We’ll start the day with a few Oregon-related links, along with some thoughts from yours truly:
The Register-Guard’s Rob Moseley has a notebook today focusing on Oregon’s lack of depth at tight end. By most accounts, true freshman Colt Lyerla has been impressive since he arrived, and the extra reps he gained during spring drills may come in handy if Oregon is forced to play him.
Oregonian columnist John Canzano went on the record yesterday to predict a perfect season for the Ducks, and a second straight trip to the BCS National Championship game. He called them “the most complete football team this state has ever seen.” Cue the Canzano haters to claim he’s trying to jinx them.
Interesting piece here from The Oregonian’s Rachel Bachmann about Oregon weather being a recruiting…plus? All we’ve ever heard is that the cool, misty winters drive potential recruits away. Bachmann makes an interesting case for the contrary.
A New Orleans columnist laments LSU’s recent run-in with the law, and believes the Tigers may be the more distracted team heading into the season opener. It’s obviously impossible to quantify which is the more “distracted” team in any given game, but from my vantage point the outside issues will matter very little in Dallas. Barring any suspensions in the aftermath of the bar fight, the better and more prepared team will win. We (the media) tend to overemphasize these stories in relation to the action on the field.