Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• Jeff Maehl raised his draft stock significantly yesterday at the NFL combine event in Indianapolis according to Rob Moseley.

Maehl's time of 6.42 seconds in the three-cone drill is a record for the combine. The three-cone drill involves navigating an L-shaped layout of cones via a designated path.

Brandon Bair and Casey Matthews wrap up their combine events today.

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Monday Reruns - Stanford vs Oregon Highlights 2010 - Video

Duck Fan Perspective - Oregon vs. Stanford 2010 from Fowlplay2010 on Vimeo.


• The second conference game, and home opener, was the best game of the year in my opinion. Stanford came out hot and led 21-3 early in the game. Oregon would not be denied in the second half as the team fired on all cylidners and won the game 52-31. Another fun, "fan perspective" video from Fowlplay2010.

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• Casey Matthews was interviewed by reporters at the NFL combine yesterday and it only took two questions before his big brothers name was brought up.


“Be calm, be patient,” was big-brother Clay’s advice about handling the draft process, according to Casey. “He hasn’t said too much; I haven’t asked too much.”


“I put a lot of pressure on myself, just seeing the success my dad had, my brother is having,” he said. “I put pressure on myself to get to their level. Friends will ask me, ‘Do you feel pressure?’ I don’t really see it as that. I put a certain amount on myself. It’s not necessarily that I have to live up to the name, though it would be nice playing at their level."

• Rob Moseley notes that Oregon football players Dior Mathis and Kenjon Barner did not advance to the finals at the MPSF Indoor Track and Field Championships in Seattle.

• Rachael Bachman takes an inside look at the U of O athletic department budget which has increased 60 percent in the last five years.

• Madison Boer (2-0) and two closers completed another shutout yesterday as Oregon defeated St. Mary's 3-0 in baseball.

• The #1 Oregon women's track team captured the team title in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation track meet yesterday in Seattle.

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Oregon Ducks 2010 Season Highlights - Video

• OregonGridiron has posted their season highlight video and as they always do, have outdone themselves. Fun to look back and remember these moments.

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• Ted Miller continues his "explosion play" series as he looks at the Pac-10 passing numbers from last year.

Oregon came in 3rd in the Pac-10 (37th nationally) with 43 passing plays of 20 yards or more. I would expect these numbers to improve in 2011 as Darron Thomas has a years worth of experience under his belt.

• Speaking of QB's, here is a different method of rating quarterbacks based on their "score" rather than the standard efficiency rating. Turns out DT stays in the same position no matter the method used, trailing only Andrew Luck.

• Kenny Rowe becomes the fourth Duck to enter Ted Miller's top 25 Pac-10 players of 2010 at the #17 spot.

• In other Oregon sports news, the baseball team dropped their home opener last night as St. Mary's defeated the Ducks 3-2.

• Matthew Centrowitz anchored the Oregon men’s distance medley relay (DMR) yesterday in Seattle to a new meet record and the team qualified automatically for the NCAA Indoor Championships. It was the second-fastest DMR ever run on the college level.

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• Ted Miller continues looking at the stats from last year. This time it is rushing explosion plays. How good was Oregon? They came in first in the Pac-10 and fourth in the nation on rushing plays of 20 yards or more.

• Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens says the Ducks' home game with Nevada on Sept. 10 isn't in doubt as was reported yesterday by the Reno Gazette Journal. Thanks to George Schroeder for the story.

• How did the Pac-10 do against BCS teams last year? Not too bad according to ESPN.

• Oregon lost a 16 point lead to a stifling second half Cal defense last night in basketball and lost the game 81-71.

• Dale Newton does a mid-winter review of the Oregon Ducks that includes all you need to know going into spring practice.

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• Rob Moseley has a good piece on Darron Thomas' leadership role during the off-season as he leads the team through 7am drills and then hitting the weight room.

“As a worker, Darron has always done a nice job,” [Mark] Helfrich said. “Ever since the day he was kind of anointed as the starting quarterback, he’s had a different way about him vocally, and we need that to continue."

