All Activity

I think the O Line is still the bigger variable for our success. Our DL runs a certain scheme and the backups are as good as the starters, so it kind of is what it is at this point. The OL is more important because DM can wilt under pressure, and his below average pocket presence makes him vulnerable to sacks. Also we don't have anyone in our RB that excels in super tight spaces with questionable rushing lanes. I saw some RBs that do on other teams Saturday, but ours do not. Bo Nix and Bucky Irving were both players that could cover a multitude of OL sins, but now we are the exact opposite. We really need an OLine that is elite or we will struggle in the B1G to have an efficient offense that our team is designed to be. We'll need way more 3rd and long high percentage plays drawn up by the OC.

Every single rep in front of 60,000 fans and a live television audience matters. When you are put in a situation where your talent and experience can make the difference between winning and losing—between achieving your goals or just "playing the game"—you have to take it. Not taking advantage of those opportunities is foolish from a performance perspective. Besides, easing up does nothing to build the esteem of your opponent. As if losing 55-0 is somehow more virtuous than losing 84-0? Come on, people!

He was the one player we lost that I really thought we didn't want to lose.

DL isn't going to pass up opportunities for real game reps, regardless of score or opponents. It's not against any rules. If people don't like this then change something else. My high school league had a 45 point rule. Once you were winning by 45 the game was over. To avoid this one time to get more reps our coach called a play "bad snap" to turn the ball over to the other team so we could play some more. Then there was the time we played Oregon School for the Deaf, and it was dangerous playing a team that couldn't hear the whistle, so we 45'd them as fast as possible.

Are you going to tell the kid who doesn't get much playing time to NOT score the touchdown? To Not intercept the ball? To Not sack the quarterback? Go Ducks.

USC represents a ‘must rise to the occasion’ opportunity for the D line. What they experienced against both Boise State and OSU are eye openers to what they should expect in spades from a much improved Maiava and a notch higher cast of characters. Maybe the time has come to see what happens when the hounds are unleashed?

I just came off an Alaska Cruise where I missed this game and the Oklahoma State game. I did not want to watch either game on the DVR. No desire to watch us fall apart in Stillwater and I felt running up 84 points is excessive.

A lot of shootouts this season, including on Saturday? The D-line better be able to pressure Maiava. If not ... Has any certain draft pick who returned improved their draft stock? Losing a leader like Bryce Boettcher hurts the 2026 cause. But as others have noted, the D was leaky in the red zone all of last season. Great take, but can we count on even average play from this O-line against the Ohio State and Michigan defenses? Ohio State's D wore down in the heat and humidity in Austin. Nevertheless, Texas only scored 24 points, and Ohio State wins the game but for another big time miss from the FG kicker. The Michigan O has sputtered, but the defense has been solid. The competition has been far from stellar, but the Nebraska, Northwestern, Michigan State, and UW defenses are playing well. Michigan State on Saturday was behind 17 to 10 to Notre Dame heading into the 2nd half. The Spartans held ND to ten points in the second half. Looking ahead, I see no easy days, including games against UCLA and a robust run game, and at Illinois. I hope Johnson and McClellan will be able to play on Saturday. Tired of playing big games with stars on the sideline. 🤬 Keep Traveler on the Sideline; Empty the Nag's Feed Bag!

This right here is the elephant in the room. If mere containment is the goal and pressure and TFLs are just a bonus, then the D is doing what it's being asked to do. I don't understand the need for a great D line if attacking and pressuring isn't the goal. Even a great DB group will eventually breakdown with a ten alligator pass rush so what is the point? This year, this system has shown major flaws just keeping decent offenses from running up the score. In the last two years, it has been completely blown off the field by elite offenses (tOSU, Indy.) So again what's the point? If bend but don't break is the goal, you might as well bring in 3 star Boise St type defensive players and not waste time and money recruiting five stars to get three star results. The most exciting prospect of bringing in Lanning as a coach to me was an elite defense that could give the offense a chance to beat any team in the country. This defensive philosophy seems to be to keep teams in the 25-35 point range and just out score them. That seems crazy. What am I missing?

He certainly looks better than any of our safeties have looked back there, so far. Kingston is flying around the field making plays. It would have been nice to retain him. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LTvn_HVzc0Q&ra=m

FEBU

Ducks better be hungry for what comes next. Make that Hangry! Oregon Football: Ducks 'hungry' for USC after bounce-back win

According to a recent Joel Klatt podcast, Oregon built its defense scheme assuming that our defensive line would be dominant and we would be able to win with a “light box.” That has not happened through the first 2 games. Instead, our defensive line is not shedding blocks, linebackers have not been sound in run fits and safeties have been late. Joel believes that we should switch to a one high safety (vs. 2 or even 3 safeties). He also pointed out that Oregon’s defensive line plays a gap control scheme (vs. penetration). Why not let the talented defensive line go and wreck havoc with stunts, twists and a straight up rush? Although Coach Lanning is very aggressive in some phases of the game (e.g., going for it on 4th down, special teams). His defense philosophy appears to be very conservative - the focus is on limiting big plays (“bend but don’t break”). I personally prefer an aggressive, attacking defense, even if we get beat deep occasionally. This has come as a surprise to me given his Alabama and Georgia pedigree.

A "D" for SC. But on home turf, Traveler's a thoroughbred. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-grades-texas-a-m-earns-f-mark-for-kentucky-dud-usc-gets-d-on-week-3-report-card/?eid=c7d8647c6247db8d08c59fe44bc30380a147aa90b9e33099045cd46ddc6

Dante has a great arm. Great, but that's about it. Maybe he should take up the javelin and join the track team. Not that he could handle that under pressure either. Lanning's a great recruiter. Great, but that's about it. Hopefully they're both good at counting $$$. Because collecting cash seems to be their real talent.

