SBNation.com User Blog: ntrebon

Quack Fix: A final Civil War matchup and Ducks miss out on Memphis transfer

ntrebon — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:05:44 -0000

Not a lot of news out there this morning, but here's what I could scrounge up:

The baseball team gets one final shot at Oregon State tonight in Corvallis in a non-conference matchup. While this game won't count in the Pac-12 standings, the Ducks are two games back after dropping the last two over the weekent to the Beavers. Oregon will finish up the regular season with a road series against Utah this weekend.
Over at the Pac-12 blog, Ted Miller presents five things the conference (and some of its members) need to do in the final 100 days before the 2013 season begins. Resolving Oregon's NCAA case comes in a #1.
In the latest ranking by Baseball America, Oregon slipped down to #11 while the Beavers rose two spots to #4. UCLA (#8) and ASU (#19) are the two other Pac-12 schools inside the top-25.
Memphis transfer Tarik Black has decided to play his final season at Kansas. Black had been considering Oregon along with Duke, Ohio State and Georgetown and had been rumored to be favoring the Ducks a few weeks ago.
Shortstop J.J. Altobelli was one of fourteen named to the latest watch list for the Brooks Wallace Award, given to the nation's top shortstop. The sernior is hitting .283 with 23 RBI and 30 runs scored in 55 starts, along with a .981 fielding percentage.
In his latest track & field notebook, Ken Goe has a segment on Parker Stinson, who will be returning home to Austin this week as Oregon competes in the NCAA West Regional. Stinson will compete in the 10K and 5K and is seeded as the 3rd and 4th seed, respectively.

Go Ducks!

Quack Fix: Oregon baseball begins final homestand of the regular season

ntrebon — Tue, 14 May 2013 13:05:20 -0000

Here's your Tuesday quack:

Following the tragic death of Alex Rovello on Saturday, a memorial fund has been set up in his name to renovate the Berkeley Park Tennis Courts in Portland.
Here's a video interview of Ivan Maisel talking with Mark Helfrich about his first spring as Oregon's head coach.
The baseball team maintained its position at #10 in the latest Baseball America rankings following a three-game sweep of Ohio State in Columbus. Freshman starter Cole Irvin was named the Pac-12 pitcher of the week for the second time this season after throwing a complete-game shutout against the Buckeyes.
The Ducks kick off their final homestand of the regular season at PK Park with two mid-week games against Gonzaga. Following the games agains the WCC regular-season champion Zags, the Ducks host three games against OSU
In case you're not finished reading about Oregon's fifth consecutive sweep of both the men's and women's Pac-12 track titles, Curtis Anderson has a story today on both teams preparing for the NCAAs. Up first, however, is the NCAA West Preliminary Round in a couple of weeks in Austin.
Jordan Hasay has another award to add to her already impressive resume as she was named the Pac-12 Women's Track & Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year. This comes on the heels of her being named the scholar-athlete of the year in cross country as well.

Go Ducks!

Quack Fix: Lokombo drafted by the (B.C.) Lions and baseball prepares for Ohio State

ntrebon — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:03:22 -0000

A mix of mostly football and baseball quack this morning. Enjoy:

The Pac-12 football coaches held a conference call yesterday and most of the coaches expect to see very few significant changes when Oregon takes the field next season under Mark Helfrich. Though, David Shaw does wonder if Oregon will continue to be as aggressive in certain aspects, such as going for it on fourth down, two-point conversions and on-side kicks.
It looks like the Ducks are still getting drafted as junior Boseko Lokombo was taken in the third round (21st overall) of the CFL's draft on Monday night. Apparently, the drafting team retains the rights to a player forever and can draft juniors who do not expect to play professionally until after their senior season. Lokobmo, of course, has NFL aspirations but the B.C. Lions deemed the British Columbia native worthy of a flyer. The article also mentions that Lokombo was the top prospect in the draft. I'm curious how that works.
The baseball team has an extra couple of days off this week with no mid-week opponent before they travel to Columbus to take on Ohio State over the weekend. The Ducks are currently a half-game up in the Pac-12 standings on the Beavers who play at Stanford this weekend.
After going 4-1 last week, including a sweep of Washington State, the Ducks rose one spot to #10 in the latest Baseball America poll. Third baseman Mitchell Tolman was named the Pac-12 player of the week after going 9-19 with 14 RBI last week. And in softball, Jessica Moore was named the Pac-12 pitcher of the week after winning all three of her starts while racking up 23 strikeouts over a combined 17 innings.

Go Ducks!

Quack Fix: Baseball heads to Seattle and Ryon Healy named player of the week

ntrebon — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:09:11 -0000

With spring football over, the quack seems rather limited today. Here's what I could scrounge up, enjoy:

The baseball team is down to the final four weeks of the regular season. After last week's sweep of Sanford, the Ducks (16-5) remain percentage points behind Oregon State (14-4) in the race for the conference title. Nationally, Oregon moved up two spots to #11 in the latest Baseball America poll. This week, the Ducks are on the road, first with a two-game series against Seattle that begins today and then a three-game series against Washington State this weekend.
First baseman Ryon Healy was named the conference player of the week for the second time this season after hitting .400 with two homeruns, one double, seven RBI and three runs scored over four games last week.
Hey football quack! Mark Schlabach has a way-too-early-top-25 for 2013 and Oregon comes in at #3. Other conference schools that made the list include Stanford (#5), UCLA (#19) and USC (#23).
The Pac-12 men's golf championships began yesterday and after two rounds the Ducks are in ninth place at 32 over par.

