Morning Quack Fix: 5.12.09

by ntrebon on May 12, 2009 6:49 AM PDT in Morning Quack Fix

How do you like your morning quack? I take mine with coffee. Lots of coffee. Black. Enjoy.

Ron Bellamy writes about the Kamyron Brown transfer, including quotes from Brown, who appears to be taking it as well as can be expected. Brown cites a desire for more playing time as his sole reason for transferring. Though, if the Armstead rumors are true, someone was going to be forced out as the Ducks were already at their scholarship limit. Still, I have to respect Kamyron for the way he's handling it and for sticking around last year after his close friend Drew Viney transferred. It's too bad it didn't work out.
Wazzu completed a sweep of Oregon in baseball yesterday, routing the Ducks 10-2. The Ducks are on a five-game losing streak, and things don't look to improve much as the Ducks head to take on conference-leading ASU on Friday.
In football news, Nick Daschel of Buster Sports lists the top six centers heading into next season. Shocking, I know, but Oregon does not make the top six. Jordan Holmes is listed in the "Others to Watch" section -- along with the players from the three other schools (UCLA, Stanford and Cal) that did not make the top six.
Jon Wilner, of the Mercury News, blogs about the projected finish to next year's football season. Oregon comes in at three, though he mentions that it' was a close pick between the Ducks and Cal for #2. OSU fans, on the otherhand, may have more of a bone to pick after being picked fifth, behind UCLA.
In softball news, junior Neena Bryant and freshman Samantha Skillingstad were named to the All-Pac-10 Second and Freshman teams, respectively. Congrats to Bryant, who has earned at least second-team conference honors in all three of her years here at Oregon.

As always, post any thoughts or comments below.

Go Ducks!

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Comments

Don't know about that top ten

Loose a little credibility from me when you say that Oregon will finish third in the Pac-10 because of their hard schedule:
@Boise, Utah, Purdue, Cal
Lets say Oregon goes 1-3(sad), winning the last game, why we could still win the Pac-10. Non-conference games does not make for a hard Pac-10 schedule. Our conference schedule actually lines up in our favor, Mr Sports Hotline Guy.

Sleeping under an avalanche with Cartman, wake me Sept 3.

by trumpetduck on May 12, 2009 8:00 AM PDT reply actions

I think he makes some fair points, but I don’t think anyone would pick Cal to challenge USC.
I might be wrong but it seems like they get picked every year to do it and never deliver. I think it’s because of that fluke tripple overtime win they had back in…what was it ’03?

"Oregon didn't have 694 yards of total offense, Oregon State had 694 yards of total DEFENSE."
The Tyrant Boy-King of UC-Eugene

by echris on May 12, 2009 12:24 PM PDT reply actions

It’s only May but right now I’m picking Cal this year to win the Pac-10. They have the fewest question marks (in my mind) coming back. Longshore has finally graduated leaving Riley as the main guy. Their receivers are all coming back and will be way more consistent then they were last year. Jahvid Best will also be back and is a preseason darkhorse for the heisman.

I reserve the right to change this when we get to fall but Cal looks to be in the best shape coming out of spring ball

--Dominic, Addicted to Quack

Autzen Stadium is where great teams go to die." - J. Brady McCullough, The Michigan Daily.

by dvieira on May 12, 2009 12:36 PM PDT up reply actions

If Cal wins the Pac-10, I will eat my hat!

Considering Cal has never (as far as I know) won the Pac-10 outright (no ties) and once they achieve the limelight (in the 00’s) they blow it, I highly doubt Cal will win the conference.

1. USC
2. Oregon
3. OSU
4. Cal

by westspec on May 12, 2009 1:53 PM PDT up reply actions

you are right in the fact that Cal has never won a Pac-10 title outright (counting from 1978) but that shouldn’t dismiss their chances this year. USC is as vulnerable this year as they ever have been. Cal will have a great team coming back and did very well against the Trojans last year, plus the Bears get them at home. Yes, they have to come to Autzen but that hasn’t stopped them in the past. Plus Cal will be the 4th game of a brutal 4 game stretch to start the season for the Ducks (Boise St, Purdue, Utah, then Cal). They also play Oregon State towards the end of the season and who knows what kind of shape the Rodgers Brothers will be in.

Oregon State, just like every year, will surprise people and should get off to a great start but they also have the potential to be a one-trick pony. If James or Quizz go down, that very well could ruin their season given the talent they lost last year. Oregon has question marks all over their lines and some concerns in the secondary…not to mention injury and conditioning problems at running back. No one else in the Pac-10 seems to have the firepower yet to challenge.

Like I said, it’s still May but Cal is in the best shape of anyone

--Dominic, Addicted to Quack

Autzen Stadium is where great teams go to die." - J. Brady McCullough, The Michigan Daily.

by dvieira on May 12, 2009 2:37 PM PDT up reply actions

If OSU does in fact end up one dimensional, with either Rodgers brother(s) eating shit, I will not rebuke.

