oregon123

After a bye week, the offense was clearly not ready. But I was super impressed with how the defense is coming along. Since I have not yet retired, I'm not sure I want to watch this on my Sat afternoons. I will probably just watch replays from now on. I could go into a deep hole on this, but I won't. They took way too long to switch QBs. That is all I will say about the details. Their playoff chances are done unless they win out and beat down Ohio St. and start looking like a playoff team. The defense today looked every part a playoff defense except for a couple of blown assignments. I believe this game happened due to the OC hire. So that part is very fixable. They still almost pulled it out. Lanning can hire an offensive "consultant" and try to clean up this mess. I hope he does and does it this week. Even after all the bad play this year with one of college's best rosters, I am still optimistic on the Ducks, but Lanning has to learn and grow as a head coach. So as a fan, how I see this team has changed. They have good players, but their coaching and managing has to become elite or they will keep laying eggs from time to time. The OC hire is starting to look as bad as the the Brady Hoke DC hire. But as long as the team has great players, I am confident they can recover.

What are you missing? Oregon coaching just got good when they needed it most. That and the USC players were not getting out of bounds. Poor coaching on their part. They also were getting tackled short of first downs. Not a lot of sacks for the Ducks, but they did apply pressure that led to incompletes. Not too sure if the Oregon safeties are great at pass coverage, but the cornerbacks and nickel are really good at defending passes.

In the past, a weak west coast football would mean that the pac12 is like the mountain west. Now that the Ducks are in the big10, it doesn't degrade the conference as much. But Michigan is down. Penn St is down. Wisconsin is not much. West coast other than Oregon is weak. Nebraska never did anything after leaving the big12. Indiana is up, so that helps. They are still pretty good. This is pulling the big10 down far below the SEC, which is not a good thing. The best high school players want to play in the best conference. Think about that. If you are a star player, you can go to the big10 for Oregon or Ohio St and play one big game a year. You get a monster game almost every single week in the SEC. The big12 lost all of its star power, so the best kids are avoiding those teams like the plague. I would rather live in a world where Washington, Michigan, Penn St could make it to the national championship game. And one where Nebraska and UCLA are relevant and make the playoffs once in a while. If I want to be happy about teams sucking.... I save it all up for the SEC.

This was a good USC team. Did you see their defensive tackles? They are beasts. And USC always has a good passing game. I agree that the slide was late, but the defender accelerated through the play even after Dante was on the ground. It should have been some kind of hit on the ground, but not enough to send him to the hospital on an ambulance. This was a quality win and one of their biggest recently. The O line and D line continue to get better. The Ducks still have some scheme and play calling issues, but it is getting better. Dierre Hill had a much better game. He is now trying to do what he is capable of doing, which is finding open space and breaking arm tackles and NOT trying to outrun defenders or run them over. We all thought we would know what kind of team the Ducks are when they play USC. Well we now know they are a team that can finish games vs competition. They are good enough to be a playoff team. They are good enough to challenge the best of the best and have a chance IF they play their best game. But at this point, I don't see them being better than the best teams in the SEC. But the Ducks are improving. They may keep improving each week and get to that level if all goes right. USC is coming back to what it used to be. But they are not there yet. USC should win a lot of big10 games this year. Finally, I am starting to think the Oregon linemen are not so bad after all, and scheme has a lot to do with it. If the opposing D is loading the box, send the play somewhere else. If the opposing O is max pass protect, then send more blitz packages.

From watching Oregon D line greats like Kayvon Thib, Brandon Bair, Nick Reed, Dion Jordon, Eric Armstead, Deforest Buckner, and others, how does this year's D line compare? the starting edge players are not doing much other than getting locked up with O linemen. Maybe that is a scheme problem? Collin Simmons at Texas does not have this problem. The DTs are deep and seem to be good. Backup edges seem more athletic. Ducks should have brought in some edges from the portal. (as well as O line) I think the team will play more of the backup edges and the D will get better. Loyalty to a player vs finding the right player.

Oregon has some holes in the roster concerning certain kinds of talent. Ducks went light in the portal this year and are paying the price for it. They have to do better at evaluating O line and edge talent. Everything else looks good to me. Except maybe stop getting players hurt in non game stuff? Dan Lanning has to keep growing as a head coach. I think he can.

This is why betting is called gambling. I thought that Lanning would want to score a lot. I have no idea how the USC game is going to go. I see win / loss as 50-50. It is a toss up. Who ever wins that game has a good chance to make the playoffs.

A loss two games into the season in some bad heat and humidity can be overlooked if the rest of the season goes well. A loss to someone you have been playing against for the last hundred years or so 4 games in and it being the second loss leading to a 2-2 record shows that you are probably not worthy of the playoffs. USC is not a top 5 team. However, losing to USC and then running the table would probably get the Ducks into the playoffs. But if they can't beat USC, then winning out is highly unlikely. This USC game will put the Ducks on a course for the season, either upward or downward.