Go Ducks!

Quack Fix: Ducks head into final week of spring practice

ntrebon — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:12:04 -0000

Spring football is entering its final week. As a reminder, admission to the spring game this Saturday morning is free with the donation of three non-perishable food items.

Rob Moseley has a story on Brian Teague, a walk-on from Portland who has made the switch from tight end to tackle this spring to help provide the team with some depth. This move comes before Teague's senior season after he head appeared in 12 games as a tight end.
Aaron Fetnress writes that Marcus Mariota has a different mindset entering this year's spring game with the starting spot in hand. Not only is Mariota not embroiled in a battle for the position, but the majority of the snaps in Saturday's game might be given to determine the pecking order behind him with redshirt freshmen Jeff Lockie and Jake Rodrigues.
Incoming freshman Thomas Tyner has decided to not to participate in track during his senior season at Aloha. Tyner revealed to DuckTerritory that the decision was made so that he could focus on his academics and get his grades and tests in order. Despite skipping his final prep season, Tyner still plans to join Oregon's track team next year.
Speaking of this Saturday's spring game, Moseley blogs that the format is still up in the air as the Ducks have had to deal with a number of lingering injuries this spring. Whatever the format, the game will begin at 11 am and be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network.
The Sporting News has a ranking of all Division I coaches. In the Pac-12, the top three coaches are: David Shaw (7), Mike Riley (14) and Jim Mora (28). Looking to move up this list next year, Mark Helfrich comes in at 10th in the conference and 62nd overall.
The baseball team has its fourth and final matchup with the Portland Pilots today at Joe Etzel Field. Redshirt freshman Cole Wiper will take the hill for the Duck who will look to complete the season sweep. In other baseball news, the Ducks have dropped to #13 in the latest Baseball America poll after dropping two of three from UCLA over the weekend. In the conference standings, the Ducks remain slightly behind the Beavers at the top.
Echoing sentiments that have been expressed by Matt Daddy and Dave on the podcast, Arkansas men's track coach Chris Bucknam thinks college track & field needs more dual meets. This comes in the aftermath of Oregon's tightly contested matchup with Arkansas last weekend at the Oregon Relays in which the Razorbacks edged the Ducks 86-77.

Go Ducks!

Autoplay is the worst. If you want to check out this video of Wade Keliikipi, do so here.

Quack Fix: Document release reveals "new" information in NCAA investigation.

ntrebon — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:06:34 -0000

Another late start for me this morning. Here's a quick-hitting Tuesday quack:

Last night, the University released over 500 pages related to the NCAA investigation into Oregon's relationship with Willie Lyles. Adam Jude writes that the documents reveal that Oregon has agreed that at least one major violation occurred and has proposed a two-year probation and the loss of one scholarship for each of the next three years. The Ducks are awaiting a hearing in front of the infractions committee.
Rob Moseley's story today focuses on Tony Washington and Christian French who both earned some valuable experience late last season with Dion Jordan's shoulder injury. Both are expected to play much larger roles this year as they move up the depth chart, with Washington the expected starter and French backing him up.
After a baseball sweep of Cal last weekend, the Ducks jumped six spots to #10 in the latest Baseball America poll. They hit the diamond again this afternoon to visit Portland at 3 pm. This weekend, the Ducks will host 13th-ranked UCLA.
And, as Noah wrote yesterday, the football teamed picked up its second verbal commitment for the 2014 class with Nevada OL Tyrell Crosby. Crosby is widely viewed as a three-star prospect and was on of the first recruits offered by the Oregon staff.

Go Ducks!

Quack Fix: Tyson Coleman getting a look inside

ntrebon — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 13:04:02 -0000

The basketball season officially ended last night with Louisville's win over Michigan. Which sport will you be following most closely this spring? Baseball, softball, track & field, spring football or something else?

Rob Moseley's feature today is on redshirt sophomore Tyson Coleman who has been getting a lot of time at the inside linebacker spots so far this spring as the Ducks look to replace both starters. Coleman had played in all 13 games last season behind Boseko Lokombo in one of the outside spots.
Aaron Fentress also has a writeup on former Lake Oswego prep Coleman, whose focus on the middle linebacker spots comes with both Derrick Malone and Rodney Hardrick hampered by injuries this spring.
Moseley blogs that Helfrich was again pleased with yesterday's practice. The team will practice again today, with situational scrimmage situations with full contact blocking and tackling.
Ken Goe writes that Jordan Hasay is committed to the 10K despite Saturday's appearance in the 1500. Hasay competed in the 10K for the first time at the end of March and finished less than three seconds off the school record.
The 16th-ranked baseball team visits Corvallis today where the Ducks are only 1-9 and since 2009. Sophomore Jordan Spencer will take the hill for Oregon for his first start of the season.
Finally, a couple of Ducks earned weekly conference honors. First, Jessica Moore earned conference pitcher of the week after helping the Ducks to a 5-1 record last week against #4 Cal and Utah. In women's lacrosse, Carly O'Connell was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation's rookie of the week for the second time this season after scoring four goals and notching three assists against USC this past weekend.

