Be Proud, Be Great, Be Ducks

It’s Thursday and as promised, or threatened depending on how you look at it, here is my locker room speech to the Oregon Ducks as they prepare to take the field against the California Golden Bears.

“Today we have the 6^thranked team in the nation coming into our house, looking to prove that they are the top team in our conference. I know we can beat them, but it’s going to take everything you have.

We have stumbled our way to a 2-1 non conference record. We have defeated good teams, but we haven’t faced anyone with the talent level of Cal.

Cal is beatable; they struggled against teams that aren’t nearly as good as you guys! If you go out there and play the game the way that a true Duck football player plays it, I guarantee that we will be singing Mighty Oregon till the sun goes down.

A victory today puts to rest the demons, because it will signify that we answered the call on both sides of the ball. And it takes an entire team to win a game of this magnitude.

Offense you have to be sick of letting the defense get all the glory. Aren’t you tired of hearing people say, thank god the defense is so good?

Where’s the heart?

Where’s the pride?

It’s all about Intestinal fortitude out there.

We can’t rely on the defense any more!

Javhid Best may be the best running back in the nation. Cal thinks so and so do the people calling the game on the TV that your friends and family are watching. Don’t let him embarrass you like that on national television.

Offense we run the ball to set up the pass. When the passes come your way, make the catch. The more catches you guys make, the more we can throw. Thats how it works.

DB’s, you guys are gonna see a lot of man coverage out there. I’m counting on you to be in the right spot every single down. You will be the difference between winning and losing. If I can keep you in man, we can stop the run.

O line you did a great job last week, but Cal’s line is stronger and faster than Utah. Put them on their backs early and they will stop coming hard when it matters the most at the end of the game.

D line, Riley is not mobile take advantage of that. Make him feel the pressure and he will turn it over, give him time and our secondary will suffer. Most importantly maintain gap assignments. Cal’s draw plays won’t work if you’re in the gaps.

This game will be won in the trenches and it will be won by us. That’s why we worked so hard this week, this fall, over the summer, last spring and hell our entire lives.

Every inch of that field, every second of that clock, every screaming fan will have to be earned today.

So,

Be proud!

Be great!

Be Ducks!”

- Kurt Valentine