stastically this may be the case, but in my opinion Oregon has played more teams with better passing games, thus the ranking...I'm talking about the four players in Oregon's secondary compared to the four in Cal's secondary...I see two NFL players in Oregon's, headlined by Patrick Chung...now what goes into an overall pass defense?...that would include linebacker play and the D-Line, which as I've stated I feel Cal has the edge with their LBs, and by putting pressure on the QB through blitzes that helps make their pass defense better...doesn't mean that Cal has the better secondary though...I know personnel and have to concede some points to Oregon here...still doesn't mean I think they will cover...
Johnson suits up for practiceRunning back is in pads a day after aggravating shoulder
Posted by Rob Moseley
<hr> Duck Football with Rob Moseley: Entry & comments
10/29/08
3:12pm
<!-- /.f_c100 --> Running back Jeremiah Johnson was in pads for the start of Oregon’s closed practice today. Mike Bellotti said Johnson probably wouldn’t be full-go today but is expected to be ready for Saturday’s game at California.
I wondered if redshirting freshman LaMichael James might travel this week s a precaution, but Bellotti said no. Chris Harper and Malachi Lewis could be used in an emergency behind Johnson, LeGarrette Blount and Andre Crenshaw, he said.
Otherwise, the Ducks look pretty healthy. Tight end Ed Dickson returned from a leg injury today, and Marvin Johnson is currently in line to travel. If he makes the trip, a defensive player (Will Wallace? Josh Kaddu? Dewitt Stuckey?) would be left behind from the group that traveled to Arizona State last week. That would be tough for Kaddu and Stuckey, both natives of the greater Bay Area who would probably have a chance to see some family in Berkeley.
The only guys listed on the official injury report today were redshirts: cornerback Anthony Gildon and offensive tackle Nick Cody are sick.
In other news, here’s an announcement from Oregon on Nick Reed being named a quarterfinalist for the Lott Trophy.
Football: Wednesday night update
By Jonathan Okanes
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 at 8:36 pm in Mid-week.
Looking at the offensive line Wednesday night, it was hard to believe this is the same team that lined up against Michigan State for its opener. Center Alex Mack was the only starter taking first team reps that did so at the beginning of the season. Donovan Edwards took reps at right tackle for the injured Chet Teofilo and Matt Laird, and Justin Cheadle took reps at right guard for Noris Malele. Malele has a sprained ankle, but coach Jeff Tedford said he will play on Saturday.
Also, it looks as though Pac-10 Player of the Week Mike Mohamed will get his first start of the season and second of his career. This is not surprising. Not only is Mohamed playing well, the strength of his game is his speed, which is an asset against Oregon’s spread offense. Mohamed will replace Eddie Young in the starting lineup.
Kevin Riley and Nate Longshore continue to split first team reps, but there is nothing happening to suggest Riley’s status as starter will change. Both have looked sharp in practice.
The Bears got a brief scare when wide receiver went down hard after making a terrific, acrobatic catch. He missed a short period of practice then returned. Tucker had an excellent practice, which is becoming commonplace.
Tedford said even though Jahvid Best is starting to feel closer to 100 percent, he still won’t re-assume kick return duties this week. Jeremy Ross will continue in that role.
Speaking of Best, he said the injury that is affecting him is actually to his left foot, not his ankle. He said it’s getting closer to 100 percent but still a little sore. He said his elbow feels “perfect.”
I posted earlier about Mack being named one of the finalists for the Drabby Award, given to the top football scholar-athlete in the country. It’s considered a pretty prestigious award.
“It’s so deserving for a guy who ahs been so accountable and responsible in all areas of his life, when it comes to academics, football, socially. It couldn’t happen to a better guy. He’s exactly what you want, a well-rounded person.”
By Jonathan Okanes
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 at 8:36 pm in Mid-week.
Looking at the offensive line Wednesday night, it was hard to believe this is the same team that lined up against Michigan State for its opener. Center Alex Mack was the only starter taking first team reps that did so at the beginning of the season. Donovan Edwards took reps at right tackle for the injured Chet Teofilo and Matt Laird, and Justin Cheadle took reps at right guard for Noris Malele. Malele has a sprained ankle, but coach Jeff Tedford said he will play on Saturday.
