Charles Fischer

Email me Tuesday, as I will check for you. charles@fishduck.com

Some of us are old farts who do not like fighting traffic back to Portland and getting home at 1:30-2:00 AM...but you are right in that the atmosphere of a night game is great fun.

Football? Mens and Womens Basketball? So cool!

It is the only fallback they have....I know it well from a tasty article I wrote a few years ago where I relished lampooning Husky fans. So after I skewered everything about them--the "we have superior academics" is trotted out. So then I told him that, "most everyone would admit that the top four academically in this conference would be Stanford, Cal, UCLA and USC. So that puts you in the middle third of the conference....NICE!" The blustering in response was funny and then he resorted to "at least we are better than Oregon in academics." Yep, I replied, "but that is not what is on the football field is it?"

Ha! Great minds, as I went to get the one you posted....but since I am known for Cat GIFs--I had to see if there were some and I had to post that one! Best of both!

Nice write-up about her skills and two "Final-Four" teams were beaten out for the verbal! Kelly Graves Lands 4-star Recruit Amari Whiting for 2023 Class by Don Smalley of Ducks Wire

This looks like GREAT TIMING for the Huskies! Injury Update: Alex Forsyth, Dontae Manning "Full-Go," Steve Stephens "Has a Chance" vs. Washington by Don Smalley of Ducks Wire

I don't like it either, but I believe at Oregon--it will be usual conduct for the future. We will have 4-Star guys who get beat out, are not playing and will leave. Play the best players and recruit like heck to replace all who leave. So many that leave were not going to play anyway, so I don't blame them. As for decommits....in my view we snatch a bunch that have verballed to others, (like Washington) and it goes the other way too. Oh well...

For those that wonder about the "keep it clean" part of the rules? That is what Cristobal said, so this time I am allowing it. The good news is that there was none on this last Saturday!

That is precisely what it is; they have a GREAT passing offense that will be very hard to stop. We gotta outscore them! Its a TRAP!

Brown is adequate at the Zone Read of a defender--usually, but the RPO part is done in milliseconds. The TD called back was a beautiful Inverted Veer that bounced outside and AB made the perfect read of the defender to pull the ball. But I can see how RPOs are tougher. We did pretty good without the RPO this last game, and perhaps the hesitation is why the passes came later as he felt so hurried?

This is a REALLY GOOD observation, and I would love for it to be true. In those three games...Brown has performed better-and-better, and the timing could be better! I hope you are right, and nice catch!

Agreed. Oregon has some hot WRs prospects yet undecided, including one in Oregon.

Under the most explosive Helfrich offenses, (which I personally preferred) we had a 50/50 blend of plays, but the yardage came out to 60/40 passing. Just the nature of it as the average yardage per passing play is always more than the average yardage of a running play.

Amen! I don't care which offense he embraces, but if he can score a boatload of points and create those monster holes--whew! Fun to watch and lots of winning!

Wowsa. I forgot about how pass rushers would LOVE being on a high-scoring offensive team, because opponents are playing from behind and presents more sack opportunities. Good one.

This is the Nick Saban model and one that has worked for Clemson and Ohio State as well in the last five years. It is, to me, the most realistic goal we can achieve.

Something I forgot is that a high scoring offense obscures and overcomes too many turnovers, and keeps them from deciding games as much as they do.

Late this month or December is the last I heard...

(Press Release from Oregon Athletics) EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon football’s game against Washington State on Saturday, Nov. 13, in Autzen Stadium has been scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. PT kickoff on ESPN. The No. 7 Ducks (7-1. 4-1) will travel to Seattle this Saturday (Nov. 6) to face Washington at 4:30 p.m. PT on ABC before returning home to host the Cougars. (Mr. FishDuck Note: Tough games like this are hard to wait for all day, and then it makes a late-night for a publisher. Crap!)

