The announcers during the Alamo Bowl are already discussing the perceived weakness of the Pac-10. Arizona just got flat out smacked around the field today (except for a cheapshot by Hall) against a Big-12 team team, which the former conference had their own issues this bowl season.  The announcers are obviously missing the story: the USC trickle down effect.  Undoubtedly UW is going to repeat Arizona's failures in their respective bowl game and we will get to hear some shallow analysis about the lack of strength in the Pac-10.

Let's remember that USC is the third best team in the Pac-10 and they are bowl ineligible because of NCAA sanctions and not their record.  The bowl lineup hypothetically could have been: Oregon vs. Auburn, Stanford vs. VaTech, USC vs. Nebraska, Washington vs. Oklahoma State and Utah vs. Arizona.  Furthermore, ASU is a probable bowl team if their FBS OOC opponent doesn't back out at the last minute but I digress. 

After looking at my hypothetical lineup, you see that this is much better for the Pac.  USC with time to prepare is one of the best in the country.  With all their talent and time to recover (Barkley was playing on a sprained ankle and Mustain was terrible in relief) USC vs. Nebraska actually lines up well for the Trojans, which have been dreadful against the pass but would do well against NU's one dimensional attack.   SC was an offensive juggernaut until Barkley sustained the sprain; you have to assume that the layoff would have helped them regain form.

Washington trended in a good direction as the season wore on, especially on defense.  I believe that Oklahoma State rolls but not by any more than they just beat up on Arizona.  Utah's ineptitude on offense and Arizona's defense probably gets them the win in the Las Vegas bowl.

James and crew tonight really didn't touch on the loss of Braxton enough.  Arizona has been very good in pass protection and the loss of Braxton, a second team all pac 10 center and leader of that line, really was felt.  How would our line would deal with the loss of Holmes?  Oklahoma State got pressure all night even though Arizona stood up to one of the best DL units in Iowa earlier this year.

All of this to say: let the talking heads, SEC fans and maybe even the Auburn team believe that the Pac-10 is soft.  We know that a 7-5 Arizona team that went 4-5 in the PAC was playing over their heads and the theme will repeat itself again when Washington plays Nebraska.  It will only help our chances come Jan. 10.

Go DUCKS and Fuck the Huskies!

Due to a couple requests, here are some links for today's scrimmage.  I will give the bullet points:

1. LaMichael James, our redshirt freshman running back, being dubbed the "fastest feet in FBS" by yours truly, figures to be a force.  He is playing the TAZER position created by Chip Kelly and figures to be catching the ball as much as running it.  With 75 total yards today on 6 touches plus a couple td's to boot, he is living up to the hype. 
2. Our offensive line is run blocking well but not so much in the pass protection department.  There's no supporting link, so it's just the scuttlebutt on the blogs.  It's BSU in reverse! 
3. Nate Costa is providing depth at quarterback demonstated by his 12-15 performance.  He has 3 ACL injuries to the left knee, so we are all keeping our fingers crossed.  Even our true freshman looked decent on the day, so our #4 ranking for quarterback depth is being validated. 
4. Masoli's completion percentage took a dip for the worse.  He was absolutely stellar in the spring game, however.  A lot of this is being attributed to bad pass protection and our "walking wounded" receiving corp.  With projected starters DJ Davis, Holland and uber-talent Gaines, all missing from the scrimmage, Masoli has no one he has been gelling with over the summer.    
5. Lavasier Tuinei might be a name to get familiar with because he has taken advantage of injuries with a 6'7" lanky frame he figures to give cornerback match up problems.  He is athletic with 4.5 speed and a 35+ inch verticle.  The secret is too jam is 210ish frame. 
6. The mantra for this camp seems to be speed.
7. The biggest news to come out of the scrimmage: was literally this run by Blount - please enjoy.

Anyway, in the vein of "know they enemy" I brought my recap with links to support.  Now please proceed with the normal biased hyperbole that always brings me to stiches.

Feast your eyes on this...I saw this floating around the web and figured it was fanpost worthy for all ATQ'rs to enjoy. 

Lagarrette Blount preps for Boise State (via Wildchubby91)

I think we can put to bed any questions about Blount's level of dedication.  Can Blount be the feature back?  I am not too worried with the emergence of LMJ in fall camp.  With this kind of power and "le backfield" that will include the quickest feet in the FBS, teams are not going to be able to game plan our rushing attack for a third straight year.  No wonder the Lattimore's of the world are giving us serious consideration.  Our offensive line by all account is run blocking well.  We just need them to protect Masoli in the pocket. 

In light of recent arguments made by BSU fans, I delved into some statistics.  I was curious about how bad the WAC really is.  In all fairness, BSU has my attention and respect.  I want to take nothing away from them.  However, I am little annoyed by their insistence at being slighted by the BCS.  If one or two posters were making the comments than I would dismiss it as the "one bad apple" syndrome.  However, there is a certain recurring theme the fanbase in its entirety echoes: "we win all our games than we should be in a BCS game."  I am going to say this once and for all: "you didn't belong in the BCS!"  The year they were deserving they made it.  The BCS has been more than fair.

Let's look at last year's body of work.  Their notable wins were against Oregon and Nevada.  Oregon at the time had their 4th and 5th string quarterbacks in the game.  In no other game did Oregon play Chris Harper at quarterback except for situationally (i.e., running plays).  Thomas threw a pass in a trick play but in no other games did he complete a pass.  Undeniably Boise State played a shadow of the team that the rest of our schedule faced.  The rest of the nation took notice too.  Nevada, their other quasi-quality opponent, took them to the wire.  After these two teams: their schedule was rife with cream puffs.  Oh, yeah, I am forgetting their two other MAC OOC games that may just be worse. 

