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By Stuart
[h=2]Pac-12 Notes[/h]January 1st
Oregon’s Chip Kelly: “I’ve got a game to play”
From ESPN … One of the first questions Oregon coach Chip Kelly was asked after arriving in Arizona for the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl was about the possibility of coaching in the NFL.
The are-you-going-to-the-NFL questions haven’t let up in the five days since and only figure to pick up after seven coaches were fired Monday.
Deflection has been Kelly’s defense since the rumors started and it was no different after all those NFL openings cropped up.
“I’ve got a game to play,” Kelly said during the Fiesta Bowl’s media day on Monday. “We’re playing in the Fiesta Bowl. That’s the biggest thing in my life. If I allowed other things to get into my life, then they would be distractions, but there aren’t. Our focus 100 percent is on the Fiesta Bowl.”
Kelly has been an intriguing candidate for NFL teams for a few years.
The 49-year-old coach is known as an offensive innovator and his fast-paced, high-scoring offense has led to the most successful stretch in Oregon’s history.
The fifth-ranked Ducks have gone to four straight BCS bowl games, a run that includes a trip to the 2011 national championship game, Oregon’s first Rose Bowl win in 95 years last season and Thursday night’s Fiesta Bowl against No. 5 Kansas State at University of Phoenix Stadium.
The speculation over the past few years has been that Kelly has his eye on an NFL job and he even talked to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year before saying he had unfinished business in Eugene.
The rumors began to pick up this season and followed him to the desert, where he’s been asked about the NFL every day he’s been here and has given a different version of the same answer every time.
“My heart is to win today and that’s it,” Kelly said. “I know everybody wants to hear a different answer. And I know that at times when I don’t give you guys the answer that you guys want, then I’m being evasive. I’m not being evasive.”
December 31st
USC becomes first preseason No. 1 to lose six games
After No. 10 USC dominated Colorado, 50-6, on October 20th, the Trojans were 6-1 and had their sights still set on a Rose Bowl bid, and, if things broke their way, a shot at the national championship.
Instead, the Trojans lost five of their last six games to become the first preseason No. 1 team to lose six games that season. With preseason Heisman trophy favorite Matt Barkley sidelined, backup quarterback Max Wittek struggled (14-of-37 for only 107 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions) in a 21-7 loss to Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl.
From ESPN … Tevin Washington threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score to lead the Yellow Jackets to a 21-7 victory on Monday in front of a crowd of 47,922 at Sun Bowl Stadium. Washington’s 1-yard touchdown run in the third made it 14-7, and he found Orwin Smith for a 17-yard touchdown pass in the fourth.
Barkley, the first three-time captain in team history, injured his right shoulder in a loss to UCLA and was not cleared to play. He clapped as the Trojans (7-6) took the field to face the Yellow Jackets.
Max Wittek tossed a 9-yard touchdown pass to Silas Redd in the second quarter, but also threw three interceptions. Redd also had 88 yards rushing on 17 carries. The Trojans struggled to contain Georgia Tech’s triple-option attack. The Yellow Jackets (7-7) rushed for 294 yards on 63 carries while stopping a seven-bowl losing streak.
David Sims had 99 yards on 17 carries, but he got plenty of help. Zach Laskey added 60 yards on six carries, Lee had 52 on 10 carries and Washington had 16 attempts for 46 yards for the No. 4 rushing team in the nation. Sims also caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Vad Lee in the first quarter.
Lee and Washington combined to go just 5-for-10 passing, but two completions went for TDs passes and two more covered 26 and 49 yards and keyed two of the team’s scoring drives.
High-powered USC finished with 10 first downs and eight punts as Georgia Tech shut down the Trojans’ big-play threats all afternoon.
Wittek had four passes deflected at the line. His second interception came in the Tech end zone with 6:22 to go and the last came inside the Tech 10-yard line in the game’s final minute.
Wide Receiver Robert Woods announces for NFL Draft
From ESPN … USC wide receiver Robert Woods announced Monday that he will declare for the NFL Draft.
“I feel like I accomplished a lot at USC and I’m very prepared to play at the next level,” Woods said in a Hyundai Sun Bowl postgame radio interview. “I would like to thank my coaches and teammates for everything they helped me with in my career at USC.”
Woods is the No. 41 overall player for the 2013 draft, ranked by ESPN’s Scouts Inc. He could be an option for the Houston Texans late in the first round, according to ESPN’s Todd McShay.
After a Pac-12 record 111 catches last season, Woods had surgery on his ankle and sat out spring drills and offseason workouts before the 2012 season. When the year began, it was clear that the top spot in the USC receiver corps belonged to Woods’ former high school teammate, Marqise Lee, who went on to be named the Biletnikoff Award winner. Woods still managed to catch 76 balls in 2012 to go along with 11 touchdowns.
Woods said after the Sun Bowl that his decline in targets this season did not play “much” of a role in his decision to forego his senior year. But he admitted it was considered.
“If the coaches wanted to keep me another year, they would’ve probably got me the ball,” he said.
