Jon Joseph

Very good take. Gattis 'fell' to Mario after Michigan 'disrespected him' by not giving him a big enough raise. Michigan was a run oriented team in 2021, running behind an OL that won the best in the nation award. In the playoff semi-final UGA mugged the Wolverines OL. Gattis had no answer. (Like many CFB awards, the Broyles Award, IMO, should not be handed out until after the champ game. Ditto the top OL award. But ESPN's broadcast windows decides when the big awards, including the Heisman, will be presented.) Kevin Steele? Kevin certainly did not light it up as the DC coaching for Gus Malzahn at Auburn. Another award winner who, IMO, is not all that. One wonders how long these guys will hang in at Miami? Mario is in rich recruiting ground but he has lots of recruiting competition close by. First, he has to catch Clemson, a team that had the No. 4 ranked roster in 2021, and recruited a top 10 class in 2022. He has a long way to go to catch up with Bama and UGA. And Billy Napier at Florida is a far better recruiter than was Dan Mullen. As us Ducks fans are painfully aware, rarely did Mario's recruits play up to their billing. I agree 100% with your take on Mario and the QB situation when playing for Mario.

Didn't happen today. Missed the record (64) it by a mere 24 strokes! So close, right?

Where is Tiro when DeBoer really needs him? Guess he prefers Roma to Seattle? Very smart man. I know it is hard to believe, but the food in Roma is even better than dining at Shlabotnik's.

No? But a W in Atlanta would be great!

I like Wilner's overall coverage of the Pac-12. but I cannot possibly disagree more regarding this take and also Wilner's support of the Pac-12 not expanding. (I have expressed my POV on these 2 key issues directly to Jon and have 'discussed' these points, via email, with Jon.) Losing @ $15 to $20M in additional post-expansion playoff dollars in 2023, 2024 and 2025 makes sense? UCLA's athletic department is $60M in the red! How does not expanding the playoff before 2026 make any sense at all for the Pac-12? The B1G is not going to drop to 8 regular season games to help with OOC scheduling. The ACC? How will a game every season vs an ACC team drop dough to the Pac-12's bottom line? In 2021, ACC football drew the fewest eyeballs of any Pac-5 conference. I get GK balking at expansion beyond 2025 without knowing all of the financial details; this makes perfect business sense. But go to a 12 team field and table post-2025 revenue distribution? Table it to a time when a unanimous vote is not required to make any playoff changes. As GK has expressed, the Rose Bowl issue is a 'minor item' that could have been resolved. The ACC cratered expansion because it is stuck with a crummy media deal through 2036, if Notre Dame doesn't join the ACC as a full time football member. With a 12 team playoff there is no reason for ND to join any conference. No P5 conference needs an expanded playoff field more than the Pac-12. IMO, this is another instance where GK says 1 thing in public and then the conference goes in the other direction. Who are the people running the conference today? I thought Oregon president Schill moving up to a key conference management position would result in a change in the conference's direction? I haven't seen it. And what has GK actually accomplished or changed since he took over from Scott? CFB? You can't stand still and not go backward.

Great observation. I see the BYU game as a big time swing game for the entire 2022 season. Lose at home vs the BYU Cougars and drop to 1-2, will the attitude be there to ball out the rest of the season? The week after the BYU game the Ducks have to trip to Washington State. WAZZU, with transfer Cam Ward at QB and Ward's Immaculate Word U head coach as OC is going to put up a lot of points. Ward threw for close to 5000 yards last season. 2 Ducks CBs have transferred out. What will Oregon's pass D look like in 2022? Interesting, 2 back to back games vs Cougars; IMO, both will be important games in 2022.

Great take. Take a 9-0 L vs the Supremes? That is some kind of stare decisis.

Thanks for the take. BTW, when I tee off later today in theory I will have a chance to break the course record. RIGHT? This is directed at ESPN and most certainly not you Tandaian, but this is the kind of 'stuff' that proves up CFB having the longest off-season of any big time sport. How about Miami for the Final 4 and Mario for COY? OOOPS! The U has to play at Clemson and OOC, at A+M.

Holy Toledo. I was born in Toledo, in the same hospital where Urban Meyer and Jim Harbough were born. I arrived quite a bit sooner than these two gentlemen. One of the great sports names, the AAA ball Toledo Mud Hens. Mom was a Toledo University Rocket-Woman before earning a Masters Degree in Social Work from Ohio State. She watched the Rockets play in the Glass Bowl. Nick Saban's initial head coaching gig was at Toledo. However, Nick played at Kent State, along with Steelers LB Jack Lambright and another future CFB coach, Gary Pinkle. The team coached by Don James. In his football journey. Nick served as an assistant coach for James at Kent State and then at (BOO!) UW. Lou Holtz also played his CFB ball at Kent State. That Shlabotnik makes one mean Polish sausage. The secret? Tabasco sauce and fried rutabaga. I've been told that the Fighting Harriet's get a lot of clipping penalties?

And I just can't hide it! I'm about to lose control and I think I like it! I've seen the Icky Shuffle but never before have I seen the Duck Shuffle.

May the best man win but no one in the QB room has anywhere close to the experience Nix brings from starting for 3 years in the best conference in CFB. If he wins the job this will be Nix 4th start versus Georgia.

Thanks for the post. Players in the portal have until May 1 to sign with a new team and be eligible in 2022. Hopefully, Lanning and his staff can do some positive portal picking between now and May 1? Hate to see guys leave but it does open up a scholarship for a player transferring in. There are lots of good players still available in the portal.