They are very good players and a lot of programs wanted them. The team is lucky they stuck around and did not go into the portal. They need to keep playing, not just in cupcake games.

Here is what I like to compare: the depth chart this year vs various other seasons. Ducks have guys third string who are better than a lot of starters from years past. You can take the best coaches in college football and give them the roster of lets say the Akron team. What will they do with that? Answer: not much. You can fix a lot of problems with talent.

I remember what World, Harkey and Pregnon looked like mauling people last year. This year's group does not pass the eye test. They need to rethink what types of O linemen they want to recruit. This position group has taken a step down from what Mario Cristobal was doing with it. Of course, I could be wrong. How they do vs USC will be telling. And maybe they just have a bunch of guys who need to play more to get better? Maybe the problem was play calling? Too many bodies to block. No mis-direction plays. But at some point, you would want to see some big holes open up. If the O line does struggle vs USC, then the QB and receivers will have to make up for it. There will need to be play calling going beyond two runs up the middle that gets stuffed and now its 3rd and 7 all game long. The good news is that all the other position groups on offense look really good. The better news is that even though the O line doesn't look that great at run blocking, they seem to do pretty good at pass blocking. The OC will have to call plays that will work with the O line that they have this season.

Everything looks really good except the O line. Every other position looks solid going down to almost three deep, sometimes more. I think Dan Lanning should have used the portal for O linemen this year. With the exception of the O line, this Oregon team looked like a national championship caliber team today. Yes, it was Portland State, but they still looked the part. They did not seem to be moving this fast and aggressive the first two games. I think the depth will serve them well for the rest of the season. Bringing in 5 star subs gives the team a spark.

I think the opposite. Keep calling plays that throw the other side off balance, but do it with the subs. And see what the other QBs can do in case Dante gets hurt or has an off day. Lots of backup receivers and TEs need real plays in a game, not just there to block or stand around. Here is where we probably agree: Davison was playing waaaaay too much. Don't get him hurt in a game like this. Hill looks very pedestrian. You need to save Davison for the real games.

Oregon 63-6 1 2 300

"Not as Good as Hoped for" When have I also felt this way? Quite a few times, actually. (going by memory, might be wrong on some details) 2011 vs LSU Last two losses in playoff games that bad loss in late 2019 which kept Ducks out of playoffs (they could have done something in playoffs that year) first two Boise St losses, especially with the Legarrette Blount meltdown. the loss to the beavs a few years ago And probably the biggest one: Lanning's first game vs Georgia Flip the script, what about unexpected wins that pumped us up? Oklahoma 2006 USC 2008? Ohio St when CJ Verdell broke free on that long TD run But this loss feels worse in one special way. With the others, it was just one thing to fix like we need better linemen, or stop playing down to inferior talent, get the players motivated and up for the game, or stop calling bad plays, etc. This one feels 'unexplainable'. How did this team with same coach and such great recruiting go from a powerhouse to mediocre so fast? So I think it feels worse than most of the others. They outgained Boise St but made mistakes and won. OK, they fix the mistakes and all should be well. Ok st made the mistakes this time that kept Oregon in the game. Ok st drastically outgained and handled the Ducks. Ok st is Colorado 2.0 with all the transfers. How did a team with a new coach and all new players have it together so much better than Oregon with all its returning talent? This makes it kind of tough to deal with. I am still optimistic that Oregon will eventually recover and climb back on top and be a top 10 or top 5 team again. But it might take some time. I have seen Oregon recover from the bottom of the pit so many times that I have to believe it will happen again. I thought these kinds of games were over when Cristobal left. This game is kind of like when USC lost to the beavs in the 2 thousands. It should not have happened. I'm going to spout off my 'wild theory here'. Dan Lanning is too loyal to his players. When they are not playing great, he stays with them. If this is indeed true, I hope that situation changes. Perhaps he could have been too loyal to his coaching staff as well? And is Lanning too loyal to his schemes when college football changes each and every day?

Or is Oregon kind of the same and other teams are getting better? Or is Oregon getting worse because it cannot replace what it lost from last season? I think things will improve when the backups develop and bring something to the field. The vets look old and stale.

If I ran the team... edge players and offensive tackles would be my highest priority, in that order. The 2019 team had Thibadeaux and Sewell, probably the two best at their positions in all of college football that year. What we have this season at those positions - don't seem to be winning one on one battles very often. Of course, scheme could be part of it. But I will let you break that one down as you are far better at it than me. Why did Matayo go from dominating two seasons ago to mostly just locking up with O linemen this year? I don't know but my best guess is that Oregon has gotten 'predictable' and opposing teams are exploiting the weaknesses in the schemes.

