Jester

Someone woke up the defenses after a couple sluggish possessions. Bo Nix doing what Bo Nix does - Looks good for a couple series and then makes a throw that makes you say, "What in the h, e, double hockey sticks was that"! Noah Wittington and Chase Cota are putting up the effort. Seven McGee is going to enjoy this offense. Ty Thompson had a couple good reads and was faced with smaller windows than Bo for the most part. I am concerned over the two injuries. Special teams...yeah, there still special. We'll see what happens in half #2.

I agree with Fred - it will be a year or two. To heap that level of expectation on Riley this year is borderline felonious commentary (if there is such a thing). Articles don’t garner attention unless they’re laden with sensationalized word vomit. Unfortunately, this style of writing isn’t proprietary to just CBS. If a coach having a Broyles Award to his credit, a 55-10 OU head-coaching record, four consecutive conference championships, and had a heavy hand in guiding two Heisman winning QB’s landed his plain in Eugene after the departure of the Havana Huckster, I would have been giddy with expectation. So I get it, LR is practically a "brand”. But common sense would soon rear its ugly head and my enthusiasm would be tempered by the fact that my team (if I was Tommy Trojan) is coming off a 4-8 season, neglected the recruitment of interior line personnel, and will face a legitimate hurdle in the south – Utah. Also, you just wonder how tarnished is the once vaunted perennial SoCal powerhouse. Can the shine be fully restored? It’s clear that Riley has already made inroads in obtaining quality personnel via the portal and through incoming player commitment, so he’s off and running on his quest to restore USC to the glory days. I'm not wagering against him. What’s interesting is that there may be something brewing in Oregon as well. What this staff did in terms of short-term recruiting this year was nothing short of amazing. I don’t see that train slowing down, particularly if the Ducks exceed expectations. The only thing Cobb got right was “watered-down Pac-12”. But the arms race has just started and both USC and UO are looking to squash the left coast pessimism. Let the games begin.

NFL contracts and a salary cap not only assists with keeping things in-check, but also shifts the onus of money-matters from the coaching staff to the GM and his group of bean counters. Trust me, being a Cowboys fan there are times I wish the cap didn't exist so Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum (Jerry & Stephen Jones) could open the their pocket books and buy a winner instead of actually having to have some sort of NFL managerial acumen to produce a serious contender. This topic makes me think of the Arizona Cardinals. Do you think a guy like Cliff Kingsbury is glad he's in the NFL now? Imagine if he was in college football coaching a disgruntled Kyler Murray who was voicing his opinion of a possible transfer. All eyes would not just be focusing on the university, but squarely on the coaching staff. Grumblings of something happening within the locker room, perhaps a tiff between coach and QB has developed, or worst-case scenario..."The coach is losing the locker room" chatter could pop-up. Today in the NFL, Kyler's less than pleased with his money situation so it is now a Steve Keim (GM) problem. To take it one step further, if Kyler were to leave (he's not...he's just being a punk right now) Arizona, CK would get a free pass for the season due to Steve Keim's and AZ ownerships inability to keep quality players. Dang right I would take coaching pro-football over college. That's why, love him or hate him, you have to tip your cap to a guy like Saban for changing with the times even though he absolutely despises it.

Most importantly, at the conclusion of the game I want to see all the players exit the field with no more than typical in-game bumps and bruises. Here comes Captain Obvious – Quarterback play. I can’t remember a time that I’ve been so interested in watching a spring game quarterback truel. On offense, the utilization of the tight-end, and on defense, the coverage of the TE. I know final judgements can’t be cast on a spring game, but last season I legitimately wondered if our coaching staff understood that the TE was eligible to catch passes. Can we see an LB drop in coverage and break-up a pass, or perhaps a DB deflect a ball? Our receivers. Can they run routes, how do they separate, and can they catch the ball? Hope is high, and their measurables are favorable in comparison to last seasons crew, but let’s see it on the field. Who’s this guy, and where has he been? I want to see a few “wow” plays from unexpected sources. If not “wow” plays, how ‘bout encouraging play that gets us enthused about a player’s potential. Who wants to be part of the new and improved Duck arsenal? I could go on ad nauseum on this topic, but I’m going to leave it as is. Bottom line is that my anticipation level for this game measures my typical excitement for our first regular season, in-conference home game. Perhaps I’m just starved for football. Nah…it’s that Lanning fellow. To me it’s the official kick-off of this journey, and I want to see where this sucker ends. LET’S GO!!!

