Long Time Fan With High Hopes

I sit here on the eve of the 2014 Ducks football season and I'm very hopeful. The other day Joey Harrington said something like - The Oregon Ducks are one of a handful of teams that have a legitimate shot of running the table and winning it all. They have to play the games, you have to stay healthy, you have to 'show up' and sometimes you even need a lucky bounce or two. But they have a legitimate shot and that's all you can hope for. - It say well with me. Over the last twenty years, even more so the last six we've come to have high expectations for our Ducks. We've been very close to winning the whole thing. I think this team is better than all those teams. Just for comparison I thought we'd look at our current team vs the 2010 team that ran the table and came up a field goal short on the last play of the game.

First and easily the most important is Quarterback
Darron Thomas VS Marcus Mariota
Absolutely no contest. I love Darron, probably brought us the most magical season we've seen. Marcus is arguably the best QB in the country and an early favorite to win the heisman. Barring anything crazy he should be a top 3 pick in the NFL draft next year. Complete dual threat. Darron ran well but lacked any kind of top end speed. Marcus passes smooth and rarely makes mistakes. Find a QB in college with 60+ TD's and I'll show you one with 30 picks. Marcus has 10.

The second group I'm going to look at is the Wide Receiver group
Maehl, Tuinei and Huff VS Stanford, D Allen and Lowe
Obviously the new bunch is untested. Lowe is solid, great blocker and good possession receiver. You'll never hear me say a bad word about Maehl and Huff. The thing I like about the new group is that we have true WR's with burning speed. Huff could stretch the field no doubt. But Allen is literally a National Champion sprinter. I thought Stanford showed great things in his freshman campaign, he was able to learn last year since he had to redshirt. I'm not going to sit here and say this group is better, that remains to be seen. But I'm excited to see these guys, specifically in week 2. If Mich State puts up a good front and bottles up our run game we can turn Mariota loose with his new toys.

Running Backs, let's talk about em
LMJ and Barner VS Marshall, Tyner and Freeman
Let's put it this way, the new group hasn't lost any speed. In fact Tyner is faster. But the 2010 group averaged 182.5 pounds. The new group 218. 36 pounds heavier and the same speed or faster. Boom! LMJ carried the load that year with Barner coming in for relief. This year we have a 1,2 and 3 punch. Not feeling it? Switch. Tired? Switch. Every possession, switch.

The BIG BOYS
In 2010 three of our starters were 290 or under. This year we have one guy at 290, he's the smallest. We also have two clearly headed for the NFL. Grasu may be a first rounder and Fisher should make it somewhere. Grasu and Fisher have also been starting for a while. Both played in the game after the NC game when we went to LSU.

Overall I believe our offense is quite a bit better. We need to prove that against Stanford and Michigan State. Not and easy task. Not that those are the only tough games, just the ones everyone is curious about. UCLA and Washington should be tough this year and you can't overlook OR ST or Arizona.


Defensively is where we need things to get back to the swagger of the 2010 season. Don't know if everyone remembers because our focus is always on the offense but back in 2010 we didn't give up points in the 2nd half. We played quite a few close 1st half games and then just crushed people in the 2nd half. Teams looked exhausted. This is probably where teams have started to catch up to us. We've forced teams to up their conditioning. Changed the game. Remember how many "cramps" teams had that year. We haven't seen that in a while.

D Line
2010 = 261, 270, 272 and 232 The weight of our starters.
2014 = 290, 310, 290 and 250 hehehehe

Many people after the NC game said "where's the beef." Chip set out on increasing the size of the lines and here we are. Over 100 pounds bigger on the D line this year. If we can get these guys to realize their potential this could be a special group.

Linebackers
The size is about the same, Hardrick is a little bigger than the 2010 group, Malone a little smaller. Casey Matthews was a special player. One of those guys born to play LB. A student of the game who always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. It would be great if one of our new guys could become that person. Our new group is solid, but they need to become playmakers.

