Quack Fix: Ducks reach midway point of season, prepare for Friday matchup with Cal

Practice highlights (from Oregon's official report):

• With Thomas Tyner dinged up in the second half, it was Kenny Bassett who stepped in to spell Royce Freeman.  HIs workman-like performance on Saturday (six carries for 20 yards) did not surprise his teammates who have seen him practice all year.
• Once again, the defense sounds like it continues to play well as Moseley notes a number of interceptions and that the team is "rallying to the ball."
• The November 1 game against Stanford will have a 4:30 pm kickoff.

Quote of the day:

His leadership has been unbelievable.  The guy is a special guy in every phase and that element of his personality has developed so much, it's night and day. He's always been a powerful leader, but it's totally changed how much volume has come out of his mouth. That's been really neat to see develop.

--Mark Helfrich on Mariota and his development this season.

Links:

• Marcus Mariota was named the national offensive player of the week by the Senior Bowl after his performance against the huskies.
• Andre Yruretagoyena is off of his crutches and out of his cast.  Andre continues to maintain his desire to return to action this season and having him back would be another nice boost to the offensive line.
• Tyson Alger has some midseason awards for the Ducks (in slideshow form).
• The Pac-12 blog previews this week's action, which includes a full conference slate.  Also, two Oregon plays are candidates for their play of the week.  Finally, Kevin Gemmell writes that some clarity is starting to emerge in the conference.
• Here are the game notes for Friday's matchup with Cal.  One note I liked: 45 of Oregon's 53 victories since 2010 have been by more than 14 points.

Go Ducks!