Masoli feature on ESPN

Here is video on Jeremiah Masoli that was originally featured during the Nov. 7th College Gameday and was re-broadcast on Sportscenter prior to the Civil War.

Pac-10 Ranked Best Conference

Pac-10 was ranked the top conference this year by Ivan Maisel and Mark Schlabach. My only hope is that they show this by winning all 7 games they are favored in this bowl season. Going 12 for 12 in 2 years would be quite statement for the conference. See video below.

Oregon on SNL

Here is a sketch on Saturday Night Live tonight mocking the Ducks.

Mid-Week Links

It's Wednesday and Kelly has still not started the communication to reinstate LeGarrette Blount. Blount has been working on scout team the last 3 days of practice making many believe that he likely won't be reinstated for this weekend's game vs. the Cardinal. Obviously Oregon's still waiting on some of those "qualifications" to be met before starting the communication... Maybe a midterm grade or another counseling meeting?!? Who knows... I'm sure the Ducks will be fine without him...

Many are worried about a letdown after the big win over USC. Good thing Oregon's aware that would likely ruin the season.

Bleacher Report ranks Autzen Staduim as the #1 most hostile stadium to play in.
Another Bleacher Report ranks the Ducks as the #1 most unique offensive attack in college football.

So what would happen if everyone took a dive and Boise State and Oregon were battling for a national title spot? Here's a good rundown.

Here are some photos from Oregon's huge win over USC.

Frankly, I glad the Ducks are working on those high snaps from center. There have been a lot of plays that could have easily gone a different direction, literally.

Here's Moseley's practice update today.

The WAC hired a PR firm to help promote Boise State getting into a BCS this year. Last year Boise State was held out of a BCS game after running the table.

And my favorite link of the day... Here is who to root for (and against) over the next 5 weeks of the college football season if you're a Duck fan.

Go Ducks!!!

Some Quotes from the Weekend

"I don't know if we made a statement, this is just what we planned on doing, If it makes a statement, it makes a statement. That's just Oregon football and how we roll." - Jeremiah Masoli

"It was a real mess for us tonight, Oregon did everything that they wanted to do." - Pete Carroll

That was the first time ever, in the 14 years that I've been on the show, that a head a coach would be willing. We're happy if they'll come over and do an interview on the show, let alone put on a mascot head. I think that just speaks volumes about his approach and what he's doing here in Eugene. He really does a great job of not taking himself too seriously and at the same time having his team incredibly prepared. I think it was a lot of fun and brought a lot to the show." - Kirk Herbstreit

"It was a great game, a great game. It brings back a lot of memories of 2007. It's a different atmosphere with a night game, but it was a great, great, great day." -Dennis Dixon

"They did all the zone plays we'd practiced for. We got beat up up front. They kept hitting us in the mouth" -Taylor Mays

"That's the most relaxed I've been in my career" - Jeremiah Masoli

"They overloaded us and threw us off our game plan, and we missed our chance to stay in the game… We couldn't keep up with the fast-paced offense of Oregon, and we couldn't settle the ball. The Ducks' running backs had their way with us, and they were much too fast. It was a real mess with the running game; they outran us, and we couldn't make the tackles." -Pete Carroll

Among the most interested Oregon students watching the game was freshman Jackson Rice of Moraga, Calif. He is the Ducks' punter. He played one snap. -Ivan Maisel

"I walked back and forth a lot, just in case, my favorite games are the ones I don't have to play." -Jackson Rice

“I was telling them to speed up. I was like, ‘Go faster, go faster, they’re getting tired, they’re getting tired.’ And that’s what they did.” -LaMichael James

What the &$%#@!!!

First some Husky fans pay $500 to change the lights on the Morrison bridge to purple and gold (Of course Canzano had to chime in)... And now I start seeing ads for "The Dawg Den" on Ducksportsnews.com? Are you kidding me?


3 words... Thank you Huskies! Cheers to reminding me why I hate you so much and making this rivalry fun again... You've been silent for way too long. Too bad it will be back to normal next year after your QB bolts a year early for the NFL.

In the mean time, keep telling yourselves this is a "trap game." I think we'll find out the truth on Saturday. Go Ducks!!!

A Day with Chip Kelly

Here's a great article from George Schroeder at the Register Guard that goes over one day in the life of Chip Kelly. Gives you a new appreciation for how much effort goes into the head coaching job... "Feeding the tuna mayonnaise"

Chip Kelly on ESPN

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Breaking Down Some Numbers

I've heard some arguments recently how Oregon hasn't proved themselves in the Pac-10 yet because the teams they've beat are 0-8 in the Pac... But the teams the Beaver's have beat in the Pac-10 are 4-2! I thought I'd look into the 0-8 and 4-2 a little more... because numbers can be deceiving the way you use them.

First and foremost, 3 of those 8 losses are to OREGON!

