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Those plays drive me absolutely crazy now because most of the time they feel like nothing more than throwing away a down. The receiver catches the ball behind the line, has to gather himself and turn upfield, and by then the defense is already closing in. The crazy part is that those same kinds of plays were incredibly effective under Chip Kelly. The difference was that Oregon blocked the hell out of them, and Chip had a great feel for when to call them. He could read what the defense was giving him and knew when the numbers and spacing were there to make it work. That is what seems to be missing now. The concept itself is not necessarily the problem. It is the blocking, the timing, and knowing when the defense is actually vulnerable to it. Without those things, it is exactly what you said, a receiver getting the ball behind the line with nowhere to go.

Sounds like somebody was out celebrating mediocrity after an uninspired win over a troubled team. I think our coach needs to stop accepting mediocrity himself and start holding these kids accountable to the championship standard their talent is capable of reaching. They should be staying humble, keeping their noses to the grindstone, and constantly striving for more.

Oof! 😆

KATU: Evan Stewart Allegedly Booked on DUII Charge Well, this is about the last thing Oregon needed right now. Obviously, we should wait for all the facts to come out, but if this report is accurate, it's incredibly disappointing. These guys have every resource imaginable available to them to avoid getting behind the wheel after drinking. At some point, personal responsibility has to matter. Hopefully nobody was hurt, and I expect Lanning and the program to handle it appropriately once they have all the facts.

Even with our stud back there, we still had issues with the Broncos and the Cowboys. For my money, I’m putting the majority of the blame on the play calling and the offensive staff. At some point, when the talent is clearly there and the same problems keep showing up regardless of who’s under center, you have to start looking at the people designing and calling the offense.

I still feel like Lanning is just a few great coaching hires away from winning it all. The talent is there. The resources are there. The culture is there. What’s missing is a staff that can consistently get the absolute most out of these players and, just as importantly, outscheme and outcoach the teams standing in Oregon’s way.

That result fits perfectly with yesterday's chaos. 😆 Gratz to the winner, but great job both of you!

3 possessions, 3 punts. What more does DL need to see?

Let's go Seminoles! 😁

Let's go Ducks!

Clearly the SEC has a secret bounty program to take out B1G quarterbacks. Totally believable. Also, I have a bridge for sale if anyone’s interested... 🤪

Ryan Day said he'll be out several weeks.

And how far will they fall for losing a close one to an unranked team?

Wow. Well, even Cig loses now and again.

I think either Ohio State or Indiana will win.

Honestly, I could get behind both Norvell and Wilcox for the same reason. Sometimes being a good coordinator and being a good head coach are two completely different things. Let Norvell get back to focusing solely on offense and QBs, where he made his name, and let Wilcox get back to running a defense, which has always been his natural fit. Take away everything that comes with running an entire program and just let both guys do what they do best.

One can go from Indiana to Oregon to Clemson really quick. DL needs to understand that sustained success is never guaranteed, and the wrong coaching decisions can unravel a program faster than anyone expects. He has to get these hires right. Pure and simple.

Mehringer getting fired makes no sense to me. My money is on moving him back to where he fits best, coaching tight ends. Put Koa Ka’ai there with him as an assistant, especially since that’s a position he actually played. Then go make a killer hire at OC, someone who can work directly with the QBs and bring a fresh identity to this offense. Do that, and I think the offense can get right in a hurry. Defensively, year two under Hamp should bring improvement. The biggest thing there is consistency. We’ve seen flashes of what that defense can be. Now they need to play that way week in and week out.

Oregon 24-20 2 3 215

Love the read! And welcome back! For the remainder of this season, I like the idea of incorporating more of this, particularly if it simplifies things up front and allows the OL to play faster and more physically. I'm not sure this personnel necessarily lends itself to becoming a predominantly power-gap offense overnight, but there's certainly value in making it a bigger part of what we do. More than anything, I'd like to see them identify what this group does well, simplify the offense around those strengths, and finally establish an identity. Use the run game to create opportunities for all that talent we have at the skill positions instead of trying to completely reinvent ourselves halfway through the season. Beyond this year, I'd like to see Lanning bring in someone with a fresh take on offense. A rising star or veteran matters not to me so long as they have a proven philosophy and the ability to adapt it to the personnel they have.

While the official 2019 Georgia Football Coaches directory gave Glenn Schumann the "co-defensive coordinator" title, Lanning was explicitly designated as the sole Defensive Coordinator. Lanning carried the full, primary DC title and called the plays during his entire three-year run leading the defense. Schumann was elevated to work under and alongside him as the "co-DC" to assist with game planning and reward his value to the program, but Lanning was never a "co-DC" himself. The lead defensive coordinator role at UGA is officially designated as the Fain & Billy Slaughter Defensive Coordinator.