Last but certainly not least the D Backs
Cliff Harris was an exciting playmaker with top end speed. Ifo is a first rounder in the making, a true shut down corner. If I had to choose just one to watch it would probably be Cliff, he was the reason we beat CAL that year. If I had to choose just one to play for me it would be Ifo. Troy Hill vs Talmadge Jackson III is interesting. I'd have to lean toward Hill. But not by much. At the safety position we had another special player. John Boyett is one of my favorite Ducks of all time. Dargan tends to play like him, balls to the wall and a heavy hitter. Dargan has a lot of work to do to get up in the conversation with Boyett. We've heard a lot about Robinson, certainly his size brings something we haven't seen in our DB core, at 6 ft 4 he's a full 5 inches taller than the tallest in 2010. Hopefully that will translate to a couple more interceptions and a few more batted balls!

One of the great things about college football is you always have new players that have to prove themselves. You always have a few unproven things. Will our WR's pan out? Not sure. I think they will. I'm excited for this season.



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Season Opener - Two Weeks Away

The Ducks are back in just over two weeks! Finally!

We open with the Coyotes of South Dakota. In all reality this game should not pose any threat on any level. But still you play the games one at a time and we should have a level of expectation at every position. A sloppy game, even if it is 50-0, will still bring thoughts of disappointments last year. The word out of fall camp is that no corners are being cut, everyone is "present" on all plays. We need to see perfect excecution.

Here's what I want out of this game.

1 - No injuries. For us this is a glorified scrimmage. For them the old "this is their Super Bowl" cliche applies. Any chance to pick off Mariota, get a big sack, cause a fumble, KO a player for the Ducks? They all want a small piece. A story to tell after football is done. We need to play hard every play.

2 - I've been hearing out of camp that DeForrest is "unblockable". Let's see it. If they run, I want it blown up. If the pass, I want a sack. We have a new D-Coordinator and we've been hearing a new attitide. Like him or not Allioti brought us a lot of bend but don't break football over the years. (I did like him by the way!) I wanted to punch the commentators through the TV last year during the Beavers game when they kept insisting our master plan was to let them all the way to the red zone AND THEN shut them down. UGH!

Last year against Nicholls State they had a good drive against us in the first quarter. In my mind that simply cannot happen against our starters. Until we get past our two deep I don't think they should get more than two first downs.

3 - On offense we shouldn't see much more than a quarter and a half out of our starters. In those six drives that will all take under two minutes I want to see damn near perfection. I want to see this focus we've been hearing about, the attention to detail.

In South Dakota we are playing a team that lost by 49 points to North Dakota State. We should be bigger, faster and stronger. We should be better at every single position on the field. Honestly our team should want to win each battle at each position on each play.

I'm not concerned with seeing any one stat or set of stats on offense. When we run I want gaping holes. When we pass I want wide open receivers. I want to see a LASER focus on winning every second of this game.

I also cannot wait to see Royce Freeman. His name seems to come up a ton. NFL.com stated that Oregon had the best 1-2 punch in the country at running back. What if the 3rd guy was better than the 1-2? A tad early to say that but we have some young guys looking to crack into a playing role this year. I'm excited to see the first depth chart and also to find out who's redshirting.


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My issues with DISH NETWORK

I've had 7 months of trouble with DISH, call after call and nothing happened. It is to the point where I have contacted the attorney general of TN. I decided to put some time into recording and make this post to provide video to prove some of the troubles I'm having.


This 1st one is from 4/29. An entire show recorded blank. This is not the normal kind of issue that I have, typically the shows would be just interrupted for a few seconds to 20 seconds.  In this on or one of the others I mention "direct tv" but this is all Dish.  I'm trying to go back to direct tv where I didn't have any issues.



This next one was the Oregon Spring game, a small blip.



Here is one from May 4. A soccer game that I wasn't recording, just watching. I blipped so I went back, clicked record for a couple minutes just to document.


This is a common one here, they are harder to catch to pull up and record because its not as obvious.  May 6th.  Just a quick blip but at the 27-28 second mark you can hear the sound blip.  (don't know what else to call it.)