I have a different kind of take. I only saw first half, but saw all of last game. After playing in a baseball game, I came back and watched most of Texas vs. Ohio St. I looked at all those players and compared them to what I have seen watching Oregon players so far. Two different worlds. Oregon lost some beastly dudes from last year. World, Pregnon, Harkey, Sadiq, Betcher, Theinamen, and some backup D linemen, to name a few. So who on the team this year really impresses you with their physicality? Intensity? Sense of purpose? I have a few in mind, but certainly not the whole team. Last year, Penn St lost a couple of absolute studs. Everybody blamed it on the coach when they didn't play to the same standard. Like the most excellent Mike West said - the coaches don't play, or something like that. I think with this team, the receivers and secondary are very good. Dante has an accurate arm most of the time. But if the play just isn't there, I rarely see anything to excite me like what Bo Nix used to do. I saw much improvement at inside linebacker from last game, so that is a plus. The O line and D line are not dominating. Not even close. I am not going to bag on them because they are doing the best they can. The truth is a lot of lesser rated high school kids get on a team and get better and are able to compete. Oregon as a team, has to compete and try to win vs lower ranked or unranked teams this year. As opposed to dominating them like we have become used to. My big question is: why don't the Oregon players look and play like the Ohio St / Texas players? What happened to physical development? Is Oregon getting players who have hit their ceiling in high school? Why aren't all these O linemen who have been 'in the system' for a while not pushing back D linemen? As fans, getting frustrated at the season serves no purpose. Oregon still has some good players and a lot of highly rated prospects. This fan will be watching for the up and coming like D. Williams, Offord, Ihenacho, Rushing, Tank Jones, etc. to start 'popping' out on the field. I think the fix to this 'funk' is to get some fresh blood on the field. I would like to see more of Wyatt for one example. I doubt that coaching is the problem. I predict that as the season wears on, we will see more of the reserves get more time. They should develop and things should look better. Also think of this... compared to the last few years, doesn't Oregon have fewer portal players starting? It seems so. If true, how does that affect things? Are we becoming like Clemson? Portal players are already developed and proven. Just plug and play. Easy Peasy. Breaking in newbies is always a gamble. Maybe Boise St and Ok St are pretty good this year??? OK St got 65 portal players with a lot of university money. They also brought in a good QB. (who is also mobile) A good test of what this team really is will be the USC game. They have a couple of weeks to sort out the bugs. I would like to say all will be well by then, but there appears to much to fix in a couple of weeks. I think Dante will be better. I think opposing receivers will be covered better. And I think Duck receivers will catch better. If the O line still can't run block, then things will be very tough all season long. The thing I am most worried about is this: is college football changing so fast that it has already passed up Dan Lanning like how college football passed up Sweeny, Gundy and so many other head coaches? If Lanning is a good head coach, he will need to fix what is broken. Blaming it all on himself is what Helfrich used to do. It is not a good look. He shouldn't point fingers but instead just say some things need to get fixed and leave it at that. What I am specifically looking for is: O line that can push back and create holes, cover receivers, and create some misdirection plays, and more pass rush from the edge players. They can still save the season and make the playoffs. Even if they lose the first playoff game, that will still be a great turn a round. Ducks still have a loaded roster. That hasn't changed. Beat USC and Ohio St and everything will be back to normal. Get pushed around and lose badly to those teams, then the team has to dig itself out of a deep hole. It is not going to be perfect or even close to it every season.

They can't all play. That is the sad part. I no longer get bummed about it. They battle it out at practice. Who is best gets on the field. So now I'd like to see them beat out Ohio St, Alabama, Texas and Georgia every year for the best edge rushers and linebackers.

Even though I am a Ducks football fan, I like the Beavers baseball team. Something about going all the way and getting it done. But even more than that, those guys are strong. I was able to see them play when the pac12 was ending and they looked jacked compared to the weak looking UCLA players. I am glad the U. of Oregon is playing baseball again. I am not glad that the pac12 broke up and I think it hurt west coast college baseball. It did turn out good for the good pac12 football teams who went to the Big10. The SEC has had the spotlight for college baseball for a while now and I don't see the Big10 changing that soon. But I don't watch or follow all that much, so I could be wrong. Oregon needs to beat some SEC schools in baseball to get things going. Just beating the beavs doesn't mean much outside of the pacific northwest. Oregon also needs some big named superstars.

This is what I want to see - more quality and athletic edge rushers. They make a huge difference. Most important position, in my opinion. Quarterbacks can't throw when these guys put them on the ground.

I get more jacked for D Line recruits than any other group. This player looks like an athlete, which is what the team needs. They need to keep bringing in defensive tackles too.