Also, it looks as though Pac-10 Player of the Week Mike Mohamed will get his first start of the season and second of his career. This is not surprising. Not only is Mohamed playing well, the strength of his game is his speed, which is an asset against Oregon’s spread offense. Mohamed will replace Eddie Young in the starting lineup.
Kevin Riley and Nate Longshore continue to split first team reps, but there is nothing happening to suggest Riley’s status as starter will change. Both have looked sharp in practice.
The Bears got a brief scare when wide receiver went down hard after making a terrific, acrobatic catch. He missed a short period of practice then returned. Tucker had an excellent practice, which is becoming commonplace.
Tedford said even though Jahvid Best is starting to feel closer to 100 percent, he still won’t re-assume kick return duties this week. Jeremy Ross will continue in that role.
Speaking of Best, he said the injury that is affecting him is actually to his left foot, not his ankle. He said it’s getting closer to 100 percent but still a little sore. He said his elbow feels “perfect.”
I posted earlier about Mack being named one of the finalists for the Drabby Award, given to the top football scholar-athlete in the country. It’s considered a pretty prestigious award.
“It’s so deserving for a guy who ahs been so accountable and responsible in all areas of his life, when it comes to academics, football, socially. It couldn’t happen to a better guy. He’s exactly what you want, a well-rounded person.”
Adding:
UO/CAL Under 64, 1 unit,
WSU/STAN Under 54.5, 1 unit
BERKELEY/PALO ALTO, CA
<table style="border: 1px solid rgb(227, 225, 199); padding: 5px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" width="80%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td class="blueText" valign="middle" width="45%" align="center">
Rain</td> <td class="blueText" valign="middle" width="55%" align="center">High
62°F
Precip
80%</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
<table style="padding: 3px;" width="80%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td class="blueFont10" width="54%" align="left">Wind</td> <td class="blueFont10" width="46%" align="left">S 17 mph</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">Max. Humidity:</td> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">82%</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">UV Index:</td> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">2 Low</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
<table style="padding: 3px;" width="80%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr> <td colspan="2" height="20">
</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">Sunrise:</td> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">7:36 AM PT</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">Avg. High:</td> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">66°F</td></tr></tbody></table>
UO/CAL Under 64, 1 unit,
WSU/STAN Under 54.5, 1 unit
BERKELEY/PALO ALTO, CA
<table style="border: 1px solid rgb(227, 225, 199); padding: 5px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" width="80%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td class="blueText" valign="middle" width="45%" align="center">
Rain</td> <td class="blueText" valign="middle" width="55%" align="center">High
62°F
Precip
80%</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
<table style="padding: 3px;" width="80%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td class="blueFont10" width="54%" align="left">Wind</td> <td class="blueFont10" width="46%" align="left">S 17 mph</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">Max. Humidity:</td> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">82%</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">UV Index:</td> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">2 Low</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
<table style="padding: 3px;" width="80%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr> <td colspan="2" height="20">
</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">Sunrise:</td> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">7:36 AM PT</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">Avg. High:</td> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">66°F</td></tr></tbody></table>
Adding:
UO/CAL Under 64, 1 unit,
WSU/STAN Under 54.5, 1 unit
BERKELEY/PALO ALTO, CA
<table style="border: 1px solid rgb(227, 225, 199); padding: 5px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" width="80%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td class="blueText" valign="middle" width="45%" align="center">
Rain</td> <td class="blueText" valign="middle" width="55%" align="center">High
62°F
Precip
80%</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
<table style="padding: 3px;" width="80%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td class="blueFont10" width="54%" align="left">Wind</td> <td class="blueFont10" width="46%" align="left">S 17 mph</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">Max. Humidity:</td> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">82%</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">UV Index:</td> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">2 Low</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
<table style="padding: 3px;" width="80%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr> <td colspan="2" height="20">
</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">Sunrise:</td> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">7:36 AM PT</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">Avg. High:</td> <td class="blueFont10" align="left">66°F</td></tr></tbody></table>
The Stanford total kind of stands out to me. I bet it last night. You are probably right about Cal/UO too but I'm standing pat with 5 picks in the Pac.