Thanks Annie. I think Phil's top 4 will in some order, be the top 4 in almost every preseason poll. UGA is not on Clemson's schedule as it was in 2021, so I do think the Tigers after going 10-3 last season will have a very good shot at returning to the final 4. I don't get the love for A+M and the love for Notre Dame? Notre Dame opens the season with a game at Ohio State. ND's starting QB in 2021 is out of eligibility. The ND defense blew a 21 point lead vs OK ST in the Fiesta Bowl. A+M has never lost fewer than 4 games under Jimbo. Like ND, A+M will have a new starter at QB. A+M reminds me of USC in the early years of the Trojans decline. Overrated based on recruiting that does not translate to the field of play. Oklahoma at 9? With a new starter at QB and a defense-oriented new head coach? I think both Baylor and OK ST, 2 teams that defeated OK last season, are being way underrated. Both Baylor and OK ST return their starting QBs. Derek Mason is a very good replacement for the Cowboys DC who moved on to Ohio State. Ducks at 10? is this Phil Steele or Phil Knight's take? Kidding. One good thing about playing a highly ranked Georgia team, if the Ducks take the L and the game is competitive it should not drop Oregon too far down in the polls. On the other hand, with Florida not likely to be too highly ranked a Utah loss in The Swamp on 9/3, would really hurt the Utes. Phil Steele? One of his 'surprise' teams in 2021 was UW. Phil thought UW would be surprisingly good, not surprisingly bad. I do think that LSU under Kelly, will be a very good team with a good chance at finishing in the top10? GO DUCKS! Rock the SEC and shock the CFB world on 9/3/22!

BUMMER! Thanks for the post Kurt, and thoughts and prayers for Don.

Now I see the light! Wilcox was once a filthy Oregon Duck who was 'cleansed' in Seattle. And having been 'Seattle-Saved,' he will no longer have anything to do with the Devil that is Nike U. Right? Thank you Charles. Are the folks who post on the Husky board(s) trying to get a laugh or merely delusional? BTW Husky fans, Billy Joe says 'Hello.'

Thank You Coach for the great article. And thank you Charles for the very helpful 'inserts' that help Coach's article come to life. Coach, what do you expect we will see this spring? The whole O enchilada on display; or, keeping a lot of the O 'under wraps' before the match-up with UGA?

If, more likely when, the Playoff goes to a 12 team field, something will have to be done to shorten the time of today's game. Us greybeards can remember the day, not so long ago, when the clock did not stop on 1st downs. And why not do what golf does and run an advertisement simultaneous with extra point tries? College football games across the board, except for certain B1G schools, continue to decline in game attendance. NFL games for the most part fit into the allotted broadcast windows. CFB? Rarely do games end within the allotted broadcast time. And what was wrong with regular season games ending in a tie? Tie games were the norm for decades before OT play for every game showed up. Start the clock running when the ball is kicked and not when touched or free-catch called, or when the ball goes out of bounds or through the end zone. Also, start the clock when the ball is ready for play after an incompletion and not when the ball is snapped. All of the above have been proposed. If adopted, it would result in the regular season # of plays with contact involved declining from 12 to close to 11 games of play. Duck 1972, my friend, the ACC balked because without Notre Dame as a conference member the ACC is saddled with $17M per team. per annum, from ESPN through 2036. The ACC commissioner will demur but this is the reason behind our Alliance 'buddy' saying 'NO' to playoff expansion. BTW, in 2022, the Pac-12 has no regular season games scheduled against the ACC.

I hope Lanning delivers a DUCKS WIN! habit? If so, I'll have many the coke. Bourbon with will be my choice of dope. Go cocaine in South Carolina? You have no get-out-of-jail-free-card hope. However, in South Cackalaky, you are still allowed to marry your 1st cousin, and that's no joke.

For many years I have tapped into The Saturdays Down South site; a site that covers SEC sports. I recently discovered the Saturdays Out West site, free of charge, that does a very good job of covering Pac-12 sports. Enjoy.

This would be terrific for the conference. But at the end of the 2022 draft, the SEC will again, and by a large margin, have the most guys drafted. The recruiting rankings do tend to follow suit when it comes to the draft. And, how many 'big boys' will the Pac-12 have drafted? Lots of good skill players in the Pac-12 but not much 'beef.'

Great take David, thank you. As you so correctly note, 80 plays a game on O is a terrific goal but one that will be hard to reach against any decent opponent. Let's just hope that the 'walk' will equate to the 'talk' and the Ducks will run a potent and not a prevent offense.

Great take. BTW, Georgia canceled a H+H with Oregon. The only reason to play a one-off in Georgia is so Rob can grab the money. H+H with the Dawgs? Bring it on. But a one-off in Atlanta? I don't see it; especially, when WAZZU has a H+H with Wisconsin and Utah has a H+H with Florida. And tripping to MW schools? How often do B1G teams trip to MAC opponents and SEC teams to Sun Belt opponents?

He came from E Carolina but chose to transfer to WAZZU over Bama. Great move, he would not have started at Bama.

Ward threw for close to 5000 yards last season and won the FCS 'Heisman' award. He could be Minshew on steroids?

Great take. In CFB, Georgia with a 3* recruit winning a title being an outlier, you best have a QB with NFL potential. Brady? It took forever for Tom to start at Michigan and win his final game versus Bama. Today? Would Tom have hung in at Michigan or transfer portaled out? Jordan? As has been said many times before, only Dean Smith could hold Jordan down.