• Ted Miller looked at the 2010 big explosion play leaders yesterday but how about the opposite, stopping the explosion play? Oregon came in 49th in the country and fifth in the Pac-10.

• Casey Matthews came in at #19 on Ted Miller's top 25 in the Pac-10 last year.

What he did do over the course of 33 consecutive starts is produce -- consistently and at a high level. The first-team All-Pac-10 selection -- he was second-team in 2009 -- was the leader of the Ducks' defense, which ranked among the best in the nation. The Ducks are going to miss him.

• Dale Newton says "what a difference a year makes." This time last year it was all about legal issues, kids leaving the team and class room troubles.

So the challenge for this group is clear:  finish winter workouts strong, and hit the field like champions on March 28th.  It will interesting to see the results of the testing at the beginning of camp.

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• Oregon CB Talmadge Jackson makes into Ted Miller's top 25 from the Pac-10 in 2010 and comes in at #20.

Preseason: Unranked.

Jackson ranked fourth on the Ducks with 70 tackles. He also had two interceptions, eight pass breakups and one forced fumble.

• Bob Rickert has his random recruit of the week, DT Dillon Chaisson out of Las Vegas.

• Coaching continuity is a good thing according to Ted Miller, especially for the Ducks.

We don't have to spend much time with Oregon, right? It went undefeated in the regular season and played for the national championship. It was elite on both sides of the ball as well as on special teams. Is there an area that underperformed or wasn't sound? To answer that as Kelly would, no.

• Ted Miller was busy yesterday and has another piece, this time on explosion plays. Turns out Oregon came in at the #5 position nationally.

Not surprisingly, Oregon led the conference and ranked fifth in the nation with 82 plays of 20 or more yards.

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• Mike Piellucci at FOXSportsSouthwest.com relates the real reason LaMichael James chose Oregon over TCU.

In an interview with Dallas radio station 1310 The Ticket, James said that the reason he was turned off by TCU came on his official visit. According to the star tailback, a coach — whom he would not specify — called him "LaMarcus" the entire weekend.

• The NL combine is right around the corner and David Piper at ATQ looks at what three recent Oregon graduates need to do to improve their draft stock.

• The Heisman Pundit has posted their 2011 Heisman watch list where you will find Darron Thomas and LaMichael James.

• The Oregon baseball team earned a split with Hawaii last night as they took down the Rainbows 4-3.

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• Dale Newton notes the apparent lack of attention to Duck football at the Oregonian, reflects on what is really important and says "championships are won with the players who stay, and not the ones who got away." Always a good read.

• Bob Rickert ponders how Oregon might host the Pac-12 title game in 2011.

• The Oregon baseball team picked up their first win of the season as the Ducks shutout Hawaii 4-0.

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Rerun Monday - Oregon vs Arizona St. 2010

Duck Fan Perspective- Oregon vs. ASU 2010 from Fowlplay2010 on Vimeo.


• During the next few weeks (on Monday) I've decided to feature FowlPlay2010's videos from last season's Pac-10 games. He does a good job of mixing personal video clips with selected highlights of the game and then adds a music track. These videos are really well done and must have taken quite a bit of time and effort to produce. In my opinion, a job well done.

First up is the Pac-10 opener as the Ducks traveled to Arizona St.

Final score: Oregon 42 - ASU 31.

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• LaMichael James picked up his Doak Walker award recently and Bob Rickert has the story.

He flat out finishes what he starts. And as the first in his family to go to college, James decided to wait to pick up his award because he feared he wasn't able to attend enough classes and be on campus to keep his grades up. A sociology major scheduled to graduate on time or even a little early, James also runs track for the Duck track team. He's got a lot going on and he's doing it all, very well.

• Jay-R Stowbridge waited until his 23rd birthday to have a career day and in the process helped the Ducks sweep the beavs in a 82-63 rout at Matt Arena yesterday afternoon. The men's basketball team now stands at 7-7 in Pac-10 play and 14-12 overall.

