Sports Illustrated revealed this week’s cover via its tablet app Tuesday night, and the cover boy is none other than sophomore sensation De’Anthony Thomas.
The 5-foot-9 running back from Los Angeles has been named to watch lists for the Walter Camp Award (player of the year)@@http://waltercamp.org/index.php/news/2012_walter_camp_player_of_the_year_preseason_watch_list/@@, the Maxwell Award (player of the year) @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205238473@@and the Paul Hornung Award (most versatile player) this year and has totaled 382 yards and seven touchdowns on just 24 touches from scrimmage@@http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/college-football-rapidreports/20234305/oregons-deanthony-thomas-on-the-cover-of-sports-illustrated@@. DAT has been popular at SI. The magazine was one of the first national publications to acknowledge Thomas’ legitimate shot at the Golden Stiff-Arm this year. Sports Illustrated blogger Andy Staples even invented a “Yards-Per-Touch-O-Meter” to track Thomas’ absurd statistics.
The exposure could be crucial to the all-purpose threat’s Heisman campaign — especially just one week after Heisman-frontrunner Matt Barkley stumbled in the Trojans’ loss to the Stanford Cardinal.
Perhaps the only downside to DAT’s appearance on the cover of the Sept. 24 issue is the SI Cover Jinx. Hundreds of athletes believe bad luck to befall the cover boy or cover girl, including NFL quarterback Kurt Warner, who once refused to pose for the magazine in his run-up to a Super Bowl. The same year Oregon State and Ken Simonton were listed as the No. 1 team in the nation before going 5-6.
Oh, and the cover boy for the Aug. 17 issue earlier this year? Matt Barkley.

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Steve Gress, at the Corvallis Gazette-Times, has a good look at Oregon State volleyball, which travels to Eugene tonight to take on the No. 8 Ducks. The Beavers, on an eight-game win streak, recently knocked off then-No. 2 Penn State.
Sophomore middle blocker Arica Nassar@@http://www.osubeavers.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/091712aaa.html@@ is the reigning Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week, her second honor of the relatively new season. Wednesday’s Civil War is the Pac-12 opener for both teams and will be broadcast by the Pac-12 Networks.
Oregon comes into the match riding sweeps of St. Mary’s and Portland State, backed by the play of outside hitters Liz Brenner and Alaina Bergsma@@http://www.registerguard.com/web/sports/28733135-41/ducks-oregon-bergsma-brenner-kills.html.csp@@. Brenner notched 17 kills against the Gaels, while Bergsma added another 16 in the 3-0 win over PSU. On the other side of the Beavers lies Oregon’s stiffest challenge of the year — No. 2 USC.
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Senior midfielder Scout Libke@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4317&SPID=237&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205688637@@ is one of 30 players across the nation named as a candidate for the 2012 Senior CLASS Award, according to GoDucks.com.
She’s the second Duck since 2006 to earn an NCSAA all-regional designation and has been a rock during her career at Oregon, starting every match for three-plus seasons.
“It has been an absolute privilege having Scout Libke play for us these past 3 years,” Oregon head coach Tara Erickson said. “She is on a different level with her skill and smoothness on the ball. She can do just about anything with the ball at her feet and she has developed into a great leader of this program.”
This year she’s notched a game winner against Seattle to add to her two assists.