Desert Duck

The article hits on the concept of implementing player fines in CFB. I like the idea of CFB player fines... and I mean big, big, ol fines. With the one caveat that the fines have to be paid from coaches paychecks. Plus, the player would be required to do a certain amount of community service in an orange jumpsuit that involves picking up litter along the side of a road. For some, like Stephens, it would probably even give him a jump start on the future career he has ahead of him -- so that's nice. For some reason, if the coaches have to pay, I have a sneaking suspicion that the behavior will stop quite quickly, or kids will start being booted off of football teams. And I'm only halfway kidding about the community service and orange jumpsuit.

The pic is awesome. Here's my slightly adjusted comment that Coach Lanning made: "If you want to win at the Coliseum, come and play at Oregon."

I like the new uniforms. And not to be a Debbie Downer, but has the uniform reveal thing gotten a bit old and maybe even stale? It definitely doesn't seem remotely edgy to me anymore, like it did 15 or 20 years ago. Then again, maybe that's just because I'm old. If it's still cool to the kids, then I'm more than happy with it. But frankly, I'd prefer to see the reveal for the first time when they come running out of the tunnel.

If Dante is out for the next 4 to 6 weeks (which is total speculationon my part), and Dylan seriously steps up and is leading this team and winning, is there a possibility that Dante could redshirt and come back next season?

And I will add that, unfortunately 😉, I do know several USC fans, and they are excellent fans and good people. I've spoken or texted with three of them since Saturday and they are sickened and absolutely disgusted by the behavior of their program. While they were already unimpressed Riley before Saturday, and were pretty much already wanting him fired, after what happened Saturday night, they were livid and embarrassed. While these guys don't have uber-wealthy kind of money, they all do quite well and they all would make a special donation toward Riley's $70 million dollar buyout. Although USC, obviously, completely sucks, I would bet that after Saturday, a significant percentage of their fans feel the same way. Riley might be wise to avoid airport tarmacs, as he may soon find himself getting the "Kiffin Maneuver."

Words for Riley to Live By: Stay away from airport tarmacs.

The one thing I missed until I watched this video is that when Stephens was dancing around mocking Dante & Oregon, as he's moving backwards across the goal line, he then flips off the fans with both hands. It would be really difficult for this guy to have done anything worse than he did out there. Stay classy, USC

USC 2026 = Penn State 2025. And there is something awfully sweet about the fact that USC got exactly the guy they wanted from Oklahoma, and he's only won 25% of his games against ranked opponents. And that $70 Million dollar buyout is just fabulous.

If you want to win at the LA Coliseum, come and play for Oregon.

"Lanning kicking a field goal at the end of the half instead of going for it, another sign of growth." YES!! I almost got a tear of joy in my eye when Coach chose to take the 3 😄 Coach is coachable and is learning!

Oregon is only 1 of 3 teams with 2 wins against current Top-25 teams. The other 2 are #1 Texas and #10 BYU.

Last week, I posted the following regarding Coach Lannjng and our team: Fire is an incredible refiner of gold. "Pressure and hardship do not define a man's worth; it reveals it. Fire, at the right temperature, burns away what is false, tests what is true, and leaves behind something much stronger and more valuable." By now, many of you know that I admittedly can 'wax on' a bit too much. But what I posted above is absolute truth. While I have no idea what the rest of the season is going to look like, regardless, what happened Saturday night, is almost the kind of stuff movie scripts are made of. Some would argue that our season was on the line (as I did), at best we had questionable play from Oregon in our first few games, first USC packed house in quite some time, hostile environment, our team leader and starting quarterback gets cheap shotted and taken out, while many on the opposing team have an extensive cheap shot celebration, as Dante lays motionless on the turf. The entire team, and our coach, is obviously highly shaken, emotional, and worried for Dante. Focus has totally shifted away from the game... but only momentarily, as in the course of a few minutes, Lanning immediately regroups himself and somehow pulls this team together in a way we haven't seen all year -- and frankly, I don't know if I've ever seen something quite like that happen. These kids (and coaches) were thrown directly into the heat of a refining fire. And, at least, on this last Saturday night, what poured out was gold. For a moment, I'm going to forget about the rest of the season -- because this is why the game is played... to help kids, and coaches, learn who they truly are, and what they are capable of. This the kind of stuff that these kids will remember and grow from for the rest of their lives.

That's a great point. If true, and if they were interested in changing culture, then Riley would likely need to get rid many players that he recruited. Also, if Riley had manned up and made a public statement on Saturday night -- or even Sunday morning, that Stephens had been kicked off the team, that would have had some semi-decent positive PR impact for their program. But at this point, days later, and now that Riley's butt is the equivalent of a four to five alarm South Central LA fire, booting Stephens now would look like a sacrificial lamb move by Riley, designed almost exclusively to save his own butt. Nope... as of today, I don't think there is a PR move alive that gets this program out of this self-inflicted, horrendous, situation without some heavy-duty long-term damage. I sure luv these kind of 'feel good' Monday stories and situations.

Perhaps it's worth noting that USC does reside in the 'historic' area of South Central Los Angeles.

The solution is always the same: Just Win, Baby! We play currently ranked #23 UCLA in 13 days. And that Boise State win is going to look stronger and stronger as we get later into the season. The bye week comes at a great time as it also give our coaches 13 more days to figure out our defensive riddle. The great acid test known as 'winning' almost always has a way of resolving the ranking frustration. GO DUCKS!

And... maybe we give the QB's sharp, metal, cleats.

It took a while, but I finally discovered that the trick is to first... and this part is critical, lift up the seat. When this tactic is implemented, I find that my success rate of not whizzing on the toilet seat is a crazy 100%. 😉🤔

I'd guess the conversation from USC to Stephens went something like this: "Here's you apology statement that you're going to read exactly as written."

Woefully inadequate. He should get at least a 1 game suspension for the hit alone. Plus, about an addition 4+ game suspension for his sickening behavior after the hit.

Although it's early in the process, I'm definitely feeling some relief for Dante with the updated news we are receiving. Although Dante suffered a mild traumatic brain injury, which is what a concussion is, clearly, the CT scan showed no visible bleeding or other abnormalitis... or there would have been no way he would have been cleared to fly home with the team. So, this is very encouraging news. I'm assuming, and hoping, that today in Eugene they are running a MRI brain scan, which will provide more detailed imaging of the brain that a CT does not show... along with them hopefully running Dante through a battery of other tests. And hopefully, Dante will bounce back soon, but for his long-term sake, I sure hope that they do not rush him, or that he does not rush himself. That's about the last thing a person with a significant concussion needs to have happen.

It was simply an absolute horrific cheap shot with the intent to harm and damage Dante. Did you see the other targeting hit on Dylan late in the game as well? It obviously wasn't as successful, but the attempt was clearly there. Quite the culture they have down there in South Central.

It's frightening to think about the possible outcomes for Dante. Watching that cheap shot is simply stomach turning to see. Hoping and praying that Dante has a concussion without any permanent damage.

I'm beyond impressed, and frankly, a bit shocked at the exceptional play & leadership by Dylan. To step into the game in such an emotional and difficult situation, in such a high profile environment, and lead this team like he did, is truly amazing. If our defense can continue to improve, and play like they did on the last couple of series, this could quickly turn into a damn good team.

Praying for Dante

The ex-QB, Chrissy Sims, halftime talking-head is an absolute jackas.