Tag: Pac-12

Ducks homer four times to even weekend series in Seattle

After a disappointing series opening loss where they gave up a 6-0 lead, the Ducks left no doubt in Game 2 with a 13-6 win over Washington.

The mark of a good team is how they rebound off of a disappointing loss and if Saturday night in Seattle is any indication, the Oregon Ducks baseball team is in good shape.

Oregon gave away a 6-0 lead in the series opener to Washington to eventually lose 7-6, but the Ducks showed some mettle in Game 2 with a convincing 13-6 victory over the Huskies.

The Ducks hit four home runs to propel them to the big win. Ironically, the team’s leader in dingers, Jacob Walsh, wasn’t among those who hit a deep ball. Mason Neville, Maddox Molony, Carter Garate, and Chase Meggers all hit homers. Meggers also hit a bases-clearing double in the seventh inning to give him five runs batted in for the night.

Oregon scored in every inning except for the fifth and eighth. Even though the Ducks were lighting up the scoreboard early on, they still couldn’t shake the Dawgs. It was 7-4 after four innings.

But then Brock Moore came out of the bullpen and threw five scoreless innings to bring things back to order. He also struck out eight in the 90-plus-pitch effort out of the pen.

Oregon goes for the series win Sunday afternoon as the regular season winds down. After the Ducks finish their trip to Seattle, they come home to finish the Pac-12 season with a three-game series with Washington State at PK Park. That will be the last regular season series in the Pac-12 for the Ducks as the conference tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz. will be on the horizon.

Washington and Oregon conclude their series Sunday at noon.

Two Pac-12 teams relocating to Big 12 are ahead of USC in top 25

Arizona, despite some player losses and the loss of its coach, is ranked well ahead of USC right now.

The USC Trojans do not appear in a composite set of post-spring top 25 college football rankings. Those rankings are taken from four different media outlets. College Sports Wire assembled those composite rankings. It is notable which teams cracked the top 25 and are therefore ranked ahead of USC. Two of those teams are leaving the Pac-12 Conference for the Big 12.

On the College Sports Wire list, Arizona and Utah made the top 25. To be more precise, both teams were in the top 20. Those two programs are receiving a lot of respect. With Arizona, it’s notable that the Wildcats are still seen as a top-20 team even though coach Jedd Fisch left for Washington and took some players with him. Brent Brennan is viewed as a very good coach, but he nevertheless inherits a new situation and a roster which did lose some players. None of that dissuaded these media outlets from putting Arizona in the top 20.

Utah, with Cam Rising set to play quarterback in 2024, is a much less controversial and debatable selection. Nevertheless, a lot of teams which — like USC — are leaving the (dying) Pac-12 for other conferences are ranked ahead of the Trojans in 2024. That’s motivational fuel for Lincoln Riley and Company.

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Ducks use the long ball to capture one game in Corvallis

Mason Neville hit two home runs and Kevin Seitter shut down the Beavers offense to salvage one game in Corvallis 7-1.

After the offense was shut down in Games 1 and 2, the Ducks got their bats going in the series finale to defeat the Beavers in Corvallis 7-1.

Mason Neville crushed two homers and Bryce Boettcher added another solo shot.

Those long balls were more than enough for starting pitcher Kevin Seitter, who had a no-hitter going into the seventh inning. But Oregon State broke it up in the biggest way possible, a deep homer to center from Brady Kasper.

Despite that bomb, Seitter was dominating, going seven innings of one-run, one-hit ball, striking out nine while walking four.

Oregon jumped on Beaver starter Eric Segura with two runs in the top of the first inning on a run-scoring single from Jacob Walsh and then a fielding error. It was then 3-0 after two innings off of Neville’s first homer that went over the scoreboard in right-center field.

That was all Seitter needed as he cruised through the Beaver lineup.

It was then 6-0 Ducks after four with three more runs. Chase Meggers hit a sacrifice fly before Neville hit a ball that sailed over the right field bleachers.

Oregon is now 29-14 overall and 12-9 in Pac-12 action. The Ducks will now host the Beavers at PK Park for a non-conference game on Tuesday before Utah comes to town for a three-game Pac-12 weekend series beginning Friday.

Oregon DL Taki Taimani signs UDFA contract with Vikings

Oregon defensive lineman Taki Taimani signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent.

