Oregon, You're On The Clock

And you have Willie Lyles and Lache Seastrunk ((among others)) to thank for this go-round...

The NCAA relayed the official "Notice of Inquiry" in a telephone call to Oregon President Richard Lariviere this week. The school announced this development before Oregon's game against Missouri State.

The inquiry is the result of reports that surfaced this spring concerning payments Oregon made to recruiting services, including a $25,000 payment to Willie Lyles and Houston-based Complete Scouting Services.

Most of the info Lyles and CSS gave Oregon was outdated and even included information on players that were playing against the Ducks in bowl games.

"This notice has been anticipated and is simply the next stage of the process," UO athletic director Rob Mullens said in a University release. "The University of Oregon football program, from Head Coach Chip Kelly through the entire organization, has tremendous respect for the NCAA's important role in monitoring collegiate athletics and, to this end, continues to fully cooperate with the NCAA 's ongoing examination.

"The Athletic Department, Coach Kelly and the entire staff remain committed to operating the athletics program consistent with the highest standards and ensuring our program follows best practices."


Of course, you will...

Lyles has admitted that he made a mistake in this and that CSS, for all intents and purposes, is a dead business nowadays...

Interesting to see who comes out alive in this one...

Seastrunk Cleared To Leave Oregon

((HT: KVAL-TV Eugene))

The whole Willie Lyles shenanigan took an interesting turn in Eugene, Oregon yesterday on the University of Oregon campus...

One of the running backs at the center of the controversy of did-he-or-didn't-he get there because of Lyles, Lache Seastrunk, didn't show up at practice Saturday morning. Oregon head coach Chip Kelly released Seastrunk from his scholarship and told Lache he was free to leave...

There was talk that Seastrunk was, really, fifth on the Ducks depth-chart. But was he buried there...???

Nick Krupke leads team coverage...


The HQ thinks that Seastrunk's release was putting a certain amount of window dressing on the pig that is the current NCAA investigation. If Lache isn't around, then the ill-gotten gains of the relationship with Willie Lyles are diminished...

See...??? See...??? He's not here... we're not getting anything out of the deal anymore...???

Right...

Dashboard cam of Cliff Harris traffic stop: Epic!

((ht: katu))

Cheech and Chong would be proud. And we also have learned that a Nissan Altima can go over 110 mph.

KATU-TV has provided a play-by-play of Harris's traffic in June. In the car with him, star QB Darron Thomas.

Harris tells the Oregon State Trooper at the outset that they "Smoked all the Marijuana". And he got a sobriety test to boot.

The officer doesn't arrest Harris after he somehow passes a field sobriety test and despite not having a valid drivers license on him. And in fact, Harris tells him of a suspended license for driving uninsured in California. But Harris isn't arrested. Eventually Tyrell Irvin, who was in the back seat and had a valid license, was given permission to drive the group home.

Oh, and for what it is worth, the aforementioned Altima was rented by a university employee. An employee that Harris later said "Is my girlfriend"

Read the text version of the arrest from KATU RIGHT HERE

And the KATU TV report. Note the lack of concern from coach Chip Kelly:



Okay, there are several things here that should be questioned, first and foremost how Harris, despite admitting the marijuana use and driving 118 mph, in a car that he had no paperwork for, got away with a citation.

Second the police officers shouldn't be adjusting what the do based on who is in the car. They apparently talk, at length, about the Oregon players in the car. And that is despite the later conversation stating they would never give football players preferential treatment. Imagine if you or I were in that exact same predicament. Where do you think you'd be spending at least the rest of the night?

Third, Oregon coach Chip Kelly appears to be not the slightest bit worried about any of this. And Harris, nor Thomas appear to have suffered any repercussions. Yeah, sure, Harris's "Family" paid the $1100 fine. And in the eyes of the Ducks, that seems to be the end of it. It shouldn't be.

See the entire dashcam video of the arrest from our friends at KATU-TV:

Joey Harrington run over while riding bicycle

Joey Harrington with Atlanta

((ht: oregonlive.com))

Stop. No. Really, please don't make any jokes here, Joey was injured. And we've interviewed Joey before and really, he's a really good dude.

Former NFL and Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington was injured Sunday night when a car ran into the back of his bike on a Southeast Portland, Oregon street.