Here's one from 5/14.   To be fair it was stormy on this day.   In my experience nothing to knock out the satellite but it was raining this day.



Here's one from Sunday May 18th.


May 20, Tuesday.



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It is time for the big one!

Unless you listen to a bunch of ESPN, then this is about the 5th big one. Virginia's ACC sized O line was our 1st test. Then the TN Vols with their NFL bound O and D lines were our 1st test. Then we had to get tested by the Washington Huskies, their improved D and that was followed by our 1st real test against UCLA and a Heisman QB.

Yup, 5th 1st test of the year.

I'm extremely optimistic for this game. Here's why -
Currently the Ducks are averaging 55.6 to 16.9. Pretty solid.

Now think about this, the Ducks haven't put together a complete game yet. We've left points on the board and given up easy points nearly every week.

Case in point, UCLA. The 14 points they scored came on drives of 31 and 29 after turnovers. Fumbled inside the 10 and missed a FG. Four simple mistakes that turn the 28 point win into a 52 point win. Obviously someone could probably take any game and any team, identify a few things and come up with a 3-5 TD swing. If only we always perfect!!! My thought process is that our boys are fully capable of coming out and playing a solid game start to finish. And, I believe that Thursday night will be the night that we tighten up.

I think the difference in this game is our passing game. A passing game which is much improved over last year. Our receivers have been playing terrific this year. I'd like to say a play over the middle to our TE early, give everyone a reminder that Johnny Mundt tore TN a new one. Then get the speedsters Huff and Addison involved. I think Marcus is well over 300 and multiple touch downs in this game.

I think the run game does what it does. Stanford does have a solid D, I think they will slow us but not stop us. I, like many of my fine feathered friends, believe that DAT should not be a full time running back. I'm not going to tell him what he can or cannot do. But I would LOVE to see Marshall in the backfield with DAT, Huff and Addison split wide. Are you kidding me??? Marshall has been doing an excellent job running. He's been killing it. Tyner is explosive in relief. Speedsters with more size than we are used to. If we do see a full time return of DAT I hope we use him in tandem with the goal of getting him in space.

Scott Frost said we were going to show them some new looks. I remembering the National Championship game when we worked in some extra running backs. Moving people around. We could have 3-4 guys on the field at a time that have run the ball. Marshall motions out wide, DAT lines up. DAT in the backfield with Huff motioning around as a triple option guy. Shift to the Spin T with DAT, Addison and Marshall in the backfield! OK, maybe not the Spin T.

Our defense has had a great year. Always interesting that they do it so quietly since our offense gets all the press. After giving up a ton of passing yards to Wazzu they shut down UCLA and held them to 64 passing yards. The linebackers are playing smart solid football. I swear I get to the end of the game thinking that they haven't made any plays only to find out they've been making all the tackles. I love our D-Line. Size that we've never seen, we were supposed to be pushed around by Virginia and by Tennessee. NOPE!

Last but certainly not least - Coach Helfrich. I'm so pleased with this season. The WA and UCLA games show that we may be better at halftime adjustments than we were. I'm also very pleased that we are not as stubborn as we were under Chip. Don't get me wrong, love Chip to death. But I think we've found a long term coach that can be extremely successful for a long period of time.

I don't think there is anyway the guys don't show up for this game. The coaching staff will have them prepared and fired up! I think this game shows the football world that we will not be overlooked for the likes of Jameis Winston.

I'm calling this in the ball park of 56 - 14. A bold prediction that I normally don't do. I think this game makes the country go "whoa".




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Our turn to make a statement!

Last week College Game Day rolled into Clemson and Florida State took full advantage of that situation. To say they made a statement is an understatement. They put everyone on notice that they are legit. They dominated every aspect of the game from start to finish. They played their biggest game on the biggest stage.

This week, its our turn. Game Day is rolling into Eugene and we have a ranked opponent on the biggest stage. The Ducks have been no stranger to playing big games on a big stage. A trip to Michigan put everyone on notice that Dennis Dixon and his Ducks were for real. Many Duck fans recall that game as one of the best wins in program history.

