Good Luck Ducks, Week 12: More Like...

Oregon faces their final road test of the season in their penultimate conference game. 

 

I probably say this every year at this time, but man, this college football season has really flown by. It's a relatively short season compared to other sports I follow, but you really get to go through the changing of the seasons as the weeks progress. We start things off in late August or early September in t-shirts and shorts and now, all of a sudden, it feels like winter outside. Autumn always feels like the shortest season to me, at least with Portland's weather.

Of course, I'm here to talk about college football, not the weather. The Ducks are flying high after another win last week and take a 10-0 record to Badger territory this week. Wisconsin has had an up-and-down season and for the most part hasn't really been in close games. They've been on both sides of a lot of blowouts. If the trend holds, let's hope that they're on the wrong side of a blowout tonight.

It's also the time of the season where the injuries have piled up, and the Ducks have their fair share. Oregon is still expected to be without ace receiver Tez Johnson this week, and there are a few other key stars that showed up on the injury report as "questionable" early this week: Marcus Harper and two Jordans (Burch and James.)

Here's a bonus card this week thanks to Dennis! This was sent to me in advance of the last meeting between Wisconsin and Oregon in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day 2020. The Ducks pulled off the big one point win in Justin Herbert's final game, and then it was all downhill from there that year as I recall. Let's hope that there isn't another worldwide health crisis coming after this one.

Notes and such:

• Bucky Badger has to be one of the weirdest looking mascots in the game. To be fair, though, he is a badger. Badgers are really something.
• Do they have any history at all? The all-time series is tied at 3-3. Aside from the aforementioned 2020 Rose Bowl, Oregon also beat Wisconsin in the 2012 Rose Bowl and in a season opening match back in 2001. Wisconsin had won the previous meeting in 2000 and before that it gets a little fuzzy.
• Ducks ranking this week: 1.
• Dillon Gabriel Heisman Watch: The Ducks just need to keep on winning and see what happens. There aren't a lot of bad choices for the award this year.
• Game time is 4:30 PM PST on NBC in Madison. Go Ducks!

TribeCards Cards Represent, Represent-sent

 

A pile of free cards from an old friend. 

 

Back in August, I received a large box of cards from TribeCards central. David is part of the old-school realm of baseball card bloggers, and as a team collector is someone I can identify with from a hobby perspective. The cards were actually from a giveaway he started way back in 2020, so there were surprises all around.

Here's a couple of Cardinals pitching prospects that I added to my collection. The dude on the right is a bit more familiar than the one on the left. Alkire's card isn't technically a Cardinals card, but he was a Cardinals draft pick and I usually end up throwing these types of cards in my binders even if I don't seek them out. Ankiel, of course, features on a Cardinals minor league affiliate card, which was definitely on my want list.

This was a clear number one for me in terms of the keepers. It's a fairly tough to find photo variation from the 2018 Topps flagship set.

If I recall, you could request multiple teams in this very generous giveaway. I decided to see what was behind door number 2, as in the one that was labeled with a certain green bird on it. This is a 1988 Topps NFL stickers card, which aside from the red background and yellow/black border, is very similar to its MLB counterpart. These also have the Superstar Sticker backs. I ended up with another Steeler on the reverse.

The bulk of the Eagles loot was early '80s Topps base. These are nearly a decade before my time (of actually paying attention to the Eagles), but I added most of them to my Eagles box. I picked the name I'm most familiar (Jaworski) with to represent that lot.

I do love a good Action Packed card. I've added a few of these Monday Night Football themed cards to my collection recently.

The lion's share of the package was actually made up of Astros cards. This must have been during the days when I was still collecting George Springer cards (when he was still with Houston.) I did find a number of Jose Altuve cards for Erin's collection, though.

Here's another 2018 photo variation. It looks like this is more commonly found than the Wainwright card above.

I've already added the rest of the Astros cards I ended up with to my trade list, but I'm sure I'll find a home soon for this Justin Verlander gold parallel from 2020 Topps.

The big prize ended up being this Kyle Tucker Immaculate Collection card from 2019. It features an on-card autograph and five distinct (?) jersey swatches. Even though it's a Panini thing, this is quite a card! It's been earmarked for a certain Astros collector out there.

Thanks again to Dave for keeping the ol' card blog thing going, and for the free cards, obviously!