Harrington was sent to the hosptial, but not with serious injuries. Though a broken collar bone, punctured lung and gash on the head might slow him down for a few days.

Read more from The Oregonian RIGHT HERE

Apparently, Joey has been working in radio in Portland these days. He was a former 1st round draft pick of the Detroit Lions many years ago and played briefly for the Atlanta Falcons and we believe the Miami Dolphins before retiring.

We wish him a speedy recovery.

We couldn't resist posting this video in honor of friend of the OSG Ross Norton who in college, used to laugh incessantly at this song:

Is anyone buying what Chip Kelly and Oregon are saying?

Willie Lyles/Courtesy: oregonlive.com

No, we aren't "Breaking" a new story here, but we've been monitoring this story and have some serious, (well-sort of) questions about what Oregon and so-called street agent Willie Lyles are trying to tell us.

In this era of schools bending and in some cases just flat-out breaking the NCAA rules on recruiting, this story of Oregon allegedly "Buying" Lyles's services smells...kind of badly, but it also explains some things.

As you may know, Oregon coach Chip Kelly paid Lyles for his "Scouting Service". He allegedly sent information and videos of recruits to Oregon. The problem is, there is some question of Lyles "Scouting Service".

John Canzano of the Oregonian tracked Lyles down at his "Day Job" at a Houston grocery store.

And yes, the obvious question if that's Lyles day job, how exactly does he compile his "Scouting" reports? Lyles told Canzano about wanting to "Help" Houston area kids do "Better" for themselves.

In a Yahoo Sports interview, Lyles admitted he wasn't "Paid" for the "Scouting" service by Oregon, the payment was for "Access" or it was implied that it would be for that. The question is, considering Lyles ties to LaMichael James and the assumption he'd steer star recruit Lache Sistrunk to Oregon; were the Ducks trying to buy influence? It's a cloudy parallel, but one that raised many of the current questions today.

Read the Canzano story RIGHT HERE

And, this gets better. Kelly, on the day Yahoo broke the story about payments from Oregon and its head coach, told Canzano he'd never heard of Lyles.

Read that story from the Oregonian RIGHT HERE

Chip Kelly

Lyles has also admitted to escorting potential recruits to LSU. And while LSU hasn't been implicated in anything...yet, keep your ears open.

We don't begrudge Lyles, he's doing...or did what many are or have done in the past few years. Become street agents and make a tidy profit from it.

So here is essentially where we are at:

Someone is flat out lying here. Chip Kelly has more or less been caught lying to a writer. The question is: did he lie to the NCAA?

Oregon hasn't been above board in recruiting. We aren't saying this is connected, but how is it they went from Pac-10 also-ran for pretty much the history of the program to being a national powerhouse? We aren't alleging they cheated, but the circumstantial evidence is starting to pile up.

Despite the school saying they've done nothing wrong and they are cooperating with the NCAA, we wonder how serious that this is being taken. No, it hasn't caught on with the furor and headlines the Ohio State scandal did, but we are wondering if this is just as bad?

We also think that Darth Knight (Phil Knight) of Nike is somewhat complicit in all of this too. Having the CEO of the worlds largest Sporting Goods company as your primary benefactor and supplier doesn't hurt. There are starting to be questions about what they do for recruits...such as provide limited edition sneakers for said recruits, to really make you wonder.

Either way, we along with many other Sports reporting outlets will be watching. Because if it looks like a Duck, smells like a Duck and tastes like a Duck, it probably is going to get you in trouble.

Couldn't think of a more appropriate video than this:

Lyles Turns On Oregon, Says Kelly Paid $25k

((HT: Yahoo!Sports/Robinson, Wetzel))

The HQ is fairly certain this qualifies in the "saving your own hide" department, but Will Lyles has come forward in his version of events centering around the University of Oregon and that Oregon coach Chip Kelly personally approved the $25,000 that started the NCAA investigation.

Lyles maintains that Kelly had him submit old info just to have it on file before the investigation started on the recruiting of Lache Seastrunk in early March.

From Yahoo!
“They said they just needed anything,” Lyles said of the embarrassingly thin recruiting profiles that Oregon made public earlier this month. “They asked for last-minute [stuff]. So I gave them last-minute [stuff] … I gave them, like, old stuff that I still had on my computer because I never thought that stuff would see the light of day.”