• The baseball team didn't fare as well and dropped their second straight to Hawaii last night 11-10.

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• Rob Moseley does a bit of commentary as he looks at the recent departure of redshirt freshman RB Dontae Williams and laments that attrition is going to happen, it does every year.

What competing at the highest level does mean for the Ducks is there are plenty of good options behind the players who leave. And I've yet to hear credible rumors of a player departing who was truly expected to have a big impact on the 2011 team.

• Dale Newton also writes about the Williams departure in his usual, eloquent style.

• Ted Miller goes over the different tie-breaker scenarios now that the Pac-12 has a conference championship game. The rule that will cover most years goes like this:

1. Head-to-head (winner gets home field).
    and if they did not play each other then:
2. BCS ranking (higher ranked team gets home field).

• GoDucks.com has updated the 2011 schedule with confirmation that the Ducks will have a home game against Missouri St. on September 17.

• The NCAA made a rule change that will allow players to wear any color gloves, negating a requirement that all gloves be gray.

• Rob Moseley notes that we are now closer to the start of 2011 spring practice (38 days) than we are from the final game of last season (BCS was 40 days ago) and the team is ready to get at it.


“I think everybody’s got the right mentality right now,” said junior quarterback Darron Thomas, who has been leading daily, early morning workouts for the last month. “Everybody’s working harder. Nobody’s comfortable with last season.”


“It’s just going to be who works together best, and who works hardest for their position,” Thomas said. “It’s going to be a battle, but I think we’ve got some guys that didn’t play last year that are going to step up this year and do good things.”


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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

• Ted Miller has been doing his "top 25 from 2010" for a couple of days now and Oregon's first entry on his list comes out at #22, CB Cliff Harris. Miller relays Harris' impressive stats for last year but says the reason he ranked him so low was because of his tendency to freelance and getting burned. And you are right Ted, I think he should have been ranked much higher.

• Rob Moseley reports on the departure of red shirt freshman RB Dontae Williams decision to seek a transfer which was approved by Chip Kelly. Evidently this came as a big surprise to everyone close to the program.

• Dennis Dodd has 25 things for spring that runs the gamut of stories from an unhappy Alabama fan poisoning trees at Auburn's Toomer's Corner to Oregon Love.

• Ted Miller takes a closer look at the transformation of the Pac-10 into the Pac-12, which doesn't become official until July 1 and then takes a "what to watch" look at each team in the Pac-12 North.

Here is Miller's take on the receiving corp heading into spring practice.

Good to receive: The Ducks top two receivers from 2010, Jeff Maehl and D.J. Davis, are gone. No. 3 receiver, 6-foot-5, Lavasier Tuinei, is back, as is talented sophomore Josh Huff. Justin Hoffman will need a good spring to hold off some youngsters and the incoming recruiting class includes a number of speedy players who figure to crack the depth chart.

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• Ron Bellamy (R-G Sports Editor) shares news that Rob Moseley was recognized as one of the top ten sports writers in 2010 by the Associated Press Sports Editors. An award that is well deserved.

• George Schroeder reports that Oregon director of football operations, Jeff Hawkins, was in Salem on Tuesday to testify before members of the Senate education committee. Hawkins urged lawmakers to pass a new bill that would stengthen existing laws governing sports agents.


Hawkins is a gruff, no-nonsense guy. His job is to attend to the myriad details of Oregon’s football program, to get things done.


But there may be nothing he’s more passionate about than his crusade to corral and control rogue sports agents.

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• Ted Miller has the scoop on who is set and who is not when it comes to Pac-12 QB's. Here is his take on Oregon.

Darron Thomas greatly exceeded expectations as a sophomore starter in 2010. What will he do for an encore?

• Rachel Bachman reports that the Oregon Attorney General is pushing for the first case against a sports agent who allegedly bought lunch for a U of O football players and paid him $100.00 back in 2008.

• Bob Rickert is starting his annual "random recruit" posts and takes a look at DT Tommy Schutt.

