After 8 months of waiting we have found out that Marcus Marriota will lead the team this year over Bryan Bennett. Based on comments players were making last year about Marcus when he was redshirting I was expecting this decision. Seemed like people were not saying the normal nice things you say about someone, everyone referred to him as special. His old high school coach in Hawaii said he expected big things. LMJ tweeted that Marcus may be the best passer Oregon's had.
All indications are that we have a lot to look forward to.
A word about Bennett - Bennett did a great job in the action he saw last year and could probably start anywhere, I have no doubt that we will learn very quickly that this decision has nothing to do with Bryan not being a highly capable leader. It is about a special young QB we have. Plus with our schedule this year I expect us to see plenty of Bryan and his abilities. Personally I like his style, he's a tough runner and I thoroughly enjoyed the AZ ST and CO games last year. I hope he sees enough action to keep him happy and with the Ducks. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that there are several schools he could start at if he chose to go that route.
Everyone got real high on Marcus after the spring game where he looked fantastic. I don't put a whole lot in that game because it was touch football on the QB's and we weren't really running the read option plays. The long run he had was great but I don't think he would have got passed the safety had it been a live full action game.
Both guys seem to be an upgrade from Darron Thomas. And that should make us all happy!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
New 2009 Highlights
2009 has been a great year for the Ducks. Started out very low with our loss to Boise State. Clearly the new offensive line was not ready to go, we were lucky to gel by the 4th game. Blount's punc heard round the NCAA was awful, a low point for the year. I did ot want to see him return to the team. I'm glad Chip Kelly allowed him to continue working toward his degree, hopefully he learns from his mistakes.
The Purdue and Utah wins were heart wrenching, really should not have won either of those games.
A good run in the middle of the season with huge wins over top 10 CAL and USC. We destroyed both our foes in spectacular fashion! The Halloween crushing of the Trojans was great to watch.
Unfotunately the season high was followed by another low, the loss at Stanford. Toby ran wild and our defense did not show up. I don't know if we just overlooked them or had a hangover from the previous week, it was ugly.
Then ended the regular season strong. A big win over our rivals...The Beavers!
Over in the video bar is a nice 3 part video recapping the seasons highs and lows.
The Purdue and Utah wins were heart wrenching, really should not have won either of those games.
A good run in the middle of the season with huge wins over top 10 CAL and USC. We destroyed both our foes in spectacular fashion! The Halloween crushing of the Trojans was great to watch.
Unfotunately the season high was followed by another low, the loss at Stanford. Toby ran wild and our defense did not show up. I don't know if we just overlooked them or had a hangover from the previous week, it was ugly.
Then ended the regular season strong. A big win over our rivals...The Beavers!
Over in the video bar is a nice 3 part video recapping the seasons highs and lows.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Pac-10 VS SEC 2009 - Defensive Comparison
Of course I live here in SEC country and all I ever hear about is how much better the SEC is. "Pac-10 doesnt know how to play defense", not a day goes by I don't here that. I decided to do some break downs and comparisons on this years match ups.
Those who know me know tat my point is not that the Pac-10 is better or would cream anyone in every game, but neither is the SEC. The defenses in the Pac-10 give up a lot of points because the offenses are so good, not because of bad defense.
I looked at 3 Pac-10 vs SEC Match ups.....
UCLA over Tenn 19-15 in Tenn
LSU over Wash 31-23 in Washington
Georgia over Arizona State 20-17 at Georgia
So 2-1 SEC VS Pac-10.
The Pac-10 teams that played were the #7, #8 and #9 teams of the conference.
The SEC teams that played were the #2 and #3 of the West and #2 of the East.
So 3 bottom tier Pac-10 played 3 games, 2 games on the road, against 3 top tier SEC teams and came out 1-2.
Let's look at the defenses, to compare I'm looking at the Pac-10 defensive performance vs the top 3 SEC defenses against the same teams.
The University of Tennessee's offense..........