Lyles also helped Seastrunk get his legal guardianship changed from his mother to grandmother so the LOI would be signed for him to go to Oregon- a place his mother didn't want him to go. Oregon's Assistant Director of Football Operations, Josh Gibson, knew of this move by Lyles the entire time.

Lyles still hasn't received the $25-grand and doubts he ever will and his CSS scouting-combine business is, pretty much, a dead stick...

Here's Tom Ward from our friends at KVAL-TV in Eugene announcing the good news...
Good news, at the time...
((HT: KVAL-TV))

Oregon Puts Out Lyles Info; Now More Q Than A

And there are more questions now than answers...

Part of the Lyles dossier from Eugene was something labeled "The 2010 National High School Evaluation Booklet". Oregon, apparently, made payments to Lyles in 2010 for players that graduated high school in 2008 and 2009.

One of the recruits in the package dated "2011" was defensive lineman Nosa Eguae. Eguae signed with Auburn in 2009, but Oregon paid for recruiting information on him in 2010.

The documents also reinforced that Lyles was paid $25,000 from Oregon for scouting services in March 2010, just weeks after UO signed two Texas high school players whom Lyles advised- one of them being Lache Seastrunk.

Andy Staples of SI.com discusses hyah and
The Oregonian discusses in great detail hyah...

There are high school players that are in the files that are 99-percent from Texas and very few other locations, and the idea of paying $25,000 for that kind of info- from a guy whose past seems just as skeezy- raises even more questions...

It's all skeezy... let's face it...

The Oregonian's Ken Goe talks about it all...
((HT: OregonLive.com))

Oregon's Cliff Harris Pulled Over For 118MPH ((UPDATED: Harris Indefinitely Suspended))

((HT: KVAL-TV Eugene))

And he was driving on a suspended license in a car that was not his own to begin with...

A University of Oregon employee from the Business Affairs office said in an email to Portland TV station KATU that she rented the car to drive out of town because her car wasn’t running well and was leaking oil.

“Cliff and his friend offered to pay for it in full with cash if I let them use it the remainder of the weekend and informed me that only the licensed friend would be driving or else I wouldn’t have let them use it,” she wrote.

Early Sunday morning Harris was behind the wheel when the car was clocked at 118 miles per hour on an Oregon Interstate. Harris was ticketed "for driving with a suspended license and exceeding the speed limit in excess of 100 mph." Another Eugene TV station is reporting that two other football players were in the car.

It could be an NCAA violation giving Harris the car, but both the NCAA and the Pac-10 have been notified of what is going on. Head coach Chip Kelly is going to wait until the facts come out in the case before rendering just how many early morning sessions Harris will get as his punishment...

KATU-TV's Katy Brown has the rest of the story...


PM UPDATE: “Cliff’s future clearly is in Cliff’s hands,” Oregon head coach Chip Kelly said in a press release. “Earning an opportunity to represent the University of Ore-gon and this football program certainly rests far beyond a player’s ability on the field of play. Our behavior out of the spotlight often is more important and will be held to a higher standard. Until Cliff is able to conform to the same standards all of us must comply with, his status will remain unchanged.”

The HQ would like to see how this would compare to other discipline issues on campus...

Willie Lyles and Oregon: The problem or part of a bigger problem?

Oregon Football/Courtesy: goducks.com

((ht: canzano/oregonlive.com))

You'll have to excuse the not weighing in on this due to the vacation that the Satellite HQ was on. But we are back and yep...we've got questions.

We are quickly catching up on the story involving the University of Oregon (and possibly others) and its relationship to a "Street Agent", one Willie Lyles and what all of this means.

For some reading, check out this excellent background piece by John Canzano of The Oregonian RIGHT HERE

This raises a ton of questions, some of which we've raised in the past. Obviously, the street agent business is a thriving one and very successful. Isn't that something the NCAA should be aware of? Should they not be making them go away? Does it not go against everything they claim to stand for?

We had heard rumors that a "Big" school was about to be "Exposed" in an investigation. Since we are just catching up, it appears Oregon is that school. Or are they?