Originally posted by CU At the Game
Click here to vie
[h=2]Pac-12 Notes[/h]January 1st
Oregon’s Chip Kelly: “I’ve got a game to play”
From ESPN … One of the first questions Oregon coach Chip Kelly was asked after arriving in Arizona for the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl was about the possibility of coaching in the NFL.
The are-you-going-to-the-NFL questions haven’t let up in the five days since and only figure to pick up after seven coaches were fired Monday.
Deflection has been Kelly’s defense since the rumors started and it was no different after all those NFL openings cropped up.
“I’ve got a game to play,” Kelly said during the Fiesta Bowl’s media day on Monday. “We’re playing in the Fiesta Bowl. That’s the biggest thing in my life. If I allowed other things to get into my life, then they would be distractions, but there aren’t. Our focus 100 percent is on the Fiesta Bowl.”
Kelly has been an intriguing candidate for NFL teams for a few years.
The 49-year-old coach is known as an offensive innovator and his fast-paced, high-scoring offense has led to the most successful stretch in Oregon’s history.
The fifth-ranked Ducks have gone to four straight BCS bowl games, a run that includes a trip to the 2011 national championship game, Oregon’s first Rose Bowl win in 95 years last season and Thursday night’s Fiesta Bowl against No. 5 Kansas State at University of Phoenix Stadium.
The speculation over the past few years has been that Kelly has his eye on an NFL job and he even talked to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year before saying he had unfinished business in Eugene.
The rumors began to pick up this season and followed him to the desert, where he’s been asked about the NFL every day he’s been here and has given a different version of the same answer every time.
“My heart is to win today and that’s it,” Kelly said. “I know everybody wants to hear a different answer. And I know that at times when I don’t give you guys the answer that you guys want, then I’m being evasive. I’m not being evasive.”
December 31st
USC becomes first preseason No. 1 to lose six games
After No. 10 USC dominated Colorado, 50-6, on October 20th, the Trojans were 6-1 and had their sights still set on a Rose Bowl bid, and, if things broke their way, a shot at the national championship.
Instead, the Trojans lost five of their last six games to become the first preseason No. 1 team to lose six games that season. With preseason Heisman trophy favorite Matt Barkley sidelined, backup quarterback Max Wittek struggled (14-of-37 for only 107 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions) in a 21-7 loss to Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl.
From ESPN … Tevin Washington threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score to lead the Yellow Jackets to a 21-7 victory on Monday in front of a crowd of 47,922 at Sun Bowl Stadium. Washington’s 1-yard touchdown run in the third made it 14-7, and he found Orwin Smith for a 17-yard touchdown pass in the fourth.
Barkley, the first three-time captain in team history, injured his right shoulder in a loss to UCLA and was not cleared to play. He clapped as the Trojans (7-6) took the field to face the Yellow Jackets.
Max Wittek tossed a 9-yard touchdown pass to Silas Redd in the second quarter, but also threw three interceptions. Redd also had 88 yards rushing on 17 carries. The Trojans struggled to contain Georgia Tech’s triple-option attack. The Yellow Jackets (7-7) rushed for 294 yards on 63 carries while stopping a seven-bowl losing streak.
David Sims had 99 yards on 17 carries, but he got plenty of help. Zach Laskey added 60 yards on six carries, Lee had 52 on 10 carries and Washington had 16 attempts for 46 yards for the No. 4 rushing team in the nation. Sims also caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Vad Lee in the first quarter.
Lee and Washington combined to go just 5-for-10 passing, but two completions went for TDs passes and two more covered 26 and 49 yards and keyed two of the team’s scoring drives.
High-powered USC finished with 10 first downs and eight punts as Georgia Tech shut down the Trojans’ big-play threats all afternoon.
Wittek had four passes deflected at the line. His second interception came in the Tech end zone with 6:22 to go and the last came inside the Tech 10-yard line in the game’s final minute.
Wide Receiver Robert Woods announces for NFL Draft
From ESPN … USC wide receiver Robert Woods announced Monday that he will declare for the NFL Draft.
“I feel like I accomplished a lot at USC and I’m very prepared to play at the next level,” Woods said in a Hyundai Sun Bowl postgame radio interview. “I would like to thank my coaches and teammates for everything they helped me with in my career at USC.”
Woods is the No. 41 overall player for the 2013 draft, ranked by ESPN’s Scouts Inc. He could be an option for the Houston Texans late in the first round, according to ESPN’s Todd McShay.
After a Pac-12 record 111 catches last season, Woods had surgery on his ankle and sat out spring drills and offseason workouts before the 2012 season. When the year began, it was clear that the top spot in the USC receiver corps belonged to Woods’ former high school teammate, Marqise Lee, who went on to be named the Biletnikoff Award winner. Woods still managed to catch 76 balls in 2012 to go along with 11 touchdowns.
Woods said after the Sun Bowl that his decline in targets this season did not play “much” of a role in his decision to forego his senior year. But he admitted it was considered.
“If the coaches wanted to keep me another year, they would’ve probably got me the ball,” he said.
Originally posted by CU At the Game
Click here to vie