The crabby fighting Duck doesn't overlook anybody. He waddles out of the tunnel every Saturday looking for a scrap.
Good view of the newly remodeled tunnel from Rob Moseley of the Register-Guard. Success breeds success, and one of the ways it does so is that successful college football teams build a legacy, a tradition, a standard that is conveyed to players in many ways.
Increasingly it means something special to be a Duck. It always has, but Chip Kelly and his staff have created an identity and attitude for this team that will sustain them in adversity. The players buy in. Listen to them speak in interviews, and they unfailingly echo their coach and the core values of their team. It's different at Oregon. That matters.
Joel Odom of the Oregonian has a video interview with Oregon special teams coach Tom Osborne, who is looking like a genius after his punt return team has three long returns to start the season. He just might be a genius, because they keep doing it. Osborne explains how any time a returner has just one man to beat, the punter, it's because the other ten guys did a good job of blocking for him. He cited a host of special teams Ducks for great efforts, including Boseko Lokombo, Scott Grady, Javes Lewis, Dion Jordan, Michael Clay, Bryson Littlejohn, and Marvin Johnson.
Meanwhile the Ducks' punt team has pinned opponents inside their 20 four times with no returns, including twice at the six. Osborne told Rob Moseley:
“It takes time, it takes tempo, it takes reps,” Osborne said. “The biggest thing is, we’ve been able to change and create a culture, where our guys believe they have the chance to make the difference in a game.”
Duck fans have to wonder how long it will be before some opponent chooses to angle every kick out of bounds, just to avoid dealing with Barner and Harris and their motivated, disciplined blockers.
Speaking of Harris, no one puts on a better 24-7, full court press of Harris love than Matt Daddy of Addicted to Quack, who links to one of the most sensational, telling sports photographs I have ever seen in the comments section of the September 15 daily Quack Fix.. The photo shows Harris in midflight breaking up a fourth quarter pass to Tennessee's Justin Hunter. To find Matt's version of the photo, follow the link and scroll down in the comments to 9:39 a.m.
The picture tells you all you ever need to know about Harris' phenomenal ability and coverage instincts, but here is another telling tidbit: Hunter is 6-4 with a 40" vertical leap, a four-star recruit from Virginia Beach, Virginia who was a state high school champion in both the long jump and high jump. Here is another view of the play from the Knoxville News, photo by Michael Patrick:
Harris' ball skills and dominance are so marked on this play that the Knoxville News misidentifies him as the receiver, giving Hunter credit for breaking up the pass. Maybe they were being satirical.
I keep harping on Harris, but one cornerback in a thousand does this kind of stuff. He finds the ball, contests every pass and has Michael Jordan freakish physical ability making plays. You may think I'm exaggerating, but in truth I'm just ahead of my time.
Top-flight information man Ken Goe of the Oregonian has an excellent breakdown of the Pistol offense employed by Portland State. Originated by Chris Ault of Nevada, the Pistol is the next big thing in college football, now in use at James Madison, Indiana, Hawaii and Arkansas among others. The formation marries the spread Oregon employs with the I formation, setting the quarterback about four yards behind center with the tailback directly behind him. It works best with a capable dual-threat quarterback who can run or pass. With the tailback set in the old I-back position, instead of lined right or left of the quarterback, it doesn't tip which way the play is likely to go. The Pistol gives the offense a lot of flexibility in running counters and traps, and having to account for the quarterback on every play gives defensive coordinators fits.
New Mexico runs the Pistol, and UCLA does, and those teams are a combined 0-4, outscored so far this season by a combined 188-39. A scheme never won a football game, but it can maximize a team's strength or conceal a few of its weaknesses, and running an innovative or trendy one buys a coach a little time. Teams used to hate to prepare for the old wishbone teams, but in the end, you have to have something under the hood. Remember Jerry Pettibone's old offense at Oregon State? That was one of the most stubborn adherences to a failed strategy in the history of warfare.
The goal of every offense is the same, to get your players in open space against as few defenders as possible. The chess match that goes on between coaches is a footnote to the infinite achievements of desire and effort on the field. Regardless of scheme, you can only go left, right or up the middle, relying on your big guys to clear the way. Oregon's big guys do a pretty good job, and the Ducks will continue to win a lot of games. After all the plays are charted, the whistle blows, and the rumpus begins.
The crabby fighting Duck loves a rumpus.
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