Haywarduck

Let's just tell it like it is. There are no real conferences anymore. We have media run groupings of college football programs which enhance their bottomline. I agree with the Kkid, next step is getting rid of the dead weight. We live in a new world of college football where we can cheer for our program, but there will be no more real conferences. The good news is we can still hate the dawgs, spoiled children and have a chance to beat them every year. The rivalry games will live on. Winning the conference will only be big this year. So let's get it done and win the Pac-12 and put it to bed the right way, Oregon on top!

I would think the defense is at an advantage against their own offense. If anything it is a great challenge for the offense to succeed against a defense who knows you very well. What I would love to hear is how the backup qb's are developing. Maybe we hear about how some freshman are coming along, but nothing. Lanning seems to adhere to the idea the the only advantage to disclosing anything goes to the opponent. I get it when we open with Georgia, but against Portland State! It also didn't seem to help too much against Georgia, but the stonewall continues.

As the Pac-12 comes to an end it is about who dominates at the end. It is only fitting that Oregon should win out and walk away with the Pac-12. We have been the dominant program in the recent history, and there would be no better way to show that then to come away as Pac-12 champ. I want to have revenge on the dawgs and the beavs, but there is much more at stake then just beating a couple programs.

Dorlus is the real deal. He was voted 2nd team All PAC-12 and our defense was poor. This means, to me, the league saw how good he was on a challenged D-line. This also means Taki isn't the real deal. We should count on limited minutes for the guy. I also like Popo, and if he stays healthy he could have a monster year. Popo needs to have the endurance to take most of the minutes at NT, or this will be a weak spot. NT is one spot we need to steal a game wrecker next year. The rest of the defense seems to be filled up with transfers who will either play out, or we may have a defense with some question marks after games. I think we will turn the corner, just wondering how sharp of a turn we will make, hopefully all the way to full steam ahead!

Maybe the beav game was on Dilly and his focus on the devil, but Nix has to be able to beat the beavs, or any rival. I also think Stein needs to show he can develop a qb, and have him ready for the NFL. Stein needs to show he can finish the job of developing a qb, and get one, or more ready for the college level. This is the standard at Oregon I expect. Agree Stein needs to help stop Ty's head from spinning after all he has been through, or hatch Novasad into a serviceable qb quick.

The two things I am looking at this season and next are the qb situation and how the team travels. These two items will drive recruiting and the program. First off Nix has to stay on track or improve. We then need to see the next guy step up. If not then the Oregon qb magic isn't there and that drives the program. From Marcus to Justin, and before, Oregon has been a qb school. Stein needs to polish Nix and have the next guy ready. If this doesn't happen the Oregon brand gets damaged and the desire of tv to broadcast, and recruits wanting to come wains. We need to have excellent qb play going forward. The other item is to play on the road with energy and a comfort level few programs have. The game in Lubbock, then Seattle and finally SLC will be huge tests where we need to meet and exceed expectations. If we don't show strength on the road this season, next season will be brutal. If you look at what the BIG did to UCLA and SC's 2024 schedule I bet they do the same to Oregon. Next season will be even more travel, and the program will suffer if we don't show strength on the road. If we lose on the road this will be used against us in recruiting. It can be a strength with the exposure, but losing doesn't help anything. We need to show we can thump TT and others and make our future road trips look doable. If not the whole BIG thing might not be all everyone is thinking it will be. I say we will be fine and recruiting under Lanning will continue to exceed expectations. I will be looking to see if these two items also exceed expectations, because without it we have a pretty big headwind going forward even Lanning might have a little stutter step with.

Love it, adversity is when you can tell if there is resilience, integrity and all the most important traits you look for. It is easy to be tough, give extra effort, make hard decision when everything is going right. When the tide turns that is when you see who doesn't have it, and it isn't always pretty. If he gave this speech to his team then they were given a good lesson. Now will it take or will the team be full of, from my yesterday post, a bunch of Uncle Rico's?

