Category: Pro Ducks

Sabrina Ionescu says Oregon’s win over Ohio State motivated WNBA Finals Game 2 performance

Sabrina Ionescu used the Oregon football’s win over Ohio State for motivation in her finals series against the Minnesota Lynx.

An athlete like Sabrina Ionescu doesn’t need a lot of motivation to excel at her sport, especially since her New York Liberty are in the WNBA finals.

But watching her favorite college football team, the Oregon Ducks, win a big game like they did on Saturday, didn’t hurt either.

After the Liberty tied the series 1-1 with the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday — a game where Ionescu scored 15 points and five assists in the 80-66 win — she was asked about the Ducks’ win over Ohio State.

“After they won with the way they did, today I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to wear my Oregon shoes’,” she said. “I wanted to embody that tough, gritty win that they pulled off. A lot things didn’t go right for them and they continued to kind of fight and stay together and grind out a really big win and I was, ‘all right and I wanted to bring that energy with me today on the court.'”

Ionescu and the Liberty now travel to Minnesota for Game 3 of the series where they’ll try to take control and get one step closer for their first WNBA championship.

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Bo Nix and Bucky Irving share special moment ahead of Broncos vs. Buccaneers game

Once a Duck, always a Duck. Once teammates, forever teammates.

Once a Duck, always a Duck.

Once teammates, forever teammates.

Bo Nix and Bucky Irving displayed as much on Sunday morning ahead of the third NFL game of their respective careers, greeting each other ahead of the Denver Broncos game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which kicks off at 10 a.m. PT.

Nix and Irving won’t be seeing each other directly on the field in Sunday’s matchup, but they will be standing on opposite sidelines for the first time in their careers.

The early results have been a bit different for both Nix and Irving. The Broncos quarterback has struggled early on, completing 46-of-77 passes for 384 yards, 0 TDs, and 4 INTs. Meanwhile, Irving has been good for Tampa Bay, rushing 17 times for 84 yards in the first two games.

Going into this game, the Bucs are favored to win by a good amount, listed as 6.5-point favorites at home. With Baker Mayfield playing as well as he has through the first two games, it will be a tall task for Nix to get the first win of his NFL career.

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Former Oregon Ducks’ DT DeForest Buckner placed on injured reserve

Former Oregon Ducks DT DeForest Buckner will miss at least four games with a sprained ankle.

DeForest Buckner, a former Oregon Ducks defensive lineman and All-Pro DT in the NFL, has been placed on short-term injured reserve, according to Ian Rapoport. Buckner suffered the injury during the Indianapolis Colts’ week three game against the Green Bay Packers.

Buckner sprained his ankle last weekend, after developing a reputation as one of the most durable players in the NFL. Since his rookie season in 2016, Buckner has played in all but one regular season game, for the 49ers and the Colts.

In his nine-year NFL career, Buckner has earned Pro Bowl honors three times, and once he was named an All-Pro. This season, he was off to a strong start, finishing week one with six solo tackles and a TFL. In game two, Buckner grabbed one tackle before being knocked out of the game.

https://twitter.com/rapsheet/status/1836143172256436391?s=42

Through two weeks of the NFL season, plenty of pro Ducks have been off to hot starts — and Buckner has been among the best. Bucker’s injury wasn’t initially expected to be serious, but by being placed on IR, he’ll be forced to miss at least four games.

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Bo Nix makes history as Denver Broncos first rookie team captain in 57 years

Bo Nix was named Denver Broncos team captain as a rookie quarterback after a very successful preseason.

People at Oregon quickly found out that quarterback Bo Nix’s football IQ was off the charts.

The Denver Broncos are now finding this out as well.

So much so, the Broncos have named Nix as a team captain as a rookie before the team begins the season with a road game at Seattle. He becomes the first Broncos rookie to be named team captain since the honor was given to Floyd Little back in 1967.

Nix was drafted 12 overall in the first round and after a successful preseason, he was named the starting quarterback. This is just the first of many “firsts” for Nix this 2024 NFL season.

https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1831358350665347116

After a strong pair of preseason games, Nix was quickly named the starting quarterback for the Broncos. He will see his NFL debut this coming Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks.

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Sabrina Ionescu knocks down wild shot in Liberty win over Storm

Sabrina Ionescu keeps on doing unreal things on the floor as he made a shot while laying on the floor in the Liberty’s win in Seattle.

Just when you think Sabrina Ionescu has done it all on the floor, she manages to top herself yet again.

In the 98-85 win at Seattle where she finished with 25 points and eight rebounds, Ionescu went down to her knees for one of those boards and two of those points.

On a running lay-in attempt, Ionescu fell to the floor and as the ball came down, it somehow ended up in her hands. Amid some traffic in the lane, Ionescu didn’t have time to get up, so she put up a shot from her knees and it went in.

By now, it’s just another highlight in her illustrious career. Ionescu is coming off winning the gold medal in the Paris Olympics and she is leading the New York Liberty to the WNBA’s best record of 27-6. They are the favorites to win the championship, something that’s still not on Ionescu’s resume.

Yet.

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Pair of former Oregon Duck stars released by NFL teams on Monday

It was a tough Monday morning for a pair of former Oregon Ducks after the third week of the preseason.