A season decimated by injury of a key player or two (or six) is a feeling we’ve all had to deal with, and I cannot give them any flak for being a one trick pony, as one really well rounded aspect to your team can get you really far, especially with OSU’s schedule year in, year out. And, with what they do with their “trick” to stay fresh and dangerous is pretty impressive.

They do what they do. We found that it seems we can’t stay afloat with a white QB not named Ropert, and all the while getting the whole “Well maybe you shouldn’t have filled that ‘spread’ basket with eggs” blah blah blah – that was one of the more irritating things to get. It’s like they expect a suspension bridge’s cables to be cut and not waiver because it “should’ve had other strengths to compensate” or whatever.

Addicted To Quack [dot] com; Dear Joevan, Develop motor skills. Love, ATQ.

by qrsouther on May 12, 2009 5:26 PM PDT up reply actions

I was being a little cursory with my reasoning, but your argument against OSU works against Cal. If Best goes down, where does that leave the them? I also think there is a reason Riley split time with Longshore and that reason is Riley is not a great QB. He tends to make poor decisions under pressure.

Everyone says USC is more vulnerable this year and I just don’t see it. I think Corp will open up the offense and I think they will focus more on running the ball this year with their experienced RBs. And, yes, they lost some of their vaunted defense. So add 5 points given up per game and they’ll still beat everyone in the Pac-10.

I just don’t see Cal staying the course through an entire season. It seems like they never do.

by westspec on May 13, 2009 5:34 AM PDT up reply actions

I think the extent of Riley's "poor decision making under pressure" exhibit is solely the OSU game, '07.

Addicted To Quack [dot] com; Dear Joevan, Develop motor skills. Love, ATQ.

by qrsouther on May 13, 2009 9:29 AM PDT up reply actions

Oh really?

If Cal wins the Pac-10, I will eat my hat!

Is this equal to shitting a brick? Or is eating one’s hat/shitting a brick kind of like pink being the new black (or whatever colors you prefer to be trendy)?

May we hand you your taints on a silver platter...

by 071903 on May 12, 2009 7:20 PM PDT up reply actions

I believe...

On a scale from One to Shitting a Brick, eating ones hat is about an eight.

Sleeping under an avalanche with Cartman, wake me Sept 3.

by trumpetduck on May 12, 2009 11:38 PM PDT up reply actions

I'm not taking Cal seriously until they get some decent QB play...

Kevin Riley didn’t step up, in the spring, and neither did anyone else. They haven’t had a great QB since Aaron Rodgers. And for some reason, I just don’t think that Andy Ludwig will really change that. As good as Best is, I think they will simply be too one-dimensional on offense to really challenge USC.

USC will again be the favorite to win the Pac-10. They may be vulnerable, but they have way less questions than any other team.

--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog

by jtlight on May 13, 2009 7:15 PM PDT up reply actions

I think with Cal’s offense, they don’t need a great QB to make it work, especially with Best back there. The biggest thing Cal needs is for their QB not to make mistakes. Their defense will be really good, we already know Best is good and their wideouts will be better than last year. One comment about “decent QB play”. His QB rating was not that far below Masoli in 2008, only about 10 points. The reason why his rating was low was because of his completion percentage. Cal receivers had a ton of drops last year. If you thought that Masoli was “decent” last year, then you have to give it to Riley as well based on the numbers.

I’m not sure what questions they have that are different than USC’s. Basically everyone has said “USC will reload….just like always” even though they are replacing a ton of great talent on defense and their starting QB will be making his 2nd ever start in the Horseshoe against Ohio State.

From Ted Miller:

Cal Writeup – http://myespn.go.com/blogs/pac10/0-9-28/California-spring-wrap-up.html
USC Writeup – http://myespn.go.com/blogs/pac10/0-9-23/USC-spring-wrap-up.html

They aren’t that much different

--Dominic, Addicted to Quack

Autzen Stadium is where great teams go to die." - J. Brady McCullough, The Michigan Daily.

by dvieira on May 14, 2009 1:20 AM PDT up reply actions

I really disagree about Cal’s offense. They didn’t even have a competent passing game last year, and showed little flashes that it could be a consistent force. If you want to win a Pac-10 title, you need to have a very good offense.

Last year, Cal had a below average passing offense (according to S&P+), and had a below average offense in general in “close” situations, according to football outsiders.

This really shouldn’t be all that surprising. Last year, it seemed that Cal couldn’t do much with the ball against competent defenses, mainly because good defenses could focus on the run, and the pass couldn’t do much. I don’t see any reason why this would change. On top of this, Best seems the type of back who cannot make much when he has no room. While if you give him an inch, he can go the distance, it seems that the great teams can bottle him up, and give him no room fro, the get-go. This problem is only compounded without a major passing game threat. I just don’t see their offense improving much. If they want to challenge for a Pac-10 title, they have to be much better than average on offense.

