Oregon 76 - Oregon State 73

Bryce Taylor led Oregon with 22 points as the 20th ranked Ducks kept their win streak alive at 13.

Maarty Leunen added 14, Aaron Brooks had 13 and Chamberlain Oguchi came off the bench to contribute 12.

The Ducks went into half-time with a 7 point lead and led the Beavs the entire second half.

Opening the year with 13 wins is something Oregon hasn't done for 69 years and this is the first win at Corvallis in the last 4 seasons.

I watched this game, the Ducks played as a team instead of every man for himself. With Malik Hairston coming back in another week from an injury, I look for the Ducks to have a better season than they have had in awhile.

There are only 3 undefeated teams left in the nation, Oregon, UCLA and #25 Clemson. The LA schools come to Mac Court next week. Thursday is USC at 5:30pm and #1 UCLA take on the Ducks Saturday at 11:00am (televised on FSN).

GO DUCKS!

Oregon 76 Portland 49

Maarty Leunen (pictured) scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead No. 20 Oregon to a 76-49 win last night at Mac Court.

The Ducks, one of four Division I teams still undefeated, are off to a 12-0 start for the first time since the 1946-47 season. They have started 14-0 twice, the last coming in the 1937-38 season.

Now comes the real test for Oregon, which opens Pac-10 play against Oregon State on Saturday in Corvallis, with a potential showdown at McArthur Court against No. 1 UCLA one week later.

GO DUCKS!

Christmas Photos

Photos are now available on my Flickr site for your enjoyment. Most of them are mine but there are some from Jen & Krista also. I hope you like them. A couple of photos are from our Seattle trip and Krista's photos are from the month of December, not just Christmas Day.

Oregon Ranked 20th

With their latest win over Mercer this last Saturday, Oregon moved up to #20 on both polls. The Ducks are scheduled to play their last pre-season game on Thursday against Portland. Game time is 7pm at Mac Court.

The Pac-10 season opener will be against the Beavers in Corvallis on Saturday. Game time is 1pm and it is being televised by FSN.

GO DUCKS!

Game Day!

We got pretty lucky with the weather for todays
game. It is supposed to be partly cloudy and in the mid 40's. It never rained a drop once we arrived yesterday. We walked around for about 8 hours yesterday afternoon and evening and enjoyed a good meal at McCormick & Schmick's in the Pioneer Square district.

The room at the Pioneer Square Best Western is really nice and is central to the whole area. We are located on 1st & Yessler for those that know the area. We are only about 4 blocks from Qwest Field to our south or Pike Market which is about the same distance to the north.

It should be a good game and I am excited to see LT do his thing. Take care everyone & I will see you tomorrow!

Merry Christmas

Char & I are leaving for Seattle this morning to catch the Seahawks-Chargers game tomorrow. Tickets to the game courtesy of Hairofthedawg and his Dad (thanks again!). We won't be back until Monday morning and I just wanted to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas.

Thanks for being a part of this blog. Enjoy the Holidays with family and friends and if you travel, be safe!

Ducks Waddle Home

Oregon fell flat on their butts last night as the BYU Cougars out played the Ducks in every conceivable way, winning easily 38-8.

We looked helpless against the Cougars to end the season with 4 straight losses. Time to think about next year and what it will take to reverse the glaring flaws we possess.

From play calling to execution this game was both humiliating and undeniably the worst coached game of the season.

The good news? The mens basketball team is on a roll baby!

GO DUCKS!

Ducks Getting Ready in Vegas

Oregon senior defensive end Darius Sanders, who led the Ducks in sacks in the regular season, did not travel with the team Monday morning to Las Vegas. The Ducks practiced in cold, breezy conditions at the Lied Athletic Complex on the campus of UNLV as they continued preparing for Thursday’s Las Vegas Bowl matchup with BYU.

Sanders missed Saturday’s practice in Eugene for the same reason but participated in most of Sunday’s workout after arriving late.

The line was further weakened by the absence of Matt Toeaina, who missed his second straight practice with a calf strain.

The BYU defense is also dealing with injuries, particularly at cornerback.

Ben Criddle, who started all 12 games on the right side, has a toe injury that will require surgery scheduled for Friday, though the Cougars are leaving open the possibility that he could play Thursday.

Reserve safety Cole Miyahira has been practicing at cornerback in place of the injured Criddle.

“It’s going on business as usual,” BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. “New faces but same expectations.”

Nearly all of Oregon’s regulars wore the new yellow-green helmets for practice Monday. Bellotti didn’t commit to using them in the bowl game.

“We’ll make a final decision before the game, but we have that availability,” Bellotti said.

GO DUCKS!

Ducks Burn The Bengals, 84-55

Malik Hairston had season-high 21 points and 12 rebounds to lift No. 22 Oregon to an 84-55 victory over Idaho State on Sunday night.