Go Ducks!

Quack Fix: The start of spring practices

ntrebon — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 13:00:28 -0000

Yesterday was a lot of fun. Now we have another 364 days of reliable quack to look forward to--enjoy your post-April Fool's Day fix:

The Ducks kick off the first of 15 spring practices today as Oregon looks to not only replace departed players but also break in the revamped staff. Moseley tabs inside linebacker, drop end, running back and guard as four positions to watch this spring. Also, Dustin Haines and Ayele Ford both picked up scholarships this year.
Aaron Fentress writes about Mark Helfrich's first spring as the Duck's head coach. Helfrich announced yesterday that spring practices will remain closes, citing not only fan safety and controlling access to sensitive team information but also that players preferred closed practices.
After leading the Ducks in postseason scoring, Damyean Dotson was recently named to the Kyle Macy Freshman All-American team. Meanwhile, Dana Altman is a finalist for the 2013 John McLendon national Coach of the Year Award.
Cole Irvin was named the Pac-12 pitcher of the week after helping the Ducks sweep washington last weekend. On Saturday, Irvin tossed a four-hit complete game shutout. The team also rose one spot to #11 in the latest Baseball America poll.
This Saturday, the Ducks will host the Pepsi Invitational at Hayward Field which will include Texas A&M along with the two washington schools. The Aggies are currently ranked number one in the nation on the men's side while the women are sixth.
Ken Goe has a piece on former Oregon heptathlete Brianne Theisen whose busy summer includes not only elite meets such as the World Track & Field Championships, but also her wedding to Eaton Ashton.
Finally, in what we could only wish was an April Fool's joke: the Pac-12 investigated their own head of officialsfor allegedly offering a bribe to officials for either ejecting Arizona coach Sean Miller or giving him a technical during the conference tournament. The league admitted inappropriate comments but nothing more.

Go Ducks!

Quack Fix: Ron Aiken and Matt Lubick are quickly getting up to speed

ntrebon — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:06:32 -0000

Enjoy your Tuesday fix:

As you might have head, the Ducks have a little basketball game scheduled this Friday in Indianapolis as they take on the tournament's #1 overall seed, Louisville. Bob Clark writes that only 4,000 tickets of the available 36,000 remain.
With spring football set to kick off next week, Oregon's two newest staff additions are trying to get up to speed. While both defensive line coach Ron Aiken and wide receivers coach Matt Lubick are well regarded, the biggest hurdle for both has been picking up the Oregon terminology and getting a feel for their new players.
Aaron Fentress has a spring preview of the running backs, highlighting Byron Marshall's opportunity to step into a significant role. This spring, Marshall and De'Anthony Thomas will be the only two scholarship running backs on the roster.
After the weekend sweep of Arizona, the Ducks rose one spot in the latest Baseball America poll to #12. The Ducks have a mid-week game against Portland before hosting washington.
Ken Goe has a track & field notebook, discussing how the team will be spending its spring break: part of the team heading to Austin for the Texas Relays and the rest heading to the Stanford Invitational.
In softball news, the #10 Lady Ducks completed a series sweep of Stanford with a 10-3 victory on Monday night. Freshman Cheridan Hawkins earned Pac-12 player of the week after picking up her third win of the weekend.

Go Ducks!

Quack Fix: Ducks preparing for first NCAA tournament since 2008

ntrebon — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 13:03:42 -0000

With the Ducks going dancing, nearly all the quack this morning is basketball related. Despite the seeming disrespect of the 12-seed, I am really looking forward to Thursday's game.

Bob Clark has a story on some of the 12-vs-5 upsets that have happened in the first round of the tournament, though Coach Altman doesn't think a Duck victory will be an upset. Oklahoma State's coach, Tom Ford, also calls Oregon "one of the best 12 seeds [he's] ever seen."
The ODE has a nice story on Arsalan Kazemi and his six months at Oregon.
Adam Jude writes about the relationship between Dominic Artis and the Blazer's Damian Lillard. Both players grew up in Oakland and went through the same AAU system together.
And the Ducks are back in the top-25 this week after winning the conference tournament. The Ducks are #25 in the AP and #24 in the USA Today poll. If you're bummed out about the 12-seed, it's probably not worth it to look to closely at the teams listed behind Oregon in the receiving other votes section.
Not to be lost in the start of the tournament this week is the end of the winter academic quarter at Oregon, which means that many on the team will be taking exams while on the road. Also noted is that EJ Singler is currently 12th all time in scoring and 11th in rebounds, needing 45 points and 18 boards to move into the top-10 of each category.
And, for your football fix, Rob Moseley has a spring football capsule on the quarterback position. Not a whole lot of intrigue there.

Go Ducks!