VS.................UCLA........Alabama....Florida....LSU
Points.............15..........12.........13.........didn't play
Total Yards........208.........341........210
Passing............93..........265........93
Rushing............115.........76.........117
Keep in mind this is the #9 team in the Pac-10 compared to the #1 and #2 SEC teams.
UCLA held TN to less yards than AL and FL. While both SEC teams held TN to fewer poins. UCLA's defense performed nearly equal in every category as Florida. Bama's rush defense held better but gave up more than double the passing yards.
LSU's offense........................
VS.................WASH........Alabama....Florida
Points.............31..........15.........3
Total Yards........321.........253........162
Passing............172.........158........66
Rushing............149.........95.........96
Keep in mind this is the #7 team in the Pac-10 compared to the #1 and #2 SEC teams.
Both Bama and FL held LSU a lot better in the scoring department. LSU was able to gain 50 more yards on the ground agaist Washington.
Georgia's offense........................
VS.................AZ ST.......Alabama....Florida...LSU
Points.............20..........DNP........17........13
Total Yards........334....................286.......274
Passing............242....................164.......229
Rushing............92.....................210.......49
This is the #9 team in the Pac 10 playing on the road.
Again we see a better scoring defense out of the SEC schools.
I do see here that the numbers show a better defense in the SEC. But not by much. Considering that some of the top teams in the SEC played some of the worse teams in the Pac-10 makes these numbers look even closer.
Those who know me know tat my point is not that the Pac-10 is better or would cream anyone in every game, but neither is the SEC. The defenses in the Pac-10 give up a lot of points because the offenses are so good, not because of bad defense.
I looked at 3 Pac-10 vs SEC Match ups.....
UCLA over Tenn 19-15 in Tenn
LSU over Wash 31-23 in Washington
Georgia over Arizona State 20-17 at Georgia
So 2-1 SEC VS Pac-10.
The Pac-10 teams that played were the #7, #8 and #9 teams of the conference.
The SEC teams that played were the #2 and #3 of the West and #2 of the East.
So 3 bottom tier Pac-10 played 3 games, 2 games on the road, against 3 top tier SEC teams and came out 1-2.
Let's look at the defenses, to compare I'm looking at the Pac-10 defensive performance vs the top 3 SEC defenses against the same teams.
The University of Tennessee's offense..........
VS.................UCLA........Alabama....Florida....LSU
Points.............15..........12.........13.........didn't play
Total Yards........208.........341........210
Passing............93..........265........93
Rushing............115.........76.........117
Keep in mind this is the #9 team in the Pac-10 compared to the #1 and #2 SEC teams.
UCLA held TN to less yards than AL and FL. While both SEC teams held TN to fewer poins. UCLA's defense performed nearly equal in every category as Florida. Bama's rush defense held better but gave up more than double the passing yards.
LSU's offense........................
VS.................WASH........Alabama....Florida
Points.............31..........15.........3
Total Yards........321.........253........162
Passing............172.........158........66
Rushing............149.........95.........96
Keep in mind this is the #7 team in the Pac-10 compared to the #1 and #2 SEC teams.
Both Bama and FL held LSU a lot better in the scoring department. LSU was able to gain 50 more yards on the ground agaist Washington.
Georgia's offense........................
VS.................AZ ST.......Alabama....Florida...LSU
Points.............20..........DNP........17........13
Total Yards........334....................286.......274
Passing............242....................164.......229
Rushing............92.....................210.......49
This is the #9 team in the Pac 10 playing on the road.
Again we see a better scoring defense out of the SEC schools.
I do see here that the numbers show a better defense in the SEC. But not by much. Considering that some of the top teams in the SEC played some of the worse teams in the Pac-10 makes these numbers look even closer.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
The lack of respect for Oregon
It's always been out there but it is just ridiculous. Pac-10 is coming off a year where they won all their bowl games. The Big-10 went 1-6 last year. So lets examine this weeks big games in each conference.
#5 Ranked Penn State vs Unranked (29th in votes) Iowa
#6 Ranked CAL vs Unranked (30th in votes) Oregon
Looks like an exrtemely comparable match up.
Iowa beats Penn State 21-10 on the road.
Oregon beats CAL 42-3 at home.