Good Luck Ducks, Week 11: Turtle Power

 

Oregon hosts an unfamiliar foe as the season officially enters the stretch run. 

 

It's been quite a season! While it still feels like it was just summer around here, especially coming off of a week with a string of 60+ degree sunny days, time is winding down on the 2024 college football regular season. The Ducks enter this weekend with an unblemished record at the top of the class, but there are still a few tests awaiting them before a potentially huge B1G championship game battle.

Next up on the schedule is a home game against Maryland. The Terps were coming off of a decent 2023 season that saw them win big in a bowl game and lose by just one score against the eventual national champs. They started off 2024 decently enough, but have been up-and-down for pretty much the whole schedule. Still, Maryland was 3-1 at one point and are coming off of a bye week, so it would be dangerous thinking to take them lightly right now.

Fortunately, the Ducks are still firing on all cylinders (I need to come up with another metaphor) despite losing their #1 option at wideout in Tez Johnson last week to an apparent shoulder injury. I was pretty convinced that Tez had broken his collarbone during the Michigan game, which was tough because he's the most exciting Oregon player this season in my eyes. (No offense to Dillon Gabriel, who is kind of... boring... because he's incredibly accurate and dare I say robotic in his efficiency at this point.)

I'm guessing we won't see Tez anymore this month unless he happens to make a surprise pop-up appearance against Washington somehow, but there are plenty of other reasons to be excited about the Ducks on both sides of the ball. Jordan James and Noah Whittington make a fearsome rushing tandem while still feeling like they've been underutilized. Having fresh ball carriers in November is definitely nothing to sneeze at. Terrance Ferguson is back wreaking havoc alongside newcomer Kenyon Sadiq, making a pair of tight ends that might not be rivaled. And Gabriel still has a plethora of talented targets on the field while we wait for Tez to return. Yes, it's a great time to be a Duck right now. There's still plenty of work to be done this season, however.

Notes and such:

• Maryland is trying to get in on that uniform game. There's only so much you can do with traditionally white road unis, so I respect this a lot. At least it's a lot better than some of their flag-based uniform designs.
• Do they have any history at all? Nope! This will be their first meeting.
• Ducks ranking this week: 1. The first CFP rankings came out this week at a very unfortunate time. Oregon is on top. No further questions.
• Dillon Gabriel Heisman Watch: I think it's down to Gabriel vs. Cam Ward depending on how the rest of the season schedule plays out. Both have been playing college football for approximately 34 years. If Miami wins out, well, people seem to be more excited about Ward despite Oregon probably being a better team at this point, at least based on their strength of schedule. I don't see the Colorado guy or Ashton Jeanty winning this because of how heavily weighted this usually is towards QBs for top ranked teams.
• Game time is 4:00 PM PST on the B1G Network in Eugene. Go Ducks!

Good Luck Ducks, Week 10: Quack in The Big House

Oregon heads to Ann Arbor to take on the defending champs. 

 

The Ducks bolstered their #1 standing with an impressive takedown of Illinois last Saturday, but there is plenty of work left to do. Next up: the defending champion Michigan Wolverines. Now, of course, Michigan enters today's game with a new head coach, a new quarterback and three losses. But they have excelled at something that should at least give most Ducks fans pause: keeping the scoring down. Oregon has put up a decent amount of points in most games this season, but that's because the opportunities have mostly been there. If you match up against an opponent that limits those opportunities, that should give you some pause.

There's plenty of good news, though. The Ducks could see the return of two key players in defensive monster Jordan Burch and gigantic tight end Terrance Ferguson. These are both two skilled players who should thrive in the massive Michigan stadium no matter what the situation.

A shoutout is due to Dennis of Too Many Verlanders this week. In addition to constantly supplying me with cool cards for my collection, he's often shown support for my Ducks over the years. Once the latest conference realignment moves were put into place, we knew the day would come when his Wolverines were going to start butting heads with Oregon on a regular basis. It doesn't seem like they're play each other every season to be so annoying as to become serious rivals, but a conference foe is what it is. At least I can still be happy when Michigan takes down Washington, like they did in January.

There's only a few games scheduled after this. It has been a whirlwind of a season. In some ways I'm still getting used to it not being summer anymore. Here's to hoping Oregon can hold steady in November to get a decent shot at the new playoff system.

