– Oregon’s Marcus Mariota received the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) quarterback trophy on Thursday. Mariota is the fourth Duck in five seasons to win a CFPA trophy. LaMichael James (freshman award) won in 2009, Cliff Harris (punt returner) won in 2010 and De’Anthony Thomas (kickoff returner) won in 2011.
– Emerald sports reporter Jonathan Hawthorne previews this weekend’s games for the Oregon women’s basketball team. The Ducks, who are currently on a four-game losing streak, traveled south yesterday and will take on UCLA Friday at 8 p.m. and USC Sunday at 2 p.m. Several Oregon players, including starters Jillian Alleyne and Chrishae Rowe are from the Los Angeles area.
– On Thursday night, former Oregon distance runner and Portland native Galen Rupp set the U.S. record for 5,000 meters with a time of 13:01.26. This record-setting time at Boston University also vaulted him into the No. 8 spot on the all-time list for fastest indoor 5,000-meter runs.
– Baseball America ranked its college top 100 MLB draft prospects earlier this week and two Ducks made the list. Junior outfielder Scott Heineman is BA’s 26th-ranked prospect and junior starting pitcher Jake Reed is No. 56. The Oregon baseball season is less than a month away. The Ducks’ first game is against Hawaii in Honolulu on Feb. 14.
– OregonGridiron released a video Thursday of Nick Aliotti mic’d up in a pre-Alamo Bowl practice. Aliotti is shown yelling and directing his players, but the video revolves around a speech he gives to the team, informing everyone about his retirement.
– At least 90 players with college eligibility remaining will declare for the 2014 NFL draft. This number easily breaks last year’s record of 73 underclassmen who entered the draft. Two former Ducks, juniors De’Anthony Thomas and Terrance Mitchell, make up the group of 90.
– Former Oregon head football coach Chip Kelly was known for delivering memorable quotes during his time in Eugene and he has done the same as the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. Philly.com’s Jimmy Kempski ranked his 15 favorite Kelly quotes, as well as Kelly’s most used words in press conferences this past season. Kelly was also named the Maxwell Football Club’s Professional Coach of the Year on Thursday.
– SB Nation’s Bill Connelly ranked his top 100 college football games from the 2013-14 season. Oregon appeared on the list three times, but only one of those games (the 36-35 win over Oregon State) was a victory. The other two games were the 42-16 loss to Arizona on Nov. 23 and the 26-20 loss to Stanford on Nov. 7. Connelly ranked the Arizona game 93rd, the Civil War 34th and the Stanford loss 22nd.
– The Houston Rockets set an ugly record Thursday night in their 104-92 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Houston scored 73 points in the first half but just 19 in the second half. That 54-point differential is the largest in NBA history from one half of a game to the other, and the 19-point second half is the second-fewest total ever in an NBA second half.
The Rockets’ Twitter account tweeted this after the game:
First half = Godfather 1 & 2. Second half = Godfather 3.
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) January 17, 2014
Follow Victor Flores on Twitter @vflores415