Haywarduck

Love it, Brooks started at the same age and they named the field after him. Let's see Lanning get the stadium renamed after him! Make yourself legendary at Oregon Dan!

He better shoot better than 61% from the charity line or I would seldom even take him off the bench. If you can't make free throws, you are a small role player, should be the mantra next year.

I completely agree a player can be made or broken by the team, position one is drafted at. When a defensive end is surrounded by mediocre talent he can be silenced by double teams, and TE's, taking a crack at him as they release off the line. This can also shorten a career which I think we have seen with many players who get injured. When a DE, or really just about any position player has talent around him the one on one opens him up to creating the statistics he will be measured by and the super bowl wins. So if he is taken high on the draft board the pundits may be proven right by his mediocre statistics on a poor team. If he is drafted lower and has support he may look like a steal. In the end I hope he is taken lower in the draft so he can show what he can do. The quandary of the draft process. Do you want to be drafted early for a little extra short term cash, the short term notoriety, or drop, and be put in a place where you can excel as a pro? I will answer that by saying you certainly never want to get drafted by the Lions. Look at Matthew Stafford, a very good qb who could have been just another good qb. Fortunately he was traded and is now on his way to be considered one of the greats. At least he has more than all the records for a losing team and one fill in pro bowl appearance. The curse of being a top draft pick!

I heard they mostly used dynamite and nets.

History is on Dana's side. The free throw shooting average for a team almost always speaks loudly about a team. For this years Ducks the volume is 11 when you look at the free throw shooting. They call it free, and these Ducks won't even work on what is free.

1. Will they be able to communicate the schemes with a new head coach and all new pieces in a coaching puzzle. This is the million dollar question. Lanning may become an amazing coach and the assistant may be everything we have been sold, but this is a new staff in every sense of the prefix, un.. untried, unaccustomed and I could go on. Patience on the side of the fanbase is critical. 2. Will the Ducks O be stronger without the destruction of our Offense? This is the most interesting and will be the most watched question. 3. Not too worried with the coaching talent on D coming in, but maybe this is the wildcard. 4. Huge test to start the season. If we get out of that 2-1 I give Dan an A, 1-2 a B-. What I want to see is a competitive team which is getting better each game. 5. Not too worried about the question at qb, as long as we get an answer, and development.

And Georgia's 340 lb. DT almost as fast as the receivers we had on the field. Can I say it again, we need speed! Georgia DT Jordan Davis, weighing in at 341 pounds, runs 40-yard dash in 4.78 seconds WWW.YAHOO.COM The Georgia behemoth would have been the eighth-fastest tight end at the combine.

Love his passion, and he was one of the greatest in his prime. When he rebounded the ball he already new where everyone one was, and who he was going to pass it to before he was half way back to the floor, legendary rebounder and passer!

A shooter never gives up. Will looks like he is resigned to being a role player, whose role isn't really known. He did score 2 points against sc, but 0 against the dawgs. He has to be asking himself what does he want to remembered by. The story hasn't been set yet, but this isn't he ending chapter anyone wants. You should accept what you deserve, the NIT is what they might deserve. If you don't accept it, you are just delusional. If the old guard has given up, give the new guys a chance to see what they can do at the NIT.

Anthony was also very good at throwing he ball, strongly I might add, to the sideline. This was to a set receiver, taking advantage of the db laying off the receiver. One now has to wonder why the db seemed to need to give our guys that much room. It all comes back to one of my wishes, the need for speed!

The best and baddasst!

Only good thoughts for this guy. We talk about the money these guys make and the passion for the game they have. Not often enough do we reflect on the hours and stress they go through. Hoping some Duck magic happens for Don over the coming hours, days and weeks!

I would put more money on the Akron qb becoming the Heisman winner, and he has zip chance of doing it.

Timeout, timeout, the evidence shows that Tyler Van Dyke may become the NFL rookie of the year, after college, but he won't look like a Heisman candidate any time soon. The interesting thing is Tyler was, like Justin, a top pitcher in high school, something to ponder. Maybe Mario fell into another pretty good qb. His this years recruit at qb sounds exactly like AB, so things should follow a similar trajectory once he gets his guy on the field. Until then expect, more timeouts, the prevent offense, and a qb playing way under his potential.

I had heard he was a Whizz, but wow!

