It's that special time of year again. I hope you all are enjoying Happy I Hate Washington Week -- here's some quack to add to the festivities!
- Rob Moseley's feature article today is on the Ducks avoiding the significant injuries that have begun to pile up for other conference teams. Moseley notes that one of the keys to avoiding a repeat of 2007 where a string of injuries derailed a national title run is Oregon's depth. Not only is Oregon better prepared to handle an injury to a key player but the depth also lessens the chance that a fatigued player gets injured in the first place.
- Moseley also asks a few Ducks about being #1 in the latest BCS poll -- and as you would expect, the Ducks are saying they only care about the rankings at the end of the season. And, after his 145-yard, three touchdown performance on Saturday, Jeff Maehl was named the Pac-10 offensive player of the week.
- As Dave noted yesterday, the basketball team took another hit as Jay-R Strowbridge broke his nose and dislocated his thumb in a scrimmage on Friday. Coach Altman is unsure when Strowbridge might be eligible to return. As for the scrimmage against Nevada, it's apparently against NCAA rules to allow spectators or media to attend scrimmages against opposing Division I schools -- or even to publish statistics. So, all we have is this Altman quote: "It was a good day for us, that’s all I’ll say."
- In Bob Clark's weekly look around the conference focuses on the struggling California Bears. His conference rankings are included near the bottom, which include this nugget on Oregon: "For the record, 58 is high-point total vs. Huskies."
- Both Moseley and Chris Courtney have practice reports up from Monday. The big news from yesterday is that Kenjon Barner appears to be ramping up his participation in practice. While it is unlikely we'll hear anything official about whether or not he'll be available for Washington until game time, it's great to hear that he's back participating (and making an impact) at practice.
- The Orange County Register has some quotes from Trojan player Shareece Wright on LaMichael James' performance and the Oregon offense wearing down the USC defense late on Saturday. There is also a specific mention of Jurrell Casey needing to take a breather. You wouldn't expect him to be so tired playing against a two man team.
- Ted Miller takes a look at how the conference is living up to its "Conference of QBs" nickname. Miller also offers his thoughts on the Huskies facing Oregon without Jake Locker this weekend. And, Oregon gets a lot of mentions in his "Pac-10 Rewind and Look Ahead" entry.
- After a tough weekend that saw the volleyball team shutout against #2 California and #3 Stanford, the team dropped two spots to #20 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaches Top 25 Poll.
There are some video interviews after the jump for your viewing pleasure.
Go Ducks