Good observation in regard to Kasper's blocking. Typically with skill position players you hope to see a willingness to block. This young fella acts as if the guy across from him was telling "your momma" jokes. Nice tape for a single year's work.

Guess there's a fine line between being the next best thing (the SoCal Savior), and an absolute dumpster fire that can't hit the broad side of a barn door. 2021 Completion % Caleb Williams - 64.5% Anthony Brown - 64.1%

In sharp contrast, tOSU had two receivers running sub 4.4. This is part of the reason I cant' pile on the AB disdain train. Yes, he certainly had limitations, but I feel as though his passing windows left little room for error on many occasions.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with DJ. He'll go high though due to the hype he had coming into the year, and the value placed on high quality pass rushers. I don't think he did really anything to hurt his draft stock this season, but I certainly didn't see anything that separated him from other top tier potential draft picks. That's probably part of the problem. Based on his trajectory, the perception was that he was going to just tear-it-up every single game this season and quit frankly, he didn't. Wherever he goes, I'm sure he will have coaches that develop his pass rush repertoire, and I look forward to watching him at the next level.

The Autzen Massacre left an indelible mark on my then 16 year old who lives and dies with the Ducks every gameday. The following image was clearly burned in his brain. Please view the pic. with caution and squinted eyes as to avoid a general feeling of malaise mixed with fits of irritability. I should have intentionally blurred this pic. My son (Hunter) can tell you the play call, the defender in pursuit, what the score was following the play, and at what yard line this egregious gesture was made. Less that a week after this very game a young girl named Mirlande showed-up, and her and the boy headed to the family room to "study". Being the typical curious parent, I remember trying to listen-in as best I could without being discovered. All I heard was her speaking a language that somewhat resembled French(?) with a chant-like delivery that left me a little...uncomfortable. This was far from over, so I ask Mirlande to stay for dinner to which she agreed. I asked the obvious question, "What were you two studying?" Without hesitation but with heavy accent, she said, "We weren't studying, I was helping Hunter heal." Heal...WTH? Before I could even get out my next comment, the wife delivered the "stop it" shin kick cuz she accurately sensed that I was about to make things weird for all of us. After Mirlande left, I cornered Hunter and said, "O.k., what the hell was going on with you and Mirlande?" He simply replied with two words, and then walked away smiling. "Jake Browning". In the same week, Hunter had a lengthy conversation with his grandfather (now deceased) who lived in Saskatchewan. He (grandfather) went by the name of Mervin, but I'm not sure if that was a chosen name since he was a full-blooded Native Indian. I know, It's not atypical for a grandson to speak with his grandfather, but our circumstances were a little different, and the two only spoke a couple of times. Mervin supposedly carried some clout within the community, and on this special occasion was called upon by my son for...guidance? Didn't want to be nosey, but after their chat I had to asked what they discussed. He said something about just wanting to talk with his grandfather, and he also mentioned a name. Jake Browning. My son shares Axel's sentiments in regard to keeping the Fuskies in their place. It's simple to put two and two together and conclude that Hunter launched a multi-cultural whammy specifically targeting Jake Browning. He did say that Jake would never succeed in the pros, and to date I believe JB has been buried on a couple of practice squads. Just sayin'. Pertaining to this clown's (Jordan Reffett) tweet, he's clearly trolling. Goofball looked up win totals in Wiki to see UW at no. 26, but a couple programs in front of them are FCS or Div. III. So he's waiting for peeps to say he's full of crap and then for his mic drop, he'll point to the win totals. He's a simple man, playing simple games. His blatant display of ignorance is just the result of recognizing his alma mater's rapidly declining relevance in the college football landscape. Take Care All!

Doing this from my phone, late night at the bar, and I’m not driving home so forgive me if my spelling is not spot on. How you folks feel about this?

