I don't know about you, but after not having Oregon football for over a week, I can hardly wait for Thursday night. Here's some quack to help us all get there.
- Ron Bellamy takes a look at UCLA LB Akeem Ayers and recounts his remarkable interception off of Nate Costa deep in the Oregon end zone in last year's game. And, similar to Clint Ingram's interception of Brady Leaf in the Holiday Bowl, Ayer's in position to make the play because of his own "mistake" on defense -- in this case being fooled by a play-action.
- Adam Jude talks to Scott Frost, whose Nebraska team shared a national title in 1997, about his thoughts on the Ducks reaching #1 in the polls and their chance to stay on top. Also included are notes from yesterday's practice, including this nugget on Cliff Harris: "Sophomore corner Cliff Harris spent most of practice in Gildon’s place with the No. 1 defense...Depending on Gildon’s status, Harris figures to be in line for his first start of the season against UCLA." Somewhere, Matt Daddy is feeling faint.
- Chris Courtney has his practice report up from yesterday, which includes some quotes from Chip about the state of the defense.
- In one my least-favorite cliches, Ken Goe discusses Nate Costa's blue-collar approach both on and off the field. But, Ken does have some quotes from Nate and his offensive linemen discussing his plans for life after football.
- In Bob Clark's weekly glance around the Pac-10, he focuses on Jeff Tedford possibly being on the hot seat at Cal. As usual, Clark also has power rankings included at the end.
- ESPN LA's Kevin Yoon reports that Kevin Prince had an MRI done on his knee and is uncertain for Thursday's game.
- In volleyball news, the Ducks are up to #16 in the latest poll after sweeping the Beavers last weekend. Things look to get tougher this weekend as the Ducks will travel to take on #8 USC and #11 UCLA.
- The preseason National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association’s preseason coaches’ poll has come out and Oregon is ranked #2. The Ducks did receive a first-place vote, and is only three points behind Maryland.
-
Finally, in case you missed Jared linking this as a comment yesterday, KVAL has a number of video interviews with players about being ranked #1 and the upcoming UCLA game.
Go Ducks!