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Dan Lanning on why touchback percentage is the wrong question: “Stats in some ways are for losers from that standpoint. You don't care about touchbacks, non-touchbacks. You care about average starting field position.” That’s just one detail from a week of increasingly specific USC preparation. Our Weekly Practice Report: Weekly Practice Report

Loved this quote from this week. Dan Lanning on why touchback percentage is the wrong question: “Stats in some ways are for losers from that standpoint. You don't care about touchbacks, non-touchbacks. You care about average starting field position.”

Everyone is pertty much spot on here. That's why this is a great forum - OBD have smart fans! One thing I want to say is that we are not Clemson because we have never won a Natty yet. If we are talking about the trojectry - I don't think we are in that dire of a shape yet coz we still can recruit. We just need better coaching, mostly at the assistant level.

Agree that this game is hard to pick. Theoretically though, any team that gives up 35 to Rutgers would seem to present a field fay for the Ducks' offense. So Ducks roll.

Standing Room Only - https://trojanswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/trojans/football/2026/09/23/usc-football-game-against-oregon-sold-out/91912178007/

This team has talent and depth. If it shows up, our Ducks can beat anybody. Don't jump ship yet!

We are in danger of personifying the old Western expression "All hat and no cattle." Endless hype and promotion. Highest payroll. Thinnest historical NCAA resume compared to Blue Bloods (i.e., New Kid on the Block). Have generated the most animosity amongst fanbases because we have been ascending for 20 years.

Charles, you nailed something important. The Ducks are no longer regarded as highly as they once were. They face planted in front of the nation. And they are now considered underdogs. But that characterization is one of the things that can generate intensity and, for lack of a better word, fight. That was one of the things that was missing in the Oklahoma State game. Now the team has to prove itself, and the coaches too. They all have something to prove in LA this weekend. What's more, they all know it. I expect to see an intensity that's been missing from a team with so many talented players.

It's Week 4, and Exhibition Season is over. The B1G had a small preseason. Things were delightful in Dixie. Are we seeing the B1G regress to the College Football (CFB) mean(ies)? Notwithstanding three seasons of B1G CFB dominance, the SEC never surrendered the recruiting ranking and NFL draft pick titles. And SEC programs are not shy about dropping dollars on athletics. Heading into Week 4, 29 Power 4 programs are undefeated. SEC: 9 teams - Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Texas, and Vanderbilt. (It's not a Michigan asterisk for Vandy, but it's close.) ACC: 4 teams - Duke, Miami, Pitt, and Virginia Tech. I'll add ACC-enabled Notre Dame here. B12 - 6 teams - BYU, Cincinnati, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Utah, West Virginia. B1G: 8 teams - Indiana, Iowa, Michigan (?), Nebraska, Northwestern, Penn State, UCLA, USC. Come Sunday, one of these teams will have a loss. No. 1 Texas at No. 14 Tennessee/ No. 4 Mississippi at No. 21 Florida/ No. 19 Missouri at No. 24 Mississippi State/ NR Kansas State at NR Cincinnati. (See Iowa at Michigan below.) In the B1G - FRIDAY. Northwestern at Indiana - 21.5 - 8 PM Eastern/ 5 PM Pacific - Fox Chip and Jerry Neuheisel have upped QB Aiden Chiles' game, but Indiana only -21.5? 🤑🤑 --- Howard at Rutgers -14.5 - 7 PM/ 4 PM - Big Ten Network (BTN) To date, Howie has been a B1G punching bag for Indiana and Maryland. After the way Rutgers played vs. SC and looking for the first win? 🤑🤑🤑 --- SATURDAY. No. 7 Ohio State -27.5 vs. Illinois - Noon/ 9 AM - Fox The Ohio State run game has not been robust. But Duke ran all over Illinois. Is there an Illini DB who can cover Jeremiah Smith? 🤑 No. 18 Michigan -5.5 vs. No.17 Iowa - 3:30/ 12:30 - CBS A game between two teams whose coaches like to get down in the dirt. The Hawkeyes come in having played lesser competition but with a more productive offense than Michigan. SPORTSLINE - Michigan 21 - Iowa 20. (Sportsline does not predict enough games correctly for me to subscribe. The referenced SL odds come from the few results shown on CBS Sports program Inside College Football.) --- THE GAME FOR LEFT COAST SUPREMACY. No. 20 Oregon -3 at No. 12 USC - 7:30/4:30 - NBC 🤪I'm fairly certain that back in the day, unless Timothy Leary and Lucy In the Sky tripped to Eugene, many Forum Friends would, in their wildest dreams, have had visions of Oregon squashing the men of Troy five times in a row. On Saturday, Oregon is favored to Give Ducks fans a High Five! Man, this game is difficult to predict. 🤔 SPORTSLINE - USC 31 - Oregon 27 --- B1G Saturday games featuring undefeated B1G teams. UCLA at Maryland -1.5 - 1:30 PM/ 10:30 AM - BTN UCLA does not have a defense that will travel, but to date the Bruins have the best run game in the B1G. Against Purdue, UCLA put up 369 yards rushing, the same kind of numbers the Bruins have put up all season. 🤑🤑 --- 3-0 Nebraska -5.5 at 2-1 Michigan State - Nebraska is 2-0 vs. the MAC, but can it win a game in the Midwest against a Spartans team that did not roll over against No. 3 Notre Dame in South Bend? --- Washington -9.5 vs. Minnesota - 11 PM/ 8 PM - Fox OK, in 1936, when Minnesota was ruling the CFB roost and traveled to Seattle to play Washington, rumor has it that the hotel the Gophers stayed in Seattle caught fire. Sadly, this happened in Missoula, Montana, not Seattle. (No one died or was hurt in these fires.) Like many B1G teams in 2026, the UW O-line is not performing to expectations, so the run game is struggling. But the defense has been solid. --- Everybody's heard about the Bird, but is anyone watching? On Peacock - No. 3 Notre Dame -27.5 at Purdue - 2 PM/ 11 AM Did you know that this is the Battle for the Shillelagh game? If so, congratulations! Wisconsin at No. 13 Penn State -10 - 5 PM/ 2 PM Penn State's Nittany Lion's leading receiver, Koby Howard, is out for an extended period, and the Wisconsin offense has improved every game. I think Bucky will give PSU a battle. ENJOY & TRASH TROY!

