Ducks expected to have leading rusher back for bowl game

By John TaylorDec 16, 2013, 7:47 AM EST

After missing the last half of November because of injury, Byron Marshall should be a healthy go for Oregon’s postseason matchup with Texas.

Running backs coach Gary Campbell said Sunday that Marshall would be first on the field “if we were to start a game and come back tomorrow.” Marshall has been sidelined since suffering an ankle injury early on in the Nov. 23 loss to Arizona.

Despite the missed playing time, Marshall leads the Ducks with 995 yards and 14 rushing touchdowns.

The news is not all good on the backfield front for the Ducks, however.

Campbell confirmed that true freshman and five-star 2013 recruit Thomas Tyner suffered a hamstring injury at some point between the regular-season finale and, well, now. While Tyner is expected to be healed in time for the Dec. 30 Alamo Bowl matchup with the Longhorns, his status two weeks ahead of that game remains uncertain.

Tyner is currently second behind Marshall in rushing yards with 689, and is tied with starting quarterback Marcus Mariota with nine rushing touchdowns.

Marshall posts a league-high eight First Team All-Conference USA selections

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By Zach BarnettDec 10, 2019, 7:26 PM EST

Dave Aranda trending in UNLV search

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By Zach BarnettDec 10, 2019, 6:34 PM EST

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Dave Aranda makes more money in one year as LSU’s defensive coordinator than Tony Sanchez would earn in four as UNLV’s head coach.

But, still, the $600,000 Sanchez earned before his firing in Las Vegas as a living that most of us would deem more than comfortable, especially for a guy who began his career as a JV coach at Redlands High School back in 1995.

So that, and UNLV’s history of losing, are not enough to scare off Aranda from the UNLV job. Multiple outlets reported Tuesday that Aranda has emerged as a strong candidate for the vacant Rebels’ head coaching job. (Full disclosure: I also work for FootballScoop.)

Some news here in New York, per sources: #LSU’s Dave Aranda, mentioned already at Colorado State, is also in the mix at #UNLV. He’s the highest-paid assistant in the country and wants to be a head coach.

School has spoken to #Oregon OC Marcus Arroyo and Matt Canada.

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) December 10, 2019

Sources: #LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda is emerging as a strong candidate for #UNLV's coaching vacancy. #Oregon defensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo is in the mix, too. Aranda is the nation's highest-paid assistant ($2.5 M/year) but recently has pursued head-coaching jobs

— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) December 10, 2019

Sources: Dave Aranda a strong candidate at UNLV https://t.co/PkwkTiELp7

— FootballScoop Staff (@FootballScoop) December 10, 2019

UNLV went 4-8 in 2019 and 20-40 in five seasons under Sanchez. In fact, the last coach to leave the desert with a winning record did so in 1985.

Still, Aranda has been part of the turnaround at previously-moribund Utah State, and UNLV’s history is part of the intrigue for him.

Aranda is not UNLV’s next head coach at this time, but he could be. That alone is cause for celebration in Vegas.

Western Michigan’s Jon Wassink wins Wuerffel Trophy as college football’s top community servant

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By Zach BarnettDec 10, 2019, 6:12 PM EST

Mike Gundy calls Texas A&M ‘the best 7-5 team in the history of the NCAA’

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By Zach BarnettDec 10, 2019, 4:43 PM EST

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Mike Gundy has a dry sense of humor and a delivery flatter than the Stillwater topography, which can make it hard to parse when he’s being serious and when he’s not — which makes his sense of humor all the sharper.

But in this case, it seems like he was giving Oklahoma State’s Texas Bowl opponent a genuine complement, even if it reads on the page (or, uh, screen) as if he was attempting to damn Texas A&M with faint praise.

“I think they are the best 7-5 team in the history of the NCAA in my opinion,” said Mike Gundy on Sunday, via Pistols Firing. “They have lost to No. 1; they have lost to No. 1; they have lost to No. 1; they lost to No. 4; and they lost to No. 12. That’s their five losses.

“They are definitely a top-20 team. I haven’t started watching tape on them. I watched them on TV a couple times. I know that they are very athletic. I know that their quarterback, he’s a third-rated quarterback in the SEC, only behind the Heisman Trophy winner and behind Tua. So it will be a great challenge for us. We’ll have to get to work as soon as possible. We’ll have to have great preparation and we’ll have to play a very good game against a very, very good team.”

Texas A&M became the first team in AP poll era to face three separate AP No. 1 teams — postseason included — and did so during the regular season. The Aggies’ five losses came to then-No. 1 Clemson, then-No. 8 Auburn, then-No. 1 Alabama, then-No. 4 Georgia and then-No. 1 LSU. No. 25 Oklahoma State went 8-4 this season with losses to the-No. 12 Texas, unranked Texas Tech, then-No. 18 Baylor and then-No. 7 Oklahoma.

Gundy and company will attempt to make the Aggies the best 7-6 team in NCAA history come Dec. 27 (6:45 p.m. ET, ESPN).