The remaining 5 are all respectable losses:
2 - USC (who has won the Pac-10 the last 7 YEARS!)
2 - Stanford (who started 3-0 in the Pac-10 before losing to OSU)
1 - Arizona State (who may only be 1-1 in conference but despite how bad ASU has been playing this year... this loss was by Washington State)

Washington State has a bye and Cal & UCLA are playing each other this weekend. That means despite what happens, that 0-8 record will only be 1-9 after this weekend. Still sounds bad, huh?

Let's take this same logic and apply it to the Beavers... The teams they've beat have a record of 4-2 in the Pac-10 (Or 4-0 if not including the Beavers)... Sounds much better than Oregon's 0-8, right?!?

Let's take a look at those 4 wins from Oregon State's opponents (Plus 3 of the 4 are Stanford's wins).
2 - Washington State (enough said)
1 - Washington (Yes respectable this year... but they are still the team that went 0-12 last year).
1 - UCLA (respectable)

Oregon State's conference loss is to Arizona, a team that is 3-2 or 1-1 in conference (that 1 win being over Oregon State and one loss being to... Washington).

So what'd we learn from that exercise?!? Not much, not much at all... but since I'm already this far...


For $hits and giggles, let's take a look at Oregon's non-conference opponents... They are 11-6 (or 10-4 if not including Oregon). So far this season all of Oregon's opponents are 18-15 (or 17-10 if not including Oregon).

***If you exclude the two patsies (Washington State and Purdue whom only have 1 win each and are likely not to beat more than anther team or two) you are looking at an opponents record of the other 4 teams at 16-5 (or 15-2 if not including Oregon).

Take a look at Oregon State's non-conference opponents... They are 10-8 (or 9-6 if not including Oregon State). So far this season all of Oregon State's opponents are 20-14 (or 18-10 if not including Oregon State).

***If you exclude the two patsies (Portland State and UNLV whom only have 2 wins each) you are looking at an opponents record of the other 4 teams at 16-6 (or 14-4 if not including Oregon State).

Both teams seem fairly equal when you break them down like that...

Oregon's Non-conference Schedule (excluding UofO): 11-6 (10-4)
OSU's Non-conference Schedule (excluding OSU) : 10-8 (9-6 )

Oregon's Overall Schedule (excluding UofO): 18-15 (17-10)
OSU's Overall Schedule (excluding OSU) : 20-14 (18-10)

Oregon's Overall Schedule w/o patsies (excluding UofO): 16-5 (15-2)
OSU's Overall Schedule w/o patsies (excluding OSU) : 16-6 (14-4)

So after this long and extensive look at this... Just what have we learned? Mainly that the numbers don't matter yet and won't make complete sense until the end of the season when everyone has had a chance to play one another... Plus I pretty much just wasted 15 minutes of my life... And you wasted 5 for reading this (but what else do you have to do on a bye week?!?).

Nonetheless... bring on the rest of the schedule...
Go Ducks!

Crazy Fans

I would really like to see the followup video where this guy gets jumped for being such an idiot. Yeah, you sure told Spurrier...

Boondock Saints: All Saints Day

Finally, after 10 years after the release of the original Boondock Saints, the sequel will be released in select theaters on Oct. 30th. Here's a link to the trailer. They will have a link to theater listings in the future.

Arrested Development Movie Update

So it's finally in happening... After waiting for all the main actors to jump on board, Mitchell Hurwitz and Jame Vallely are now working on the screenplay for the future film. Production is likely to begin in the Spring.

New Facilities & More

If you haven't been to Oregongridiron.com for a while you probably haven't noticed there are some new videos up.

• One video shows some of the construction and renovation going on the Oregon campus right now.
• There are also a few new motivational videos that were prepared for the games this season and a focus on Oregon's D and LaMichael James.
• Of course there is a (somewhat) new video regarding Oregon's uniforms... 720 combos.

First 2011 Ducks Recruit

Ducks just picked up their first recruit for 2011 recruiting class. Running back Tyson Coleman is 6'2", 200lbs and from Lake Oswego High School. He is considered a 4 star on scout and has yet to be rated on Rivals. He already had offers from Oregon State and Washington.

This is only a week after picking up Nick Rowland last week. He's a 6'5", 300lb 4 star (on both Rivals and Scout) offensive guard from Peoria, Arizona. Ranked as the 3rd (Scout) or 7th (Rivals) best player at his position.

Attitude

So typically this isn't the type of thing I would post for this blog but it really stood out to me when I came across it yesterday. I guess you could say this could apply to anything in life... including how you perceive your sports teams.

Your attitude impacts your life. Your attitude is more important than how intelligent you are. It is more important than your talents, your giftedness or skills. It is more important than your failures and than your successes. It is more important than what other people think or say or do. You cannot change the past. You cannot control what others do. The only think you can do is control your own attitude.

The remarkable thing is you have a choice every day regarding the attitude you will embrace for that day. Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it.