This Wall Street Journal article appears to be locked but it is not. You knew this was coming. https://www.wsj.com/sports/football/oregon-portland-state-84-0-b48f9b2a?st=KaNoNs&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Per SI's Pat Forde, SC was one of ten teams 'exposed' in Week 3. SIForde-Yard Dash: 10 College Football Teams Whose Flaws Ar...The pretenders are running out of places to hide, with Texas A&M, USC and Arkansas among the teams facing harsh reality checks.

While watching the Ole Miss v LSU game, I was longing for our D line to perform like the Rebels' D Line. Coming into the season I wasn't thinking that our D Line were going to be totally dominating, but I was thinking it would be several layers above what they've done so far. It was good to hear all the pads popping through the fourth quarter, albeit from players who likely won't get to play much. Being an optimist, I'm hopeful there will be similar focus and intensity against USC.

I only watched maybe a quarter of the game Friday night because it just wasn't that interesting. But the final score did show the D played perfect. Of course that game was just a gloried practice for the whole team, so we don't really know until they play next week again. Hopefully they got some good practice out of it and are not feeling cocky because of that one game. They did fail pretty badly in the first two games and need to focus on fixing the scheme and putting in more effort.

Gameday is headed to Knoxville for the No. 1 Texas at No. 14 Tennessee game. I think there will be more than one Manning in the house. On PO life support game. One of No. 23 Texas A&M at No. 10 LSU will have used its two PO mulligans. 2-1 NR Oklahoma is in dire PO straits if it loses at No. 2 Georgia. 14 points scored at Michigan and at home vs. New Mexico. And Venables was given a pay raise and an extension? Georgia, the best team in the SEC IMO, is flying under the Texas, Ole Miss, LSU radar, which I imagine is just fine with Kirby Smart. I believed both Oklahoma and A+M were overrated coming into the season. No. 19 Missouri at No. 24 Mississippi State could expose what I believe to be an overrated Mizzou. This year's Indiana? Miss State? The ninth conference game will result in several highly regarded preseason SEC teams finishing with three or more losses. (And a 24-team PO?)

LSU could have hired James Franklin for a lot cheaper, with less baggage and a whole lot more character.

2025 Penn State went 7-6. Off the roster, 15 players were drafted or signed as Free Agents. It wasn't a lack of talent. Many Nittany Lions veteran players did not step up. But when it came to assistant coaches, Jim Knowles was a $3 million DC?

Same SC, Different Day -😁 https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2026/09/21/college-football-overreactions-trinidad-chambliss-heisman-week-3/91867285007/?utm_source=usat-path-to-playoff-nletter76&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spor Error: In 2026, the PO G6 representative does not have to be a conference champion. The highest-ranked G6 team receives the PO invite whether or not it won its conference championship.

I don't think Lanning has ever fired a coach. Some have moved on, most of that initial coaching staff has moved on to greener pastures. Three are now head coaches! Which is great. I don't feel like this young coaching staff is going to get the job done for the end goal. I hate to say it but this year has/had a bit of a Natty of bust feel to it, rightly or wrongly. I think all these young coaches will grow this year and they will be better than where they started. But at the end of the day a first or second year teacher is not going to be nearly as good as an average 10+ year vet. I'm not calling for the firing of any coaches at this time but I feel Lanning needs to evaluate his staff at the end of this season. If we win a National Championship then he has done something incredible if we don't and there are questions that need addressing and at that point someone should probably be fired. We have been out-coached too many times in big games. Which is unacceptable for a place like Oregon. It's something to watch for and to think about. No one is getting fired this early in the season or even in the middle of the season.

Thank you, David. Charles is wise to caution patience. To summarize your insightful takes, can youngsters teach old dogs new tricks? In Weeks 1 and 2, the effort on the field and the sidelines did not look like a Dan Lanning-coached football team. I do not have enough Xs and Os knowledge to make judgments on player performance, but based on PFF grades to date, Dan missed the mark in player evaluations going into this season. And this overevaluation, at least considering performance to date, led to poor picks, and likely not enough picks, from the portal. We like to think of the program as having a blank check for a budget. But is this the case? Some guys who would have helped the cause, like OT Seaton, found greener pastures elsewhere. Players who decide to stay with the program instead of being certain NFL picks will command hefty revenue-share payments and NIL deals. How much money was there for the portal? As Charles asked in a post, have these experienced and well-paid players been coasting? Your article and many comments on the Forum have asked if the assistant coaches have the gravitas to get the attention of these experienced athletes. As you so noted, Moore's play seems to have regressed. To date, returning in 2026 has hurt and not helped his NFL draft stock. 7 on 7 vs. Portland State will not be what scouts look at. I'm disappointed that Riley's team on the road, once again, played down to the level of the competition. Rutgers could have won the game and arguably should have. I was hoping the Oregon players would have a better performance to watch on TV Saturday and to watch on tape. This will be a re-run of OK State at Tulsa. In five seasons to date, Lincoln Riley is 25-5 in the Coliseum. 10-0 in the last ten games. 4-0 versus the Big Ten in 2025, including impressive wins over Michigan and Iowa. Under Gary Patterson, the SC defense is still shaky. But this offense will put up points, especially if Maiava has time to throw. And the SC run game has looked good behind an OL that returned four starters. OBD will need every bit of the enthusiasm that we saw against Portland State. Will Oregon retain West Coast supremacy, or is SC ready to step up? Thanks again, David, for another fine Monday morning read.