This whole process of paying a guy such as Lyles and miraculously showing up with a prized recruit, one Lache Seastrunk that he just so happens to claim to represent....hmmmm. Sure, it raises some red flags. Particularly when a school such as Oregon who desperately wants to be "Big Time"...has...on their ledger no less, a payment to just such a shady character. That character. One Willie Lyles.

There isn't an indication, yet, that Oregon did anything wrong. Which to us is astounding. Is this not the very thing the NCAA is allegedly trying to stop? We'll see where the investigation turns as it appears Mr. Lyles was on the payroll of more than just the Ducks.

Here's the other reason we think the NCAA should be investigating Oregon. One large booster by the name of Mr. Phil Knight. Or as he's known, the chairman of NIKE.

Here's ESPN's Bruce Feldman explaining what "Recruiting Services" are:

Is It Oregon's Turn...???

((HT: KVAL-TV Eugene))

University of Oregon officials have confirmed that the school paid about $28,000 to a pair of recruiting services, but claim the payments and services were within NCAA rules.

Yahoo!Sports is reporting that Oregon paid $25,000 to Will Lyles of Complete Scouting Services in Houston. Lyles has a "mentoring relationship" with Oregon RB Lache Seastrunk. He also has a relationship with running back LaMichael James of an unknown depth at present.

Charles Robinson's story is hyah...

ESPN.com is reporting the NCAA is probing Seastrunk's recruitment. Both Seastrunk and James are from Texas.

It's Schad and Schlabach... hyah...

Here's some silent highlights from Texas on Seastrunk's career to date...
((HT: texaspreps))


The Yahoo report also said that Oregon paid $3,745 to Baron Flenory of New Level Athletics. Flenory told Yahoo he also ran a recruiting service that provided Oregon with information about potential recruits, but the company no longer operates because of a change in NCAA rules. He does, however, run the Badger Sports Elite 7-on-7 football camps, which have had several players- running back Deanthony Thomas, defensive back Cliff Harris, defensive back Dior Mathis and wideout Tacoi Sumler- as attendees.

The Oregon athletic department issued a statement Thursday night that said: "This is something we remain confident that is within the acceptable guidelines allowed by the NCAA and occurred with the knowledge of the department's compliance office."

If a recruit was encouraged to Oregon by Flenory or Lyles, that is an NCAA violation. Both would be technically considered boosters in the eyes of the folks in Indianapolis.

And, ohbytheway, Flenory played for Chip Kelly at New Hampshire.

"We have previously stated that we have not been in contact with anyone from the NCAA or Pacific-10 Conference in regards to these practices and that situation remains unchanged," Oregon's statement said.

Joe Schad discusses with Mike Hill...
((HT: ESPN))


More when we know more...

TWTW: OSG Is Glendale Tuesday

Let's be honest, for Auburn people this was the athletic equivalent of Woodstock or Mecca- there is no substitute for having 50,000 people inside and countless others outside in the desert southwest watching their team go all in one last time.

And Auburn faithful wanted to make sure they were around for every aspect of this alphabetical title game. The parking lots weren't supposed to open until four hours before kickoff. People arrived early enough to where the folks in Glendale opened the parking lots early.

Security was nothing short of a papal visit- and the city was still overwhelmed. People hit the gate entrances with such force that the scanners were in no condition to let everyone in with a scanned ticket. If seven people hit the door, maybe two got their tickets approved as legal.

For the second day in a row, the number one venue ran out of beer- and souvenir cups. I had to make a deal with my concessions guy to get two cups- one of the being the floor model.

And for everyone that thought the game was going to be one of those PS3-Arena Football games, the HQ thought differently. Darron Thomas and Cameron Newton were both shaky- evidence the short-armed TD pass attempt on 4th down that really would have out the game out of reach for Auburn and the two early picks for Thomas. Gameplans for Gus Malzahn were dialed back considerably.

There was clock manipulation and maximization- something that, I don't think Oregon may even have in its play book. And in a game of this magnitude, if you don't have that to fall back on in a tight game where you need to be something other than a gambler, it might come back on you.

There were too many instances of Auburn receivers on Oregon linebackers, and on the Emory Blake TD pass, it came back on Chip Kelly. The game plan for the Tigers/War Eagles/Plainsmen was simple- somewhat. Stop LaMichael James ((88 total yards on two dozen or so plays)) and force the rest of the roster to beat you. Jeff Maehl almost did that single-handedly with 9 catches and 133 yards.