Quack Fix: Oregon's pro day, Ducks take on washington and baseball and softball win

ntrebon — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:29:01 -0000

I am on my way to catch a plane this morning, so the fix will be quick hitting. Enjoy:

Rob Moseley has a story on Ryan Clanton, who spent the winter interning with a construction company while also working out in preparation for today's Oregon pro day.
Aaron Fentress has a story on Michael Clay's preparations for today's showing in front of NFL scouts, which reportedly included adding 15 pounds of muscle.
Kevin Gemmell also has a summary of Pac-12 players who appear in Mel Kiper's positional rankings. Kyle Long appears at Guard and Dion Jordan at outside linebacker.
The first day of the Pac-12 tournament is over, and the Ducks will take on washington tonight in the quarterfinals.
The Ducks won their final non-conference baseball game 10-4 against Texas State last night. Of note, Oregon seven pitchers last night in an effort to limit work and keep everyone available for this weekend's matchup against USC.
The #9 Oregon softball team swept New Mexico in a doubleheader yesterday on the strength of two one-hit shutouts. In game one Jessica Moore allowed only a first inning single in a 10-0 rout and freshman Cheridan Hawkins struck out 13 Lobos to finish just three off the single-game school record.

Go Ducks!

Quack Fix: Basketball enters final week of regular season and Alleyne named Pac-12's top freshman

ntrebon — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 14:05:43 -0000

Looks like a relatively light quack day. Here's what I could find this morning:

With basketball heading into the final week of the regular season, Bob Clark takes a look back at the preseason predictions. The Ducks also moved up in the polls, up to #19 in the AP and #25 in the USA Today.
The baseball team powered by Cal State Northridge last night 12-4. The Ducks were led by Ryon Healy who went 3-5, including a bases-clearing double in the eighth inning. Oregon wraps up its two-game series today at noon.
While the women look for their fourth consecutive NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championship, the Oregon men are also looking to make some noise this week. Despite the setback of their distance medley relay team not qualifying, the men still have a number of individual qualifiers and are aiming at a top-4 finish.
In what has been one of the few bright spots in a dismal women's basketball season, Jillian Alleyne was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. Alleyne averaged 13 points and 11.8 rebounds.

Go Ducks!

Quack Fix: Ducks at the combine, baseball takes on Portland, and profiling Ron Aiken

ntrebon — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 13:59:56 -0000

With basketball nearing the end of the regular season, baseball having just begun and the NFL combine, the quack is plentiful. Enjoy.

After a split at home, the men's basketball team remained in the AP top 25 at #24 while slipping to to the second team receiving votes in the USA Today poll. With just three regular season games left, the Ducks RPI is currently down to 49th, good for fifth-best in the conference.
Aaron Fetnress has a nice profile on new defensive line coach Ron Aiken.
At the NFL combine yesterday, it sounds like Dion Jordan made an impressive showing, coming in third in the 40 and fourth in the broad jump for his position group. After the combine, Jordan will finally have surgery on the torn labrum that the played through at the end of last season with an expected recovery time of three to four months.
With the final day of the combine today focusing on defensive backs, it will be interesting to see how much John Boyett participates as he continues to recover from knee surgery.
In case you missed it yesterday, Ted Miller had Marcus Mariota as his #1 player from conference in 2012. Miller followed that up with a quick review that breaks down the list by team and by position. And, in regards to DAT not making this year's list, Miller only writes: "the Ducks and Stanford had a couple of elite guys who were left off. So, basically, no one is happy."
In his weekly look around the conference, Bob Clark examines some basketball coaches that are on the hot seat, including Craig Robinson, Ken Bone and Johnny Dawkins. Oregon comes in third in his rankings this week, behind California and Arizona.
The baseball team has a mid-week game tonight at PK Park as they take on Portland, with either Jeff Gold or Christian Jones as the likely starter. Later this week, the Ducks will travel to take on #17 Call State Fullerton.
Finally, the women's Cross Country team was named the scholar team of the year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Go Ducks!

Quack Fix: Woods to receive no further punishment from Pac-12

ntrebon — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 14:03:22 -0000

Lots of quack out there this morning covering a wide variety of sports. Let's get right to it:

Tony Woods will not face any more punishment from the Pac-12 for his flagrant-2 foul against Washington State center Brock Motum on Saturday. Barring any discipline from Dana Altman, this makes Woods eligible for Thursday night's game against Cal.
Rob Moseley has a nice story on backup quarterback Dustin Haines and his role off the field and in the community. Haines is on the executive committee of the student-athletic advisory committee and a regular participant int he O Heroes program.
This weekend, the men's track program got a big-time commitment from Edward Cheserek, the top prep distance runner in the country. An orphan from Kenya who was sent to a prep school in New Jersey three years ago, Cheserek broke the national indoor 2-mile record on Saturday the Milrose Games after announcing his decision.
In more indoor news, coach Robert Johnson looks to have the women's team ready to defend their three consecutive national indoor titles behind stars English Gardner and Jordan Hasay.
As noted by Dave last night, the Ducks sweep of Hawaii was overshadowed by an injury to pitcher Jeff Gold who was struck in the ankle by comebacker in the fifth inning. The Ducks will host Loyola Marymount for three games beginning on Friday.
Following Oregon's win against Washington State, Jillian Alleyne has been named the Pac-12 freshman of the week. Alleyne averaged 17.5 and 13 rebounds against the Washington schools and earns the conference honor for the third time this season.

Go Ducks!