Monday was a tough day for a pair of former Oregon Duck stars in the NFL. Quarterback Anthony Brown and safety Verone McKinley III were released by their respective teams.

Brown was released by the Las Vegas Raiders a week ago and signed by the Buffalo Bills. In the Bills’ loss to the Carolina Panthers over the weekend, Brown played well, completing 11-of-12 passes for 102 yards. Ultimately, though, the Bills are apparently more comfortable with Mitchell Trubisky and Ben DiNucci serving as the backups for Josh Allen.

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McKinley suffered a similar fate for the Arizona Cardinals. He had a total of three tackles in Arizona’s game against the Denver Broncos over the weekend, giving him 11 tackles during the three-game preseason. The Cardinals decided to part ways with him, though.

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We will see if either pro Duck can sign with a practice squad for the season.

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Denver Broncos name Bo Nix starting QB for Week 1

It took Bo Nix all of two preseason games to win the quarterback job in Denver.

That didn’t take long.

After two good performances on the field, Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton as named rookie quarterback Bo Nix as their starter for the 2024 season.

The former Oregon signal-caller was drafted 12th overall by the Broncos in April and he certainly hasn’t disappointed in fall camp or in the two preseason games Denver has played in so far.

The Broncos won those two games and Nix performed beyond expectations. In the 34-30 win over Indianapolis, Nix was 15-of-21 passing for 125 yards and a touchdown. He was even better against the Packers in which Denver won 27-2.

Nix was 8-of-9 passing, good for 80 yards and a touchdown.

“I thought he played well. He had one penalty, which was, man, right on the line. It was tough. It was a pretty heads-up play,” Payton said. “He did a good job at the line of scrimmage with some checks. You feel his comfort level as he continues to get used to the calls coming in. You kind of feel the poise when he’s playing,” Payton said.

That poise and success on the field led Payton to the obvious conclusion that it will be Nix leading the Broncos offense onto the field when they start regular season play at Seattle Sept. 8 at Lumen Field.

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Bo Nix Broncos jerseys are flying off the virtual shelves at Fanatics

After just one preseason game, Denver Broncos fans can’t log into their Fanatics accounts quick enough to buy their Bo Nix No. 10 jerseys.

Bo knows jersey sales.

Denver Broncos fans haven’t been this excited over a new rookie quarterback since possibly John Elway and so far, former Oregon signal-caller Bo Nix hasn’t let them down.

Nix was 15-of-21 passing for 125 yards and a touchdown to lead the Broncos over the Indianapolis Colts 34-30 in their first preseason game.

It was just preseason, but the excitement in the Mile High City is real. That performance prompted Broncos fans to log into their Fanatics.com account in order to buy their very own Nix No. 10 jersey.

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According to the site, Nix jersey sales saw a spike and now his No. 10 is the second-most NFL jersey bought on the site, only behind Caleb Williams of the Chicago Bears.

Nix is ahead of players such as JJ McCarthy, Michael Penix, Jr. and Jayden Daniels in terms of sales.

His play was so impressive that Denver has already announced Nix will start the next preseason game when they host the Green Bay Packers. Expect many fans to sport their new orange No. 10 jerseys in the stadium on Sunday.

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Bo Nix scores first NFL touchdown in preseason with Denver Broncos

Former Oregon Ducks star Bo Nix got his first career NFL touchdown in the preseason with the Denver Broncos.

Bo Nix has broken the seal.

Nix found the end zone for the first time of his NFL career in Sunday afternoon. The rookie threw a quick-out to Marvin Mims from the 1-yard line to put six on the board for the Denver Broncos in their preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts.

The score on Nix’s second drive of the game gave Denver a 10-3 lead.

Through his first two drives, Nix completed 5 of his 9 passes for 44 yards and a touchdown. He had three rushes for 17 yards and showed some great elusiveness in the pocket.

In all, it was a 10-play drive that went 56 yards for the Broncos before they found the end zone.

Nix is competing for the starting spot in Denver with Zach Wilson and Jarrett Stidham. Wilson did not play in Sunday’s game, but Stidham drew the start and played for a single series, completing 4-of-7 passes for 47 yards before throwing an interception.

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WATCH: Bucky Irving scores first NFL touchdown in preseason with Tampa Bay

Former Oregon Ducks star running back scored his first NFL touchdown with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their preseason game vs. Cincinnati.

It was only a matter of time until former Oregon Ducks running back Bucky Irving found the end zone at the next level.

Unsurprisingly, it happened in his first action as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In the first quarter of their preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Irving punched it in from a few years out on the second drive of the day to tie the game at 7.

It will go down in the scorebook as a 6-yard TD run, but Irving showed nice burst on the run, busting through the middle and diving over the goal line for the score.

Through the first two quarters of the game, Irving had 6 rushes for 27 yards and the touchdown.

Oregon fans will have pleasant memories watching Irving get into the end zone, fondly recalling all of the times he did so with the Ducks in Eugene.

At the top of the depth chart in Tampa Bay, Rachaad White is expected to enter the season as the starter. However, there’s a good chance Irving can take over as the RB2 going into 2024. He is competing with Chase Edmonds for the spot.

A couple more preseason performances like this, and it’s not hard to see Irving carving out a role in this offense as a rookie.

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