David Marsh

Morning everyone, This week's article is here and I'm talking about some January chaos, enjoy! https://open.substack.com/pub/marshduck/p/just-how-close-are-the-ducks-from?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=8foswi

Last season was the last season of the COVID shirt. Sure there might be a couple players hanging around. The trend since 2020 has been the oldest teams tend to win, it's hard to beat expirence. Granted the talk about eliminating the redshirt and players playing 5 years going into the future regardless. Young talent is great but it needs to mature to win championships.

The reality is that college football needs a centralized governing body. However, none of the conferences want that to be the NCAA or anyone else. They may say they want a strong centralized governing body but they really really really don't want to lose their autonomy as that is what built their massive power base and wealth.

If you like a good rant about the SEC I've got you covered today. If you also don't mind pressing a like button after you read that would be appreciated getting traction with the algorithm. Enjoy! https://open.substack.com/pub/marshduck/p/the-secs-bluster-ignores-their-privilege?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=8foswi

Could be true. Problem is geography is at it's all time low in recruiting power. Still up there ... But I'd rank the elements of recruiting right now as... NIL Coaching Relationships Mom's Approval Geography CFP potential

I always have mixed feelings... One yes... Super excited for a new football season. Two... Ughh I have to go back to work and worse still it's the begining of the the year which is always the worst part of the year. Football makes the begining of the year much much better.

He absolutely did and he came into lead an Oregon's taff that was a ton of vets and old timers. And in all honesty they kinda worked out some of the bugs to the up tempo offense under Bellotti. Alioti knew and understood that the up tempo offense meant the defense response needed to change. People tend to have strong feelings about the whole bend-but-don't-break defense but with Oregon limited recruiting strength and talent pool that was the best option to keep the defense on the field for a long time. The support around Chip at Oregon was special and allowed him to do what he was best at. He didn't have that anywhere else... Well Ohio State I guess. We'll see how he does at North Western.

College kickers are more chaotic... The best ones will take it without too much of a problem but the vast majority will not be automatic. Or just bump the starting position to the 50. I do kinda like the sudden death 2 point conversation exchange at the 3rd OT. Granted what I hate about it is that it can take a lot of time in transition as it's one play and flip sides... Repeat until winner. Annoying from a viewer experience as it's just one play. Give them 4 total plays from the 20 and see how it goes. I might have to write another article on better overtime formats.

I hate the NFL OT rules. College football falls into the shootout far more often than the NFL does and the NFL OT rules favor who wins the coin toss too much when that happens. Granted I'd be cool with backing the starting place up to the 40 yard line. Though I do prefer the college football OT rules to the NFL ones as both teams get a shot on offense and defense.

It's been in the NFL forever... As in 1920. It's super rare as it needs very particular circumstances to set it up.

Hi everyone, I have a bonus article this week as I look over the new rules for college football for this upcoming season... And rate them. Enjoy! https://open.substack.com/pub/marshduck/p/2026-new-rules-review?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=8foswi

If we're talking plurality in which the conference has the most competition from top to bottom the Old Pac-12 was the best conference as anyone could win in any given week. Now it would be the Big 12 as they have the most competition from a game-to-game and week-to-week basis. But we don't count those conferences because they didn't or can't win a national championship because they don't have a team that could win it all.

If you don't like the SEC and think they are full of hot air... Oh do I have a fun article on Monday. Stay tuned everyone! Yes... Shameless self promotion.

I don't see it happening either. Transferring is just too easy and he has the skills to play somewhere for sure. The ONLY way i see him switching positions is if being a Duck and seeing the field is more important than playing quarterback. Which doesn't feel likely.

I'd love to see how he does at tight end... The guy is freaking massive! His hands are probably good and he can run plenty fast. But the bigger problem would be blocking.

Monday's article! Thank you all for reading and the support so far. Looking forward to the season starting up soon-ish and I think we're in good hands at back-up quarterback. https://open.substack.com/pub/marshduck/p/oregons-back-up-quarterback-situation?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=8foswi

And weren't invited to the playoff more importantly.

One word.... Defeated

We're on the same page here Jon. But it doesn't matter how good or bad the SEC's results are because it's the SEC and they are compared to their over rated counterparts. What is interesting is that the nature of recruiting has changed. The portal and NIL have made it that our metics of what makes a good or bad roster need to change though they are not wholely wrong. Love your comments Jon.

Remember when non-Oregon pundits were questioning the leadership of Mariota and Herbert? Moore is built in their mold of leadership. He's not going to be a ra-ra guy in front of the camera but I'm sure he's leading the team in more subtle ways that are just as impactful. Let's see what Moore has in store this year. I'm sure he has developed and progressed more than we know.

And the Big Ten who have won the last three national championships isn't seen as a difficult conference by comparison. It's the SEC and the self-fulfilling prophecy. If they are all ranked then they play all these ranked teams. As we have seen time and time again you don't get dinged too bad when you lose to ranked teams. So even in defeat they often stay ranked far longer than they should because hey now... They only lose to ranked opponents. Thus.... The SEC plays the hardest schedule and are the hardest conference. Does reality match this prophecy? No! But that doesn't matter.

Won't the lot be empty? USC fans are usually gone by the end of the 3rd when Oregon comes to town.

I feel the age component on Oregon's roster is why I don't have that many glaring worries on the roster. This is kinda a situation like year one of Will Stein where Bo Nix covered up a lot of problems by being a 5th year starter.

Hi everyone, This week I look at my concerns for the 2026 season. I don't actually have that many. https://open.substack.com/pub/marshduck/p/three-causes-of-concern-for-oregons?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=8foswi Let me know what you are concerned about heading into next season.

It's another Monday with Marsh, as Jon Joseph was so kind to put it. Here is my latest as today we talk about runningbacks. https://open.substack.com/pub/marshduck/p/should-oregon-move-away-from-runningback?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=8foswi