So, give a kudos to Iowa for going on the road and playing a great game. Kudos to Oregon for a blowout. I may be a tad biased but I think a 39 point win should count a little more than a 10 point road win. Not by much, but a little.
Lets break down Iowa's and Oregon's other games.
IOWA is 4-0 WINS over #5 Penn State, Arizona, Iowa State and Northern Iowa.
OREGON is 3-1 WINS over #6 CAL, #19 Utah and Purdue, LOSS to #14 Boise State.
Iowa slid up the polls 16 spots while Oregon slid up 14. In the USA today poll Iowa is #17 while Oregon is #25. Wait, 25??? 2 wins over top 25 teams and we are #25?
Now lets take a look at the Top 4 teams. Currently Oregon has played more ranked teams than the top 4 teams combined.
#1 Florida is slated at this time to face 2 top 25 teams. They will undoubtedly face a top 25 in the SEC championship game bringing their total to 3. Florida's strength of schedule this year is somewhere in the 100's. Meaning it is literally one of the weakest in the country. Actually I think it is only slightly stronger than Boise State. FL International, Charleston Southern and Troy, OH MY!
Oregon has faced 3 top 25 teams in 4 weeks. Couple more to come.
#2 Texas has played Wyoming, UTEP, Texas Tech and Louisiana Monroe. They will be faing 3top 2 teams plus the Big 12 championship game.
#3 Alabama gets a kudos for opening with VA Tech, but they also have FL Inernaional, North Texas and Chatanooga on thier schedule.
#4 LSU will actually face 4 top 25 teams, if they make it to the SEC championship game it will be 5. I've watched some LSU games and I think they will not make it past all the ranked SEC teams without loosing 1 or 2. But if they do they will earn it!
If you take a look at VA Tech you will see they are now ranked #6 in the country.
They lost to Alabama and came back to have quality wins over Marshall, #18 Nebraska and #9 Miami. Thier year has been similar to the Ducks.
I've watched each of the Duck games this year. The team is playing very good ball rigt now, the O line was a HUGE question mark coming in this year and it showed against Boise State.
The moral of the story is that you should NOT give the fans what they want. Don't schedule tough games! The Ducks should have played Troy, Charleston Southern, Florida International, Chatanooga, North Texas or Louisiana Monroe. They'd be 4-0 and ranked 5th or 6th right now. Of course if Oregon played any of those teams they would have a "weak strength of schedule because they are not in the SEC."
#5 Ranked Penn State vs Unranked (29th in votes) Iowa
#6 Ranked CAL vs Unranked (30th in votes) Oregon
Looks like an exrtemely comparable match up.
Iowa beats Penn State 21-10 on the road.
Oregon beats CAL 42-3 at home.
So, give a kudos to Iowa for going on the road and playing a great game. Kudos to Oregon for a blowout. I may be a tad biased but I think a 39 point win should count a little more than a 10 point road win. Not by much, but a little.
Lets break down Iowa's and Oregon's other games.
IOWA is 4-0 WINS over #5 Penn State, Arizona, Iowa State and Northern Iowa.
OREGON is 3-1 WINS over #6 CAL, #19 Utah and Purdue, LOSS to #14 Boise State.
Iowa slid up the polls 16 spots while Oregon slid up 14. In the USA today poll Iowa is #17 while Oregon is #25. Wait, 25??? 2 wins over top 25 teams and we are #25?
Now lets take a look at the Top 4 teams. Currently Oregon has played more ranked teams than the top 4 teams combined.
#1 Florida is slated at this time to face 2 top 25 teams. They will undoubtedly face a top 25 in the SEC championship game bringing their total to 3. Florida's strength of schedule this year is somewhere in the 100's. Meaning it is literally one of the weakest in the country. Actually I think it is only slightly stronger than Boise State. FL International, Charleston Southern and Troy, OH MY!
Oregon has faced 3 top 25 teams in 4 weeks. Couple more to come.
#2 Texas has played Wyoming, UTEP, Texas Tech and Louisiana Monroe. They will be faing 3top 2 teams plus the Big 12 championship game.