• Former Oregon DT Haloti Ngata has been designated a "franchise" player by the Baltimore Ravens.who hope to sign the Pro Bowl star to a lengthy contract.

Ngata was placed in the non-exclusive franchise category, which means he can negotiate with other teams. But Baltimore would have the right to match the offer or receive two first-round picks if he signs elsewhere.

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Oregon Ducks Acrobatics & Tumbling Team - Video

Oregon Ducks: Acrobatics & Tumbling from Fowlplay2010 on Vimeo.


• Thought I would pass along this awesome video of the Oregon women's acrobatics and tumbling team. They recently defeated Azusa Pacific to retain their #2 national ranking. These young ladies have some serious skills. Video courtesy of Fowlplay2010.

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

• LaMichael James performs in the 60 meter dash last weekend at the Husky Classic in Seattle and talks about his performance in the video above. Courtesy of Molly Blue and the Oregonian.

• Start saving your vacation days and marking your calendars. The home game against Cal has been set for Thursday Oct. 6th at 6:00pm local time and will be televised by ESPN.

• Ted Miller sends out Valentine Roses.

• Phil Steele projects what the AP preseason poll will look like and thinks Oregon will be in the number three spot.

• DE Jadaveon Clowney ended up choosing South Carolina but Dale Newton believes it won't matter in the long run.

But what is certain that every step of the journey will be memorable and intense.  They won't quit.  They'll come out of the starting blocks with a burst, and race all the way to the tape.

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Rerun Monday - 2010 Spring Game Highlights - Video

• With no news in Duck football I thought I would remind Duck fans that we aren't too far away from spring practice and then on April 30th comes the annual Spring game. I haven't heard whether it is going to be televised like it was last year but as soon as I get confirmation I will let everyone know.

Is it just me, or are you amazed at the progress DT made during the season last year?

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• LaMichael James, Dior Mathis and Kenjon Barner competed yesterday in the Husky Classic indoor track meet in Seattle. Overall, James came in second (6.88) while Mathis came in eleventh (7.00) and Barner didn't quite make it into the finals. The winning time was 6.84 by Greg Hornsby of WSU.

• The Oregon men's basketball team took down the Trojans in LA last night 61-51. Really nice to see the guys improve and win a few games. They now stand at 13-12 (6-7 Pac-10).

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• Rob Moseley relays the word that  the Pac-10 Conference office has announced pans to "restructure" the officiating program.

The adjustments to the Pac-12 football officiating program came after a season-long review of the entire program by Mike Pereira, the former Vice President of Officiating for the NFL, who served as a consultant for the Pac-10 during the 2010 season. Pereira will lead the process of creating the new structure and implementing the changes, and will serve as the interim Coordinator of Football Officiating. The Pac-12 will begin an immediate search for a permanent Coordinator of Officiating.

• Ted Miller is asking you to send your Valentine message to him about why you love your Ducks.

• Remember when Ted Miller did his 2010 preseason top 25? Now that the season is over he is going to re-write the list starting next week.

• Dale Newton shares his thoughts on the recent recruiting reviews of past classes by Rob Moseley and Andy Staples.

But what the Ducks do better than almost anyone in the country is fill the roster with guys who contribute character, competitiveness, upside and effort.

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• ESPN's Ryan McGee composed the "perfect 2011 schedule" and Oregon is on tap for week 1.


Week 1: Sept. 3 
Oregon Ducks versus LSU Tigers in Dallas, Texas

McGee: This game edges out the Boise State Broncos' trip to Atlanta to face the Georgia Bulldogs because it will pit the Oregon offense, which loses three linemen and little else, against LSU's top-10 defense. Yes, the Tigers will be without Patrick Peterson, but they will return at least a half-dozen starters on defense and all but one starter on offense. One of these projected top-5 teams will have their national title hopes dashed (or at the very least, severely wounded), in the season's first week.


• Rob Moseley notes that Daryle Hawkins expects to play mostly at the receiver position in 2011.