Maybe somebody can help me with the situation. It was Oregon against either ucla, or usc and our 3* O-lineman was going against the opposing teams 5* D-lineman on a critical down. The O-lineman said or did something which he knew was going to set off the undisciplined lineman and was able to help Oregon get a 1st down. I still remember the replay of our O-lineman with his hands up, smiling as the D-lineman shoved him. The outcome 15 yds, and a first down. The other outcome, in the end the Oregon lineman ended up in the NFL, the LA kid telling stories like Uncle Rico. Colorado is just going to be another Uncle Rico producer, like too many LA university kids.

I like the Puddle Porter, best drank by the Pounder!

Two problems I noticed, both come down to discipline. The simple issue is 'Prime' implying any fight needs to be supported by all. The battle which footbal is, needs to be a team effort, we can all agree. The stupid choice of fighting another team member or opponent can't be condoned. This shouldn't be something to follow. There is a huge difference, and any well coached team will take advantage of that mistaken lesson, lack of discipline, all day. The other problem is it looked like the Colorado players were still a bunch of high school players bodies out there. There might have been talent on that field, but it didn't look like it had been developed with offseason training. Those guys looked tiny! The team Lanning is putting together will have more discipline, and has shown more discipline in the offseason. The trait of discipline, and the lack of it, will haunt the program going forward, from what I saw. 'Prime' had so much talent he didn't need discipline. These kids and most student athletes need discipline, that is the kryptonite of Colorado, and any program 'Prime' is involved in.

Sounds good and seems to have a little more to it than just SPARQ scores. I remember a few guys who came to Oregon with off the chart SPARQ scores, but never amounted to much. I would say the guy who still has question marks is Devon, but his numbers are off the chart. Can our freaks, freakout the season is the question? Burch and Dorlus are NFL level talents who just need to put together solid seasons. If they do then they are writing themselves some nice checks at the next level. Devon could develop into a force, if his numbers can be added up to output. Is he a SPARQ type high score guy or is he a football freak, that is the question.

In this day and age it is all about finding a scapegoat, placing blame. Most people just want to look back and attack. What is harder to do is to look forward, and really understand all the moving parts effecting the now. Right now we have some very big upsides to our football program. I can see that the money will be nice. There are also some things we should be cautious about. Both LA schools in 2024 have 4 games across the country, one each on the east coast. No team travels that far well. There is a reason the SEC schools don't travel, often or even ever. The BIGs top programs (Michigan and Ohio State controlled) both play in LA at the end of the season, otherwise stay in the midwest. This favors the power players in the BIG. We will be getting better money, but will pay a huge price. I am not sure too many are focused on this issue. Seeing Oregon, and the old Pac schools struggle with their 3-4 straight game across the country may get old. We may be, again, lamenting the decision the heads of our schools made. All is not sunshine and rainbows, and the future is just going to be more money and greater exposure. I certainly hope the athletic department is focused on the impact travel will have on our student athletes. The academics still needs to be a priority. Their ability to be resilient after 4 weeks of business travel in a row needs to be considered. Anyone go on across the country business 4 weeks in a row? Most people choose jobs that don't demand this. They may even take a lesser paying job. I don't see this as a recruiting plus, but maybe I am alone in this view. A shot from one of my favorite movies I think is appropriate.

The once constant in life is change. Way to embrace the past and look forward to the future, not as easy as you make it look. You must be channeling the Ducks leaving the Pac-12. The future will be bright for both the Ducks, and you!

The presidents dropped the ball, and I agree they have no idea how to play with a ball. The ball was put in play by the new landscape, field where capitalism rules and traditions have little purpose. This is where I like the historic structure analogy. I don't think we fully appreciate the Pac-12 and what was built from. Ironically it started as the Big-5, then the Pacific Coast Conference. It went from 8, then 10 and finally to 12 as the Pac-12. I agree there are some great things about joining the BIG, but bottomline it was a mistake to mismanage this great conference the way it was. Much like any beautiful thing of value, we often are distracted by the shiny new thing until we fully realize what we had. We have to move on, but I won't forget!