#3 Alabama gets a kudos for opening with VA Tech, but they also have FL Inernaional, North Texas and Chatanooga on thier schedule.
#4 LSU will actually face 4 top 25 teams, if they make it to the SEC championship game it will be 5. I've watched some LSU games and I think they will not make it past all the ranked SEC teams without loosing 1 or 2. But if they do they will earn it!
If you take a look at VA Tech you will see they are now ranked #6 in the country.
They lost to Alabama and came back to have quality wins over Marshall, #18 Nebraska and #9 Miami. Thier year has been similar to the Ducks.
I've watched each of the Duck games this year. The team is playing very good ball rigt now, the O line was a HUGE question mark coming in this year and it showed against Boise State.
The moral of the story is that you should NOT give the fans what they want. Don't schedule tough games! The Ducks should have played Troy, Charleston Southern, Florida International, Chatanooga, North Texas or Louisiana Monroe. They'd be 4-0 and ranked 5th or 6th right now. Of course if Oregon played any of those teams they would have a "weak strength of schedule because they are not in the SEC."
Monday, September 7, 2009
Week 1 Grades
1st week of football is in the bag! Saw some good action, a couple of upsets. All in all it was good to watch some football. Going to give out some grades for the Top 25. I grade with just an old school A-F ranking and will give some brief explanations. (this week is just the top 2 as #17 TCU did not play) I've thrown a couple other teams in as well.
A - For the A's this week I'm going to go with the schools that went out of conference to compete with another top 25 and won. Kudos to the teams that have the guts to not schedule Southwest Puerto Rico Tech in their 1st outing.
Before the normal A's I'm going to go ahead and give Miami and Florida State an A. Great game to cap off opening weekend. I've always been partial to Miami so I'm glad they won but what a game. Had that last play ended in a touchdown I don't think I'd have been to sad about it.
OK State, Boise State, BYU and unfortunately Alabama. (I hate Alabama!)
I'm also going to give Vanderbilt an A. Best game I've seen them play. The young QB seems to be having some trouble with the quick reads but that will come with time. We'll find out a lot more about him next week against a solid LSU defense.
B - B's this week are going to schools that didn't face a top 25 team, but also didn't face a total cupcake. (I define a cupcake school this way - When I see them on the ticker and my 1st reaction is "huh, they have a football team?" They are a cupcake.
Utah, Penn State, Notre Dame, Cal, LSU and Ole Miss. (ever since my trip to Ole Miss last year I've been a closet fan. Great place to tailgate and a great group of fans. The welcomed the guy in the Ducks jersey with open arms and cold beers!)
Cincy also gets a B, good solid performance today from the Bearcats.
I'm going to give Navy and Northern Iowa B's for such a great games.
C - C's are given to schools who picked cupcake schools and dominated them.
Florida, Texas, USC, Kansas, Nebraska, North Carolina and Georgia Tech.
I'm also giving out C's to the schools that lost their opener to a ranked school. (you will note the exception is Oregon, my beloved Ducks can only be found in the F category.)
Georgia, Oklahoma and Virginia Tech.
D - These are schools who scheduled a cupcake and almost messed it up!
Ohio State - although Navy is not a cupcake by definition, they run a 1950's style offense and almost took the game from OH ST. I would have LOVED to see that.
Iowa also almost lost, only a blocked field goal saved them from an F.
F - The lowest grade in the book goes to my beloved Ducks. I am also adding unranked Tennessee. Not the school, the fans! UT fans are terrible, the average UT fan thinks they have won the National Championship every year and that Peyton Manning is still the QB. But back to my Ducks, I do take a little bit of pride in the fact that we didn't play Western Kentucky (like UT). Oregon doesn't get any respect out here so they try to at least schedule some kind of tough out of conference schedule. So I'm glad we played a top 25 team. I wish we had showed up and actually played. That game was aweful. Then of course was the punch. Blount was suspended from play but allowed to finish school. He has already missed a practice and I doubt he will make it to graduation. Which is a shame. An inner city kid withno much of a chance gets one, and squanders it. Even without football he could have got something out of it and maybe he will. It just doesn't look like it.
