McDuck

Great post, I learned a couple things. I started truly following the Duck's with Bob Berry and the Firehouse Four. Some amazing talent passed through the sleepy football backwater that was Eugene, we have been blessed. Cas and Jerry Frei, my all time favorites.

Darn you! Now I have to wait all weekend for the story to post.

As I understand the process the Kickoff Games work to secure the teams. It is much closer to a bowl game selection. This wasn't a situation where the AD's of Georgia and Oregon decided they wanted a game, it was two programs that had openings in their schedule and were invited to participate. Oregon's next game after dropping the NC to Auburn was LSU at Cowboy Stadium, very similar to the Kickoff Game. I'll let the players describe their opinions LaMichael James "We wouldn't want to have it any other way," said James, a Heisman candidate. "If we're supposed to be one of the best teams, then we don't want to open up with somebody just to get a 'W'. That's not the way it should be. I don't want us to do that; I want us to go out and play the best team available." Darron Thomas "A game like this lets you know where you are from the jump," he said. "It's a big test for us, and we are all excited to kick off. We don't like playing a team that we could beat up on really easy. We want to compete."

Disagree with the popular sentiment on the OOC schedule. Oregon finalized the BYU game in 2015 and the Cougars were 8-5 the year before. The Chick-Fil-A Kickoff game is national exposure in which I believe they try to match up national brands. How does Oregon enhance their image by running away from tough games?

According to both Rivals and 247 he has one offer and apparently committed to an interim head coach. No word on whether the offer is still valid with the new staff. The future recruiting battles between USC and Oregon should be intense but I'm not certain this one rises to that level.

Gotta give credit where credit is due

Sports Illustrated recently estimated that 80% of retired NFL players go broke in their first three years out of the League. Now make them several years younger and even more immature. Give them even less sophisticated financial advice. Take away the standardized contract and replace it with ???. What could possibly go wrong?

Imagine the roughly 50 member travelling squad looking across the field at double that number on the sidelines backed by a sea of red clad fans. Intimidation. The RG sub headline the following day was "Nebraska $6 million program defeats Oregon's $500,000 program". The numbers may be a bit off but fairly close considering the fog of 45+ years.

In the early to mid '70's a poverty stricken Oregon athletic dept agreed to be the cupcake opponent for perennial powerhouse programs. One year they opened at Nebraska and the Register-Guard ran several articles on the Cornhusker program. One item I remember was that in many smaller communities they would fund raise to allow a reasonably talented local kid to walk on to the Nebraska team. With no limits Nebby would suit up 80-100 kids and I imagine a lot of them played in their 61-7 victory. The NCAA has given up on parity.

The scholarship limit is not 92, the revision allows schools to sign above the annual 25 player limit if negatively impacted by transfers. Again from the NCAA website, emphasis added. The waiver is effective immediately for the 2022-23 academic year only. The overall scholarship limit remains at 85 for the FBS and FCS. And, in the FCS, the limit of 63 scholarship equivalencies also remains in place.

Five of the recruiting gurus on 247 predicted today he is heading to Michigan State.

Reportedly a strong Michigan lean but talk of Jim Harbaugh jumping to the Raiders (he is a friend of the owner) could change that. I believe he announced he won't sign Feb. 2, probably to see how the coaching carousel plays out. My guess is if Harbaugh stays he is a Wolverine otherwise it is a USC/Oregon battle.

The 92 limit is related to transfers, it isn't universal. The quote below is from the NCAA website with emphasis added. The Division I Council this week approved a one-year waiver of the annual signing limit and initial scholarship limits in football to allow schools to replace up to seven scholarship student-athletes who leave school after the first term. NCAA website

Attitude

Important to note he is co-offensive coordinator. While it is true that at Oregon he was only pass game coordinator so this is a "promotion" it is title only and an excuse for more money. Last year both Joe Salave'a and Ken Wilson were co-defensive coordinators while Tim DeRuyter was defensive coordinator is both salary and function. I have no problem with his being interim HC for the bowl. I get the nostalgia for Mike Bellotti vs Bob Stoops but the situations were completely different. Stoops is about 60 and retired 5 years. Bellotti is over 70 and away from football for over a dozen years. More important is several Oklahoma assistants had worked under Stoops so it was an easier transition.

Speaking of Brown I was shocked to see the tweet from Moseley listing his stats.

Figured this section of the press release deserved special emphasis. He appears to be a great hire.

Suddenly Oklahoma has one scholarship QB, a Penn State transfer four star with only an appearance against Oregon in his two years of college. Could be a rough start for Brent Venables and his six year $43 million contract.

But he did need receivers who could hang onto the ball. From an O-Live preview of the 2019 WR group, emphasis added "Outlook: On one hand, it’ll be difficult for the top end of Oregon’s receiving corps to match the production of Mitchell last season. On the other, it’ll be hard for the group to be as inconsistent and at times downright poor as it was last season. The Ducks led the country with 52 drops last season. That’s inexplicable."

The best QB operating behind one of the worst O lines isn't a recipe for success. Williams is certainly more elusive than current SC signal callers but weren't all of them out multiple games with injuries? Also, the Oklahoma RBs are infinitely better than what the Trojans trotted out last year. SC does have better receivers though

While I share your worries I remember USC fans celebrated when they fired Steve Greatwood and he turned out okay. Oregon fans were pretty happy when Andy Ludwig departed and he is calling plays in the Rose Bowl Saturday. Personally I would prefer the staff was squeaky clean but I don't think that is the world today.

His previous position was one year as 'co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach' at Florida Atlantic under Slick Willie. Maybe any port in a storm?

If a team doesn't have enough players in the playoff isn't it ruled a forfeit? Why should a lower bowl game be different?

Probably a smart move to get out away from the Hawaii football program even as a step down. At least twelve players are in the transfer portal and Todd Graham would probably be fired if they had the buyout money. Apparently rumors of player mistreatment.