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I'm probably a little more cautious about UCLA than you are, although I agree with the basic premise that Oregon should win this game. The schedule is definitely the biggest reason to pump the brakes on UCLA hype. They haven't really been tested by an elite team yet. But I also don't think we can completely dismiss what they've done simply because the competition hasn't been great. They aren't barely beating those teams. They're averaging almost 45 points a game, nearly 500 yards of offense, and over 280 rushing yards. Going to Maryland and winning 54-3 got my attention regardless of how good Maryland is. I also don't think the bye is quite as much of an advantage as it appears because UCLA has had the same two weeks to prepare. Oregon gets time to diagnose what went wrong against Oklahoma State and USC, but UCLA also gets two weeks to study those exact problems and figure out how to attack them. Where I agree most is the matchup with Nico. Philosophically, Lanning's defense should be well equipped to deal with a mobile quarterback, and Oregon has actually been pretty good against the run so far. But UCLA worries me because it isn't just Nico scrambling around. Wayne Knight and that entire rushing attack force you to account for multiple threats, and that's where eye discipline, tackling and assignment football become huge. Given some of the defensive breakdowns we've already seen this year, I'm not ready to assume that part takes care of itself. Autzen absolutely matters, and I expect Oregon to win. I'm just not sure I'm at the point where I'd call UCLA harmless because of its schedule. To me this is almost a perfect measuring-stick game. If Oregon comes out of the bye, cleans up the defensive issues and beats a 4-0 UCLA team convincingly, I'll feel a whole lot better about where this team is headed. Go Ducks! 🦆

I'm honestly less concerned about bringing Chip Kelly back than I am about what is happening on the other side of the ball. I'm starting to wonder whether Chris Hampton may simply be in over his head as a full-time DC. Oregon is loaded with defensive talent, yet against its three FBS opponents this season the Ducks are giving up 31 points and nearly 425 yards per game. There are some bright spots, particularly third-down defense and turnovers, but this doesn't look like what a Dan Lanning defense with this much talent should look like. If I were talking about making a coordinator change, defensive coordinator is where I'd be looking. And Oregon wouldn't exactly be short on possibilities. Bryant Haines at Indiana would be near the top of my list. Glenn Schumann would be the dream reunion with Lanning. Pete Kwiatkowski would be an incredibly interesting veteran hire. Zach Arnett is a proven SEC defensive mind. Phil Parker would be a home run if you could ever pry him away from Iowa. I'd even call retired Iowa State DC Jon Heacock and ask if one last run at a national championship sounded fun. And if Lanning wanted to dig into the FCS ranks, guys like Bobby Daly at Montana State deserve a serious look. Chip Kelly would be fun to talk about, but offense isn't the side of the ball keeping me up at night right now.

USC IS BACK!! 😆

I’ve wondered the same thing. With Chip, there really isn’t much question about whether he can coordinate an offense at the college level. What he did at Oregon helped change college football, and then he went to Ohio State and helped coordinate a national championship offense. Put that kind of experience with the talent Oregon has right now and it’s pretty hard not to wonder what the ceiling would be. That said, I’m trying to be fair to Drew Mehringer and Chris Hampton too. Both have shown flashes, and I understand why Lanning promoted guys he knows, trusts, and believes in. I actually respect the loyalty. My concern is more about the timing. This feels like a roster built to contend right now, and having both coordinator positions going through some growing pains at the same time feels like an awfully big gamble. And honestly, the offense isn’t even the side I’m most concerned about. They’re working in a new offensive line and don’t have nearly the same returning experience at some of the skill positions, yet we’ve still seen stretches where the offense looks very good. Statistically, the defense has been the much bigger disappointment, especially considering how much experience and talent is on that side of the ball. That’s the part that’s hardest for me to reconcile with the roster. Maybe the better approach would have been to promote one of them and make a national search for a proven coordinator on the other side. Give Mehringer his opportunity, for example, but bring in an established defensive play caller, or vice versa. There are a hundred different ways it could have been handled, so I don’t pretend there was one obvious answer. I just think trying to develop both coordinators at the same time, with this particular roster and these expectations, is a lot to ask. And while everybody is wondering what this offense would look like with Chip Kelly, I’m over here wondering what this defense would look like with somebody like Nick Aliotti calling it. 😂

Their new stadium looks amazing. And how awesome is it that it's exactly 100 years after the first field was commissioned, that they're playing their first game in the new stadium. I thought they played spectacular, and you can see Chip Kelly's influence shining. It's too bad he'll go on to suck at an NFL job next year. 🤣

This.... always this. 😁

Fair enough, but just to clarify, I didn't personally tally and rank 138 teams. 😂 I posted the national rankings directly from CFBStats. That said, CFBStats actually has a “vs. FBS only” filter, which is probably the fairest way to do what you're suggesting because it removes FCS games for everyone, not just Portland State from Oregon. Under that filter, Oregon is #19 scoring offense, #98 rushing offense, #11 passing offense and #30 total offense. Defensively they're #93 in scoring defense, #70 rushing defense, #115 passing defense and #103 total defense. Category FBS-only average National rank Scoring Offense 35.3 #19 (CFB Stats) Rushing Offense 115.7 #98 (CFB Stats) Passing Offense 311.7 #11 (CFB Stats) Total Offense 427.3 #30 (CFB Stats) Scoring Defense 31.0 #93 (CFB Stats) Rushing Defense 150.0 #70 (CFB Stats) Passing Defense 274.7 #115 (CFB Stats) Total Defense 424.7 #103 (CFB Stats) So there you go. PSU removed, and thankfully I didn't have to spend my weekend rebuilding the national statistics database. 😆

If he came with a short, tight leash, then yeah, I’d take him as OC. His résumé is pretty damn impressive, sans the head coaching bit.