A - For the A's this week I'm going to go with the schools that went out of conference to compete with another top 25 and won. Kudos to the teams that have the guts to not schedule Southwest Puerto Rico Tech in their 1st outing.
Before the normal A's I'm going to go ahead and give Miami and Florida State an A. Great game to cap off opening weekend. I've always been partial to Miami so I'm glad they won but what a game. Had that last play ended in a touchdown I don't think I'd have been to sad about it.
OK State, Boise State, BYU and unfortunately Alabama. (I hate Alabama!)
I'm also going to give Vanderbilt an A. Best game I've seen them play. The young QB seems to be having some trouble with the quick reads but that will come with time. We'll find out a lot more about him next week against a solid LSU defense.
B - B's this week are going to schools that didn't face a top 25 team, but also didn't face a total cupcake. (I define a cupcake school this way - When I see them on the ticker and my 1st reaction is "huh, they have a football team?" They are a cupcake.
Utah, Penn State, Notre Dame, Cal, LSU and Ole Miss. (ever since my trip to Ole Miss last year I've been a closet fan. Great place to tailgate and a great group of fans. The welcomed the guy in the Ducks jersey with open arms and cold beers!)
Cincy also gets a B, good solid performance today from the Bearcats.
I'm going to give Navy and Northern Iowa B's for such a great games.
C - C's are given to schools who picked cupcake schools and dominated them.
Florida, Texas, USC, Kansas, Nebraska, North Carolina and Georgia Tech.
I'm also giving out C's to the schools that lost their opener to a ranked school. (you will note the exception is Oregon, my beloved Ducks can only be found in the F category.)
Georgia, Oklahoma and Virginia Tech.
D - These are schools who scheduled a cupcake and almost messed it up!
Ohio State - although Navy is not a cupcake by definition, they run a 1950's style offense and almost took the game from OH ST. I would have LOVED to see that.
Iowa also almost lost, only a blocked field goal saved them from an F.
F - The lowest grade in the book goes to my beloved Ducks. I am also adding unranked Tennessee. Not the school, the fans! UT fans are terrible, the average UT fan thinks they have won the National Championship every year and that Peyton Manning is still the QB. But back to my Ducks, I do take a little bit of pride in the fact that we didn't play Western Kentucky (like UT). Oregon doesn't get any respect out here so they try to at least schedule some kind of tough out of conference schedule. So I'm glad we played a top 25 team. I wish we had showed up and actually played. That game was aweful. Then of course was the punch. Blount was suspended from play but allowed to finish school. He has already missed a practice and I doubt he will make it to graduation. Which is a shame. An inner city kid withno much of a chance gets one, and squanders it. Even without football he could have got something out of it and maybe he will. It just doesn't look like it.
Friday, September 4, 2009
The punch heard round the NCAA
Oh where to start.
I'm not going to put up a video of Blount punching out a Boise State player, I think it will get more air time than it deserves already. I'm not a big fan of trash talking unless it's with people I know because they all know that I'm not serious. I can dish it out and I can take it. Making comments before games like "we need to deliver an ass whooping" don't get you anywhere, then when you punch someone in the face after you loose and after you've made that quote it really doesn't make you look good at all.
Let's talk about the Boise State player 1st. He talked crap, pushed someone that didn't need to be pushed and got belted for it. Kind of got what he deserved in my opinion. He hopefully has learned his lesson.
Blount will hopefully now get what he deserves. I hope he gets booted from the team. I already hate short tempered athletes that seem to get away with things because they are talented. The punch itself probably wouldn't warrant a dismissal. A punch, then a fight with hs own team, going after the crowd, fighting with staff, all that I believe deserves something harsh. This isn't the 1st time Blount has 'acted up'. I hope Oregon is better than most and makes a complete example of him.