Quack Fix: Artis still in a boot and football positional previews

ntrebon — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 14:02:52 -0000

A decent mix of basketball and football quack this morning. Enjoy

With Dominic Artis reportedly still in a boot at practice on Monday, it looks like we will again see Jonathan Loyd playing the majority of minutes at point guard this week as the Ducks travel to take on the Washington schools.
Bob Clark wonders if Colorado is now a contender in the men's race after they improved their record to 6-5 and a schedule that includes five home games in the last seven. And, in his weekly rankings, the Ducks have dropped down to #7.
Football previews already? Rob Moseley previews the offensive position groups for 2013. On offense, the biggest unknown appears to be how the carries at running back will shake out.
Chip Kelly has been hiring a flock of Ducks to join him in Philadelphia, including former players, graduate assistants and an intern, along with Jerry Azzinaro and James Harris.
Athlon Sports ranks the football-basketball coaching tandems in the conference, and I am not sure what to make of it. Oregon comes in at ninth, well behind schools like Colorado and Oregon State who don't seem to have an advantage in either sport, let alone when you consider them together.

Go Ducks!

Quack Fix: Recruiting updates and basketball polls

ntrebon — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 14:06:33 -0000

Lots of recruiting news from yesterday, both good and bad. Here's your Tuesday quack:

With signing day tomorrow, several Oregon targets made their decisions known yesterday. Four-star running back Dontre Wilson changed his verbal commitment to Ohio State, citing Chip Kelly taking the Philadelphia job the day after visiting him and his family as a factor. In other bad news, three-star LB and Oregon prep Johnny Ragin announced he was sticking with his commitment to Cal despite a late Oregon offer. The Ducks also received good news when Darren Carrington reaffirmed his verbal commitment and four-star OL Cameron Hunt, who had previously been a verbal commit to Cal under Jeff Tedford, announced he would sign with Oregon.
Aaron Fentress has a profile on quarterback Damion Hobbs, who recently announced his intention to sign with Oregon.
After dropping both games last week, the men's basketball team was dropped down to #19 in both the AP and the coaches polls. The Ducks will look to continue their 20-game home winning streak this week to take on Colorado and Utah.
In his weekly look around the conference, Bob Clark discusses some of the races for the individual conference awards, including the player, freshman and coach of the year. And, in his latest ranking, Oregon is dropped down to #2.
The softball team was chosen third in the preseason poll by conference coaches, behind Cal and Arizona State.

Go Ducks!

Quack Fix: Ducks return to top 10 and football adds Virginia to 2013 schedule

ntrebon — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 14:07:01 -0000

A decent amount of quack this morning, though some it was already picke through yesterday.

Fresh off of a sweep of the Washington schools and sporting an unblemished 7-0 conference record, the men's basketball team has climbed all the way up to #10 in the latest AP poll. Somewhere along the line, the Ducks transformed from a bubble team to a team with a two-game lead in the conference and one that looks posed to make it past the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, assuming Dominic Artis is back at full speed. Up next is the always challenging trip to the Bay Area.
Ted Miller has Dion Jordan as his #20 player in the conference from 2012. Heading into the season, Miller had him tabbed as #11.
And, the Matt Lubick hire is finally official. Lubick joins the staff as the wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator.
As was noted yesterday, the football has replaced next season's Nevada game with a trip to Virginia as part of a home-and-home series with the Cavaliers. Virginia is scheduled to play in Eugene in 2016 while the Nevada game has been rescheduled for 2019.
Also noted here and elsewhere, three-star athlete Juwaan Williams verbally committed to the Ducks. Many note that Williams will likely first get a shot as a defensive back. Here's Moseley's post which includes a highlight video, in case you haven't seen it yet.
Bob Clark's weekly look around the conference focuses on Arizona State who are tied for second in the conference at 5-2, 16-4 overall. And, any guesses what Tony Woods' free throw percentage is in conference games?

Go Ducks!

Quack Fix: Bryan Bennett to transfer and men's basketball look to continue winning ways against Washington schools

ntrebon — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 13:59:32 -0000

Considering all the excitement over the weekend with Mark Helfrich, the UCLA win and yesterday's news of Bryan Bennett transferring, I was expecting more quack this morning. Looks like this will have to suffice:

The big news from yesterday came word that Bryan Bennett plans to immediately transfer to Southeastern Louisiana. Bennett had, much like Kelly, announced his decision to stay at Oregon and would look to move to the defensive side of the ball before shortly changing his mind. Southeast Louisiana is an FCS school with a need at quarterback that will afford Bennett the opportunity to play right away. I wish Bryan the best of luck.
In case you're still looking for more stories on the Helfrich succession, Ted Miller has some, noting that he'll face a generous schedule to start his tenure, but also fan expectations that haven't been higher for a new Oregon coach.
The basketball team returns home from its sweep in L.A. to host the Washington schools this week. The wins have moved Oregon up into the top 20 in both polls and are the only ranked conference team besides Arizona. Oregon is looking not only like a legitimate conference contender, but a team that should make it past the first weekend of the NCAA tournament.
With spring creeping up around the corner, here's some baseball quack: Jimmie Sherfy has been named a Perfect Game USA preseason second-team all-american. This is third preseason all-american team that Shery has been named to, following first-team honors by both the National Collegiate Baseball Writes and Louisville Sluggers earlier.

Go Ducks!

Quack Fix: The end of the 2012 football season

ntrebon — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 13:58:11 -0000

Well, that was a predictable end to the college football season. Here's the first official quack of the offseason.