Hope he's not interviewing... 🫥 😁

Through October 1, 2026, with Oregon having played 4 games. CFB Stats Category Oregon National Rank Scoring Offense 47.5 pts/game #5 CFB Stats Rushing Offense 159.0 yds/game #72 CFB Stats Passing Offense 346.5 yds/game #6 CFB Stats Total Offense 505.5 yds/game #12 CFB Stats Scoring Defense 23.3 pts/game #72 CFB Stats Rushing Defense 113.0 yds/game #41 CFB Stats Passing Defense 231.3 yds/game #97 CFB Stats Total Defense 344.3 yds/game #68 CFB Stats So the interesting picture right now is pretty stark: Oregon is #5 in scoring, #6 passing, and #12 total offense, but only #72 rushing offense. Defensively, the conventional yardage rankings aren't nearly as impressive: #41 rush defense, #97 pass defense, #68 total defense, #72 scoring defense. Yikes!

Simms offers apology

Their fans apparently think he should’ve started his slide from what, five yards away? Ten? Hell, why bother trying to gain yardage at all? By their logic, he should’ve just taken a knee and spared the defender the inconvenience of having to tackle him. 🤡s...

This feels like the absolute bare minimum from USC. 😡 One game for a hit like that, followed by the celebrating and smiling while Dante Moore was being treated and taken away by ambulance, is a soft response. And then, right on cue, we get the same rubber-stamped apologies from the player and the program about how this “isn’t who we are” and how everybody will “learn from it.” What a bunch of... Accountability is more than putting out a polished statement after the backlash starts. It’s what a program does in the moment and what consequences it imposes afterward. USC let him remain on the sideline after the ejection, and now the punishment is a single game. That doesn’t exactly scream accountability to me. At some point, apologies stop meaning much when they feel like they came straight out of a PR template. Actions matter more.

I'm rewatching the game this afternoon just to see the positive play from OBD. So proud of how they responded to the hit on Dante. Not all is lost. 🦆

Mandatory week of baseball practice for all QB's? 🤔 😁

#6 is Hill. Amazing shot, though. She's got skills!

😏

Remembering the 2015 natty. 😫

Not gonna lie, I actually did pretty damn well on these picks 😂 I went 13 for 16 on winners, which is 81.25%. The three I missed were Louisville over Wake Forest, Michigan over Iowa, and Penn State over Wisconsin. I’m probably happiest about picking Florida over #4 Ole Miss and Mississippi State over #19 Missouri. Those weren’t just easy “pick the higher ranked team” calls either. Florida absolutely hammered Ole Miss 52 to 28, and Mississippi State beat Missouri 31 to 24 after I had predicted 30 to 27. A few of the score predictions were surprisingly close too. I had Miami winning 52 to 7 and they won 52 to 3. I had Texas Tech winning 48 to 10 and they won 49 to 14. I also had Texas winning by four and they ended up winning by three. So yeah, 13 out of 16 on the winners. I’ll take that 😂

Double post. Site is acting funny on my phone

You are forgiven, duck buddy 🦆

need to score here

Omg ..

Let's go Ducks!!!

Figured we could use one thread for the rest of today’s Top 25 action since Oregon vs. USC already has its own. Here are my picks. Feel free to come back tonight and tell me how horribly wrong I was. 😂 Wake Forest at #16 Louisville: Louisville 34, Wake Forest 20 #1 Texas at #14 Tennessee: Texas 31, Tennessee 27 Illinois at #7 Ohio State: Ohio State 41, Illinois 13 Sam Houston at #11 Texas Tech: Texas Tech 48, Sam Houston 10 #3 Notre Dame at Purdue: Notre Dame 41, Purdue 14 #4 Ole Miss at #21 Florida: Florida 31, Ole Miss 28 #15 Utah at Iowa State: Utah 27, Iowa State 17 #17 Iowa at #18 Michigan: Michigan 20, Iowa 16 Oklahoma at #2 Georgia: Georgia 31, Oklahoma 14 #25 Houston at Georgia Southern: Houston 35, Georgia Southern 17 Wisconsin at #13 Penn State: Penn State 30, Wisconsin 17 Central Michigan at #6 Miami: Miami 52, Central Michigan 7 South Carolina at #8 Alabama: Alabama 31, South Carolina 17 #23 Texas A&M at #10 LSU: LSU 28, Texas A&M 17 #19 Missouri at #24 Mississippi State: Mississippi State 30, Missouri 27 Missouri State at #22 SMU: SMU 45, Missouri State 10 A couple of those are probably going to age terribly, but that’s half the fun. 😁 What games are you guys watching, and where am I dead wrong?