Interesting question from the article. Bo Nix may be the veteran will all of the experience and more risk aversion, but if what Ty Thompson offers is a higher ceiling, but slightly lower floor due to an increase in risks, which player would you rather see take the field? Oregon Ducks’ QB competition draws national attention and intrigue SPORTS.YAHOO.COM Bo Nix, Ty Thompson, or Jay Butterfield? It's a question that the Ducks need to answer, and one that is piquing the interest of national media outlets.

The Balmer's have a focus on Families and Children, it would seem mainly from Connie's interest. This was a wonderful move on their part, and we should all be grateful! Kudos to Connie and Steve Balmer for their generous, selfless gift. Well done indeed on the master's, something Steve couldn't quite complete.

The last example it seemed the RB didn't observe the set gap the play was designed for. Instead of running straight into a wall of defensive players he shifted to the left into a gap which opened up. This would never have been acceptable under the previous coaches expectations. Hopefully we will see our RB's be given the latitude to look for the hole, even when it isn't where designed. That will be a refreshing change, maybe even a hesitation as the hole opens up too? Wow, the possibilities! These plays also seemed to be set up as RPO's and the qb made some nice decisions. A qb who plays with his head up and reads a defense will also be a nice development. A diversity of options and good decision making will move our program back to an offense feared, not just prevented. Go Coach Kenny, can he bring our offense back, I think so!

I was about the shortest kid in middle school. By the end of high school I was taller than many of the men of middle school. I think there are some kids who still have potential often overlooked by scouts who can't calculate kids still developing and those with what it takes deep inside. I have heard the poly players tend to grow in height and weight well into college. Their maturity comes later, Noah was 6' 1" coming out of high school and is 6' 3" now. I think it speaks to how many variables really should be looked at when recruiting. I just hope when kids are being recruited it doesn't just come down to this kid is a 4* ranked number 95 and this kid is only a 3*. There should be real discussion about a lot more than just the recruiting services take on kickers, all the way to the qb's.

It all worked out and Blount was a lucky man in the end. One would think he would be grateful, not hateful, too bad. Tough love is seldom appreciated, but often warranted.

I don't think we may be so much living the dream, as seeing the dream come true. Although we have been living the dream with our athletic department in high gear our football team may just make our ultimate dream come true over time. We won't truly be living the dream until we win the National Title, and that may come with what you offer as needed. A strong defense and exciting offense, in due time. Great job highlighting the difficulty of reaching 80 plays a game. This should be looked upon as the long-term goal, but not an expectation. I am probably one of the bigger Oregon homers, but I love these kind of reality checks. Goals are great, but it is a rough journey to get there.

I can tell you why we shouldn't expect Oregon to beat Georgia, it's unrealistic. We can want them to beat Georgia, be thrilled if it happens, but we can't expect it. Expectations need to be kept in check, even if we pull off an upset. I think part, a very small part, of the problem last year was we beat tosu early in the season. We were then an elite team, and expectations were we would, should beat everyone, even with a weaker lineup. Fortunately the Miami faithful thought Mario was an elite coach at that time too, and were probably fooled more than anyone. Becoming an elite team is a process full of ups and downs, and won't happen overnight. Dan Lanning is going to be a great coach, the Ducks are going to continue to rise up to great heights. We need to be thrilled with the positive surprises and understanding of the letdowns. We can't beat Georgia, and think we could do it every time, or that there wasn't a lot of luck involved. We can beat them, but it won't define the program.

Agree passion and curiosity are keys to taking talent to the next level. I also like how HappytobeaDuck highlighted passion can sustain that talent for decades. We have had some extremely talented kids come to Oregon and then flounder. The passion wasn't there, but the talent lit up the recruiting services lights, and got them a scholarship to a great school. Competitiveness, curiosity and probably most important is the passion for the game. I do find it interesting that you can destroy passion by incentivizing something which was, at one time, a passion. A child who is fascinated by the piano, and spends hours at it, shows real promise can lose that interest when a parent pays them to keep playing or to play more. At the same time passion directed is an amazing force. I do wonder if talent development an innate part of a recruit? Does a recruit come with curiosity and passion, along with competitiveness? Is that what we should be recruiting, almost as much as talent? A 3* with upside who can't be held back is a better recruit than a 4* with greater measurables? Is talent development part of nature or nurture?

A double, nice!

The cost of the trophy, and then of course the cost of the engraving each year. The cost of the trip, now that is big boy money. Great idea of Walton, as long as the bus didn't go by Mac Court, the stories would never end!