SB Nation - Kyle Long

How We Go: PLEASE NO MORE INJURIES

jtlight — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 17:00:22 -0000

The Ducks are hosting an FCS team this weekend. Tennessee Tech to be exact. A classic cupcake game, the Ducks should be able to roll up over 500 yards without breaking a sweat. Over the past two seasons, the Ducks have outscored FCS foes 125-7, and that trend will continue in this game.

But this matchup comes at a much more interesting and opportune time than the previous games against Portland State in 2010 and Missouri State in 2011. With the injuries to Carson York and Josh Huff, the Ducks need to use every chance they can get to develop continuity while stay healthy. This is a great week to see that happen as the Ducks tune up before conference play begins.

First, the Ducks must come together along the offensive line. While there is a lot of talent in the two-deep, with the loss of York, the Ducks have either new faces or youth at just about every position. Hronnis Grasu and Nick Cody started last season, but the Ducks have a freshmen, a sophomore, and a JC transfer holding down the tackles, and all of them have had injury issues this year. With this youth and inexperence, the group simply needs to get as much playing time together as possible.

It's been easy to see the talent along the offensive line. You can see flashes with a dominating pancake block at the line or a lineman getting out in space, but the most important aspect of offensive line production is continuity. The linemen must learn to play with each other and trust each other. We've seen some inconsistency in the first two games, which is to be expected, but the line simply must get as many snaps as possible together, and hopefully stay healthy doing it. Unfortunately in the first two games, this has not been able to happen as well as we'd hoped. Tyler Johnstone was knocked out of the Arkansas State game. Kyle Long didn't play against Fresno State and Jake Fisher and Ryan Clanton missed the second half due to injury. These guys have to get used to playing together, and work on improving as a cohesive unit.

At receiver, we'll need to wait and see if Josh Huff is playing. Luckily, he is the only significant injury to the receiving corp at the moment. One of the biggest issues to wide receiver production last season was that there was little stability with so many receivers missing time due to injury. Wide receiver has been a nice surprise so far this season, and with only one injury so far, I am excited to see that continue.

The best news of the week; Kenjon Barner, De'Anthony Thomas, and Marcus Mariota are healthy. The best we can hope for this weekend is that it stays that way for another week.

Oregon Football Loses John Boyett, Carson York, Two Irreplaceable Ducks

Avinash Kunnath — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 11:00:29 -0000

The Oregon Ducks have tried to cruise through their OOC play as much as they can unscathed, even if it means less than remarkable victories. Unfortunately, they're not getting that luck. The injury bug that's bitten the rest of the Pac-12 is starting to hit them in the worst spots.

You have the critical John Boyett, one of the best free safeties in the nation, out with patellar tendon tears.

"I’ve had a lingering injury that I played through all last year," Boyett said in a prepared statement published on the Napa (Calif.) Valley Register website. "The hope was, through different treatments and certain types of rehab during this past offseason, they would heal up and I’d be ready to go for my senior year. But unfortunately, it didn’t work out as planned. I’ve been dealing with a tremendous amount of pain for a long time.

You have right guard Carson York, one of Oregon's best linemen, out with a broken kneecap.

"(It’s) sort of like, they repaired the cable and instead of the cable breaking again, the wall broke," said York, always one of Oregon’s most quotable players.

Where does that leave Oregon? In uncertain territory, that's where.

For all the talk about the USC Trojans being a team that could least afford injuries, the Oregon Ducks aren't too far behind. For the first time in a long time, there just isn't that much experience at many positions. The wide receivers still struggle to catch footballs. The offensive line isn't blocking quite as well. They're only 23rd this year in rushing YPC against weaker OOC competition, a concerning down from top 5 numbers the past two seasons.

As remarkable as Oregon's run of unparalled success has been their genuinely clean bill of health the past two seasons. Durability was the mark of this team as much as their speed and execution, exemplified by the Iron Duck LaMichael James. When Oregon stayed healthy, they were almost unbeatable; their players weren't just endurance machines, but they had the requisite experience to dominate their foes within their scheme.

This year, Oregon has been anything but healthy. Offensive linemen keep on getting hurt, and now their top lineman in York is out. Josh Huff has dealt with injuries. Boyett is the only significant injury on defense so far, but Oregon doesn't really have a replacement handy at free safety. That's a problem going forward.

Pac-12 Voices

Ted Miller of the ESPN Pac-12 Blog details the entire Oregon list of injuries.

Rob Moseley also reported that "senior Kyle Long did not play at all on the offensive line [against Fresno State], and Carson York, Jake Fisher and Ryan Clanton all were sidelined by game’s end."

Wide receiver Josh Huff was on the sideline using crutches Saturday due to an apparent knee injury of unknown severity. Senior Rahsaan Vaughn is Huff's most likely replacement.

DE/DT Jared Ebert didn't play against Fresno State, also because of an apparent knee injury. His absence likely will mean more playing time for true freshmen Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner.

At Addicted to Quack, jtlight details the tough nature of the Boyett injury for the Ducks.