Oregon improved to 10-0 for the first time since the 1996-97 team also opened at 10-0.

Aaron Brooks scored 18 points and Bryce Taylor added 14 for the Ducks, who shot 53.3 percent from the field. It was their third consecutive game shooting better than 50 percent. Oregon matched a season high with 23 assists, led by Taylor's career-high seven.

Akbar Abdul-Ahad had 15 points and David Schroeder added 11 for the Bengals (4-6), who shot 36.7 percent.

Hairston's 12 rebounds tied a career high and helped Oregon to a 44-26 rebounding edge, its largest margin of the season (plus-18). The junior from Detroit, Mich., also matched a career-high with three blocks.

Oregon used a 16-4 run to open the second half, building a 61-32 lead on Churchill Odia's 3-pointer with 14:22 left.

Hairston's layup with 56 seconds left gave the Ducks their largest lead at 84-53.

Hairston had 17 points in the first half to lift Oregon to a 45-28 halftime lead.

The Ducks played without their leading scorer, Tajuan Porter, a 5-foot-6 freshman who sprained his toe in Oregon's victory over Eastern Washington on Friday. Oregon was also without guard Chamberlain Oguchi, who has missed the last four games due to a sprained left ankle suffered Nov. 29 at Georgetown.

Next up for the Oregon Men: Mercer comes to Mac Court on Saturday at 1pm.

Ducks Down The Eagles, 100-74

Bryce Taylor scored 24 points to lead four other Ducks in double figures in Oregon's 100-74 victory over Eastern Washington on Friday night.

The win in the schools' first meeting keeps the Ducks undefeated at 9-0 and off to their best start since winning the first 10 games of the 1996-97 season.

Taylor, who scored a season high, was 8-of-10 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line. Malik Hairston also scored a season-high with 20, Aaron Brooks added 16 points, and Tajuan Porter and Maarty Leunen had 10 apiece.

The Ducks shot almost 60 percent from the field, making 37-of-62 shots and 8-of-17 3-pointers. The Eagles, who were fourth in the nation at 90.3 points per game, shot 46 percent from the field, but were held 16 points below their average.

The next game for the Ducks will be against Idaho State this Sunday at Mac Court, game time 5pm.

GO DUCKS!

Oregon Routs Bethune-Cookman 92-64

Off to its best start in 11 seasons and ranked for the first time in nearly four years, Oregon (No. 24 ESPN/USA Today; No. 22 AP) wasn't about to let a slow start keep it down.

Bryce Taylor scored 21 points to lead the Ducks to a 92-64 victory over Bethune-Cookman on Monday night.

The Ducks (8-0), who moved into the Top 25 on Monday for the first time since January 2003, are on their longest winning streak in coach Ernie Kent's 10 seasons.

There were 35 points scored by the UO reserves, a season high that included 15 from freshman Joevan Catron and another nine from sophomore Churchill Odia (pictured) in his playing debut at Oregon.

The Ducks play host to Eastern Washington on Friday at 7 p.m.

GO DUCKS!

Oregon 68 - Nebraska 56

Bryce Taylor (pictured) had his shot together Saturday when he scored 18 points in Oregon's 68-56 victory over Nebraska in the Pape Jam at the Rose Garden Arena.

The Ducks are now 7-0 for their best start since 1996-97 when they started 10-0.

"We're going out there and having fun, playing together and playing Oregon basketball," Hairston said. "The way we're playing, I think we can play with anyone."

The Ducks were able to hold Nebraska's top scorer, Aleks Maric, to 12 points and six rebounds. The 6-foot-11 Australian was averaging 20.7 points and 7.7 rebounds going into the game.

Leunen and Brooks finished with 15 points each for Oregon. Porter had 10 points."It was another great game of grinding it out," Oregon coach Ernie Kent said.

GO DUCKS!

Ducks Host Nebraska in Big XII Jam Challenge

Undefeated Oregon (Aaron Brooks pictured) looks to match its best start in a decade when it faces Nebraska in the ninth annual Pape’ Jam at the Rose Garden in Portland.

This year’s edition is a Pac-10/Big XII challenge, with the men’s game starting at noon on Saturday, Dec. 9. FSN will televise the Oregon-Nebraska game live nationally.

GO DUCKS!

The Piano Man Strikes A Chord

How much fun is Joey having these days? The former Oregon standout went into Detroit on Thanksgiving and the Dolphins beat the Lions quite handily.

Harrington also got the last laugh against his former team. During introductions, the Dolphins had their defensive unit announced, but the Lions also chose to introduce Harrington while playing Billy Joel's Piano Man -- a direct shot at Harrington's well-known love of piano playing.

Harrington said "it was clever," and he is proud of his piano-playing skills. He started playing when he was 2 and has played with Blues Traveler, Jason Mraz and Third Eye Blind.

All Harrington wanted was a chance in Miami, and so far it's been better than expected. Right now, life's a song for the Piano Man.