• According to ESPN college football might look a lot more like the NFL if several new rules are approved.


• One of the best things about college football season is tailgating. Of course any tailgate party wouldn't be complete without your favorite beverage. Turns out, Oregon does pretty well when it comes to making beer.

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• Rob Moseley noticed that Andy Staples at SI was reviewing past recruiting classes to see how they turned out a few years later and it turns out that the 2008 Ducks class was pretty good. Number two in fact.


Analysis: The Ducks' 2008 class included a few misses, but the hits were huge. James led the nation in rushing in 2010, and Thomas made everyone forget about Jeremiah Masoli, another member of the 2008 class who led Oregon to a 2009 Pac-10 title. This class also included junior college transfer LaGarrette Blount, a back who played his best football for Oregon in 2008.

• Ted Miller reminds us to mark our calendars for spring football practice dates.

Oregon
Start: March 28 (or 29)
End: April 30 (spring game)

• ESPN named this year's top 25 recruiters and Oregon assistant coach Don Pellum made the list.

• LMJ, KB and Dior Mathis will be competing Saturday for the U of O track team in the 60 meter sprints at a meet in  Seattle.

• Stephen Alexander examines the incoming recruits and thinks several could make an early impact including RB Tra Carson who went to the same high school as LaMichael James.

“Tra is a different style runner (than James),” says Liberty-Eylau coach Pat Brady who coached both backs. “Tra is big. He’s more of a downhill, tough runner. Tra has got good vision, good moves and good speed.


He broke James’ single-season school record last year, when he rushed for 2,202 yards and 24 touchdowns.

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Johnny Mac Trick Shot Quarterback - Video

• George Schroeder liked this video enough to link to it yesterday and it is pretty entertaining. Of course we will never know how many attempts it took to "make" some of these shots.

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• Rob Moseley notes that sometimes it takes 2 or 3 years to determine how good a particular recruiting class is compared to their rating at the time. It is not an instant analysis formula but one that needs to stand the test of time. On this note he looks at the 2009 recruiting class and where they are today.

• Ever wonder where most of the recruits come from and how the Pac-12 rates in comparison to other conferences? Me either, but if you are into that sort of thing then Ted Miller has the numbers.

• Several members of the football team took part in the O Heroes money raiser for the Oregon Special Olympics. The Polar Plunge was event held at the Willamette River recently.

• Rob Moseley reports that QB recruit Jerrard Randall could still possibly sign with the Ducks this year.

• Charles Fisher (aka FishDuck) wonders if Oregon should have a different strategy for bowl games. The no-huddle isn't so effective when you consider all of the TV timeouts allow your opponent to catch their breath.

• The Pac-12 might not have the biggest stadiums in the NCAA but no one can dispute the fact that Oregon fans have the most passion for their team.

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WR Commit Devon Blackmon 2011 Highlights - Video

• Reel Playmakers has this new video featuring Oregon commit WR Devon Blackmon out of Fontana, CA. Young man looks good at whatever position he was playing in high school.

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

• A Nebraska television station, KHAS-TV, reported last night that Oregon receiver coach Scott Frost has decided to stay at Oregon. Good news for Duck fans as Frost has proved instrumental in bringing high quality recruits to Eugene.

• Dale Newton likes the Frost decision as well and details what this means for the Ducks.

• Rob Moseley also had an idea that Frost was leaning towards staying at Oregon for the foreseeable future.

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• Not a lot going on in the world of Duck football unless you start grasping at connections (Casey Matthews' big brother and his team win the Super Bowl.)

• Dale Newton has some thoughts on the video I posted a couple of days ago from FowlPlay2010.

• Recent track star graduate Ashton Eaton broke his own world indoor record for the heptathlon yesterday.

• My twins, Dave and Chuck, have a birthday today, so Happy Birthday guys!

