Here’s what we know. On Saturday, Dec. 4, with ESPN’s College GameDay in Corvallis, Lee Corso and The University of Oregon mascot exchanged heads for a little bit at the end of the show.

As you can see early Saturday, the Lee Corso head is still in possession of ESPN.

Details are sketchy but according to a published story in THE OREGONIAN late Sunday, the head was known to be stolen around 2:30 pm Saturday afternoon.

ESPN told Oregon State Police a giant mascot head of the ESPN College GameDay host was taken about 3:20 p.m. on Saturday, not long before the Ducks ended the game with a 37-20 victory over the Beavers.

However, word of the head’s disappearance did not surface until Sunday evening when Erin Andrews took to Twitter in an effort to out the perpetrator.

The first of a flurry of tweets from Erin Andrews.

We now know that this tweet sent to over 200,000 thousand followers resulted in a maelstrom of activity as the interwebs lit up. Speculation has been rampant on blogs, Twitter and message boards. Blame is being sent to both Oregon State and Oregon.

One example of the speculation flying through Twitter.

Shortly after Andrews’s first tweet, she followed up with another, this time with photographic evidence. Taken by an anonymous source, the head of Lee Corso is shown alive and well on the body of someone wearing an old University of Oregon sweatshirt not seen in decades. In the background of this photo is a license plate that may hold the key clue in the case. Who’s car is this? Who still owns and wears a sweatshirt from the 1980s?

As you can see, there is a license plate that can't be made out in the background. The contents of this license plate could answer many questions about the crime.

We sent the picture to an expert photographic enhancer to make out the license plate. At this time, all we have back from the lab is a slightly enhanced version.

Can't quite make it out.

UPDATE: Further details from the photo have been revealed and we can now connect the dots. It isn’t concrete, but the the evidence at this point strongly suggests one individual.

Of course!

As you can see, the license plate appears to belong to Rich Brooks. That explains the old Oregon sweatshirt. Brooks coached the school from 1977- 94 and also attended Oregon State University as a student and football player.

Many questions remain unanswered. Why did he do it? How did he get from a golf course in Florida to Corvallis so quickly? We’ll continue to follow this story and add updates as we have them.

Note: I made sure to place myself in exile from reading other ideas until I was done with this post.

Puddles, Oregon Duck Mascot

Jon Wilner, Renowned AP Voter

Chip Kelly, Oregon Duck Head Coach

Off The Pond, Important Blogger

If I was actually attending on Saturday, this would be my sign of choice.

Cliff Harris, Oregon Duck Cornerback

Random Eugene Hippy

Addicted to Quack User jxbarr

I wanted an ESPN acronym and my brain left me hanging so I finally broke down and read some threads with people’s ideas. I’m a hack.

OTP, Sellout Blog Who Wants Your Traffic

Did I say prominent people? Uh, how ’bout prominent people plus this blog?

eDuck.com user 2TallDuck

Okay, so once I actually started looking at other people’s ideas, I got a little jealous. This idea was too good to pass up (hey, I asked for permission).

Commenter Derek

Can’t believe I forgot about Lavasier! Good call, Derek.

The SI cover of 2003 has been redone. The curse is no longer valid. You're welcome.

The SI cover curse is still doing its thing.

In 2003, Sports Illustrated declared Oregon to be “Rich, Cool and 4-0″ after a win over Michigan. Since that issue, the Ducks have gone a combined 0-3 after starting the season undefeated in its first four games. The last time Oregon made it to 5-0 was 2002.

Why bring this up? No idea. Perhaps I’m trying to exorcise some demons. One thing I know is Duck Voodoo needs to step its game up this week.

Of course, if Chip cared at all about this blog, he’d yell at me for worrying about the past and not winning the day. And he’d be right because it’s mostly ridiculous to worry about such mystic things.

Or is it? Did you know Oregon is 3-1 when ESPN’s College GameDay visits Eugene? Did you know the one loss was when, yep, Oregon was 4-0? Scary stuff.

Stanford is a bit of an Oregon demon itself, despite the Ducks 8-2 record in the last 10 meetings. The Cardinal are responsible for the Ducks national championship game denial in 2001 (or is that the BCS…I always get confused). Stanford also did its best to derail Oregon’s Pac-10 title hopes a year ago.

Hell, the Tree even has a way of smacking Oregon when they don’t play each other. In 1999, Oregon finished a game back of the Rose Bowl-representing Cardinal. Would the Ducks have been Pasadena-bound if the two teams had played that year? We’ll never know

So here it is, paranormal world of the occult. On this, one of our 364 unbirthdays, we declare the Ducks decidedly “Uncool, Unrich and Un4-0.” Let us be and for the love of suffering Oregon fans everywhere, let us win!

EDITOR’S NOTE: Nick, haven’t you tried this schtick before?