And the simplicity of the Oregon offense is its brilliance that moves them from one side of the field to the red zone of the other quickly. The only evidence of that you need are the Maehl and Tuinei catches that kept drives going when they were pinned deep in their own territory. But the idea of a zone read and react-find the gap passing game slows down inside the 20. There isn't a whole lot of real estate to play with, and you noticed that the running plays were very rarely between the tackles. If Auburn was able to string the play out to the boundary, it was over.

And it was over, a lot... Oregon could get there, as Thomas' 363 yards through the air will attest, but they couldn't close the deal. There was one of those classic goal-line stands that you remember over time, and the long thought of notion that the larger, more experienced offensive line would create holes- and it did for Michael Dyer when the team really needed it on the last drive.

And for the coaching staff to have the presence of mind to remind the freshman that no whistle had blown and that they play wasn't over says volumes as to their in-game awareness in a tight ballgame- very late in a very tight ballgame.

Leave it to an unsung hero- something OSG has made a point to remind people of this entire time, and that there would be no marquee name with the finishing blow- and a kicker of all things to wrap up the first title since 1957 for this school. And, while it's true the win was for the teams in the '80s and '90s and 2000's that were close, leapfrogged, and/or probated, the win crosses more generations than that.

There was an elderly gentleman who was two rows in front of me and TBH in the endzone ((and, yes, we'll get to her in a minute)). He was turned around looking at the jumbotron behind us for the entire game. It was found out that he is legally blind and can, kind of, make out images on a screen. He just asked that we tell him what's going on every once in a while.

The win is for people like that who have long-suffered and can now see an end result. It's for TBH's parents, long-suffering alums of the school who catch it from the Crimson-clad obnoxious ones 13 months out of the year in their home state.

It's for everyone who made the pilgrimage and swore that they weren't going to cry if Auburn won- and did anyway like it was the end of one of those Lifetime movies.

Like TBH... and for her, it was...
Merry Christmas every one... and here's to hoping your pilgrimage home doesn't take as long as it did for you to get there...

You couldn't have pried the tickets for this game out of her hands. While you could place a value on the rectangles that gave her the chance to sit in the endzone, there is no way in hell that you could place a value on the experience tied to the entire weekend...

**ED NOTE** For those who didn't see the game, here is a really good capsule of the game from our friends at the 4-letter (ESPN):

Auburn Did It. The SEC Has 5 BCS Titles In A Row

Once again chants of S.E.C!, S.E.C! are happening around the south, especially in Auburn, Alabama. The Tigers won their first national championship since 1957 defeating Oregon in the BCS National Championship Game 22-19.

"Well, obviously, you know, it is really hard for me to describe the feeling that I have for the Auburn family." Auburn head coach Gene Chizik said in the post game press conference. "I'm not sure if 15 weeks ago anyone believed that we could do this except us."

Auburn was no where near the national championship radar screen when the season kicked off in August. Cam Newton was just another SEC quarterback. 14 games and an intense NCAA investigation later Newton is the Heisman Trophy winner and Auburn wins the national championship.

"I don't want nobody to feel sorry for me because throughout this year didn't nobody feel sorry for Auburn." Auburn quarterback Cam Newton said in the post game press conference. "We got the last laugh."

Newton completed one of the best seasons by a college quarterback and accomplished the tri-fecta. SEC Championship, Heisman Trophy winner and now leading his Tiger team to a National Championship. Is the NFL next for Newton?

"I'm not going to make no decision right now." Newton said. "It is something I have to sit down with Coach Chizik and my family and just get the vibe of so many different people. We will go from there."

"He is a great football player, and he is a great human being." Chizik said of his starting quarterback. "We love him at Auburn and we got his back in everything that he does and everything that he stands for."

"He (Newton) is a great football player." Oregon head coach Chip Kelly said in the post game press conference. "I'm not into ranking guys. I wasn't there to see Sammy Baugh play, but in my career as a head coach, he's the best player I've seen."

While Newton and the explosive Auburn defense has received most of the attention this year, the Tiger defense was the difference in the game. Mike McNeil led Auburn with 14 tackles and Nick Fairley was all over the field. Oregon had a hell of a time accounting for Fairley throughout the game.