It takes many talents to become an elite head coach. Those talents have been discussed here many times. The talent to become a university president are many too. The one talent they don't have is knowing how to manage an athletic department and their conference affiliation. Sadly the job of managing the athletic department and this whole mess was probably one of their biggest decisions, and they blew it. The whole power structure which made decisions was over matched by the heads of the media companies. These guys negotiate this type of stuff all the time. The presidents seemed to think they knew better, buffoons!

That the Pac-12, Conference of Champions, is for all intents and purposes gone. Much like a historic building no one thought at the time was worth saving, I think in hindsight this is a sad day. When you have something that historic, and worth saving, extraordinary steps should have been taken. I put this on Larry, then the presidents, and then George. I might even put the presidents at number 1. You l always have to watch out for the smartest guys in the room, because they are morons! Sorry, but I have seen this scenario too many times.

Under rated coming into 2023 season Cameron Rising- Utah. If he can come up with a couple big wins early, Florida, Baylor, and then make a run in the Pac-12, he is a legitimate Heisman Candidate few are talking about. Everyone is watching the other big stat guys but this guy just wins, and can lead a team. I wouldn't bet against Cameron in any game if the old coach puts together another scrappy team. I am not surprised the pundits are talking about the above candidates, but a lot of times the winner comes from somewhere off the list.

Sounds like the Pac-12, Pac-10 and now the Pac-4 need someone who can sell a bunch of ignorant presidents on what a decent deal is too. Instead of going with a few deals which were thrown out to the presidents in the past, the presidents have all made poor decisions, and reacted rashly, recently destroying the conference. I doubt another 'consultant' is going to change the one variable which isn't really a variable. The presidents who make the decisions will still make bonehead decisions. They hired the wrong guy, stayed with him for the better part of a decade. They approved a multitude of poor decisions, and didn't listen to the one idea which could have strengthened the conference, adding Texas and Oklahoma. They then hired George and didn't think the ESPN deal was good enough. They then panicked when the saw the apple deal. I doubt these academics are going to do much better with Oliver.

With the addition of usc and ucla to the BIG it was like adding the cute kid with layered blond hair. There was a wow factor, those cali kids are pretty, and cool to look at. With the addition of Oregon to the BIG it is like the kid moving to town who has a skateboard, and can do tricks. You don't just want to look like him, you want to do what he does and be like him. The addition of a husky to the BIG is like we already have a husker, a cat, gopher, badger and a wolverine who can destroy a dawg, oh well. The addition of Oregon to the BIG is going to change the conference, for the better. You can try and regulate against us, like many do with skateboarders, but, in the end, you will just learn to like it, try it, and probably be like it.

I think we have all had kids and know what to do, lets just move on and not pay attention.

The Tulane game, what happens when the turnover luck they had last season ends. This season we will again see their turnover numbers go back to the mean, or below. Some teams rely, and revel in the luck they have, others work hard, and execute.

Love Chip throwing out his ideas. It ain't over, and the future is already here, we just don't recognize it yet.

Not sure you are just talking and writing about these topics before the pundits, or are they copying Fishduck and the Fishduck contributors? There isn't a lot of thinking, or creativity with most pundits. I would guess they are copying ideas from Fishduck! There is the first one, and then........

Another guy on the list of who may step up and make the difference on defense. Popo can also make a difference longterm. The large question is who is going to set the standard at every position on defense going forward. The young guys need to know last year wasn't the Oregon defense we will see under Dan Lanning. It will take Popo and others to man their positions in a way unlike last year. This is something which will impact this years defense and we all want that. The other, maybe more important, item is the older guys showing the young guys how everything is done. From the weight room, to the sideline, to the way a defense works together. Popo needs to be one of those guys who leads on and off the field. If not Popo, who, and probably more importantly who else. It will take a bunch of guys lifting this defense and the defenses for years to come. I look forward to seeing the foundational defensive players on defense this year. These guys have a chance to make the Lanning defense, and a defense we will see for years to come, I hope so!

Expand the stadium, but build for noise. The stadiums acoustics need to add up to the loudest stadium in the nation. We can't be the biggest, but we can be the loudest, if we plan for it. Build it nice, upgrade the food, maybe make more shade, rain cover, but focus on the sound. Autzen where 11 on the noise volume lives. Most blokes go to 10, we go to 11!