With Alabama's dominating win over Notre Dame last night, the Ducks finished the season ranked #2 in both the AP and USA Today final polls. Paul Myerberg also takes a stab at what the preseason top 25 for next year might look like.
The athletic department held a press conference yesterday to discuss Chip's decision to remain the Oregon head coach for at least one more year. Ken Goe adds that Oregon should continue to expect the unexpected from Coach Kelly.
Ted Miller has his final conference rankings for 2012 with the top three spots held by the North. Amusingly, one team is omitted from the list.
As Matt Daddy noted in yesterday's fix, Haley Crouser has committed to the Oregon track & field program. Curtis Anderson has expanded his blog post from yesterday to a full story on the big commitment.
Offensive lineman Tyler Johnstone was named the Football Writers Association of America freshman all-American team. This marks the fourth freshman all-American team to which Johnstone has been named.
Bob Clark's weekly look around the conference focuses on the resurgence of UCLA behind Shabazz Muhammad. Clark has Arizona, UCLA and Oregon as the top of his current rankings for the conference.

Go Ducks!

Quack Fix: New Year's Day edition

ntrebon — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 15:54:51 -0000

I hope everyone had a happy and safe New Year. Lots of quack to bring in the New Year, so let's get right to it.

Rob Moseley reflects back on Marcus Mariota's season and wonders where his first year might stack up all-time at Oregon after Thursday. Mariota currently has Oregon's second-best QB passer rating is three TDs behind Darron's Thomas passing touchdown record. Nationally, Mariota is on pace to set the NCAA freshman completion percentage record.
The Ducks look to have both Boseko Lokombo and Wade Keliikipi ready for the Fiesta Bowl on Thursday. Keliikipi missed Oregon's final three games with an ankle injury while Lokombo started all 12 games but appeared limited in the open portion of Sunday's practice.
Adam Jude's 10 defining moments of the Oregon football season checks in with #8: Kenjon Barner's 321 yards rushing against USC.
Jude also has a story about kicker Alejandro Maldonado and his mentor Alexis Serna. The team and coaches, as one would expect, continue to express their confidence in both Maldonado and Rob Beard. Tom Osborne thinks both kickers may be trying too hard after recovering from injuries last season.
Ted Miller has a four video interviews (that I can't seem to get to imbed correctly). Here's one with Michael Clay, Mark Helfrich, Nick Aliotti, and Ifo Ekpre-Olomu.
The men's basketball team finished off their non-conference schedule with a 56-43 victory over Nevada. Tony Woods and Carlos Emory led the team with 13 points each. On the downside, the team was again plagued by turnovers (20, a season high), led by seven from E.J. Singler. And worse, Arsalan Kazemi did not return to the game (or bench) after being elbowed in the head by Emory while playing defense in the first half. No word yet on if he'll be back for the start of conference play.

The women's team, meanwhile, suffered a 95-51 beating at the hands of the top-ranked UConn Huskies. Freshman forward Jillian Alleyne led the Ducks with 18 points. The game did mark the return of three players to the Oregon rotation, two of whom made their season debuts: Liz Brenner (volleyball) and Janitah Iamaleavah (medical clearance).

Go Ducks!

Quack Fix: DAT to coach basketball

ntrebon — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 14:23:54 -0000

There's not a lot of quack this morning, but here's what I could scrounge up. Enjoy.

Adam Jude notes that De'Anthony Thomas' college career is nearly half over. Next year, we can again expect his workload to increase as Thomas kicks off his third season combined with the departure of Kenjon Barner.
After the Fiesta Bowl, Thomas will help out with a local YMCA basketball team. Tomas got the idea from former defensive end Terrell Turner.
On Wednesday, the men's basketball team takes on UTEP in El Paso, Texas. This will be only the third true road game of the season. In the latest AP poll, the team continues to hold at #26. In fact, they actually lost a vote from the previous week.
The women's basketball team looks for its second win of the season tonight as they host Samford at 7 pm. The Bulldogs are coming off of back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances but also lost three starters from last year's team.

Go Ducks!

Quack Fix: Ducks prepare for fourth-straight BCS appearance

ntrebon — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 14:03:48 -0000

A scarcity of quack and compiling this after only getting a few hours of sleep means your Tuesday fix is quick hitting. Please add anything I may have overlooked into the comments. Enjoy

Rob Moseley writes on the Ducks playing in their fourth straight BCS bowl game. Oregon's streak is the longest current streak and is matched by only Miami (4), USC (7) and Ohio State (6). And, Moseley also notes that those three programs have all sufferred sanctions for NCAA violations that occurred during the streaks.
Kevin Gemmell thinks that the parity and depth in the Pac-12 is a good thing. Ted Miller also has a summary of how some coaches cast their votes in the latest poll.
Ken Goe has a story on former Oregon assistant Robin Pflugrad who was dismissed in March as the head coach of Montana amidst sexual assault allegations against some of his players.
In his weekly look around the conference, Bob Clark examines some transfers who have made an early impact. Clark also Oregon third in his conference rankings.

And, that's it. Go Ducks!

Jersey Contest Scoreboard: Final Standings

ntrebon — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 00:39:20 -0000

FTC disclosure: This contest is sponsored by Gameday Depot and SB Nation.

Exclusive offer for Addicted to Quack readers! Free standard shipping on all orders over $25 all the way through Christmas. Use coupon code SBNSHIP. Shop now!