• Add Georgia to the list of SEC teams who hate competition after announcing the home and home with Oregon is canceled. The Bulldogs were one of the good guys in that league when it comes to scheduling, but the new athletic director just wants wins and money. Reason 4,298 that the BCS is bad for college football and UOSportsDude knows it.
• Nothing gets people going quite like stadium rankings. This Bleacher Reports lists Autzen Stadium third loudest.
• Oh boy, ESPN has some college game on Facebook now. Not yet seen, but coming soon: “[NAME] is looking for an agent and/or booster to provide extra benefits. Can you help me out?” Ignore.
• With GameDay coming to town, ESPN is rolling out a new ad with Corso and Puddles. That gives the Duck mascot three national commercials now plus the Capital One campaign. The athletic department is binging on media opportunities after years of Disney-induced oppression.
• Speaking of the Duck and the Capital One Mascot Challenge, apparently Tennessee cheated and Puddles is now 4-0. #thingsthatareimportant
• If you’re looking for the Stanford faithful, try the new blog Rule of Tree. Stanford’s not known for rabid fans, but Scott, who I met in Palo Alto last year, has been Cardinal since birth (I think).
• Addicted to Quack is already on top of the new SB Nation-affiliated Stanford blog with a Podcast talking Oregon-Stanford.
• The athletic department released info about College GameDay. A couple highlights: (1) starts at 6am with Erin Andrew (2) it’ll be in the Casanova Center Parking Lot. Too bad they couldn’t use PK Park to change it up.
• This article slightly confused me. It states that the Pac-10′s idea for a pod system won’t work on the grounds you wouldn’t play all teams in your own division. My question is why can’t the two teams you miss in the other pods be out of division opponents? Perhaps it’s too complicated and I’m too dense to figure it out.

• Late games usually lead to less coverage, but there’s plenty of material out there if you still want to read up on Saturday’s game. Ken Goe always has a comprehensive rundown that can lead you to just about every mainstream story.
• Ken Woody’s analysis is spot on. I couldn’t figure out why Oregon blitzed time and again when it was clearly burning them in the passing game.
• Last thing about ASU and we can move on…While it was noted in the Register-Guard, there are no comments regarding the injury faking going on with the Sun Devil defense (Vontaze Burfict, ahem). The late deadlines probably kept the question from getting asked, but hopefully, it will get brought up at the coaches’ call on Tuesday. Pretty bush league if it really is going on.
• In case you actually get your news here (you shouldn’t…DuckSportsNow.com is the spot for that), here’s an obligatory note about the game time change and ESPN GameDay making its fifth Autzen Stadium appearance. Also, Oregon is the fourth best team in the nation according to both major polls.
• No doubt, the Pac is looking strong these days. Nitpicking a small part of the article that says Oregon-Stanford is a rare big game that doesn’t involve USC, Oregon’s seven home and away appearances on ESPN’s College GameDay have only once involved USC.
• So much gets made of how the Pac-12 will effect football, but every sport has to be considered. Here’s an explanation of how an 18 game basketball schedule would work. Also noted in the article is Oregon’s third hoops commit, Brent Kingma. Another top player, Jabari Brown, lists Oregon in his top five.
• Warning: Boise fluff contained within link. Chris Peterson says football is football no matter the conference. We’ll keep that in mind as we watch your 60 point wins unfold.

• A good look behind the scenes of the College GameDay set from Spencer Hall of Every Day Should Be Saturday. A strictly professional interview with Erin Andrews included. That’s big boy work right there.
• 

  Vote for the Duck, dammit!

  If the game is anything like the mascot challenge, it will be much more competitive than any of us want. The duck needs your votes.

• Found a couple good links via an educk.com message board. Here’s an image of Neyland’s field from this morning. The poster said the grass was looking nice and short. The other link is Petros Papadakis talking Oregon football at about the 3 minute mark. He calls Chip Kelly the most innovative coach in modern college football history. On a side note, I learned to love Papadakis listening to his radio show in LA. He’s good regardless of the voice.
• The Oregon Daily Emerald takes a look at the impact of junior college transfers. My opinion is that they are just like high school players. Some work, some don’t.
• Rivals.com national mailbag opened with a discussion of whether or not this would be Oregon’s year for a national title. One can dream.
• Via The Big Lead, apparently there is a correlation between college football and binge drinking. Well, duh.
• Tell me where else you could find a blog devoted to nail polish with an Oregon Duck twist? You just can’t.

Hopefully, so too will the Oregon Ducks football team.

Eugene was some kind of utopia on Saturday and given how early many got started with ESPN’s College GameDay, there was very little of the day that went unused. For the blog, it started with an early morning flight and ended late at a place that would make ESPN’s Neil Everett proud (Rennie’s of course). For all, it was one hell of a day.

But this isn’t so much about the party as it is about how we move on.

All the excitement and hype of the day and the week preceding may have manifested itself into three and a half hours of perfection that vaulted Oregon into a Rose Bowl driver seat, but it’s all for not if the Ducks don’t forget everything they just did. They’ll need to put forth the same preparation and the same effort for a Stanford team that defends its home turf like a rabid animal.

In year’s past, this was a legitimate concern. Oregon played hangover games all the time and left you feeling frustrated by a group so capable and yet so easily distracted.