Here is the verdict:

conference win/loss record versus the 6 BCS conferences during regular season: 4-12

average points scored: 16

average points scored against: 37

average margin of victory:  9

average margin of loss:  31

biggest margin of victory: 17 (Fresno State against Rutgers that started 1-5)

biggest margin of loss: 70 (Arizona vs. Idaho)

higest point total: 37 (BSU vs. Oregon)

lowest point total: 0 (Arizona vs. Idaho, Kansas vs. LaTech)

Wins verses BCS teams with winning record: 2 (Rutgers 7-5 and Oregon 10-3)

Away wins versus BCS teams: 1

Bowl record: 1-3

Essentially the WAC notched victories against Miss State, UCLA & Rutgers outside of the BSU vs. Oregon marquee WAC victory.  Fresno State accounts for 2 of those victories (they are still the giant slayers).  FSU did beat a Rutgers team that was eventually bowl bound after starting the season 1-5. 

Over at OBNUG they are blathering on and on about how they've been slighted (go see their first fanpost).  Yet, can a reasonable person really look me in the eye and tell me they're more deserving than the 6 conference champions and invites ALABAMA, TEXAS and UTAH (I am forgetting someone)?  They ended up losing to TCU in their bowl game and were outgained by the second place MWC team 472-250 yards.  They were not at all impressive in that game, save some turnovers.  Against teams with a pulse they gave up 464 to Oregon and 472 to TCU.  This vaunted defense that gave up 12 points a game isn't a farse because, hey, they gave up only 385 to Nevada, which is well below their season average (so would say a BSU fan).  However, Missouri, not known for their defense, one upped them allowing only 362 yards to Nevada. 

All in all, I would put BSU's defense in the same category as last year's Oregon State or Arizona defense.  They are high quality but not dominate.  Their offense was stagnate at times due to bad rush blocking by their line.  In conclusion, they were a derserving top 25 team but not BCS material, which is not slight in the least.     

[Editor Note]: nice article by BisonDucks here and good for some weekend discussion! Bumping to the front page - dvieira

When Fall Camp commences on Aug. 7 competition will be opened up and positions will be up for grabs.  Of course, most positions are solidified with the exception of injury.  However, the DT position next to Brandon Bair looks to be hotly contested.  In fact, most people concur that the tandem is interchangeable.  I wanted to poll Addicted to Quack bloggers to weigh in on this battle, so here it goes.

First things first, I hope to counteract any preconceived notions about how second rate our DT position appears.  Sure, we lost Thompson, Wade & Fili and now everyone else seems like chopped liver.  Believe it or not, outside of those three guys we actually offered scholarships to other DT prospects (and they got offers from other BCS schools!).  These two featured subjects are broken down from recruitment to present and, as you will discover, have a lot to bring to the table. 

Blake Ferras 

Ferras captained the JUCO National Championship team in 2007: CC of San Fransisco.  Of course, Jeremiah Masoli had something to do with that championship as well.  However, Ferras didn't take the conventional route to junior college; he was initially a walk-on to Idaho turned scholarship athlete in 2005.  He transferred the next year displeased with the coaching instability, a fortuitious set of circumstances for the Ducks.  In 2007 Blake Ferras didn't disappoint.  He anchored the defense with 25 tackles, 8 tfl, 4 sacks in 10 games.  He saved the best for last closing out the season with 6 tackles and 3 for loss in the championship game. 

Along the way Blake garnered BCS interest for his services.  He had a whirlwind of a recruitment, which saw him verbally committing to Wisconsin, sending in his LOI to Oregon and visiting our campus in between.  Wisconsin offered per Rivals but then rescinded after their class reached 23 recruits.  That and mammoth prep recruit, Darius Parish, was deciding between Wisconsin and Kansas.  Those who followed his recruitment believed that Nebraska was making a last minute push for his services but they were no long available after a short courtship with Oregon.  Ferras ended up a very solid D1 recruit and by all accounts a 3* with a very respectable 5.5 rival rating.

Continue reading this post »

LaMichael James hasn't played a down of D-1 football but the hype machine continues with the lastest article by Steven Lassan of Athlon.  He dubs him as a sleeper running back along with notables Joe McKnight and Ryan Bass.  He goes onto say,

"LaMichael James, Oregon - There's no question LeGarrette Blount is the starter, but the Ducks hope James can take 5-10 carries away per game and the offense not miss a beat. With Jeremiah Johnson sharing such a large chunk of the carries last year, the Ducks will find someone who can spell Blount, along with experiencing some fantasy success themselves."

I am as excited about him as the next person with his purported top shelf speed and seemingly natural field vision in the open space - a perfect marriage between CK's spread offense and his skillset is on the horizon come this fall.  I started thinking about what 5-10 carries in this offense might mean for LaMichael James and the Oregon Ducks and, of course, the adrenal glands started pumping.  At a 7 ypc clip (it's as good of a bet as three dollars a gallon gas this summer), he'd finish the season with roughly 420-840 yards rushing.  If he reaches the latter figure than I am here to tell you that good things are in store for Oregon come the 2009 season and beyond.  This all begs the question: what is a reasonable amount of production to expect from LMJ? 

I am personally high on Alston (sorry Crenshaw) as well.  For that reason, I believe that Alston and LMJ share time behind LGB to limit his production to around 500 yards.   Of course, I just hope that the running back by committee theory doesn't run the risk of hurting the production of everybody, a la 'SC.