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Friday, October 1, 2010

Friday Walk-Through: News, Notes and Web Bites on Stanford at Oregon


The crabby fighting Duck can overcome a little cruelty. He can get a little blood on your bill too.

Number nine Stanford is coming to town and all the talk is how tough and smashmouth they are. Their coach likes to run up the score and call timeouts to ice kickers leading by 34, but the Ducks are capable of running up a score of their own. Oregon is fourth in the country in rushing yards and first in points. If the defense can withstand the Cardinal's power running and play action passing attack, the Autzen faithful could enjoy the first 5-0 start for Oregon since 2002.

With Duck Sports Now still on the disabled list, here are some links to get you ready for tomorrow's titanic clash:

Boise State is slated for the cover of the October 4th Sports Illustrated. Could the jinx rear its ugly head? They host Toledo on October 9th, and visit San Jose State the following Saturday. Doesn't matter: if the Ducks keep winning they'll pass the Broncos on merit and schedule strength, hands down. 12-0 twice on that Wac-ky schedule doesn't equal one trip around the PAC-10. Blue turf vertigo aside, BSU would finish 6-3 if they had to play in the conference of champions.

Adam Jude of the Register-Guard has a great feature on Duck linebacker Bo Lokombo, whose family escaped war-torn Zaire to build a new life in Canada. Lokombo didn't begin playing football until 8th grade, and parlayed a year as an exchange student at South Eugene into a college scholarship. His family is driving down from British Columbia for Saturday's game. Meanwhile Rob Moseley has a Q&A with Oregon punter Jackson Rice, who had his best career game in the win over ASU. Interesting tidbit: Rice grew up in the Bay Area, and both of his parents went to Cal.

Supwitchugirl has a new video, "Return of the Quack" and oregonlive has a link. This one features a cameo by Duck legend Joey Harrington. Does he smell roses? No, meatloaf. The video is funny and spirited, and should sell a few thousand more tee shirts. Elsewhere at oregonlive, Ken Goe has a feature on linemen Mark Asper, who knows the words to every song from Disney's animated musicals, including "I'll Make a Man Out of You" from Mulan. Goe reports the 6-7, 322 redshirt junior has already completed two degrees at Oregon, in Spanish and Sociology, and is working on a graduate degree in education. He has a baby daughter with a second child on the way, and he and his wife manage an 200-unit apartment complex.

The Ducks profit tremendously from some mature team leadership, with Brandon Bair and Asper being two notable examples. It's a key reason why the team responds so well to adversity and maintains such a positive focus in the growing hype that accompanies a number four ranking

ESPN GameDay's Desmond Howard says defense will be the key to the Stanford-Oregon game, and Lou Holtz picks Oregon, citing the home field advantage and the Ducks' kicking game.

The crabby fighting Duck can kick it, and when he gets open, he can fly.

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