I agree with a lot of what's being said here, particularly regarding the internal promotions and what I believe has been a serious regression in the overall quality of coaching. And while I think there are several areas that deserve scrutiny, the offensive side of the ball is where my biggest concerns lie. First and foremost, Drew Mehringer has to be squarely in the conversation. I understand the desire for continuity, especially when you've had success with a particular system, but continuity doesn't mean much if the results aren't there. We're watching an offense loaded with talent struggle to execute some of the most basic aspects of football. The play calling has been questionable, the adjustments have been inadequate, and there doesn't seem to be much of an identity. At some point, you have to stop looking exclusively at the players and start asking whether they're being put in positions to succeed. Then there's the offensive line. A'lique Terry has been here long enough that we should be seeing consistent development, particularly among the younger players. Instead, we're seeing problems with protection, missed assignments, and an inability to establish a reliable running game. Those aren't things that can simply be dismissed as growing pains. When you have the recruiting classes Oregon has been bringing in, you should reasonably expect to see improvement as those players develop. If that isn't happening, somebody needs to answer for it. The quarterback situation deserves attention as well. Koa Ka'ai was promoted from an assistant role, and while I'm certainly not suggesting he can't eventually become an excellent quarterbacks coach, I do question whether handing him that responsibility at this stage was the best decision for the program. Especially considering the expectations surrounding this team. Quarterback development is simply too important to leave to chance. And that brings me to something I've been thinking about regarding Dan Lanning himself. I genuinely believe Lanning's own upbringing in the coaching profession has a lot to do with his approach to staffing. Here's a guy who worked his way up from being a graduate assistant, moving from program to program, learning from established coaches, earning opportunities, and eventually becoming a defensive coordinator at Georgia before landing the head coaching job at Oregon. I think those experiences left a lasting impression on him. He knows what it means to have somebody believe in you, take a chance on you, and give you an opportunity to prove yourself. And I suspect he wants to provide those same opportunities to the people working under him. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, I think it's an admirable quality. But here's where I think he's making a mistake. Giving somebody an opportunity and giving somebody a responsibility they're not prepared for are two very different things. Not everybody develops at the same pace. Not everybody who excels in one position is necessarily ready for the next. A great position coach doesn't automatically become a great coordinator, just as a great coordinator doesn't automatically become a great head coach. Some people need more experience. Some need more time to develop their abilities, learn from their mistakes, and gain a better understanding of the responsibilities that come with the next step. And that's perfectly fine. I'm not saying these coaches will never be successful. I'm saying that, based on what we've seen this season, some of them simply don't appear ready for the responsibilities they've been given. They need more time to marinate, so to speak. Unfortunately, Oregon isn't in a position where it should be experimenting with whether somebody might eventually grow into a job. Not with the resources available, not with the talent on this roster, and certainly not with the expectations surrounding this program. We're supposed to be competing for national championships, not serving as a training ground for coaches who are still figuring out how to do their jobs at this level. And speaking of national championships, I noticed somebody mentioned that nobody wins one without a blue-chip roster. Well, Curt Cignetti and Indiana might have something to say about that. 😏 Indiana won the national championship with a roster that was nowhere near the traditional blue-chip threshold. Cignetti took a group of players who, on paper, had no business competing with the most talented programs in the country and turned them into national champions. Was it an anomaly? Absolutely. But it happened. And to me, that's one of the greatest examples in recent memory of just how much coaching matters. Recruiting rankings are important. Talent is important. Nobody is suggesting otherwise. But having a roster full of four and five-star athletes doesn't mean a damn thing if those players aren't being developed, properly coached, and put in positions where their abilities can actually make a difference. We've watched USC demonstrate that for years. Highly ranked recruiting classes, talented players everywhere you look, and yet somehow the results consistently fall short of expectations. It's practically become a place where recruiting stars go to die. And unfortunately, we're starting to see some uncomfortable similarities at Oregon. That's what bothers me most. It's not simply the losses. Teams lose games. Even great teams lose games. It's watching talented players struggle with things that should be getting better through coaching and development. Which brings me back to Lanning. I like Dan Lanning. I think he's done tremendous things for Oregon, and I still believe he's capable of leading this program to a national championship. I don't think anybody should ignore what he's accomplished simply because we're having a disappointing season. But I also believe that Dan Lanning needs to own his job, not his relationships. Loyalty is important. I respect loyalty. I think