THE MAMBA STRIKES IN OREGON

At the end of the highly anticipated National Signing Day, there was one top notch recruit that not be claimed. Highly sought after & explosive player RB DeAnthony Thomas made a life changing decision on Wednesday, regarding his future & football career.

The Crenshaw High School phenom known as "The Mamba" has been watched by many for the past few years, with his dynamic play carrying the Crenshaw High Cougars to a state championship a season ago and helping Crenshaw return to a city championship this past season. Anthony made a verbally commitment to USC, but in a strange turn of events, decided to take Oregon up on an offer to visit their campus to speak with head coach Chip Kelly & staff this past weekend.

Thomas has decided to become an Oregon Duck, as he made his announcement at his High School in front of family, friends, coaches & teammates. He broke down crying stating that he has so many friends going over to USC, it was a hard decision, but ultimately he had to do what was best for him.

This was definitely a huge blow to the USC recruiting class, despite their great day signing many A-1 recruits.

Under the new PAC-12 scheduling, USC wont play Oregon every year, so the huge question remains, has Oregon become the powerhouse that USC once was?
Time will reveal the answer, for DeAnthony Thomas the journey for The Mamba has just begun. This is going to be one exciting season for PAC-12 football, Oregon, and the Ducks fans.

2011 NBA All-Star Jam Session Video: Nick

San Diego State Sinks Navy After Flood in Poinsettia Bowl

SAN DIEGO, CA - After the southern California monsoons passed, the San Diego State Aztecs looked to reign down over the Navy Midshipmen Thursday night at Qualcomm Stadium in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.  Navy was led by top notch quarterback Ricky Dobbs, who has had a spectacular season. He has scored 48 career rushing touchdowns along with 12 passing touchdowns. On the other side of the ball, San Diego State was led by their balanced attack featuring freshman Ronnie Hillman, who rushed for 1,000 yards this season, and the dynamic wide receiving duo of Vincent Brown and DeMarco Sampson, who each have over 1,100 yards receiving. The game had all the ingredients which made for a classic matchup.

It was amazing that the game was able to be played at all after the stadium was flooded a day before by the torrential rains which had plaged the California coast line for days.

SDSU was looking to win their first bowl game since 1969. The Aztecs came out firing, behind tailback Hillman, who scored on an explosive 22-yard touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead. Navy failed to score on their early game drives, Aztec quarterback Ryan Lindsey threw to wide open receiver Vincent Brown to make it a 14-0 for SDSU.

In the second quarter, Navy shook the rust off its offense behind the electrifying Dobbs, who got the Midshipmen going by setting up a touchdown toss to wide receiver Greg Jones on a spectacular play, cutting the lead to 14-7. Dobbs also set a new Navy passing record, throwing for his 49th career touchdown. The Aztecs weren't done yet, in a game which proved to be a Hillman affair. Hillman rushed for a 37 yard touchdown, to make it 21-7 in favor of the hometown team.

It seemed as if the Midshipmen offense saw the light, as Dobbs started off rushing for a total of four plays and 19 yards before passing it to his favorite target Greg Jones for a 40 yard strike. The Midshipmen scored on a 1-yard rushing touchdown by Dobbs to make it 21-14 SDSU at the half.

Both teams played great defense in the third quarter, however the Aztec offense would not be denied in the fourth, using their other secret weapon, wideout DeMarco Sampson, who caught two big passes totaling 45 yards to help keep an Aztec drive alive. Ronnie Hillman capped it off with a 1-yard touchdown to make it 28-14.

San Diego State added another touchdown to insure the victory, making it 35-14. It proved to be the Ronnie Hillman show, as he rushed for 228 yards, 3 TD's and set a new Poinsettia Bowl rushing yardage record previously held by Navy's Adam Ballard back in 2005.

The Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year and Poinsettia Bowl game MVP Ronnie Hillman said "My mindset was basically to do whatever the coach wanted me to do, and whatever the offensive line allowed me to do. They are a great bunch of guys, I cant speak on them enough."

On the other side of the ball Navy QB Ricky Dobbs spoke about the loss.

"We missed out on key opportunities, that cost us. Missing reads, but hats off to those guys [Aztecs] over there, they played really well tonight, they deserve all the credit."

Aztec wide receiver Vincent Brown also set a Poinsettia Bowl record with eight catches for 165 yards. SDSUfinished out on a high note, building great momentum going into next season.