Who knew? I looked up from my mountain of bills today and all the Duck News is good.
Rob Moseley reports LaMichael James is returning for his junior season. He plans to play running back for the Ducks and pursue his goal of making Academic All-America. James return makes Oregon the early favorite to three-peat as league champions (is it a three-peat if the league changes size?) and gives them an awesome stable of talent at running back. There has to be some question whether Seastrunk accepts a year as understudy--he struggled during his redshirt year.
Moseley also reports on practice. Ducks are in shells today and yesterday, take Saturday off, and travel to Glendale on Sunday, a day ahead of Auburn.
Washington rode a 177-yard rushing night by Chris Polk to shock Nebraska 19-7, bringing the PAC-10 to 1-1 in bowl matchups. The Huskies secured a winning season at 7-6. Jake Locker, 4-20 passing in their first meeting, improved to 5-16 for 56 yards in this one. Whoever thought he was a first-round draft pick at quarterback is a complete whacko.
More than anything the game again proves the biggest single factor in bowl games is which team is more motivated to be there. Nebraska won the first meeting in Seattle 56-21. Washington fans are probably saying this means the program has turned the corner in Sarkisian's second year with a winning season and winning a bowl game, but next year they're looking at rebuilding with the loss of a four-year starter at quarterback and standout linebacker Mason Foster. The true definition of turning the corner at Washington is probably beating the Ducks.
Duck Territory has a breakdown on defensive line recruiting. Quick, somebody tell me who the guys are in the pictures. With Zac Clark, Kenny Rowe and Brandon Bair graduating, there are some holes to fill in this area. New recruit Jared Ebert could contribute right away, redshirting jc transfer Isaac Remington, at 6-6, 275, has the size to compete for playing time. Terrell Turner, Brandon Hanna, Wade Keliipiki and Dion Jordan made significant progress and took lots of snaps this season. Does Heimuli return for his sophomore year or take his Mormon mission? That's a difficult decision for him; it certainly did wonders for the development and maturity of Mark Asper and Brandon Bair, two leaders on this current team. Duck fans have to wish him well either way.
Duck Soup has interviews with John Neal and Tom Osborne, plus all the links. The Neal interview is the longest clip I've seen with him, very candid and insightful.
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