Washington Waddler

Mo Mooreba!

At USC Bear was thrown to the wolves because he was really all they had. Add the hamstring injury to that pressure, and a transfer was all but a given. At Oregon, our well stocked DL room has given him the time and room to establish himself and find his footing, and boy, has he ever!

Yes, now that you mention it. As I recall, route running often required accounting for those closer walls, and there were some injuries.

I think that’s more of an away, big game phenomena. When an entitled, big stadium crowd is looking defeat square in the face, there can be this hush-dread that seems to freeze the stadium’s energy, and contributes to altering the momentum on the field. I remember experiencing that 4th quarter feeling in both the Big House and Neyland Stadium where it didn’t help either Michigan or Tennessee against superior Duck teams.

While it’s purely incidental, I’ve always found it interesting that Mike Billotti swears the stadium was louder before the 2002-03 south-side expansion. I think he credits that belief to a loss of decibel rebound off the donor roof which gained 17 feet of height over the original 12 thousand more voices has less impact than the old configuration? Reading these coaches’ comments comparing Autzen sound to much larger stadiums makes you realize it’s not body count that gives Autzen its loudness. Anyway, I give the benefit of the doubt to Mike whose tenure bridged the two editions of Autzen. You’d think he’d know.

Maybe they should try a Blue-Out?

Unfortunately, it is probably going to take a player down for the count with a major concussion before they reverse these dangerous, hairsplitting rule changes.

Not taking the points, but instead going for it is choosing program culture over game strategy.

With Indiana’s win over Iowa, we’re probably looking at another top 10 game in two weeks. College Game Day anyone?

Game balls to both Sappington and Thieneman. It’s not how you start, but how you finish. Go Ducks!

Allar, you can run, but you can’t hide!

Haven’t converted yards into scores, yet. But really like the focus - they’re putting the puzzle together, one piece at a time, beginning to open the door. Shock and awe time?

Yeah, back pain is no joke. Hope you feel better soon.

Good take Darren. It’s good to remember that this is the first real test for both teams. Big time away games where the home crowd wears their emotions on their cuff can work to the away team’s advantage if they can keep it close through three quarters. If they do, it begins to sew the seeds of doubt, and all that panicked urgency washing over home team coaches and players alike can make some funny things happen.

Like last year at Wisconsin, Lanning’s approach to dealing with super charged atmospheres is to limit the emotional affect of color, and go with the business suit (white shirt, black suit) look that keeps the focus away from appearance and the team’s mental focus on execution.

Kinda does invite other rivalry week prank memories? Growing up in Southern California, I recall a Crosstown Rivalry Week prank from the 1960’s that, while not as cordial, was pretty funny. The prank was based on the usual response by USC frat boys to traditional UCLA efforts to unscrew and steal the brass sword from the hand of the campus statue of Tommy Trojan. The traditional response was, of course, for Trojan fraternities to share a weeklong, overnight statue camp out vigil. What the USC fraternities didn’t know that year was that the UCLA plan had changed from targeting the sword to targeting the protectors. What reportedly occurred on the night of the prank was that sometime between 2 and 3 in the morning, a helicopter w/ searchlights was heard approaching the USC campus. Thinking it was LAPD looking for someone, the vigil campers didn’t give it much thought, until it came to hover directly above them, and then released from a Bambi Bucket (the canvas bag beneath fire fighting helicopters) what was described by those on the ground as, “a ton of cow or horse manure”. Investigators later confirmed that a UCLA frat boy involved in the prank did have a family connection that gave him access to such a helicopter.

We will be playing against Penn State in Beaver Stadium.

It would be hilarious, but not so much for the local PD’s overtime budget when they have to place every available cop with binoculars looking to spot roof top shooters trying to deflate Puddles.

The first time I remember this combo was against UCLA at the Rose Bowl in 1998, a hard fought loss back when the Bruins still fielded contenders. No matter the outcome, it struck me then as the best away uniform ever, only sharing the stage with the storm trooper.

Fox knows they have a captive national audience for a quarter when folks who just want to see what’s all the fuss about the Ducks will tune in. Probably back loaded the high priced add spots for those 15 minutes before they move on.

What you never know about any player, until it happens, is how they will respond to real game live action: competitive juices. Dak elevates.

He surprised me. Next to Bucky, I thought he had the best quick burst, but no idea how to time its use against a defender. My guess is Samples had him doing situation work on that during the off-season.

The amount of open space we saw so often on end arounds and crossing routes resulted from DLs and LBs being unable to react quickly to the ball because of being road graded into back stepping. In addition to the Joe Moore award, I’d add the Dante Moore trophy for our OL.

He needs a cold shower, but keep to five minutes.

While there are no guarantees (that we’re sure of) that Nike support will reflect Knight’s current level of commitment to Oregon athletics once he is gone, there are some state-wise differences between Oregon’s stature and that of Oklahoma State, and that of the benefit derived from Nike support of the Ducks by comparison to that of the Pickens Foundation for the Cowboys that leads me to think Oregon will come out okay. In terms of general, state-wide fan (and NIL) support, Oregon has only to deal with the appeal of Oregon State, while the Cowboys are in an opposite relationship to that with Oklahoma. Sports fans (and businesses) like the image of their state as a winner, and the team that provides that usually gets their support. Unlike Picken’s fortune (made as a business magnate, financier, hedge fund operator and takeover corporate raider), Nike’s retail wealth has a public image it tries to maintain, and is enhanced by choosing to back both individuals and teams that bolster that image. Oregon can now sit along side Michael Jordan as part of that Nike tradition as having earned that support.