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Both things can be true at the same time.

Negative is part of football, and part of what we do here in the forum, but some people really get off on it. We have so many GREAT analysis posts that were about negative, but well done. They go over-the-top seemingly looking for for something foul to write. The writer of the article above, Mike Ostrom, was a FishDuck guest writer in the past, and a friend of mine. We spoke a couple of times this season already…

I think some people here are enjoying being negative a bit much. But good thing there IS negative stuff to write about, otherwise we would never hear from them!

As obvious as it has been to most of us, when opposing teams start speaking candidly about the predictability of our play calling, one has to seriously consider if Drew Mehringer should have ever been given this position. I am all for a new guy being given a shot when his moment comes. But in a year where the talent is there to make a very real run at the National Championship, how did Dan Lanning go through his options and decide a promotion was better than a national coaching search? This is not the season to be going through growing pains at the coordinator level. https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/fresh-evidence-dan-lannings-offensive-213709402.html

This is why I'm giving Mehringer a bit of a bye at the moment. The play calls could be better but frankly there are players open. How long until we are calling for Riola at this rate?

It will be interesting to see how the team and coaches respond through the rest of the season. The Ducks have turned themselves into an internet meme (a recruiting nightmare) and that should burn in the hearts of every single one of them to dig deep and turn this thing around. I hope they've hit rock bottom and will focus on football now and leave their junior high girl dances and showboating outside the stadium.

That above video shows that 2 of the 3 4th down calls were open. I didn't realize how bad Dante's downfield vision, or lack thereof, was. But that O-Line . . . OH MY!!

Miss the playoffs and this season is a total failure.

😖 My best smiley face this week , Jon. It’s not you . It’s those damn Ducks and their herders that give me constipation. Go Ducks.

Ulysses’ use of skillful deceit allowed the Greeks to sack Troy. His game plan? Make them think they’d quit. I doubt that will be Dan’s approach.

A Bit More Serious Look From Week 2 - Like the Coaches and AP Polls, Ohio State is dropped by ESPN from No. 1 to No. 6 - ESPN will, of course, be first in line to whine about all of the crummy OOC games - https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/49895966/2026-college-football-power-rankings-top-25

Hindsight is beginning to make me think that their Tulsa loss was the result of already being focused on Oregon.

A few thoughts on Week Number 2, while hoping that Drew Mestemaker pleads poverty and refuses to pay for new goalposts. 🤬 --- Tony, you can't find a better opening act than the Scarlet Knights? --- Saturday afternoon, early September in Stillwater. Rob, you don't need a weatherman to know which way this scheduling blows. --- ESecPN cutting from the Oregon at OK State game, confirmed where the B12 stands in the World Wide Leader's broadcast pecking order. --- Paraphrase. "Except for Indiana, Ohio State, and Oregon, the Big Ten sucks." The not-so-saintly Nick Saban. Perhaps he should have included Michigan? 0-2 - Bama's record against Michigan in the last two games, including Jimmy Harbaugh and Michigan coming up Roses against Nick. 😍 (But so far in 2026, Nick is not wrong. 🤬) --- B1G Noon sign - My 00.01 High School GPA was good enough to get me into Oklahoma. --- I don't always drink beer, but after watching the Go Ducks advertisement, when I do, I drink Modelo. 😁 This ad was the best part of Saturday afternoon. --- Rob, you don't schedule Boise State, and please don't schedule Tulsa. 🤬 Mario opened against Stanford on the road and home against the FAMU Rattlers. I'm reasonably certain that against the same 'competition,' OBD would be 2-0. --- Good luck, Lane. You handled Portal-Putz Dabo, defeated LA Tech, and will defeat Take a McKnee State. However, at No. 8 Ole Miss, No. 9 Texas A&M, at Kentucky, Mississippi State, at Auburn, No. 10 Alabama, No. 1 Texas, at 15 Tennessee, and at Arkansas. HMMMMMMM? 😁 --- This week, Oxford, Mississippi, broke the record for golf ball sales. --- Rob, FYI. Indiana 56 - Howie-R-U Zip - The Hoosiers move up from No. 5 to No. 4. Buckeyes 23 - Texas 24 - The Ohio State University drops from No. 1 to No. 6. Just Sayin. --- Michigan's overpaid QB is better than Oklahoma's overpaid QB. 🤑 --- Florida State cannot afford to fire Mike Norvell (or pay the electric bill), so the Seminoles scalped the AD. Will the interim AD help FSU cover Alabama -20.5? --- I get a kick out of the CyHawk game. Iowa 16 - Iowa State 13. Third year in a row that a walk-on kicker from the great state of Iowa walked off with a victory. Ryan Day - Better find a walk-on kicker from Ohio. Chip-shot FG missed in the B1G championship game. Gimme FG missed vs. Miami. Saturday - 45-yard FG for the winning points in Austin, Texas? Sorry to use this expression, Oregon fans, but that was definitely a Duck-Hook. --- The Portland State Vikings +58.5. Take the points? --- Kent State +52.5. Will Lou Holtz and Nick Saban's Kent State Golden Flashers, er, Flashes, cover against an Ohio State team that historically bucked up in Austin? --- USC -23.5. 3-7 is missing Linc Riley's record on the road in the Big Ten. He can't possibly lose in Pisscastaway Saturday, right? --- B1G Week (Weak?) 4 - Will GameDay be in LA, or will it be an SEC 4-for-4 in Athens, Georgia? I'm reasonably certain that GameDay will not be in Pisscastaway for the Rutgers vs. How- (about visiting for a million dollars of Greg Schiano's money) ard game. What is Rutgers doing with the lucre? How much does it cost for a half-decent horse, oats, and a squire to polish the armor? As the pundits say: These guys invented college football and have been trying to forget it since November 6, 1869. If the Scarlet Knights don't take down Howie, is relegation a possibility? --- Wanna kill Gophers? Sandy McFiddish and Bill Murray should have hired the Mississippi State Bulldog. --- Holy Cody Campbell! Don't look now, but Oregon State could be the best team in the Beaver State. 🤪 --- It's September, so Maryland is 2-0 but far from a Lock to beat VA Tech and the relegated Jimmy Franklin. --- What are you doing, Bob Chesney? Before long, people will know there's another football team in LA. If you have to pay palimony, why not punch the Cal-Pal. --- Sorry, UW, no offense. --- Cheer Up Ducks Fans! 83.34% of the season remains to be played. Vanquish the Vikings and get ready to Odysseus the Trojans!

