We got quite a bit of quack today, so let's get right to it:
- Oregon beat UTEP last night 64-59. The Ducks struggled to put away the Miners, but put it away late, thanks mostly to Jonathan Loyd's 24 points. But the big story of the game is that the Ducks lost another player as Bruce Barron left the team. While some Duck fans may have held out hope that Jabari Brown, who left 9 days ago, would return to the team, Coach Dana Altman says that the team is moving forward. There was discussion last night in this fanshot, but this is really worrying. It was easy to blame previous attrition on coaching changes, but Altman has now lost two of his recruits in the middle of the season.
- Keeerrrttt's been busy lately and we've missed him the last couple weeks, but he comes roaring back with his latest Duck Tales on the Oregon special teams. This is a very long, and very good piece on Oregon's success in the kicking game over the past 20 years. He talked with P Jose Arroyo, K Josh Frankel, and long snapper Mike Belisle, and has a number of great Duck videos.
- The Ducks may have the top offense in the league (by a significant margin), but the Ducks only placed LaMichael James on the all-conference first team. Chip Kelly let loose some good sarcasm, saying "it's got to be the system" in his press conference yesterday.
- Bill Connelly ranks the various championship games this weekend. Guess which comes in last?
- Friday will likely be LaMichael James' last game in Autzen. Despite battling injuries this season, he's shattered just about every Oregon rushing record, and will leave as the best back in school history. Up next for James is likely the NFL, where his role may change significant from being a feature back.
- Oregon got another commit. 3/4-star safety Reggie Daniels out of Arizona committed to the Ducks yesterday. He's teh 16th rated safety in the nation according to Rivals. he is Oregon's 15th commit of the year, and their 8th 4-star commit, the most ever by the Ducks before December.
- Rob Moseley has a piece today on Eddie Pleasant, Brandon Hanna, and Terrell Turner, who were all recruited to Oregon to play linebacker. None will leave Oregon as linebackers, and are flourishing in Oregon's new defensive schemes.
- Lastly, a bit of track news. Matthew Centrowitz will forgo his senior year and go pro, though he'll stay in Eugene to train and finish out his degree. Also, Jorday Hasay was name the Pac-12 women's top cross country athlete for the second straight year.
Weasel stomping week continues! Leave any other quack in the comments. GO DUCKS!