This is simply devastating news, as this effectively ends Boyett's career as a Duck. Already having redshirted, there is little chance he would receive a waiver from the NCAA to play another season. Boyett has been a leader on the defense for 3 years, and he will be sorely missed, not only for his on-the-field production, but because he played with a fearlessness and tenacity not seen often.

The Ducks now face a tough situation at safety. Boyett is probably the player on the roster toughest to replace. There is little proven talent behind him, nor have the knack for playing free safety. In fact, Boyett is the only player on the roster listed as a free safety. The Ducks will need Avery Patterson and the rest of the secondary to step up quickly. Luckily they will have another game before conference play begins.

NeuroDoc Duck touched on the nature of repairing damaged knees at Fish Duck. Well worth the read if you're interested in the nature of repairing sports injuries..

Quack Fix: Examining the debuts on the offensive and defensive lines

ntrebon — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 13:46:24 -0000

It sure is great to have college football back in our lives. You're now able to make your picks for this week's jersey contest, so don't forget to head over to our pool at funofficepools.com.

Three first-year players saw extensive action on the lines against Arkansas State, with Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner at defensive end and Kyle Long at left tackle. All three had solid debuts and should continue to see plenty of meaningful snaps, particularly Armstead and Buckner if Jared Ebert's injury is as significant as it appears.
Aaron Fetnress also has a story on Long's debut, who talks not only about his first gameday experience at Autzen but also trying to pick up the Oregon offense in a few short weeks.
The injury news for left tackle Tyler Johnstone is better, as he told reporters that he'll be full go at today's practice after taking it easy on Monday.
Ted Miller has his week 2 power rankings with Oregon in second, though he notes that Oregon has closed the distance between them and the Trojans after Marcus Mariota's performance on Saturday. In case you missed it yesterday afternoon, the Pac-12 blog named Mariota it's player of the week and also took a quick look at the upcoming week 2 games.
In case you're interested, here's John Hunt's AP ballot. His top 5 are: Alabama, USC, LSU, Oregon and Oklahoma.
FishDuck has a video report up from the Arkansas State game.
The undefeated Duck volleyball team (6-0) climbed up to #13 in the latest AVCA poll after a weekend that included a sweep of #10 Kentucky.

Go Ducks!

WSU Vs. Western Oregon: A First Look At The Wolves

Craig Powers — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 17:32:32 -0000

Washington State gets back to the court after a week off for finals as they take on Western Oregon today at 4:35 pm Pacific Time. Western Oregon is a NCAA Division II school. In the past, Division I teams have not scheduled Division II schools, as I assume the games were not counted towards postseason qualifcation. I cannot find anything on a rule change, but this year has seen an increase in the number of Division II and NAIA opponents impacting Division I overall records and statistics. This game today will not be an exhibition match for WSU (Unlike their opening game against Lewis and Clark State), it does affect their season record and all numbers tallied in the game will count towards the players' totals.

With that, I feel it is my obligation to give Western Oregon a proper, albeit shortened, preview.

On offense, the Wolves' two most important players are senior guards Blair Wheadon and Kyle Long. Wheadon is the most efficient scorer of the two, posting a 59 eFG% and a 108 offensive efficiency rating while using 26% of the possessions and shooting 23% of the shots while he is on the floor. He is a good shooter, knocking down half of his three point attempts and 90% of his free throws. Long takes his share of threes, but works much more inside the arc than Wheadon. He leads the team in possession usage at 29% and shot percentage at 25%. Overall, he is hurting the Wolves by taking such a huge role. His offensive efficiency rating is just 89 and his eFG% is at 49.

As a team, Western Oregon has done very well on the offensive end, scoring 1.11 points per possession. They've been decent at grabbing their own misses, posting a 35 OR%. They've taken care of the basketball well, with a 19 TO%, but don't get to the free throw line much, with just 33 free throw attempts per 100 field goal attempts. Led by Long, Wheadon, and Kolton Nelson, they have shot the three well, hitting 40% of their attempts. Still, the three is not a huge part of their offensive attack as it only accounts for 28% of their FGA and 26% of their total points.

On defense, the Wolves have been fairly stout, allowing just 0.93 points per possession to their opponents limiting them to a 46 eFG%. They've done about an average job on the glass, allowing teams to grab 32% of offensive rebounds. Turnovers have been important, as they've forced the opposition into giving the ball away on 24% of their possessions. 46% of opponents' field goal attempts have come from beyond the arc, so it would seem that Western Oregon plays a lot of zone and packs in the middle.

Of course the one large caveat is that all of these numbers cannot be taken for face value. They have been compiled against a schedule consisting of Division II and NAIA schools. Scoring 1.11 points per possession against that is not nearly the same as 1.11 against Division I teams. A drop in shooting percentages, rebounding percentages a rise in turnovers is to be expected when they face a Pac-12 school with bigger, stronger, and faster athletes.

Western Oregon is a good Division II school, they have won nine in a row and look to contend for their conference title. Still, there will be a talent gap large enough in this game that allows WSU to win easily.