I certainly wouldn't bet for him either.

Lanning has an incredibly golden opportunity to show all of us, and the entire college football nation, what he is made of. I would not bet against Lanning in the situation.

This. The business of college football is beyond wild west now. It's not entirely DL's fault for not being the top dog. Indiana succeeded last year because of the brilliant coaching mind and philosophy of Cig. But we will see how they fare this year. Mario is having success in Miami because he seems to be able to recruit not just great players, but also good assistants. Again, we will see how they do this year... Everyone is trying to figure out the right formula in this crazy time. It's not just assembling the best players any more, like Kirby Smart whispered to DL after that first beatdown...

I'm so impressed with how prepared Oklahoma State was for our Ducks. Especially after they came off such an embarrassing open season loss to Tulsa. That's just an exceptional 7-Day turnaround. Hopefully, we do the same thing.

I haven't read anybody saying that they don't agree with scientific facts. Yes, it was hot and humid. Nobody I've seen is attempting to argue this fact. Like Oregon, Oklahoma State has athletes from all over the United States. Some from cooler climates, some from warmer climates. For 4 hours, most kids who hydrate well, are able to suck it up. We have played both Arizona schools down here when the temp has been 105 or hotter (150° or more on the field), and kicked their butts. So yes, I'm quite certain we all agree, weather has an impact. But it doesn't destroy and embarrass a Top-10 team.

So were we just too cocky or dumb?

Excellent comment.

Our fan base is hopelessly negative right now. The willing refusal to accept scientific facts AND anecdotal evidence in most replies is making me more mad than our performance. So I'll do y'all one worse: Dante Moore and Drew Mehringer had a decent game according to analysts play by play assessment. Not perfect, but good enough to win. Others were making the more damning mistakes on offense. But I'm sure that's the last thing anyone wants to hear right now. See y'all next week.

Pretty good analysis video dissecting the OL play over the weekend. The interior was generally ok since they were manned by experienced guys (Iuli, Pancho, Rodgers) but the tackle spots and additional linemen (like Tofi) in 6 man front plays were absolutely terrible and consistently compromised the front. The youth and inexperience really shows. Pretty eye-opening.

Obviously, it's not like Dan woke up Saturday morning and suddenly sucked at coaching college football. So far in Dan's career, he's had quite the storied coaching success, progression, and history ---- which includes having coached on 2 national championship teams. He then stepped into his first HC role at Oregon and into a program that, by all accounts, was primed and ready for him -- I mean specifically for Lanning. And right now he is sitting on an Oregon winning record of 84% -- which I'm pretty sure gives him the #2 winning percentage record at Oregon for coaches with 3+ seasons. And the good news is that although we've embarrassingly had the crap kicked out of us over the past few years in some massively huge games, Lanning is only 40. Meaning, not only is he still learning, but I'm quite confident that he wants to continue learning (especially regarding when not to go for it on 4th down). I'm hopeful our coach is able to put his ego aside a tad bit and be coached himself. Nearly 100% of great leaders have a coach/mentor (Mr. Saban, any chance you could swing by Eugene for a little while?). One of the absolute most important things I'm looking for in any person I'm considering hiring, regardless of how accomplished they may be, is are they coachable. If I don't believe they coachable, the discussion is over. I'm not sure there has ever been a college football coach who has been provided more incredible talent, resources, and effectively the keys to a Hummer that has the equivalent of a 1587+ horsepower Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300 engine under the hood. And now that Dan Lanning is standing very close to the fire, the guy has an absolutely incredible golden opportunity to discover what kind of football coach he really is. Fire is an incredible refiner of gold. "Pressure and hardship do not define a man's worth; it reveals it. Fire, at the right temperature, burns away what is false, tests what is true, and leaves behind something much stronger and more valuable." However, the irony is, if the heat is too hot, gold turns into vapor and the precious resource is destroyed. We walk such a fine line. Great leaders thrive under heat and pressure. Many live for it. Now is the time, with all eyes on him, that we get to see the football stuff that Coach Lanning is truly made of. I’m not much of a betting man, but if I were, I’d put good money on Coach Lanning.

Great point and kind of what I'm getting at. Is a head coach basically simply evolving into a business man making deals and negotiating with agents about prices and expectations and less about rah rah style motivation?

Not buying the heat as a major factor. If it was that bad then the Ducks wouldn't of made a run in the 3rd and 4th qtr. IMO is was a typical DL team slow start. Saw it last year too many times. It's the lack of intensity at kick off. You have a team with 4*-5* players and one of the best group of players on D and you can't stop a rag tag team that's in a rebuild mode? I see it as a lack of preparation from the top down. The Ducks just weren't ready as they weren't ready for Bst. I'm gonna say it I'm not impressed with Hampton. It seems like our D has taken a step back. Many of the same players as last year and we let Okst score 39? Thats not just the heat.