One year ago today, the big news of the day surrounded Bellotti's golden parachute, kicker Mike Bowlin scheduled arraignment on charges stemming from a brawl near campus, talk of Butler's Brad Stevens possible interest in the Ducks mens' basketball team job, and Nate Costa battling Darron Thomas for the starting QB position. After I finish this quack fix, I'm going to knock on some wood because this has been a fun and exciting year...and for all the right reasons. On to the quack:
- Anyone for a Sporting News College Football pre-season poll? Ducks come in at #3 behind the LSU Tigers and the Oklahoma Sooners with the article mentioning that we need to rebuild on defense. Maybe it's just me, but I'm way more confident about our defense next year than most. With so many players getting so much playing time in meaningful situations, I just don't see much of a drop off. Yes, we have to replace some key difference makers, but guys step up. They do every year.
- Where I do think we've got some interesting challenges to address happens to be at the wide receiver position with the departure of Jeff Maehl and DJ Davis. It will be tough getting used to the inexperience on the outside. We do have senior Lavasier Tunei and sophmore Josh Huff as the veterans but after that, no wide receiver has more than 4 catches from last year. I'm sure glad Scott Frost stuck around after being courted by Nebraska.
- One priority in the spring is to get some depth behind David Paulson at tight end.
- LaMichael James discussed how he feels about Willie Lyles and the situation Lyles finds himself in. Some of his statements echo my thoughts regarding which angles can be used to sell papers. Although I would normally expect LMJ to downplay the situation, he certainly didn't distance himself from Lyles. In fact, he defended him, saying that they were close.
- If you haven't seen it, here's a great video where Urban Meyer and Chip Kelly break down a few plays of the Oregon offense. For those that call this type of football "gimmicky", my response is simple. The football nerds are beating the football jocks.
- The Oregon Acrobatics and Tumbling team will participate in the inaugural National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association National Championship this weekend.
- In uniform news, I can't wait to see what Arizona State has in store for us in their big reveal!
With the Spring Game fast approaching, I'll be posting some details on an ATQ get together sometime in the next week. In the meantime, please relive the event by checking out benzduck's awesome slideshow from last year. I cannot guarantee that Dr. Delight will make an appearance.