Unfortunate turn of events for CAL. Cal is going to have to utilize a lot more roll outs, screens, missdirection etc. Probably not too much time for long balls and weather may not cooperate either, high winds and rain are on the docket. At least it looks like Best is going to be good to go though.
Football: Thursday night update
By Jonathan Okanes
Thursday, October 30th, 2008 at 9:21 pm in Mid-week.
OK, let’s get this out of the way first: Kevin Riley will start at quarterback Saturday.
It’s looking more and more like Cal’s offensive line is going to be a big storyline against Oregon. As expected, coach Jeff Tedford confirmed Donovan Edwards will get his first career start at right tackle because of the injuries to starter Chet Teofilo (ankle) and backup Matt Laird (shoulder).
But the situation is getting worse. It now looks like right guard Noris Malele wont’ be able to go because of a sprained ankle suffered at the beginning of practice Tuesday. Malele was still in a boot Thursday and missed practice again. Tedford stopped short of completely ruling him out, but it doesn’t appear realistic that he will play.
It was also obvious the Bears aren’t counting on Malele because Tedford spoke about his expectations of backup Justin Cheadle.
“He’s a young guy and now it’s his turn to step up,” Tedford said. “Now is his opportunity. We have a lot of confidence in him. We’re sure that he’ll play hard and give his best effort.”
That means the Bears’ starting offensive line will look like this:
LT - Mitchell Schwartz, LG - Mark Boskovich, C - Alex Mack, RG Justin Cheadle, RT Donovan Edwards.
That’s not exactly the offenisve line tehe Bears envisioned when the season started. Only Mack and Schwartz are left from the starters at the beginning of the season, and Schwartz began the year at right tackle.
Edwards played the latter stages of last week’s win over UCLA.
“It’s going to be a deal where he has to get in there and get his feet wet,” Tedford said. “I”m sure he’ll be anxious but we have confidence in him. He’ll get in there and do some good things.”
The assignment for Edwards in his first career start won’t be easy. He’ll face the task of matching up with Oregon defensive ends Nick Reed and Will Tukuafu, who have combined for 14 sacks on the season.
Besides the offensive line, the Bears actually are pretty healthy. Jahvid Best is ready to go at tailback. All 11 starters on defense practiced in full on Thursday.
Giorgio Tavecchio is continuing as the placekicker.
BEAVERS
With the addition of Tavita Thompson at RT the beavs will have one of the top OL's in the conference. Good to hear that Levitre is alright, he was sick all week.
UPDATE II .. OSU LT Andy Levitre returned to practice Thursday, good news for the Beavers and maybe not-so-great news for ASU DE Dexter Davis, who is intent on maiming QB Lyle Moevao in Saturday's game.
Football: Thursday night update
By Jonathan Okanes
Thursday, October 30th, 2008 at 9:21 pm in Mid-week.
OK, let’s get this out of the way first: Kevin Riley will start at quarterback Saturday.
It’s looking more and more like Cal’s offensive line is going to be a big storyline against Oregon. As expected, coach Jeff Tedford confirmed Donovan Edwards will get his first career start at right tackle because of the injuries to starter Chet Teofilo (ankle) and backup Matt Laird (shoulder).
But the situation is getting worse. It now looks like right guard Noris Malele wont’ be able to go because of a sprained ankle suffered at the beginning of practice Tuesday. Malele was still in a boot Thursday and missed practice again. Tedford stopped short of completely ruling him out, but it doesn’t appear realistic that he will play.
It was also obvious the Bears aren’t counting on Malele because Tedford spoke about his expectations of backup Justin Cheadle.
“He’s a young guy and now it’s his turn to step up,” Tedford said. “Now is his opportunity. We have a lot of confidence in him. We’re sure that he’ll play hard and give his best effort.”
That means the Bears’ starting offensive line will look like this:
LT - Mitchell Schwartz, LG - Mark Boskovich, C - Alex Mack, RG Justin Cheadle, RT Donovan Edwards.
That’s not exactly the offenisve line tehe Bears envisioned when the season started. Only Mack and Schwartz are left from the starters at the beginning of the season, and Schwartz began the year at right tackle.