First, thanks to everyone who participated in the ATQ Jersey Contest this year. And congratulations to both joffthedeck, who won this week's $10 gift certificate. This year's grand-prize winner is hamiltop2009 who finished first for the entire season and wins an Oregon jersey. The runner-up is northrivers who wins the $50 gift certificate.

Winners, look for a confirmation email with instructions on how to claim your prizes. If you don't respond within three business days, the rules require us to award the prize to the next person on the list.

This week's top ten and the season top ten are below the jump. You can view the full standings at Fun Office Pools.

No perfect scores again this week. Here is the top 11:

User	Score
joffthedeck	17
nickarjuna	17
Metagg	17
rabbit12	17
Tonemaz	16
bandonduck	16
Neuterdad0gs	15
ntrebon	15
dpete14	15
Sourmash	15
BLAZERducks	15

And, hamiltop2009 overcame a five-point deficit heading into the final week to win. Here is the overall top 10:

User	Score
hamiltop2009	172
northrivers	171
Tonemaz	165
djakious	165
BayAreaDuck	162
Mattsh	162
Quackjunkie	161
bradll99	158
uclaDUCK	157
ConnorOSU	156

Quack Fix: Marcus Mariota first-team all-conference and freshman player of the year

ntrebon — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 14:10:33 -0000

That was a pretty satisfying victory over the Beavers on Saturday. I am looking forward to seeing this team play together one last time. Other than that, there's not a lof of quack on the first Tuesday following the end of Oregon's regular season. Then again, it's not like anyone reads the links anyways.

The Pac-12 awards were announced yesterday with several Ducks earning honors. Not only was Marcus Mariota named the offensive freshman of the year (the the third time in the last four years an Oregon player has earned that honor) but he was also named the first-team quarterback. Kenjon Barner, Hroniss Grasu, Dion Jordan, Ifo Ekpre-Olomu joined Mariota on the first team while Michael Clay and Kiko Alonso were named to the second team.
Adam Jude has a story on the Chip-to-the-NFL rumors and their potential impact on recruits. I'm really excited about reading these rumors for the next month or two. Can't wait.
Ready to start thinking about 2013? Ted Miller looks at how the conference schedule rotates next season. Utah and UCLA will replace Arizona State and USC on the Oregon schedule.
Discounting any potential juniors leaving for the NFL draft this year, Bob Clark takes a quick look at how many starters each school will expect to return next season. Oregon should be returning eight on offense and seven on defense.

And, that's all I could find. Please add anything of interest that you might find to the comments.

Go Ducks!

Jersey Contest: Week 14

ntrebon — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 02:17:50 -0000

We've reached the final week of the ATQ jersey contest. As a result, there's not many intriguing machups, but here's what I scrounged up. Good luck!

Northern Illinois (-5.5) vs. Kent State [Friday]
UCLA at Stanford (-10.5) [Friday]
Oklahoma State (-4.5) vs. Baylor
Texas vs. Kansas State (-11.5)
Alabama (-7.5) vs. Georgia
Nebraska (-3.5) vs. Wisconsin

Make your picks in the ATQ pool at funofficepools (password is GoDucks). The full rules can be found here (pdf warning):2012 Jersey Contest Rules.

Jersey Contest Scoreboard: Week 13

ntrebon — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 22:08:09 -0000

FTC disclosure: This contest is sponsored by Gameday Depot and SB Nation.

Cyber Monday, 24 hours only! All Oregon Ducks apparel 30% off PLUS free shipping on orders over $35!

Only one more week left in the ATQ Jersey Contest! djp wins this week's $10 gift certificate, which he or she can spend on either (1) officially licensed Oregon Ducks hoodies, jackets, t-shirts and more at the Addicted to Quack licensed store, or (2) custom tees at the Addicted to Quack custom store.

djp, look for a confirmation email with instructions on how to claim your prize. If you don't respond within three business days, the rules require us to award the prize to the next person on the list.

We'll pick one more week, and then whoever is in first place overall after next week will win an Oregon jersey and the runner up will win the $50 gift certificate. Finish. The. Drill.

This week's top performers and the overall leaders are below. You can view the full standings at Fun Office Pools.

Looks like many of us were making picks with an eye to what Oregon needed to move back up into the top two of the BCS. Out of 103 entries this week, there were no perfect scores and the three toughest games to pick were ASU (16), Notre Dame (23) and Florida (31). Here's the top 13 for this week:

User	Score
djp	20
bzzz61	18
PhantomF4	18
hamiltop2009	18
wopolino	17
Takimoto	16
CougarDuck	16
Jonathanriley30	15
clown1020	15
djakious	15
vdalduck	15
meshuggah	15
ducktheviking	15

And, heading into the final week, here is the overall top 11:

User	Score
northrivers	164
hamiltop2009	159
djakious	158
BayAreaDuck	156
Mattsh	155
uclaDUCK	151
Tonemaz	149
Jonathanriley30	148
Quackjunkie	148
ConnorOSU	148
bradll99	148

Quack Fix: Ducks look to move past Stanford with Civil War ahead

ntrebon — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 14:03:20 -0000

Well, Saturday night sucked. Time to head up to Corvallis and take out some aggression on the Beavers.