100% spot on, nailed it. We deserve, and frankly have earned, pretty much every ounce of crap that we've been given since our complete implosion against OSU. Right now, to the college football world, we look a lot like a decent sized dog that does a lot of yappin', but simply cannot deliver the big bite. We are being laughed at... right now. However, we also have a golden opportunity to shove it all down their throats. The recipe and solution is 100% in our control. IMHO, It's time to put up, or shut up. Winning is our only pathway to redemption. As the late great Al Davis said: "Just win, Baby!!" Saturday will tell us much. OBD can choose to come together and kick some USC as, or roll over and prove our detractors correct. I'm betting on OBD... 38-34.

Sports/team psychology is one of the great wonders of the world. Truth is, no one knows. No one knows how good Oklahoma St. will be this year. No one knows how Oregon players and coaches will fully respond or how capable they are of making the needed adjustments. There are no recent comparisons to Oregon's situation. 2014 Ohio St. could be a good example with their early loss to unranked Virginia Tech at home, but Ohio St. was ranked #8 at the time and didn't have nearly the expectations placed on OBD this year. We are not Clemson. We are not 2025 Penn St. The 2026 Ducks will write their own story and a pivotal chapter will occur on Saturday vs. USC. The consequences of the Oklahoma St. loss are immense. Our players and coaches have no one to blame for the pessimism but themselves. It comes with the most wins in college football over the past 3 years. - any and every loss is memorable. The consequence can ultimately be positive, however. Maybe Oklahoma St. will be the last time the 2026 Ducks show up to a game unprepared.

That's all awesome news. And hopefully he will live up to his 5 star rating, and #1 QB ranking in his class. I'll know for sure when I get to see him play against a real football program. I'm looking forward to it.

Just win

Have often thought that the song cycling through the minds of all those Duck haters when they’re forced to think about us must be Hall & Oates’ ‘Rich Girl’. Our road is no longer an easy one, and our days of sneaking up on anyone seem pretty much over. We’ve just got to make up our minds that there’s no way to get there but the hard way, and then do it. That’s the only way they’re ever going to respect us. Wrong sport, but these lines from, ‘A League of Their Own’ kind of capture what’s behind that attitude: “ — Jimmy Dugan: Baseball is what gets inside you. It’s what lights you up, you can’t deny that. “ — Dottie Hinson: It just got too hard. “ — Jimmy Dugan: It’s suppose to be hard!! If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard . . . Is what makes it great.”

No mistake that it is Matayo. Maybe this fires him up.

Very cool helmet!

I remember a uniform like this that did well in LA in the past!

Very cool!!! I am an engineer, but I had to do it the hard way. I didn’t know I wanted to be an engineer until my third year at Oregon, so stuck it out and got a degree in General Science, then went on to study engineering.

Charles, as noted above in excellent comments, Oregon is still the new kid on the block. The kid with a rich Uncle trying to buy him the nicest of things. NIKE U. Nike, the goddess of victory in war and peaceful competition. Oregon is the program that defined modern sports marketing: brash, up front, and in your face. This week's uniform reveal... A program that created turmoil in a 'small stadium.' Oregon is the program that took college football into warp speed. This also irritated folks, including Saint Nick. Whether the noise is negative or positive, when folks pay attention, O how U matter. Is Oregon this season's Penn State? Saturday will be a good tell. I hope OBD leaves LA on the wings of a Nike victory. Regardless, I'm a guy who stayed loyal to Bogus Bruins, Pathetic Pats, and Wicked Bad Red Sox. Advertising? Bring it on! Where would U of O be without advertising? 😁

The way everyone including the media is talking I did not know the Ducks were 0-3. As an ex Bruin fan, grew up in LA 100 years ago I hope we beat the hell out of SCum on Saturday. My sense is Ducks 38 Condoms 24. Oh yea Toejams suck!

Dude was a 5* and the #1 ranked QB in his class through most of the recruiting process. He was committed to both UGA and tOSU before flipping to Neb This dude can play ball. Maybe/maybe not a better football player than Dante. People forget how talented DR actually is. Most have never seen him play. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if he becomes the first QB off the board in his draft class.