Notes and such: 

• The Wolverines will reportedly be without one of their top defensive players today. Will Johnson has already racked up a couple of pick-sixes this season. Dillon Gabriel has been extremely accurate so far, but this should lessen some pressure.
• Do they have any history at all? Michigan holds a 3-2 edge, including three straight shutouts during early times. Their last meeting was in 2007, which reminds me...
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• Ducks ranking this week: 1 (AP). They gained some votes.
• Dillon Gabriel Heisman Watch: Considering how few mistakes the "veteran" college guy makes, it seems like the team's record is going to dictate how well he does in this race more than anything.
• Game time is 12:30 PM PDT on CBS in Ann Arbor. Go Ducks!

Good Luck Ducks, Week 9: Fighting Realm

 

The Fighting Ducks host the Fighting Illini in a battle of ranked B1G squads. 

 

While it still feels like just yesterday that the 2024 college football season started, we're already heading into Oregon's eighth game of the season, with just four more games on the schedule after today. This part of the year always seems to fly the fastest. The Ducks are coming off of a comfortable shutout at Purdue last Friday, along with a bonus day of extra rest (or practice?) heading into another Top 25 showdown.

Illinois is no joke! While they've only appeared in three bowl games in the last decade, all of the lower tier variety, they head into today's affair with a 6-1 record and a shiny #20 ranking. As much as I can sadly admit that Purdue mostly made me think of Drew Brees, the only image I can currently conjure up of a star Illinois football player is Jeff George on his sought after 1990 Pro Set draft pick football card. You'd have to be sure that knocking off the undefeated Ducks would be a legendary experience on the campus in Champaign, Illinois.

Fortunately, Oregon has been firing on all cylinders. Some early defensive concerns look like they've been addressed, even with a couple of key players sidelined due to injuries. The "Next Man Up" concept only works in practice if those reserve players are capable of fulfilling those roles, and for the most part I've liked what I've seen on the field with the less familiar names on the backs of the jerseys.

With a tough ranked team this week and, presumably, next, I don't think anyone wearing Ducks colors is going to be looking too far ahead to the Washington game. If there's any side benefit to Oregon's B1G move, it could be that the lack of familiarity with many of these opponents and their schemes could effectively keep them on their toes. In other words, I don't think we have to worry about the Ducks dropping a game to, I don't know... Cal(?) out of sheer boredom.

Notes and such:

• The Old 97's Bob Dylan-adjacent track "Champaign, Illinois" is always a nice listen.
• Do they have any history at all? It's Oregon with a 2-1 lead in the series, although the two schools haven't met since I was still a teenager.
• Ducks ranking this week: 1 (AP). Yup. Number one in the land. I would be making more of a big deal about this, but I really don't care where they end up at as long as they are firmly in the top ten when all the conference championship games are done. Besides, I don't think history has been too kind to teams that have peaked in Week 8.
• Dillon Gabriel Heisman Watch: I don't know, man, but it feels like Gabriel has just been... there... and doing really well! I mean, he's been historically accurate with his throws, which sounds exactly like Bo Nix's time at Oregon. Is this a Dan Lanning thing or is Oregon just landing top flight QBs who have already been in college for a million years? Probably a little of both?
• Game time is 12:30 PM PDT on CBS in Eugene. Go Ducks!

Good Luck Ducks, Week 8: Give Me Boilermakers

 

Oregon hits the road for Friday night football. 

Coming off of an epic victory last weekend over Ohio State, it's a short turnaround for the Ducks with all kinds of targets on their backs. The Buckeyes game was everything as advertised: a nailbiting, back-and-forth game with explosive plays on both side of the ball. It came down to the final seconds, with the clock running out on OSU's attempt to get into field goal range after Oregon coach Dan Lanning exploited a (soon to be closed) loophole to shave a few seconds off of the clock before the final snap.

There are a bunch of tough teams ahead, and tonight's prime time matchup against Purdue has all of the potential trappings of, well, a trap game. The Boilermakers are coming off of a 50-49 OT loss to a ranked Illinois team, who the Ducks will be seeing soon themselves. Purdue can definitely score, as evident by last week, but they just haven't been consistent with it. Oregon will be looking for a little more consistency itself, especially in the kicking game, which wasn't quite up to par last Saturday.