The men's basketball team picked up a 67-45 win over Jacksonville State last night to move to 4-0 on the season. Tony Woods led all scorers with 17 points to go a long with five blocks. Despite the game never really being in doubt, the Ducks did not have a very crisp performance as they finished the game with 18 turnovers. On Friday, the Ducks take on #18 UNLV.
The football team practiced on Monday and coaches reported that the team was focused on Oregon State. Mark Helfrich described the team as in "fix mode." Moseley also notes that Kenjon Barner, De'Anthony Thomas (Maxwell Award) and Marcus Mariota (Davey O'Brien) were named finalists for the awards.
Barner, however, is one of the three finalists for the Doak Walker Award for the nation's top running back. Barner will be up against Johnathan Franklin and Montee Ball.
Rice is alleging that both Oregon and USC used claims of discrimination in their NCAA waivers to allow Arsalan Kazemi and Omar Oraby to play this season. Oregon denied the claim in a simple statement and has indicated they will not comment further.
If you're still holding out hope that the Ducks can back their way back into the national championship game, Ted Miller runs through some of the possible scenarios on how the Pac-12 race might end.
Redshirt freshman Devon Blackmon has decided to transfer in order to seek playing time elsewhere. Blackmon, a former four-star recruit, is the second of the heralded trio from 2010 class to leave after Tacoi Sumler transferred before the season.
The #6 volleyball team kicks off its home finale with #7 UCLA tonight at 8 pm (Pac-12 Network). And, after a 1-1 trip up north last weekend, Alaina Bergsma was named the conference's offensive player of the week for the third time this season.

Go Ducks!

Jersey Contest: Week 13

ntrebon — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 00:04:00 -0000

Lots of rivalry games in our slate this week, two of which did not yet have spreads listed. Also, please not there is a Friday game this week. Good luck!

Arizona State at Arizona (-3.5) [Friday]
Florida at Florida State (x)
Michigan at Ohio State (-4.5)
Notre Dame at Southern California (x)
Oregon (-12.5) at Oregon State
South Carolina at Clemson (-4.5)

Make your picks in the ATQ pool at funofficepools(password is GoDucks). The full rules can be found here (pdf warning):2012 Jersey Contest Rules.

Jersey Contest Scoreboard: Week 12

ntrebon — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 21:07:16 -0000

FTC disclosure: This contest is sponsored by Gameday Depot and SB Nation.

Black Friday only! Free shipping on orders over $35 of Oregon Ducks apparel.

The winner this week was Shadlikefish, but since they were awarded an alternate prize during week 10, this week's prize goes to BayAreaDuck, which he or she can spend on either (1) officially licensed Oregon Ducks hoodies, jackets, t-shirts and more at the Addicted to Quack licensed store, or (2) custom tees at the Addicted to Quack custom store.

BayAreaDuck, look for a confirmation email with instructions on how to claim your prize. If you don't respond within three business days, the rules require us to award the prize to the next person on the list.

There is still an Oregon jersey or a $50 gift certificate up for grabs to whoever finishes first or second for the entire season, so keep playing.

This week's top ten and the season top ten are below the jump. You can view the full standings at Fun Office Pools.

Here's the top 10 for this week:

User	Score
Shadlikefish	21
BayAreaDuck	21
Takimoto	21
JMSchoon	21
Millicanjim	21
itsalwayssunnyinautzenstadium	21
jrpn503	20
Mattsh	20
lasamuel	20
youkdogg3	20

And, here's the overall top 10:

User	Score
northrivers	155
Mattsh	144
djakious	143
BayAreaDuck	142
hamiltop2009	141
uclaDUCK	140
Tonemaz	139
Quackjunkie	138
brwkev	135
JMSchoon	135

Quack Fix: DAT on defense and basketball hangs on against Portland

ntrebon — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 14:06:16 -0000

Here's your Tuesday fix. Enjoy!

The big story this week is Oregon's defense, which has seen many reserves pressed into action due to injury. Moseley notes that in the second-half of the Cal game, 10 of the original 22 on the defensive two-deep from week one were unavailable.
It was announced on Monday that Avery Patterson suffered an ACL tear in his left knee in the first half on Saturday and will miss the rest of the season. A tough blow to Patterson who has filled in admirably for John Boyett this season. Here's wishing a Patterson a full and speedy recovery.
During the Cal game, I joked to Jared that maybe we should consider playing Marqise Lee on defense, too. Well, now there are rumors that De'Anythony Thomas might be called upon to player cornerback against Stanford. Another option for a (presumably) temporary switch to defense would be Keanon Lowe who, like Thomas, also has prep experience on defense.
The men's basketball team moved to 2-0 on the season with an 80-69 victory against Portland State. The Ducks were hot in the first half and opened up a 51-33 halftime lead that the Vikings were never able to get back below nine points in the second half. Dominic Artis led all scorers with 16 points.
The South Division representative will be decided this weekend in LA. Bob Clark also wonders if the Utah can compete in the Pac-12 as it has yet to beat a conference opponent with a winning record since it joined.
Ashton Eaton was named the winner of the 2012 Jesse Owens Award for the top male athlete in track & field. Eaton's year included setting world records in the heptathlon and decathlon and winning an Olympic gold.
In helping the volleyball team sweep the Arizona schools this weekend, Liz Brenner was named the conference's offensive player of the week. Next, the Ducks head north to take on the Washington schools.

Go Ducks!