it's one of the better qualities a person can have, whether in football, business, or life in general. But loyalty cannot come at the expense of the responsibilities you've been hired to fulfill. Lanning is one of the highest-paid public employees in the state of Oregon. He wasn't hired and isn't being compensated at that level so he can surround himself with friends, reward relationships, or make sure everybody gets their turn. He was hired to build and maintain a championship-caliber football program. That's the job. And sometimes doing that job means making difficult decisions involving people you genuinely care about. Sometimes it means acknowledging that somebody you believed in isn't ready. Sometimes it means going outside your circle and bringing in somebody with more experience, a different perspective, or a proven ability to get the results you're looking for. That's not betrayal. That's leadership. And frankly, anybody who genuinely cares about Lanning, the program, or even their own coaching career should understand that. Think about it from the perspective of the assistant coaches themselves. What good does it do somebody to be promoted into a position where they're consistently struggling? How does that help their career? Nobody wants their resume to show that they were handed a major responsibility at a nationally recognized program and then watched that part of the team regress under their leadership. They want success. They want to develop their abilities, build a reputation, and earn opportunities to advance. Sometimes the best thing for somebody's career is to spend another year or two learning before taking that next step. There's no shame in that whatsoever. But there is a problem when personal loyalty starts taking precedence over the success of the organization. And let's not forget about the players. These young men committed to Oregon because they believed in what this program was building. They believed in the coaching staff, the opportunities, the development, and the chance to compete for championships. As long as they're putting in the effort and holding up their end of the bargain, they deserve a coaching staff that's equally committed to giving them the best possible opportunity to succeed. They don't have unlimited time. Their college careers are short, and for many of them, their performance at Oregon will have a tremendous impact on what opportunities they have afterward. They deserve better than being caught in the middle of somebody else's learning curve. And the same goes for future recruits. Oregon needs to remain a destination program. A place where talented young athletes want to go because they know they'll be developed, challenged, and given every opportunity to reach their potential. Not a place where highly rated recruits arrive with tremendous expectations only to watch their development stall and their opportunities diminish. That's how programs lose momentum. That's how recruiting starts becoming more difficult. And that's how all the progress made over the last several years can begin slipping away. I don't want to see that happen. I want Lanning to succeed. I want these coaches to succeed. I want every player wearing an Oregon uniform to succeed. But wanting somebody to succeed and accepting results that fall short of expectations are not the same thing. At the end of the day, I think Lanning has reached a point in his career where he needs to demonstrate that he's willing to make the difficult decisions necessary to take this program to the next level. That doesn't mean firing everybody or abandoning the culture he's worked so hard to establish. It means taking an objective look at every position, every coach, and every aspect of this program and asking one simple question. Is this the best person for this job, right now? Not whether they're loyal. Not whether they're a good recruiter. Not whether they've been here since the beginning. Not whether they might become a great coach someday. Are they the best person to help Oregon win football games and compete for national championships today? If the answer is no, then something needs to change. Because ultimately, the responsibility for the success or failure of this program rests with Dan Lanning. And if he's going to receive the credit when things go right, he has to be willing to accept the responsibility when things go wrong. I still believe in Lanning. But that belief shouldn't come with a free pass, and it certainly shouldn't mean ignoring problems that are becoming increasingly difficult to overlook. There's still an opportunity to turn this season into something respectable, learn from what's gone wrong, and come back stronger. But that starts with accountability. And sometimes the most important thing a leader can do is recognize that loyalty to the people around him can never be more important than loyalty to the program he's been entrusted to lead. Well, that's my two cents. Go Ducks. 🦆

No. OBD 4 LIFE!! 😁 What it does is remind me that college football is hard. Sustaining success is hard. And that we have had a LOT of success, so a few losses here and there doesn't mean it's the end of the world.

Tough loss today, and obviously not where any of us hoped this season would be headed. But maybe missing the playoffs gives Dan Lanning and this staff some time to really dig into the issues that have hurt this team and get them corrected. There’s still plenty to play for. Finish the season strong, get into a good bowl game and win it, then hopefully close things out with a strong recruiting haul and build some momentum going into next year. A couple losses don’t mean the entire season has to be a failure. Oregon can still have a good season, finish on a high note, and use this as an opportunity to get better. Go Ducks. 🦆

End of an era. Thank you so much, Coach. You put your heart and soul into the program, and your presence will be felt for years to come. Go Ducks 🦆