"Nick Fairley proved he was the best defensive lineman in the country." Kelly said.

Fairley ended up with five tackles, one sack and three tackles for loss.

"Man, our defense, we showed America everything we done each and every Saturday out there on the field." Auburn defensive tackle Nick Fairley said in the post game press conference. "Man, we have been doing this, like I said, for 14 weeks. We just went unnoticed throughout the year. Now that we got noticed out here on the big stand, we just showed what we can do."

Chip Kelly added, "I had a lot of respect for them defensively. I was really, really impressed with their front. We knew it was going to be a test for us."

Here's sound with Auburn QB Cam Newton after the game. (Thanks WVTM-TV)



Auburn's kicker Wes Byrum on the field after the game. (Thanks CBS Sports.com)



Photo Courtesy: Hal Yaeger/The Birmingham News

TWTW Bee-Cee-Ess: Glendale Is Cam-A-Lot

Wes Byrum nailed a chip shot field goal with 2 seconds left in regulation to give Auburn its first national title since 1957 with a 22-19 win over Oregon in Glendale, Arizona.

Auburn drove 73 yards in seven plays for Byrum’s game-winning 19-yarder...

The Tigers had a losing season in 2008, and by 2010 it’s the fifth straight year that an SEC team has won the national title- five titles by four different SEC schools

Here's the game-winner...
((HT: ESPN/Youtube))


More tomorrow...

TWTW: OSG Friday In Glendale

Okay, we're here... on a couple of different fronts...

There's the obvious view of the game and everything else going on around here for the next few days or so...

And we're also taking in the Social Experiment... Understand, this is life and death for TBH- the same as it was for Phil's TLB when the Saints were in the Roman Numeral Classic this year...

Auburn has always had to hear it from the Crimson-clad in her home state. They've had close calls. They've been leapfrogged by Miami. They've been on probation. They've been caught in numbers games as the odd man out...

But this time, because of Number Two, or as he is called in some circles "6-6, 2-Fiddy," a bunch of seniors and 8 games decided by single digits, they're here...

And so is everyone else who will wear orange, blue, and white...
Phoenix doesn't know what hit it... ((pictured are the lines waiting for shuttles at the airport, thanks to me))

The trek started with a flight of 220 plus crew, and the pilot of our particular airplane knew what he was getting into...

"Okay, let me get this out of the way before we take off... WARRRRRRRRRRR EAGLE, HEY!"

Most of the paying passengers, Atlanta Braves starter Tim Hudson included, chimed in and it was decided that we'd take off.

But I have come to the conclusion that there should be a few guidelines for traveling parties. If you're a pre-schooler, you need to be placed in a soundproof booth for the entire duration of the flight- regardless of length. TBH actually had a good point- they need to pay more instead of a standard fare. She knew, since we were separated on the flight, that I was closer to the noise in the rear of the plane and truly wanted to jump three rows behind me and take this kid out once and for all...

An apple for a gag... anything to get us through this four-hour tour...

I have also come to a realization that, after about 2-and-a-half hours, I turn into a bad passenger, anyway. I'm looking for an escape hatch...

No such luck...

And, on final approach, our pilot found one of three block-wide rain cells and parachuted right into the thing to cause enough consternation and outright fear to make you think you were at Gilley's and riding a mechanical bull that would buck Buddy, Sissy, and Scott Glenn's character at the same time.


And, you know something, these were the lines at the airport on Friday night... ((still pictured, by me))

Corch Meyers was even in baggage claim waiting on his bags as he prepped for his new gig- interesting to see him as a civilian and not in any labeled gator gear. TBH debated going up to ask him about why the school he used to coach for had someone send 662-Fiddy's academic records to the public, but she deferred since he was with wife...

Would have been an interesting exchange since he was in the belly of the beast and escaped without a scratch...

Especially, after TBH had "extended seat belt guy" and an airborne drunk on her flanks... she was ready to come out swinging with somebody...

And she still is come Monday night... but since everyone is projecting a 73-68 game, the HQ is thinking more 27-24...

Programming Note: OSG Sports will be taking up residence on FOSG Gil Tyree's "Sports Talk at the Positive Pub" show on Voice America Sports Monday afternoon at 1PM eastern/11AM local time...

