There's a lot to discuss today, so let's not beat around the bush.
- The Oregonian's John Hunt has a story about the Ducks trying to work Ed Dickson into the offense. Dickson, an All-American candidate who has three catches in two games so far this season, is obviously not seeing enough touches thus far. Hey, Ed. You might wanna buy Masoli lunch. Or take him to the optometrist.
- The Oregonian's John Hunt has a nice breakdown of Oregon's defense heading in to its game with Utah this weekend. Here's the stat that most concerns me: The Ducks' defense has seen 175 plays in its first two games, the most in the nation. Bottom line (no-brainer alert!): If we want to beat Utah, we need to move the ball. Period.
- The R-G's George Schroeder has a piece on how the Pac-10's nonleague schedule greatly affects its bowl placements, likely more than any other major conference. He gives a number of good examples from the past few years of why the Pac-10 should consider ending its nine-game league schedule.
- Maybe it's foreshadowing, or maybe it'll end up as consolation, but the No. 12-ranked Oregon volleyball team beat Utah in four sets Tuesday night. Obviously, let's hope it's the former.
- Although it's not final, it sounds like the Ducks will play Washington State under the Autzen lights on Oct. 3. The game's start time will potentially change to a 6:15 kickoff to accommodate an OSN telecast if the game isn't chosen by ABC/ESPN or Fox Sports Net. I'm guessing that won't happen, so let's assume we'll be Cougar Hunting in the dark, both at Autzen and at The Cooler after the game.
- In case you missed this, Daniel Uthman, Special to The Oregonian, has a great article on Oregon's emerging national recruiting prowess, focusing mostly on its ties to North Carolina and the recent verbals from James Scales and Chris McCain. It's definitely worth a read.
- Are we on the verge of seeing A.J. Feeley hand the ball off to Jonathan Stewart? It's increasingly possible. Feeley, Joey Harrington's former backup at Oregon, was signed by the Carolina Panthers yesterday to back up struggling starter Jake Delhomme, joining a slew of former Ducks, including Stewart, Dante Rosario, Ra'Shon Harris and Geoff Schwartz.
- In other news, Oregon's men's cross country team begins the 2009 season ranked No. 1 in the country. The two-time defending NCAA men's cross counrty champion received nine first-place votes in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Men's Cross Country preseason coaches' poll.
As always, leave any relevant links or comments below.
GO DUCKS!