The Ducks survived losing start DE Jordan Burch last week due to an injury he suffered in practice and will likely be without him for a stretch. Other players stepped up well in his absence, but as the season goes long, the depth chart always seems to wear thin.

I'm still not used to this Friday football stuff. I'm not sure that I'll ever like it, but it does free up my Saturday a bit and lets me enjoy flipping around through other games without being stressed about it.

Notes and such:

• Two things Purdue always reminds me of: Drew Brees on the cover of NCAA College Football 2K2 (great game!) and decades of sportswriters calling them Purdon't.
• Do they have any history at all? The schools have met just three times on the football field and all three matches have been decided by less than seven points. The last meetings were a home-and-home series in 2008-09. Oregon holds a 2-1 edge.
• Ducks ranking this week: 2 (AP). Oregon moved up with the big win last week as expected, but stays below Texas after the Longhorns trounced their rivals. We're still a couple of a weeks away from the first edition of the only rankings that matter.
• Dillon Gabriel Heisman Watch: As the Ducks go, so does Gabriel's Heisman chances. He's still in the conversation.
• Game time is 5:00 PDT on FOX in West Lafayette. Go Ducks!

Saturday Stars and Players for the Rest of the Week

 

Football, baseball, basketball, hockey?!

 

Fresh off a customs inspection at the border (presumably) and sitting around my office for awhile is another pile of goodies from buckstorecards. As always, he hit up a bunch of different areas of my collecting interests. I could have easily saved the DJ Johnson Prizm signature for this week's Good Luck Ducks post, but it clearly says "SATURDAY STAR" on it while Oregon is actually playing on a Friday this week for the second time in three games. I have rules, you see. (Also, DJ plays on Sundays these days, if you can call what the Panthers have been doing "playing".)

Vernon Adams Jr. really seemed to kick off the era of Oregon looking to transfers to help their QB ranks, although he certainly wasn't the first.

It's fun to follow Ducks players in their pro careers when the NFL thing isn't in the cards. Fortunately, CFL cards exist, as do generous traders who drop them on my doorstep (figuratively, of course.)

Here's a nice, numbered, high end Kiko Alonso card from something called Topps Supreme. I wonder how many of their old brands Topps will resurrect when they get their NFL rights back.

With the nearly complete lack of labels and color here, you'd have to forgive me for assuming this was one of those janky Leaf products. It's actually a Press Pass Showcase card, and looks very interesting with the red ink signature (on card!) and two distinct head shots.

I still pick up the occasional Eagles card from time to time, and this one is right in my wheelhouse as it's one of the members of the Super Bowl LII winning team. Nice.

It's on to a different sport and a bird of a different color. This is the white bordered variation of Lance Lynn's not-Photoshopped 2024 card because the photo is actually from 2017 (or earlier.) I did the research when the set first came out to track down the original Getty photo to confirm this, but I'm not doing it again.

I don't typically put college/draft cards of players the Cardinals drafted on my want list unless there's a prominent mention of the Cardinals on the card somewhere, but I also do include them in my binders when someone sends them to me. Pete Hansen is still working his way through the minor league ranks and played at high A this past season.

Is this art, AI, or some sort of AI-assisted art? I'm not sure, but I do know that it's from one of those online exclusive mini sets. This looks to have been released prior to Albert's reunion with St. Louis.

It's on to the non-aviary section of the package now, as we're checking out a "teal explosion" parallel of a Jerami Grant card. Grant is currently my favorite player on the team and was actually born in Portland when his father (Harvey) played for the Blazers, but with the team stuck near the bottom of a seemingly bottomless pit ever since Chauncey Billups came sniffing around, any decent veteran like Grant is always the subject of intense trade rumors.

Cards like this are just unfortunate, and a product of the way the NBA Draft functions, or at least used to. Joey Dorsey probably wore this Blazers cap for a few minutes that day before he was dealt to Houston. Sometimes you do get fun stuff out of these situations, like LaMarcus Aldridge holding up both  Bulls and Blazers caps during one of his photos. Still, this is a nice little oddball to have, and certainly less unsettling than seeing Luke Walton on a card wearing a Blazers jersey as a gimmick/tribute to his father.

It's already hockey season?! I've seen some of the scores come across the ticker already, so it must be. I picked out a former Blues player I'm actually somewhat familiar with for today's Blues-card-o'-the-post. Pacific made a lot of junk in their day, but this isn't bad.