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• Super Bowl Sunday has quieted any talk of college football but I did find an article (requires ESPN Insider access) by Bruce Feldman on the biggest winners on National Signing day earlier this week. Oregon is one of the seven teams Feldman writes about. I particularly liked this segment:


Here is a scary thought for Pac-10 defensive coaches: Chip Kelly can now send out a lineup featuring De'Anthony Thomas and Tacoi Sumler in which LaMichael James would be the third-fastest Duck on the field.


On top of that, Chip Kelly has Kenjon Barner, Josh Huff and some other blazers at his disposal. There's so much firepower that you almost forget last year's five-star back Lache Seastruck redshirted and is ready for action in 2011, too.

• I did catch most of the Oregon-Washington basketball game yesterday and came away impressed with the sudden turn around of play by this squad and notice quite a difference with Dana Altman at the helm. Good stuff and a great win.

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• Rob Moseley reported yesterday afternoon that DL Jadeveon Clowney, who has not committed yet and is considered by many as one of the best recruits in the country, may visit Eugene this weekend. The original news came from DuckTerritory.com. He plans on announcing next weekend and if this holds up it would be the icing on the cake for the 2011 recruiting class.

Also worth noting in Rob's post is the fact that QB recruit Jerrard Randall, who has academic issues, has committed to play in a junior college.

• AndyMac looks back at the last few recruiting classes and compares their overall ranking at the time with how they stacked up in reality.

• The Heisman Pundit looks at this years recruiting class to determine who the fastest players are and uses a verifiable track time in the 100 meters as the measuring stick. De'Anthony Thomas comes in at #6 with a 10.57 record.

• Reports are coming out of Nebraska that talks have slowed down with receivers coach Scott Frost regarding a possible coaching position at his alma mater.

• Dale Newton looks into his slightly green-tinted crystal ball and can see a Duck team a couple of years from now who are versatile, mobile, fast and unstoppable. Here is a little sample from Dale's story:

In the second quarter, the Ducks get 38 yards from Tacoi Sumler on a fly sweep.  No one on the Cal defense has the speed to stay with Sumler getting a running start.  No one in college football can.  It's James Rodgers to the tenth power.

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Duck Fan Perspective - BCS Video

Duck Fan Perspective - BCS Campionship Game from Fowlplay2010 on Vimeo.


• One Duck fan, Fowlplay2010,  took their camera to the BCS Championship game, combined game footage and a good sound track to produce this video montage. It's really well done. None of us like the inevitable outcome but it was quite the ride.

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• The Register Guard published their recruiting roundup stories in the paper yesterday and here are the online versions:

Rob Moseley describes it as a fantastic finish, George Schroeder says the Pac-10's balance of power has shifted and then Oregon assistant coach Don Pellum is given credit as the man who coordinates all the chaos.

• John Hunt's reaction to signing day? The fast get faster.


Not only did the Ducks steal - not to imply anything shady here, it's recruiting - a 5-star athlete, but they did it to USC, not a favorite of Oregon's powers that be.


And they did it in the Trojans' own backyard.


And they did it to Lane Kiffin.


And they did it with an athlete so electric that he may eventually personify the program: Pure, game-changing, intimidating speed.

• Bob Rickert calls it the Ducks best recruiting class ever.

• Ted Miller grades to Oregon recruiting effort and ESPN said the Ducks had the second best recruiting class in the Pac-12.

• George Schroeder and the Oregonian both have stories on the news that Nebraska has been in talks with Oregon receivers coach Scott Frost about a coaching position with the Huskers.

• Brandon Bair, Jeff Maehl and Casey Matthews all received their official invite for the NFL Scouting Combine which will be held later this month.

• ESPN-LA blogger, Ramona Shelburne wrote this story on De'Anthony Thomas back in early December. It will give you some insight to a young man that seems to be very grounded. Very good read, be sure to check it out.

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• Rob Moseley has notes and Chip Kelly quotes from the offensive and defensive signees.

• Steve Summer breaks down the signing day results.

• The late signing of De'Anthony Thomas is looked at by Ken Goe, Jason Vondersmith, and Rob Moseley. With the late boost of the 5* RB it should put Oregon's recruiting class right around 10th in the country.