In 2010 Oregon became an AP #1 team for the first time ever. UCLA was in town on that weekend and we dominated start to finish. The game is also significant because despite the #1 AP we were slighted by the BCS and ranked #2 behind Oklahoma. That game ended 60-13 (UCLA scoring a TD with under 2 minutes in the 4th QTR still using their starters against our back ups). As usual the Ducks were known for their offense but on that night our defense held UCLA 2.8 yards per carry. 290 yards on 70 plays. Darron completed 22 passes for 308 yards while the ground game racked up 270 yards on 40 carries.

This is the kind of show we need to put on for the Game Day audience this weekend. Complete and total domination. The kind of show we put on in the 1st half against Arizona State last year, 6 touchdowns in just over 15 minutes before Chip took the foot off the gas pedal. We are capable of putting up points quick. We need a great performance on both sides of the ball. A signature win that puts the Washington game to shame. Fast and furious pace on offense putting up full game numbers by midway through the 2nd QTR. A defense that puts Hundley on the run from bell to bell. Scoring on offense, defense and special teams.

Marcus Mariota completing each of his 1st 15 passes for over 300 yards.



DeAnthony Thomas getting well over 100 yards on just a handful of carries.




A game that quite simply makes every person watching say "whoa".

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HUCK the Fuskies!!!

It is that time of year. This year, I'm nervous. We ARE the better team, we shouldn't have too much trouble with the Fuskies but we've been starting slow this year and that worries me a little. Letting the mighty Volenteers or the Buffaloes jump out a TD or even two is fine, being behind a little to a team you are leaps and bounds better than is fairly easy to overcome. But the Fuskies are a pretty game opponent. Much improved over years past and just itching to reverse the last 9 years of misery. The crowd will also be crazy if they jump up early. This is the longest win streak for either side and we know it. So much talk from the fans about the National Championship game and Alabama.....Let's do our job on Saturday, then the next and the next. If we do that the National Championship will be here soon enough. The team seems squarely focused on the task at hand despite the distraction of Colt Lyerla.

I'm fairly disappointed in the outcome of Colt's tenure with the school. Obviously I don't "KNOW" what is going on but there just seems to be a need for someone older and wiser to step into his life and have a long talk with him. I absolutely LOVE watching Colt play. Love watching him block, catch, run and holy crap do I love to see him stiff arm. I hope he straightens out whatever needs straightening out, gets to the NFL and tears it up. Whoever he plays for and where ever he goes I will be a fan of the player that is Colt Lyerla. And that's all I have to say about that!

On to the Fuskies!

We can't sputter around at the start of this game. I also haven't heard a final word on DAT. Would love to have him but ultimately he needs to get better and if he can't go he shouldn't.

Marcus Mariota - I'm looking for a solid game start to finish. Marcus is playing well this year. He completion % is down but I think he's making some wise 'throw the ball away' decisions. The second De'Anthony went down I felt like he had somewhat of a red light when it comes to running the ball. A couple of early runs could provide a couple extra inches for Byron and Tyner to break some big ones.

Byron Marshall and Thomas Tyner - Last year Byron ran better. Plain and simple. He ran with aggression and a little bit of a chip on his shoulder. That has been missing this year and I want it back. If DAT is out he will carry the load and against a better team like Washington he can't be indecisive in the hole. He had a couple of very good patience runs against Colorado, but when he just needs get up in there he's a tad behind. Thomas on the other hand is lightning out there. He's been running a ton up the middle I wish they would create 4-5 plays with the sole intention of getting him the ball on the edge, the same way they did with DAT his freshman year. Remember the Jet Sweep in the Rose Bowl? Something like that!

In comes Johnny Mundt! Also Pharoah Brown! Next man up. Oregon has a tradition of turning out GREAT TE's. We also have a tradition of underutilizing them. It is so crazy because we have a ton of weapons, so I fully understand that quite often there are just not enough plays to go around. On 3rd downs I feel like the Mundt/Brown in the middle of the field should be a pretty go to move. Both those guys create a mismatch on nearly every linebacker in the country.