Also, while their defense will be very good, it will not be USC level good, able to mask offensive problems. They will be a very solid team, and because of how their offense operates, be more consistent than Oregon most likely, but I see them having problems with the upper level teams.

USC’s questions are not on the same level. One of their spring strengths was supposed to be a questions (linebackers). They will have one of the best D-Lines in the Pac-10, at the very least, and they had great QB play during spring practice. Hell, their question on that position is “will the freshman push for playing time?” Cal’s questions regard commodities already seen, in significant areas, that will significantly impact their ability to move the ball. USCs deal with players unseen, and that’s worked out pretty well for them in the past.

That doesn’t mean USC is unbeatable. But at this point, they are the unquestioned #1 in the Pac-10 for a reason.

--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog

by jtlight on May 14, 2009 6:17 AM PDT up reply actions

USC has only 3 starters returning on defense. If this doesn’t give someone out there a cause for pause, I don’t know what it would take. Having 0 starters come back?

But at this point, they are the unquestioned #1 in the Pac-10 for a reason.

Nope, I’m questioning them based on all the evidence above. You can’t just say “Oh we know that USC is losing almost its entire starting defense and yeah, we know they are breaking in a new QB and all, and well…we know they have to play all of the Pac-10 contenders on the road (minus Oregon State) but damnit! They’re USC and they are #1!”

What I’m saying is that Riley and his receivers are all coming back. You make good points about their offense not being great last year but what I’m saying is that they will be better this year because of all the experience coming back in all the skill positions. Also, this looks to be a down year for DBs in the conference so their passing game should improve on that mark as well.

USC, Oregon and Cal will all have problems with upper level teams in the conference. That’s why they are considered upper level teams.

--Dominic, Addicted to Quack

Autzen Stadium is where great teams go to die." - J. Brady McCullough, The Michigan Daily.

by dvieira on May 14, 2009 11:29 AM PDT up reply actions

Few question USC losing that many players because they have so much talent at every single position that it’s not even funny. And they have produced at a ridiculously high level, no matter who was lost. And they have one of the best defensive players in college football, that makes their entire defense better by a large amount. They have only given up more than 16 ppg once since 2004, and that was 2005, when they averaged over 579 yards a game and killed everyone.

But really, there have been no indications that they will drop off that much. Spring practice went very very well for the defense. Griffen played very well, the linebackers stepped up, and Mays is leading the secondary. Besides the capsules that say, returning starters: 3, there’s no reason to think that will have significant issues. At this point, on defense, you simply have to assume that USC will produce at a very high level. Maybe not last season level, but almost certainly top of the Pac-10 level.

In terms of QB play, Aaron Corp did an excellent job, flat out won the job, and looks to be in control of the offense. With a strong offensive line coming back, there’s no reason to think that they will drop off that much. With a strong line and running game and a great wide receiver, Corp should be very comfortable from an early point.

On the flipside, there’s been little evidence that Cal’s passing game will improve, while defensively, they will be, at best, a bit better than last season. They never showed greatness in any of their games. They lost some guys, and look to be able to fill those holes pretty well, but I have no seen one indication from practice that they will make that leap. You assume that Cal will improve, simply based on experience, but I don’t think that this is always the case. Nate Longshore sure didn’t improve, and only seemed to get worse. But the overall problem with Cal’s passing game is that it’s just never shown greatness. While with some players you can see that have that ability, but it’s covered by insonsistency (like Dennis Dixon). However, I just haven’t seen that from Cal. Riley’s biggest attribute is that he doesn’t make mistakes. But he didn’t really make plays either. Why would he start now? There’s just little reason to think that Cal could move from a below average passing team, to one that could make the difference in a game, which they must do to be able to be able to seriously contend for the Pac-10 title. Another hindrance to the passing game will be the loss of Alex Mack, who was key in directing the line to pick up blitzes. They fell apart vs. OSU when they couldn’t protect Riley, and this could become the norm next season.

I think that if you look at both teams, both have questions, but both look to perform at a similar level compared to last season. For Cal to make a run, USC would have to take a total nose-dive (again, from history or practice there’s no reason to think that), while Cal would have to improve significantly, but again, no reason to think that.

--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog

by jtlight on May 14, 2009 12:33 PM PDT up reply actions

I’m not buying into much improvement from Cal’s offense. I think they stay status quo: good not great. And I agree with JT here, that good not great on offense spells a 6-3 conference record.

I think we all agree Cal probably isn’t going to get great QB play. They’re returning some numbers – along with solid RBs – on offense, but replacing Alex Mack and Cameron Morrah will be really tough. Those guys were critical to Cal’s offense last year and it’s unlikely the Bears simply reload at those positions.

Double cover Nyan Boateng at WR, maybe, pay some attention to the TE, everyone else tackle the little guy with the ball. I think Cal’s offense will struggle against the top three or four defenses in the conference, especially on the road. Of course, it’s yet to be seen whether Oregon will be one of those, but I believe they could be.

I'm really tired of it not being football season.

by JConant on May 14, 2009 12:52 PM PDT up reply actions