• With all of the recruiting news during the last few days this story seems to have fallen through the cracks. The Oregon football team was one of four recipients of the George Pasero Teams of the Year award in Portland on January 30th. The award ceremony also recognized Chip Kelly.

True to form, Kelly gave the credit to the players on the field for helping him win the Slats Gill Sportsperson of the Year award for the second year in a row.

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De'Anthony Thomas Makes Announcement - Video

 

• Video from the LA Times on De'Anthony Thomas making the official announcement. Seems like a very humble young man.

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Chip Kelly on Signing Day - Video

• Chip Kelly talks with the reporters at yesterday's press conference on the signing class. Video courtesy of KVAL.

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Commit Tracker

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• As the news flows in today I will try my best to keep this post updated with the latest stories. Keep checking back.

• First on board is 4* OL Jake Fisher.

• Crazy day at work (figures) so Rob Moseley keeps updating this post with all of the recruit news as it comes in via multiple channels. I will try and update this post later in the day after I get home.

• Afternoon Update: Rob Moseley has some notes from Chip Kelly's signing day press conference and GoDucks.com has all the recruits that have signed as of about 1:00p PST this afternoon.

• Afternoon Update 2: Ken Goe posts his signing day story and calls it one of the best ever for the Ducks.

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• Rob Moseley sets the stage for signing day as he takes a last look at recruits who haven't committed yet.

• Ted Miller looks back at recruiting grades for players who are now on the 2010 All-Pac-10 team which should remind us to keep things in perspective.

• De'Anthony Thomas is still providing material for bloggers, including John Hunt, George Schroeder and Rob Moseley.

• Lindsay Schnell takes a closer look at Oregon commit, RB Tra Carson.

• Dale Newton brings up a very good point on the residual benefits of great recruiting.

• Ted Miller finishes his piece on the best game atmospheres from 2010 Pac-10 games as he counts down the five through one spots. (Here is my favorite game from last year.)

2. Stanford at Oregon: This game was Oregon's "hello world" performance, a 52-31 shellacking of a very good Stanford team that once led 21-3. The atmosphere in Autzen Stadium as Oregon poured it on was electric. The game, played on Oct. 2, firmly established the Ducks as a national title contender and LaMichael James as a Heisman Trophy candidate. Further, it established that the Ducks were better with Darron Thomas at quarterback rather than Jeremiah Masoli. And as the season went on, and Stanford didn't lose again, this became the most impressive regular season performance by any team, other than perhaps Auburn's comeback win at Alabama.

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De'Anthony Thomas feature from SI - Video

• Nice feature piece from SI.com for the week of December 21st as De'Anthony Thomas was chosen their high school player of the week. The young man comes across as hard working, unselfish and honest.This is the accompanying video. We'll see how it all shakes out later today.

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Duck Stuff: Morning Mud

Morning Mud

• Only 24 hours until National Signing day and there is still plenty of buzz over De'Anthony Thomas' visit this last weekend.

• Another common theme from the blogs yesterday was the decision of where to play Colt Lyerla, offense or defense. Adam Jude and Dale Newton both had stories.

• Ted Miller takes a fun look back at the best game atmospheres from the Pac-10 last year. Yesterday he ranked ten through six.

• Braga at the Sports Brewery has compiled a really complete selection of recruit highlight videos, rankings and a recruiting map. Nice to see everything in one place.

• Bob Rickert has some last minute predictions for those recruits who are still considering Oregon and the times they are supposed to make their announcement tomorrow.

• Lindsay Schnell wonders how Oregon commit RB Tra Carson will find playing time with all the talent ahead of him on the depth chart and then takes a closer look at Oregon commit, LB Rodney Hardrick.

"It's all about his reads," [HS coach Richard] Bray said. "He'll study formations to the point that he can call out an offensive play before they snap the ball. He picks up tendencies very quickly. He's a great student of the game."

GO DUCKS!