Solar

There is gonna be one more loss and it will really test the character of the team when their team goals are no longer achievable.

Sports media influencers are still crying rivers over this change that it dilutes the value of the regular season and too many teams that could never win. They fail to connect the dots that in the BCS era there were typically only 2-4 teams that could truly win it all by the end of the season, then with the 4 team playoff, there were typically only 3-6 teams that could win it all at the end of the season, and now we are at 12 with about 8-10 teams that could win it all at the end of the season (Remember Miami almost didn't make the playoffs and were one drive away from winning the Natty) At 24 teams I would expect that there will be 12-16 teams any given year capable of winning the Natty at the end of the season, which is far more entertaining. You finally are assured it isn't a beauty contest of finicky young men where blemishes are more highly valued than your successes. If you watch sports purely for the suspense, go watch baseball or soccer. Idon't like being scared every week about missing out on goals you feel your team deserves to achieve if they play one bad game. And certainly at 24 teams the risk of leaving out a team that would have won it all goes to almost zero And this will help contribute to getting rid of the long layoffs that affects teams unequally. And it will get rid of conference championships that make teams potentially play each other 3 times in the same season, risking injury for seemingly little benefit. It will also keep players from sitting out post season games, since they have something worth playing for. Lastly it will draw more eyeballs and interest to the sport with more meaningful post season games. Look at that list of positives! It's only backwards thinking that has taken us over 2 decades to get here, but it's finally here. Thank goodness.

The Oregon effect is still alive and well in college football rankings: If you beat Oregon you must be really good, but if you lose to Oregon it's because Oregon wasn't that good. And yet at the same time, it's a bit of darned if you do, darned if you don't, if you win the ranking of the opponent drops and your schedule difficulty drops impacting your resume, and if you lose your schedule difficulty increases and your resume looks better. However, all that being said, this is the last year for rankings to REALLY matter. Ever. Next year with a 24 team playoff everyone that is halfway decent by the end of the season will be in the playoffs, and if you want to be the best you have to beat the best at that point, although if you're in the bottom half you'll have to do it in the Opponents' stadiums.

Reporters asked Dan last year what he thought about Franklin and Gundy being fired, and his response was "We are all just a few games away from the same fate." He may have forgotten that in the off-season but I'd suspect he is very aware of it now, just like I'm sure he is aware that his approach to prioritizing recruiting chops and youthful ambition over experience and successful track record for his coaching staff has been a hubristic mistake. We'll all just have to see how things transpire over the rest of the season and off-season.

There have likely been many possibilities that to Dan Lanning were inconceivable over the past 6 weeks, but none worse than Dylan Raiola getting a QuarterBack Rating (QBR) of 2 the next game after getting a QBR of 97. It's easy to see in hindsight that Dan should have pulled Raiola sooner, but what are the odds he would continue to play so poorly after the previous game performance? It was reasonable to think at some point that it would start clicking again, but it never did. Some people consider Raiola's performance to be the worst by a starting power 5/4 QB since the turn of the millennium. It was simply a shockingly bad performance without precedent considering the prior game performance. It seems like a microcosm of how this season has gone compared to last season. For sure we are well into the most adversity Dan has ever experienced possibly at any point in his entire coaching career, and it will be interesting to see if he is truly capable of adapting not just his players and coaches, but himself to elim6the blind spots that has damaged such a promising season.

"Oregon has 8 offensive linemen that could be starters and are playing above the line football." Ah yes, the good old days when Lanning believed what Terry was telling him.

These analysts are fools. They think the highest draft spot/ salary is all that matters. Get the highest spot with the crappiest team, who cares if you aren't developed enough and never play! The difference between 10 million and 20 million dollarsis irrelevant. It hardly brings any extra joy at that point. Yet a long rewarding career being better developed and winning some games will make a player WAY happier.

I would say the same about defensive lineman that have to play a non-disruptive gap control technique. I'm sure the scouts still love it, but where's the glory in that!

Yikes. Blessed to be in the 45% camp but both of us are still living so statistically the jury is still out...

It is possible there will be enough competitive teams outside the P2 to kill off the P2 super league talk. 30ish teams would be too small anyways for college. I think the big problem remaining is the G6/P4 dynamic. 136 teams for one trophy is stupid too. They need to break it into two tiers and develop a specific process for movement between conferences at different levels.

Ducks 7-6 (Redbox bowl says hello) 4 sacks 2 turnovers 180 yards Yes that does mean DL TAKES THE PAT this week!

