Man, it's good to have football back, and we have one more game to enjoy tonight that should have a pretty clear rooting interest for Duck fans. Here's your quack:
- With the first game in the books, nothing has changed since last week: we can't stop talking about Darron Thomas. Chip Kelly said in yesterday's teleconference that Thomas graded out really well. While many fans are worrying that Thomas didn't run the ball at all, Chip Kelly praised this decision-making, saying that New Mexico was doing everything they could to stop Thomas from running. That obviously didn't work out well. In the passing game, he made the right decisions as well, but will need to execute better.
- George Schoeder's piece from yesterday is on Thomas, and he can play. Schroeder focuses on Thomas' promise, and that is what was most exciting. Thomas did a lot of things well, and made mistakes that should be pretty simple to fix. Thomas even earned good praise from his possible replacement, Nate Costa. The future is bright at the QB position, that's for sure.
- Ken Woody has his analysis of the New Mexico game up. Woody has a lot of praise for many Ducks, and has some good notes on Thomas and Kelly's play-calling. The Ducks weren't shy about throwing and went downfield quite a bit, a signal that the Ducks are no longer just a running team.
- Andy McNamara of GoDucks.com has a game recap of the New Mexico game. It's basically a list of all the records broken in the game. Also, Cliff Harris has already tied the single season record for punt returns for touchdowns in a season by a Duck.
- What's amazing about the New Mexico game, is that the Ducks dominated in that way without their best player on the field. Well, LaMichael James is back this week, and the Register Guard has a piece on him today, and answers some questions brought up when Mike Bellotti commented on national TV that James had almost left Oregon in 2008. Adam Jude was able to talk to James about that incident, when he was confronted late one night by Bellotti, Kelly, and running backs coach Gary Campbell. James credits Campbell with him staying a Duck.
- Looking forward to next weekend's game against Tennessee, their injury woes continue as they lose starting wide receiver Gerald Jones for a couple weeks. The Portland Tribune has a piece on Chip Kelly facing familiar foe Justin Wilcox, and Rob Moseley previews Oregon's first trip to SEC country since 2003.
Got anything else to share or sing the praises of Gary Campbell? Leave it in the comments. GO DUCKS!