2006 on side kickoff 'recovery' to beat Oklahoma This was the one in my book that pissed off the world that Oregon won. For that, I will always give the number one spot. 2007 beating USC and I think a game later, surged the Ducks to number 2 in the nation. That was really big. New heights. This was the era of USC being a national powerhouse. (beat Michigan earlier in season as well) This ranking put Oregon in the club of super teams, not just the pretty good who could win an upset. From this point until the end of the 2014 season, Oregon was ranked very highly many times. 2010 Blowout win vs Tennessee. Showed the world that Oregon was not just a west coast team that could be other west coast teams. Cliff Harris was on top of his game. A real superstar... while it lasted. Give credit where credit is due. 2019 losing to Az St. Iconic in a bad way. Showed that Cristobal and his team could sink to new lows. Made me lose my mind over stuff like this. Ducks should have run the table after the close opening season loss to Auburn. Oregon had a supremely talented roster that year including Kayvon Thib, P. Sewell, Holland, Herbert and others,including some future NFL cornerbacks. They had a real chance to win its first natty that year except for that loss that knocked them out of the playoffs to a very mediocre pac12 team. A team that was surging lost all the air out of their balloon. Just win out and get back to playoffs. But nooooooooooooooooo. 2021 beat Ohio St. Knocked off a super team that was always around championships in that era. Got up to #3 shortly after that. Oregon was 'back' to the Chip Kelly glory days... until more classic Cristobal bad performances and I think that was the year Cristobal left the team and took the Miami job. But it still was a shot of adrenalin for the team and the fans. It woke up the media, that was for sure. 2022 blowout loss to Georgia - iconic in a bad way. From the lows of 2016, Oregon had been climbing back and several times they were almost making playoffs again. Cristobal out and Lanning in. Dan Lanning 'worked' the portal and brought in a high school 5 star QB in Bo Nix. Oregon should have been competitive, even though this was Georgia's best team ever in history. This was a huge kick to the nuts for Duck fans. Still need more time to regroup. Quite a few Duck fans jumped off the band wagon at this point. 2010 season natty vs Auburn. Even though the team lost, it showed that Oregon could compete for a championship. The team hung in there against a talented Auburn team and could have won it if they got a break or two. It made the fans believe that Oregon could hang with the big boys. Yes, moral victories are important. Don't forget the undefeated regular season! End it with another bad one: 2009 loss to Boise St Oregon was surging and Chip just got promoted. This was when Boise St was good. This should have been a great win for the Ducks to kick off the season. Not only was it a loss, but a complete meltdown with espn showing non stop replays of L. Blount losing his mind after the game. The Ducks did rebound that year and make it to the Rose Bowl. To me, these are the kind of games that write the Oregon football story. I don't care too much about playing the Wisconsins, Washingtons, and Beavers of the world. Iconic to me means games that have a national relationship, not just a local one. These games tell the story of climbing the ladder, getting knocked down and then redemption. And the cycle continues. These are the kind of games that make the big wins actually mean something. If it was easy, who would care? I am not the kind of guy who yells USA USA USA at my tv during the olympics. America is the best nation at sports and of course they are going to win medals. THe big losses are just as much part of the path as the big wins for Oregon. It is a journey, not a pleasure cruise. Ducks have a very talented roster for 2026. I am more excited about this coming season than any other.

Just a reminder: End of Feb is last day to enter the contest - but we will give you till the end of the entire weekend. Make your prediction and indicate whether you are in the for the money - losers send in 10 bucks to winner at end of upcoming season. I'll try to read what is in here and make a final post w/ predictions by person on Sun or Mon so it is easy to read. See first post for contest rules and tie breakers. You can change your original guess if you do it by this weekend. You can enter also if you do it by this weekend. Have Fun.

The byes have been a giant failure. They don't want to sit while everybody else plays. And then they are rusty when they play. 32 is too many. #32 vs #1 first round is like Oregon playing Portland State. Any big 4 can climb to #16 by winning games. Nobody owes anybody an invitation without earning it in the polls. Just because you beat junior varsity teams and have some wins doesn't mean you are great. The glory of the conference championship games went away when they did away with the divisions. Back then, there was some pride in your division. Now, it is just an exhibition game kind of preview of the playoffs. What they could do is bring back divisions (since the conferences are so big now) and factor that into the schedule and the polls as the season wears on. I would be OK with the top 4 conferences getting their division winners in and then playing with just them. To do that, ND would need to join a conference. The big 4 would have to pick up the pac12 teams that are worthy plus a few others. Or remake the pac12 and merge the southeast into one conference. Even with 12 teams, those at the bottom of the best 12 cannot compete. That is just how the game is.