernon Adams’ broken finger was bad enough to …