Three days and seven rounds of the NFL draft and there was no Taki Taimani.

But one doesn’t need their named to be called in the draft in order to sign with a team and Oregon defensive lineman Taki Taimani did just that.

Taimani signed with the Minnesota Vikings once the draft finished as a free agent.

At Oregon, the 6-foot-3, 330-pounder from Salt Lake City played in all 14 games in his final season while making nine starts. Taimani also finished with 22 total tackles, 1.5 tackle for loss and a fumble recovery and was ranked second among all Pac-12 interior defensive linemen with an 82.3 run-defense grade from Pro Football Focus.

Taimani was one of very few players to transfer from Oregon most heated rival Washington, but he was able to win over the fan base quickly with his hustle, effort and huge smile. Now he’ll get to do the same thing with another fan base in the NFL ranks.

Houston Texans draft Oregon LB Jamal Hill in the sixth round

Jamal Hill is headed to the Houston Texans as they drafted the Oregon linebacker in the sixth round.

Better late than never.

It took a while, but Oregon linebacker Jamal Hill heard his name called in NFL draft. The Houston Texans selected him in the sixth round.

It has been a productive third day of the draft for the Ducks. They have had several players selected in the later rounds, and Hill was the most recent.

At Oregon, Hill started in the secondary, but moved to the linebacker spot out of necessity. Hill played in all 14 games as a senior, making seven starts. He finished with 31 tackles (13 solo) while adding 5 tackles for loss and 2 sacks. He also managed to get his first tackles for loss and sacks of his career.

As a sophomore, Hill was an All-Pac-12 honorable mention.

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Michael Penix to the Falcons at No. 8 was a Pac-12 NFL draft shocker

No one saw this one coming. Penix at No. 8?

Very few people saw this one coming. The Pac-12’s last NFL draft was a very successful one, with eight Pac-12 players being picked in the first round. Of the eight selections, none was more surprising than Michael Penix going to the Atlanta Falcons at No. 8. USA TODAY Sports NFL draft analyst Nate Davis weighed in:

“A sublimely talented passer who turns 24 next month, no telling now when Penix – a starter the past six seasons at the FBS level – will be back in the lineup now that he’s stuck behind Cousins for the foreseeable future. A guy who finally shook the injury bug, his four seasons at Indiana all curtailed by knee and shoulder woes, might have to cope with being a healthy scratch for at least the next two years.”

Why the Falcons acquired Kirk Cousins in NFL free agency, only to then grab an injury-prone quarterback who is already 24 years old, makes no sense. Penix is a play-now player, not someone who should be stashed on the bench for the next two years. The Falcons‘ thought process is really hard to figure out here.

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Bo Nix NFL draft selection at No. 12 sends a message to Caleb Williams

Bo Nix is just 11 draft spots lower than Caleb Williams, thanks to the Denver Broncos.

The Denver Broncos took Oregon quarterback Bo Nix with the No. 12 pick in the 2024 NFL draft. While the Broncos did not intend to send a message to Caleb Williams, and while Nix himself is not focused on Caleb, the pick definitely conveyed a specific line of thought. Very simply, Caleb Williams is not all that better than Bo Nix.

USC fans will tell you that Caleb Williams is a lot better than Nix, but in 2023, Nix clearly had the better season. Last year, Nix led Oregon to the Pac-12 Championship Game and an 11-win regular season, which is what Caleb did one year earlier when he won the Heisman Trophy. USC fans will come back and say — correctly — that Caleb lacked the pass protection in 2023 which he enjoyed in 2022. Bo Nix had a very clean pocket last year at Oregon. So, when NFL draft analysts talk about Nix’s accuracy, they’re not mentioning how much time Nix had to find the right receiver. Give Caleb and Nix equal time in the pocket, and Caleb’s quality will emerge in full.

Nix being taken at No. 12, and Michael Penix going at No. 8, puts very little distance between Caleb Williams and the other top Pac-12 quarterbacks in the 2024 NFL draft class. It’s time for Caleb to prove that he is far better than those other two Pac-12 signal-callers.

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Pac-12’s huge NFL draft night adds to sadness about the conference’s death

The Pac-12 produced eight first-round NFL draft picks. There’s simply no reason this conference should have died.

