noDucknewby

Seems like a bad idea to me, the $ would be better spent on the O-line.

OK I get it, we're half way through the season with significant injuries to key positions. Of course fans are upset and disappointed (myself included), but a mid-season firing would be an act of desperation. That said, we all can see the glaring weaknesses of this team, so if at the end of the season it's more of the same then I would think you would have to make changes. I believe I read that Stein took two of our O-line assistants (Kentucky's line seems to be doing just fine). Maybe more of our past success can be attributed to them than we suspect. Regardless, nothing works for our offense (or any offense for that matter) without good line play. If changes have to be made then that's where I'd start, and since Poncho is gone next year we better sell our soul for some elite linemen.

Honestly I think you can make a better argument it's his worst coaching job for the season, with the caveat that the USC game may have been his best single game performance as a coach and leader of young men. However I have to ask the question, "Does this team look well-coached?". To me the answer is no. The team looked totally unprepared for the Okie St and UCLA games, the latter coming off a bye week. Lanning's in-game decisions haven't been great either. In Stillwater he went for a long 4th down in our own territory with over 8 minutes to go and down a single score. In the UCLA game his decision to go for a 2-point conversion early in the first quarter kept us from OT or a chance to WIN the game outright. He left Raiola in too long against UCLA and he left Thomas in too long against Nebraska. Speaking of the Nebraska game, he could have just run out the clock before halftime, essentially gifting a possession and consequent TD to Nebraska. The way our offense played in that first half there's barely a non-zero chance we move the ball down the field for a quick score before halftime. How about his off-season personnel hires? It's admirable to promote within whenever possible, but with or without Dante Moore this offense has taken a huge step backwards. Results matter. Oh yeah we're also unranked for the first time in DL's tenure and all but mathematically eliminated from the playoff in October. I'm not a hater and I still think DL could be an elite coach for us, but he's not there yet. I trust my eyes on this one.

One of them HAS to lose. Works for me!

You can't expect 4th stringers to "ease up" on PSU players. They may not see the field again the rest of the season. How about that special father and son moment between the Bidwells that doesn't happen if we just run the ball every play? IMHO we just shouldn't be playing FCS schools anymore, period. There are lots of G6 schools out there that would be willing to play us, and yes that includes the barkrats. I'd much rather play them than PSU, Idaho or Stoney Brook.

I don't really have a problem with this, the Spoiled Children have twice as many wins as we do and we've got a bad loss and a lackluster win. The only thing that matters is Saturday's result when we find out who the better teams really is.

Excellent analysis, couldn't agree more.

Still scratching my head on this one, even with reshuffling the O-line the defense should be able to keep us in the game long enough for the offense to get on track. Granted the turnovers were huge, but we still can't get off the field on third (or fourth) down and our red zone defense is still atrocious. We really have no idea how good Okie St. is, but even with the turnovers and giving up a pick-6 they found a way to win. DL has real problem on his hands, this team has regressed in every phase except the kicking game which has been outstanding (the return game not so much). Hopefully this will light a fire, but it shouldn't take a loss to an overmatched team to motivate a team with national title aspirations.

Early season polls are pretty much a joke, it sucks that they still have any bearing (yeah I know not officially, but they still are a factor). Last year the domers were still ranked at 0-2. We're lucky to be ranked at all the way we played on Saturday. The only thing the BCS got right was to release their initial rankings at the midway point of the season. I'm scratching my head over this one, DL appears to have a real problem on his hands. Sure the O-line issues can explain some of the offensive problems, but wth is going on with the defense, especially the D-line? As Duck fans we've been through plenty of turmoil over the years and I'm certainly not giving up on my team, but if DL can't get it figured out then we may be elimated from playoff consideration in September.

Early season polls are pretty much a joke, it sucks that they still have any bearing (yeah I know not officially, but they still are a factor). Last year the domers were still ranked at 0-2. That said, we're lucky to be ranked at all the way we've played.

As ridiculous as it is, the polls still count. Sure if we finish 12-0 or 11-1 this doesn't hurt us in the slightest. Hypothetically though, if we wind up a bubble team @ 10-2 with losses to tOSU and USC, then that narrow win can and will be used against us, especially if BSU winds up with 2 or 3 losses. I'm not saying it doesn't have value as a teachable moment for DL, but externally it's more of a liability.

Of course we can beat them, we just don't get much value out of the win.

Granted the last two BSU games have been very exciting, but there isn't much advantage to playing them. If we blow them out it's just expected, but if we win a close one it can actually hurt us. There's just not much to be gained, and if we lose then it could really hurt us down the road. A non-conference loss from a big time program wouldn't hurt us near as much. BSU still gets no respect on the national stage and when we narrowly beat them, neither do we.

Baby steps, but incremental change is better than the status quo. IMHO the portal window shouldn't start until after the season is over. I get the conflict with the academic calendar, so let's figure out a way to have the playoffs wrap up around New Year's Day. That should go double for the coaches--if your team is still playing then you should still be coaching.

Wow, I guess I've been to all those games. My favorites: The Civil War for the Roses. Going on memory here, but I believe we possessed the ball for the final nine minutes, strangling the rodents Rose Bowl hopes. The memory of watching the clock tick down to zero as the crowd erupted still gives me chills. Fright Night vs USC. Up yours Pete, your dynasty is over and ours is just beginning. Absolutely electric atmosphere, not sure I've ever heard Autzen louder. Barkley mouths off then gets stuffed for his worst game of the season. Stanford 2010, one of my best fall memories. Fished pre-game for steelhead on the Willamette. My brother and I hooked four and landed two, the latter boated right underneath the Autzen footbridge. Epic comeback punctuated by LMJ's housecall burst right up the middle to put the game on ice. Vs tOSU 2024. There sure was a lot of red in the stands that day, but you couldn't even hear them as they were drowned out by the Autzen faithful. Damn that was a loud one. I was worried bad officiating was going to cost us that day, but in the end OBD pulled it off with clutch plays and a little DL wizardry.