I think I'll get exactly what I want to see out of the wide recievers. What a consistent year they've been having. Perfect? Nope. But their effort is ridiculous. The downfield blocking is such an asset. Huff's play last week dragging people around...are you kidding me? Braylon has been making huge plays and guys like Keanon and Hawk are just solid players. We've had some penalties and some drops this year but I'm very proud of that group.

The end of this game being close or a blowout is in the defenses hands this week. Our offense is going to score, a lot. This is the 1st big test of the defense. Washington has a pretty damn good running back, a solid QB and probably the best TE in the country. (a few days ago I would have said 2nd best) Our D line and LB crew need to keep the running game shut down like they have all year. When you look at the average yards per carry against our D this year it is easy to see how great they are playing. Realize that this is a step up in competition, to hold the Fuskies to 3-4 yards a carry would send a huge message. Sankey carried the ball 27 times for 125 yards against Stanford's defense. 4.6 yards per carry. I'd love to see our guys hold him to 4 or less. Sankey did have 1 run for 30 yards to 26 times they held him very good. Price threw all over Stanford, 33 of 48 and 350 yards. I think our defensive backfield can do much better than that, and pick him off more than 1 time!

Jump out on them like last year and I think we coast fairly easy to a 55-24 win on the road. A nice day for a GameDay crowd! Let them jump on us int he first 5 minutes and I think it could be a back and forth long hard fight.

Since I'm an optimistic kind of guy I'm sticking with the 55 - 24. I don't know if my heart can take a close game. :)

Predictions -

Marcus throws for over 300 yards and runs for over 100.

Oregon scores over 50 for the 6th straight game!

Byron makes a HUGE play. I'm talking busted tackles and end zone. One that makes everyones top 10 plays of the week.

The defense stands tall and plays a little shut down D against Bishop Sankey and the Washington run game.


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Oregon VS Cal

Cal is rolling into Autzen with a 1-2 record, a pretty solid passing game and not much else to brag about. This will be a good test of our defensive backfield and I believe Ifo and the boys will be ready for the task.

Offensively we should see another track meet, Cal gave up 37 and 44 to Portland State and Northwestern. Yikes! I look for DAT to have plenty of space to show off that world class speed. Byron Marshall and Marcus Mariota should also have NO trouble running the ball in this game.

As a side note I'm still not sold on Byron's running right now. Better against TN than he did out in VA, but he has got to make a decision and hit the hole. I really want to see Thomas Tyner get 4-5 meaningful touches with the 1st string. Hopefully light a fire under Byron. I think Byron is great, solid freshman year but I just don't think he's running at the top of his game right now.

I really don't want to hear anything about Colt. Other than we throw to him as often as we threw to Mundt last week. Colt had a rough week in VA and then out last week, then Jason Quick decided to send a tweet about Colt 'obviously' not having the flu. He's defended that by saying he is a journalist. A tweet with absolutely no fact behind it was journalism. pfft. Here's my journalism - Suck It Jason Quick. Suck it long and suck it hard!

Maybe Helfrich should try a jumbo package with Colt in the backfield and both Mundt and Brown in a double TE set. Why not? May be a good set up for 4th and short in big games. :) With all 3 being viable passing options as well. If the D loads the box we shift and spread everyone out, still have Colt in the backfield. My mind is going crazy with options in a setup like that.

Marcus will do fine in this game, the Ducks will do fine in this game. What I really want to see out of him is a steady start. Crisp from the 1st snap. He's been a tad off early in games.

We're a couple games in and Ifo, Avery, Terrance and Brian have been relatively quiet this season as far as picks are concerned. To me this means we're due!!! Due for a pick 6 or two.

Cal put up 34 points on OH ST. It will be interesting to see what we hold them to. I'd like to see 100% (or near) shut down of their run game, some solid pressure from our D line and forcing some turnovers in this game.


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