Now, not so much. Chip Kelly’s stringent policy that the most important game you’ll ever play is this week seems to really work. It’s fun to mock because it’s so silly to fans and media, but it has a genuine purpose that his team has bought hook, line and sinker.

There was no hangover from Boise State, just a win the following week. After beating Cal in an emotional, “we’re back” statement game, they went right back to business and dismantled a Washington State Cougar team in a way no one else has done all year.

I can almost guarantee Stanford has their full attention, LeGarrette Blount’s status notwithstanding. The Cardinal is a team that has only one loss at home in the last two seasons and is still somewhat in the race for the conference crown.

Lose to Stanford and Oregon opens the door back up for a litany of teams to challenge for the top spot. Win and it’s virtually shut to all but Arizona.

No doubt, a big game looms this weekend, one the Ducks can ill afford to lose. If eight games has been any indication, the Ducks know this more than anyone.

This will be the third time in three years (and fourth overall) that ESPN’s premier college football show will visit Autzen Stadium. I still, along with a few equally deranged friends, hold the distinction as being first in line for the spectacle’s first appearance in 2000. And yeah, I really just bragged about that. Make of it what you will.

Other ESPN College GameDay visits are listed below. Oregon is 2-1 in such games having lost to Cal in 2007.

• 2000 – #6 UCLA
• 2007 – #6 Cal
• 2007 – #4 ASU

The preliminary weather report isn’t good with a high of 56 degrees and 40% chance of showers.

1. Why is it that every time a national analyst or reporter talks about Oregon, they always preface it with, “Oregon has really turned it around since Boise State.”? At what point do we get to move on from that game? Is it permanently attached to the Ducks reputation or can it possibly be wiped clean by a win over USC? Either way, it’s a virtual guarantee to pop up about 2,837 times this week as the four letter hype machine that is ESPN descends on Eugene (GameDay all but certain to visit).
2. Speaking of everyone’s favorite sports network, if Kirk Herbstreit picks Oregon, I encourage everyone to loudly boo him. I’m pretty sure he has us at 1-3 in conference play so far with his predictions. Thanks Kirk and be sure to bring your tanning lotion. I hear it’s going to be rainy and overcast.
3. I can’t believe how easy the win was against Washington. The Huskies had played everyone competitive including USC and LSU. And who would have expected negative rushing yards from Jake Locker? They didn’t even try anything with him. The only conclusion I can reach is that this team is seriously good.
4. Number of seniors on Oregon’s two-deep against UW: 5. That’s five seniors out of 44 players. A total of three started. Wow.
5. Look for Oregon to request a waiver this week to play 2010 defensive back recruits against USC. There’s hardly anyone left now that Talmadge Jackson is, uh, day to day. Then again, true freshman Cliff Harris looks like he can do it all himself. Alongside fellow freshman John Boyett and sophomores Javes Lewis and Anthony Gildon, boy, the Duck’s future in the defensive backfield is good.
6. Oregon has the best two yard line defense in the nation. I’m sure of it.
7. I’m writing this before the rankings are released, but the Ducks feel undervalued to me. One team that is especially bugging me is Iowa. Good for them for winning every game, but I’m having a hard time accepting the Hawkeyes as a top ten team.
8. A quick, crack analysis of USC… Lot of opportunities passing the football over the middle. Watching the OSU game, the tight end was often open for big gains, but I would expect USC to scheme more for Ed Dickson. The Beavers also had a lot of successful runs straight up the gut. On plays to the outside, USC’s speed advantage was obvious. Matt Barkley is not yet as great as everyone keeps saying. As a true freshman, he stands out, but if you weren’t analyzing him with that disclaimer, he wouldn’t be as celebrated. I know he won at Ohio State and Notre Dame, but, with no offense to tradition, big deal. Autzen Stadium will be a whole different beast. The Trojans are athletic and their talent is relentless. You have to play hard from start to finish to beat them and mistakes must be kept to a minimum. More as the week goes on.

Thanks to friend of the blog Andy for the reminder about Canzano’s “Six Wins” quote. The Ducks got there in record time.

Have you heard all the talk that you might be the team to beat this year? No, seriously, everyone thinks you’re going to dethrone the Trojans of Troy. They say Jahvid Best might be a Heisman front-runner and that he could run all over USC’s defense. Your secondary, that’s a good unit, too. It looks like Matt Barkley could throw a few picks your way.

You’re excited, aren’t you? Has there ever been a bigger game in the history of your stadium? Probably not. Just think of all that energy flowing through the stadium right before the ball is kicked off. This is going to be your chance to stick your flag in the Pac-10′s proverbial surface and proclaim it Golden Bear country.

Nobody blames you for looking ahead. I’d be excited, too. I’d probably gloss right over the patsy on the schedule that you haven’t lost to in 4 years. In fact, you should. Rest up, stay healthy. Mentally prepare yourselves for the juggernaut that is USC.

If nothing else, at least you’ll have an excuse on Sunday.