Edwards played the latter stages of last week’s win over UCLA.
“It’s going to be a deal where he has to get in there and get his feet wet,” Tedford said. “I”m sure he’ll be anxious but we have confidence in him. He’ll get in there and do some good things.”
The assignment for Edwards in his first career start won’t be easy. He’ll face the task of matching up with Oregon defensive ends Nick Reed and Will Tukuafu, who have combined for 14 sacks on the season.
Besides the offensive line, the Bears actually are pretty healthy. Jahvid Best is ready to go at tailback. All 11 starters on defense practiced in full on Thursday.
Giorgio Tavecchio is continuing as the placekicker.
BEAVERS
With the addition of Tavita Thompson at RT the beavs will have one of the top OL's in the conference. Good to hear that Levitre is alright, he was sick all week.
UPDATE II .. OSU LT Andy Levitre returned to practice Thursday, good news for the Beavers and maybe not-so-great news for ASU DE Dexter Davis, who is intent on maiming QB Lyle Moevao in Saturday's game.
Pete Carroll… victim of horrible timing.
Friday, October 31, 2008 10:15 Posted in category Uncategorized
Yesterday Pete Carroll pulled his annual prank to fire up his team, but was it really that funny. The prank involved a man falling off a filming rig onto an airbag which was out of site of the players. After the man fell Will Ferrell emerged from behind the gate carrying the unharmed stuntman. Then as Will Ferrell was addressing the students a person came running out on fire. After the flames were put out, Ferrell doused the man in water. Funny right? In the words of Lee Corso, “Not so fast my friend.”
Who is USC playing this weekend? The University of Washington. And if being 40+ point favorites wasn’t harsh enough for a horrible UW team, USC decided a bad day to pull a prank that coincidentally mocked a travesty on the UW campus. Yesterday, a former UW employee committed suicide by setting himself on fire in the main part of the UW campus.
Maybe Pete is worried about losing to another 40+ point underdog, but the timing of this prank couldn’t have been worse, although totally unintentional. I don’t blame Pete Carroll, and any other day this prank could have been a funny one. It’s just horrible timing on an unfortunate event.
Recap:
Oregon +3, 1 unit
USC -43, 1 unit
Stanford -30, 1/2 unit
OSU -13, 1 unit
UO/CAL Under 64, 1 unit,
WSU/STAN Under 54.5, 1 unit
Friday, October 31, 2008 10:15 Posted in category Uncategorized
Yesterday Pete Carroll pulled his annual prank to fire up his team, but was it really that funny. The prank involved a man falling off a filming rig onto an airbag which was out of site of the players. After the man fell Will Ferrell emerged from behind the gate carrying the unharmed stuntman. Then as Will Ferrell was addressing the students a person came running out on fire. After the flames were put out, Ferrell doused the man in water. Funny right? In the words of Lee Corso, “Not so fast my friend.”
Who is USC playing this weekend? The University of Washington. And if being 40+ point favorites wasn’t harsh enough for a horrible UW team, USC decided a bad day to pull a prank that coincidentally mocked a travesty on the UW campus. Yesterday, a former UW employee committed suicide by setting himself on fire in the main part of the UW campus.
Maybe Pete is worried about losing to another 40+ point underdog, but the timing of this prank couldn’t have been worse, although totally unintentional. I don’t blame Pete Carroll, and any other day this prank could have been a funny one. It’s just horrible timing on an unfortunate event.
Recap:
Oregon +3, 1 unit
USC -43, 1 unit
Stanford -30, 1/2 unit
OSU -13, 1 unit
UO/CAL Under 64, 1 unit,
WSU/STAN Under 54.5, 1 unit
Th.. th.. th.. that's Hollywood. Trendy folks tend to drop by and stir up their own publicity whenever they feel like it. USC is the only act in town during football season. I'm sure Hollywood and the school have worked things out. According to my recollection, it's more or less been that way since Fleetwood Mac and the USC marching band performed Tusk. And as far as the pranks go, PC's style of rapport seems to work a lot more often than what "any top 10 team" might do to another on any given Saturday.
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