(Press Release from Oregon Athletics) PHILADELPHIA — Defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux has been selected as a semifinalist for the 2021 Chuck Bednarik Award, which honors the most outstanding defensive player in college football. Thibodeaux is one of 18 semifinalists for the Bednarik Award, and one of two from the Pac-12 along with Utah’s Devin Lloyd. He is the second Duck ever to be named a Bednarik Award semifinalist, joining cornerback Ifo Ekpre Olomu (2013, 2014). Three finalists for the Bednarik Award will be announced on November 23. The 27th Chuck Bednarik Award will be presented to the winner as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show on December 9. Kayvon Thibodeaux – Chuck Bednarik Award Semifinalist » Tied for fourth in the Pac-12 with 7.5 TFLs and tied for fifth with 4.0 sacks. » Fourth-highest pass-rush grade nationally among edge defenders, according to PFF (92.0). » 27 total quarterback pressures, 18 hurries and five QB hits, according to PFF. » Career-high nine tackles and 4.5 TFLs vs. UCLA with two sacks and a forced fumble. » One of two FBS players this season with at least 4.0 TFLs, 2.0 sacks and forced fumble in a game. » First Oregon player since 2007 (Nick Reed) to record at least nine tackles, four TFLs and two sacks in a game. » First Duck since Jalen Jelks in 2017 to record at least four tackles for loss. » Bednarik Award National Player of the Week following performance at UCLA. » 31.0 TFLs since start of 2019 season is the most among all active Power 5 players. 2021 Chuck Bednarik Award Semifinalists Will Anderson, Alabama Roger McCreary, Auburn Ahmad Gardner, Cincinnati Jermaine Johnson, Florida State Jordan Davis, Georgia Nakobe Dean, Georgia Aidan Hutchinson, Michigan Kyle Hamilton, Notre Dame Nik Bonitto, Oklahoma Kayvon Thibodeaux, Oregon Jaquan Brisker, Penn State George Karlaftis, Purdue Cameron Thomas, San Diego State Kingsley Enagbare, South Carolina DeMarvin Leal, Texas A&M Devin Lloyd, Utah Leo Chenal, Wisconsin Chad Muma, Wyoming

(Press Release from Oregon Athletics) CHICAGO — Oregon linebacker Noah Sewell is one of 16 semifinalists for the 2021 Butkus Award, the Butkus Foundation announced on Monday morning. The Butkus Award has been presented to the nation’s best linebacker since 1985. It is named after Dick Butkus, arguably the greatest defensive player in football history. One of four Pac-12 players on the list, Sewell is the first player in program history to be selected as a Butkus Award semifinalist. He was on the preseason watch list after being named the Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2020. Finalists for the award are expected to be announced on November 22, with the winner revealed on or before December 7. Noah Sewell – Butkus Award Semifinalist » Leads Oregon and ranks fourth in the Pac-12 with 69 total tackles. » 57 of his 69 tackles have come in the last six games. » Has led or tied for the team lead in tackles five times, all in the last six games. » At least four tackles in all 15 career games, and six or more in each of the last 13. » Three double-digit tackle games this season, including 14 against Arizona. » Second on the team in both sacks (3.0) and TFLs (6.5). » Two-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week. 2021 Butkus Award Collegiate Semifinalists Christian Harris, Alabama Darien Butler, Arizona State Darrian Beavers, Cincinnati Nate Landman, Colorado Nakobe Dean, Georgia Jack Campbell, Iowa Damone Clark, LSU Brian Asamoah, Oklahoma Malcolm Rodriquez, Oklahoma State Noah Sewell, Oregon Brandon Smith, Penn State Olakunle Fatukasi, Rutgers DeMarvion Overshown, Texas Devin Lloyd, Utah Leo Chenal, Wisconsin Chad Muma, Wyoming

OK...I gotta get to work, but that article yesterday got me gushing about how happy I am with the offensive progression, and allowed me to count blessings. This morning are all the articles about where Oregon is ranked and will be ranked, etc. Then I think about how the Justin Herbert/Troy Dye team of 2019 ended up No. 5 in the nation, of which I thought was as good as we could hope. Is the 2021 team that good? When comparing to 2019...which team is better? Which would you rather have? And which is more deserving of a No. 5 ranking? Which makes me wonder where Oregon should be ranked? And where will we end up at the end of the season? Way too much pondering, but it is about Our Beloved Ducks and it is fun!

The easy answer is both, but at present--that is not the reality. But if YOU had to choose....would you rather have 1) a high-scoring offense where a typical score (Like in the past) is 52-31 (an example I always use) or would you want the lower scoring games where either, 2) we grind out a close win, or 3) we have a suffocating defense with a vanilla offense and win by NFL-type scores of 24-10? It is an interesting question, as I've been told a ton of times that, "the days of high-scoring are over, and get used to it." Is that true? Should it be true? It gets to a bigger question....what is YOUR vision of what you want to see Oregon football become?

While the Rose Bowl would be great...I'd rather play someone else. How about you? ESPN predicts Oregon vs. Ohio State rematch in Rose Bowl Game by Zachary Neel of Ducks Wire (If you scroll a bit below the above article--there is another article about Oregon moving up to No. 6 in ESPN's Power Rankings.)