The Pac-12 is about to die. Stanford and Cal are about to move to the ACC. Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, and Colorado are about to flee to the Big 12. USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington will soon pack their bags for the Big Ten. The conference we in the Western United States have known and grown up with will cease to exist in any meaningful sense. The pain of seeing the Pac-12 die was increased at the 2024 NFL draft. On the first night in the first round, eight Pac-12 players were picked, second only to the mighty Southeastern Conference.

USA TODAY Sports NFL draft analyst Nate Davis did not miss this point:

“The once-vaunted conference is effectively dead, cannibalized by the expansion of other FBS football leagues. But it went out with a nice bang, eight players – with (Caleb) Williams at the top – tabbed Thursday. It didn’t beat out the SEC, but a nice homage to the once-great West Coast football forum.”

It’s a real shame the conference couldn’t stay together, but its leaders — the Pac-12 CEO Group — can’t blame anyone else. This death happened from within.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

Check out more NFL draft coverage with the USA TODAY Sports NFL Draft Hub.

LeBron James says Chip Kelly and the Oregon Ducks helped Miami reach new heights

LeBron James. Chip Kelly. Erik Spoelstra. How the three combined to create an NBA Championship offense.

Chip Kelly and the NBA is like a puzzle piece that doesn’t quite fit.

But Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra was able to put a round peg in a square hole as LeBron James said.

According to the NBA legend and future Hall of Famer, Spoelstra, a Portland native and Jesuit High School graduate, took a page out of Chip Kelly’s book when he was with the Oregon Ducks, and used philosophies in Kelly’s spread offense to help unlock a new level with the Heat at the start of their title run.

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James said in a recent interview that Spoelstra came back to his home state and studied Kelly’s spread offense that changed the landscape of college football back in 2011.

“Spo is the reason why we were a better team, and our team was assembled more properly,” James told J.J. Reddick on a recent episode of Uninterrupted. “That summer, he went to Oregon and hung out with Chip Kelly, and learned the spread offense.”

Miami lost to Dallas in the previous season and James said Spoelstra’s goal was to study the Ducks’ spread offense and translate that to the professional basketball game. At this point in time Oregon was having great success on the field, having just made it to the national championship game against Cam Newton and the Auburn Tigers, and Kelly’s offense was changing the landscape of college football.

Spoelstra hoped to glean some of the tricks from that, and translate them to the basketball court.

“I don’t know the super conversations that he and Chip had,” LeBron said. “But when he came back to us, he knew that in order for us to reach our potential, for one, I had to be *expletive* ten times better than I was in that previous June Finals. But Chris Bosh had to go to the 5, and had to start working on his corner three.”

Moving Bosh out of the paint allowed James to drive more to the hoop for easy buckets, get fouled, or both. This spread the floor in a way that allowed playmakers space to move and cut without the ball, much like Kelly’s offense opened up running lanes for the likes of LaMichael James, Kenjon Barner, and De’Andthony Thomas.

The strategy also worked for Miami, as they went on to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder for the championship the following season, and repeated the next year against the San Antonio Spurs.

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Oregon prevails over Portland for fifth straight victory

The Ducks got off to an early good start and avenged an earlier loss with a 7-4 win over the Pilots.

In a matchup that likely could occur in an NCAA regional, the Oregon Ducks baseball team went on the road and managed to avenge an earlier loss to Portland with a 7-4 victory.

The win was the Ducks’ fifth straight and 20th on the season to improve to 20-7 overall. The Pilots, 3-0 in the West Coast Conference, fell to 17-9 overall.

These two teams met three weeks ago at PK Park with the Pilots stomping Oregon 15-5. It was a different story in the rematch as the Ducks were up 3-0 after two innings of play. Portland was able to cut the lead to 3-2 after three, but Jeffrey Heard’s RBI single extended the Ducks’ advantage.

The Ducks made it 6-3 in the sixth inning thanks to a sacrifice fly, a hit batsman and a walk. That would be more than enough for Oregon starter Michael Freund who went six innings, giving up three runs, two earned, on six hits while striking out seven.

A trio of relievers, Logan Mercado, Ryan Featherston and Bradley Mullan, held the Pilots to just one run. Mullan earned his third save of the year.

Oregon goes back to Pac-12 action on Friday with a three-game weekend series at UCLA and Jackie Robinson Field. The Bruins are having their difficulties as they are just 10-15 overall and 4-8 in league play.