Now let's talk NCAA. It's going to continue to be a dangerous situation when you have a contact sport like football. After the game you have 100+ 18-22 year old kids who just played a violent high intensity game, some who won, some who lost. Now throw in all the 18-22 drunk fans, some of who are idiots. I don't care what school you go to, there are always some idiots. Last night I thought security did a good job of keeping those fans back. I thought Frost, assistant coach for Oregon, did a great job dragging Blount out of there. I'm glad this didn't turn into a Ron Artest.
I'm not going to put up a video of Blount punching out a Boise State player, I think it will get more air time than it deserves already. I'm not a big fan of trash talking unless it's with people I know because they all know that I'm not serious. I can dish it out and I can take it. Making comments before games like "we need to deliver an ass whooping" don't get you anywhere, then when you punch someone in the face after you loose and after you've made that quote it really doesn't make you look good at all.
Let's talk about the Boise State player 1st. He talked crap, pushed someone that didn't need to be pushed and got belted for it. Kind of got what he deserved in my opinion. He hopefully has learned his lesson.
Blount will hopefully now get what he deserves. I hope he gets booted from the team. I already hate short tempered athletes that seem to get away with things because they are talented. The punch itself probably wouldn't warrant a dismissal. A punch, then a fight with hs own team, going after the crowd, fighting with staff, all that I believe deserves something harsh. This isn't the 1st time Blount has 'acted up'. I hope Oregon is better than most and makes a complete example of him.
Now let's talk NCAA. It's going to continue to be a dangerous situation when you have a contact sport like football. After the game you have 100+ 18-22 year old kids who just played a violent high intensity game, some who won, some who lost. Now throw in all the 18-22 drunk fans, some of who are idiots. I don't care what school you go to, there are always some idiots. Last night I thought security did a good job of keeping those fans back. I thought Frost, assistant coach for Oregon, did a great job dragging Blount out of there. I'm glad this didn't turn into a Ron Artest.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Disaster for the Ducks
What an absolutely terrible game.
Let's issue some grades....
Chip Kelly - F, double F. Is there an infinity F? There is now.
That was NOT the Duck offense. Going into the 4th down by 2 scores and you completely abandon the run game? Except of course for the 4th down play when we could have put 3 points on the board. I hope this was 1 game jitters and not things to come. Some people are not meant to be head coaches. I was very unimpressed with his 1/2 time comments. Hell yes you should bring some fire and brimstone into that locker room. THAT TEAM WAS F-L-A-T FLAT! And, the play calling was ridiculously predictable. The dive on 4th and 1. The screen on 4th and long. My 4th grade flag football coach could have called defenses against the Ducks tonight.
Blue Turf - F-
It's just ugly and ridiculous.
Officiating - F
This is not to say I think the Ducks got hosed, it was just bad all around.
Camera Crew - F
We missed an extra point, a kick off, a couple plays. The local high school game had better camera men than this game.
Oregon played like absolute crap tonight and honestly in the 4th QTR I thought we were going to pull it out. Even at the 6 minute mark when Boise fumbled. It's like neither team wanted to win the game. A steaming pile of dog crap that was this game.
Let's issue some grades....
Chip Kelly - F, double F. Is there an infinity F? There is now.
That was NOT the Duck offense. Going into the 4th down by 2 scores and you completely abandon the run game? Except of course for the 4th down play when we could have put 3 points on the board. I hope this was 1 game jitters and not things to come. Some people are not meant to be head coaches. I was very unimpressed with his 1/2 time comments. Hell yes you should bring some fire and brimstone into that locker room. THAT TEAM WAS F-L-A-T FLAT! And, the play calling was ridiculously predictable. The dive on 4th and 1. The screen on 4th and long. My 4th grade flag football coach could have called defenses against the Ducks tonight.
Blue Turf - F-
It's just ugly and ridiculous.
Officiating - F
This is not to say I think the Ducks got hosed, it was just bad all around.
Camera Crew - F
We missed an extra point, a kick off, a couple plays. The local high school game had better camera men than this game.
Oregon played like absolute crap tonight and honestly in the 4th QTR I thought we were going to pull it out. Even at the 6 minute mark when Boise fumbled. It's like neither team wanted to win the game. A steaming pile of dog crap that was this game.
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