I was thinking the same thing for the UCLA game and ended up with a lump of coal. I do find this matchup fascinating, but being "entertaining" is dependent on if we can move ball forward more often than we move backwards or give it away.

I agree with John here. A 50/50 risk/reward ratio is terrible in real life, which is exactly what the pros and cons are of doing it this early in the game. Dan is taking the points on field goals and now I expect will begin taking the points on PATs.

Does our center have another year?

It's the right thing and I've been a long time proponent of a top 24 team playoff. However with the extra games and NIL spreading out this will cause will reduce the odds we win a natty in any given year. We have missed our high probability window. But hey, hello 9-3 teams that can turn it around and make a deep run, it will be more fun.

Great idea for next year, but there is only so much change you can install mid year.

I don't know man. When some FCS O lines are better than ours that is full of 4 and 5 stars, there is a very serious problem. We can try to blame the talent evaluators instead of coaches but it's not like everyone is a freshman , although perhaps the hope was the true freshmen would be ready to go which is why they didn't hit the transfer portal hard. My two cents is to simplify the blocking schemes and put in the road graders at guard. Just put the guy in front of you on their butt. The extra blocker unbalanced set thing thing worked against USC but it tips our hand that we are running the ball, as does wildcat formations.

This should be considered a team award. "The Oregon Ducks are the Guy Award Punters of the week." I mean we never even game Ettridge a chance against PSU, since we never punted. How is that fair?

I hear Tommy Tofu is being moved to the slot as an extra blocker and for go routes. Dak is moving to tailback to make sure the QB can get the ball in his hands. Dylan Raiola is moving to left tackle because he understands the importance of giving the QB time to throw and is super motivated to block. Dan Lanning is moving up to the box to smack Mehringer in the head every time he calls a play that isn't suited for the defensive scheme the opponent is running. Alique Terry will replace the Duck doing 10 pushups additively every time there is a TFL or a sack on us. (Dan Lanning expects the crowd to jeer him on Saturday) Desperate times call for desperate measures. You heard it here first! (because obviously none of this is true)

When I started my first engineering job around the turn of the millennium, I was mentored by a very senior engineer. One of his favorite quotes was: "Old age and treachery beats youth and ambition EVERY TIME." It wasn't directed at me, but stated as something to be careful of.

This is excellent. Someone get this in front of DL pronto..(I wish). It is interest to see that the OC can resolve some OL issues. Obviously some of the improved outcomes is the element of surprise that the other team couldn't game plan for the changes, but still.

Lanning addressed Terry in the posted press conference above as I was afraid of. "He's had 3 Joe Moore award finalists offensive lines, he didn't suddenly get bad at his job." Actually what if he is only good at getting the line to gel, but the transfers received the proper fundamental coaching elsewhere. The folks that are truly Terry's from day one just suck relative to their ratings. Yet Terry must also have been blowing smoke to DL to not bother with strong Portal OL. Now the gig should be up. DL is no dummy, so I have to hope his statement above is him trying to save a little face too with the public, but deep down knowing Terry isn't the right guy unless he can work a miracle in the second half of the season.

Our assumption is there are unlimited funds for our roster and coaches. Maybe that isn't the case and maybe it's a shared bucket. Experience cost money. If we can afford a $50M player roster, maybe that is because DL is paying lower salaries to the coaching staff which as low experience is internal hires are happy to take the gig. Perhaps someone can dig up our assistant coach salaries to compare with other public universities using AI.

Since Saturday, I have avoided this site. I was simply too gutted to follow Charles' very reasonable rules. I would have been nothing but expletives and hanging saliva strings. Unbecoming behavior for a 70-year-old man. Well done to take a break. It's nice to know our basement level is still competing with top 25 teams though isn't it? Young kids and all can flip a switch. The defense seems to have done that. Maybe the offense can too. You never know.

It's been a really bizarre blooming of problems. Certainly I would sell all of my DL stock if he doesn't replace Terry and Mehringer during the off-season. There is only so much schematic change that can be made mid season, especially with our 1 bye week behind us. The only thing DL can do is lock the OL staff and players in their room and chew them a new one for their lack of execution. Make them ALL run until they can't stand up. Tell them he's already spooling up recruiting to find a bunch of portal players and a new assistants. If they won't motivate themselves by gratefulness for the opportunity, then Dan will just have to motivate them by fear and discomfort. But this can't continue. You can't have plays where it looks like a screen pass because the entire DL is immediately in the backfield on an inside run. You can't get knocked back on your heels over and over and over.