Here's Auburn head coach Gene Chizik from Media Day...
((HT: al.com))


And here's Oregon play-by-play guy, Jerry Allen, explaining just how big this game is to the people of Eugene...
((HT: KVAL-TV Eugene))

DEVELOPING TWTW: Bee-Cee-Ess Survives Another Year, It's Auburn And Oregon...

Looks like it'll be Oregon and Auburn in Glendale on January 10th...

Cam Newton passed for a career-best 335 yards and 4 TD's, running for 2 more, as top-alphabet ranked Auburn smoked South Carolina 56-17 for the SEC title at the Georgia Dome.

Newton will likely be picking up the Heisman Trophy next Saturday in New York City.

Here's some early highlights...
((HT: SEC on CBS/Youtube))


Oregon, on the other hand, has their spot for the first time in school history,
beating Oregon State 37-20 in the Civil War game.

LaMichael James ran for 134 yards and 2 TDs and Kenjon Barner had 133 yards with 2 TDs for the Ducks- now 12-0/9-0 in the Pac-10/11/12.

Here's the end of that game...
((HT: ESPN/ABC/Youtube))


The HQ admits that we liked that even the sports drink was green...

TWTW: Oregon Survives Early Scare, Beats Arizona

((HT: KVAL-TV Eugene))

Oregon earned at least a share of its second-straight Pac-10 title and stayed on course for a trip to the BCS national championship game.

Darron Thomas passed for 148 yards and three scores and ran for one more. LaMichael James ran for 126 yards and two scores for the Ducks, now 11-0/8-0, who trailed 19-14 at halftime.

"Yeah, we finally get to eat turkey," Oregon cornerback and return specialist Cliff Harris said.

The Ducks have only won 11 games in a season once before, when they went to the Fiesta Bowl in 2001.

The Ducks can lock up the conference title and a spot in the national championship game in Glendale, Arizona, next week with a victory at Oregon State.

Here's your recap... Nick Krupke, apparently, never gets to go outside...

TWTW: Oregon Ducks Upset At Cal

((HT: KVAL-TV Eugene))

No, we didn't screw up the headline... think about it...

Jeff Maehl caught a 29-yard pass for Oregon's only offensive touchdown in Strawberry Canyon, and Oregon escapes when an illegal motion penalty against California's kicker gives them the 15-13 victory over Cal.

Cliff Harris returned a punt 64 yards for the only touchdown in the first half for the Ducks, now 10-0/7-0 in the Pac-10/11, only managed 317 yards and went scoreless in two quarters — the first and the fourth.

Nick Krupke was indoors for this one...

MASCOT FAIL: Oregon Duck Turns Into "Doink The Clown"

((HT: ESPN on ABC/Youtube))

Either a "mascot fail" or a "kicker hero..."
We haven't decided yet...

Washington kicker Erik Folk has him some damn good aim...
Either that, or he just didn't care, got the three points, and the Oregon Duck mascot was collateral damage...

Here's the evidence...
Enjoy...

TWTW: Record Oregon Crowd Sees Ducks Take Huskies

((HT: KVAL-TV Eugene))

This game was actually scoreless after a quarter, leaving the Oregon faithful scratching their collective heads fer sure...

But business picked up and Oregon won 53-16...

Darron Thomas threw for a touchdown and ran for two more, and LaMichael James ran for 121 yards and three more scores. This is the first time the University of Oregon Ducks team has gone 9-0 in program history.

The announced crowd was 60,017- the largest ever at Autzen Stadium...

Bully for them... and don't think people won't be asking for that first quarter game film for the rest of the year, either...

Nick Krupke stands indoors in front of a monitor for the highlights...

TWTW: So Much For That Whole Upset Thing By USC, Oregon Stays Undefeated

((HT: KVAL-TV))

This was a game where a lot of people thought that this would be a tough test for the Oregon Ducks- this was Southern Cal's bowl game... all that...

USC lasted until the mid-point of the third quarter with their 32-29 lead, but then gave up 24 straight to lose 53-32...

LaMichael James ran for 239 yards on the night and the Trojans just couldn't keep up with the well-conditioned sprinters from Eugene.

Nick Krupke has the highlights from way above the Mausoleum...