I've heard "drip" and "fire" used in the same sentence in reference to attire. Funny thing is, is that my son's friend used these words while gazing in awe at my son's Ducks gear. If this was Jeopardy, my final answer would be: Clothing or accessories that can be worn. You watch, I'm probably wrong and just put myself out there to be an idiot. Young folks, please step in and help us out.

I really just wanted to read a couple threads and get back to work, but there's a few funnies in David Lake's article, and one in particular I can't ignore. The following excerpt really got my attention. Gattis is a young coach that has worked for some of the best head coaches in the modern era as well: Penn State’s James Franklin, Saban, and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh. O.k., I'm not touching Saban but an argument against Captain Khaki can easily be made, and the real laugher is James Franklin. I'm from the hometown of everyone's favorite legacy, and currently live within a two-hour drive of State College, PA. I dig for Oregon news but can't go a day without hearing about PSU on local radio. Something interesting is just starting to happen around here. Some of the locals are beginning to question the Head Coaching abilities of one, James Franklin. PSU is once again top-10 in recruiting, yet the conference big guns have zero fear of The Nittany Kittens. Right after the MC news broke in December, I thought to myself, James Franklin is MC of the East. Horrible game management, does not put players in positions to excel, but...he can recruit like a son of a gun. Ross Tucker is on a weekly PSU radio show and fields questions from callers. Seems as if the natives are starting to get restless. Last week a caller questioned Ross as to why PSU players can be dynamic (Thanks Micah Parsons) at the next level and shine at the combine, yet the team struggles against inferior talent. Ross fumbled for a moment before shockingly directing his response to failures in coaching. It's apparent that even the least savvy football fans today are aware of recruiting rankings which is causing the PSU faithful to say, "Where are the wins?" No one talks PSU when it comes to even winning the BIG10. Plenty of other things to poke fun at in this column, such as both coaches mentioning Mario's vision. The offensive and defensive schemes I was accustomed to seeing the past few years in Oregon were completely void of vision. It's funny how disposable an article can be when it is filled with quoted dribble by interviewees or BS statements by the author. James Franklin, one of the best head coaches of the modern era. Hahahaha!!!

I'm sure we will be doing this exercise a few times before the GA game. At this point, we may have just as much luck asking the "Magic 8-Ball" about wins and loses. That being said, it's fun to put on the prognosticator cap every now and then. Here's what I got. 23-13 Loss to GA, essentially in their house? I'll take it. Don't expect this game to be this close. The Dawgs avg. margin of victory in last year's regular season was over 33 points. Too much, too soon, for this group. 0-1 Eastern Washington. Not only hoping for a win here, but I'd like to see "style points" as well. EW should afford UO the opportunity to show a few of the "explosive" plays that we've been hearing about. 1-1 I don't like the BYU game. si.com ranks BYU at #2 in terms of "Returning Production". I do like this game as an early season barometer of how well (or not) the team is starting to come together in terms of chemistry and concept. 1-2 Oregon rights the ship against an underwhelming Wazzu team. Have a feeling this game concludes a little closer than it should, but Oregon just has too much talent. 2-2 I feel better about the Stanford match-up since it's in Eugene. Why does it feel as if this game always comes down to Oregon's defense needing to make a stop to win. Stanford's recipe for success against Oregon revolves around passing to 6'5" receivers winning jump balls and drawing questionable interference calls at critical moments. Not this time though. 3-2 I'll lump the next two together since I believe we're going to split these match-ups. Regular season games in the state of AZ (AZ or ASU) have not been kind to UO. Last regular season win (against ASU) in that state was courtesy of Vern Adams and 61 pts. in a 3OT thriller. Wasn't Darron Thomas the QB when Oregon last beat AZ in a reg. season game in Tucson? Weird things happen there. Then CK & DTR (9th year starter) come to town. To me, this is the mid-season barometer game. Hopefully, the team is improving and we are starting to see the identity of the team take shape. 4-3 I'm putting the next three together as I believe this should be a sweep. Cal is...Cal, The Buffs are in trouble this year, and upon returning home following 2 road wins, the Ducks should be primed to put a whipping on the Huskies. Recency bias leaves me slightly concerned that one of the games will leave us scratching our heads and reluctantly saying, "Same ol' Oregon". However, I'm opting to have optimism in the new staff. Thus, this stretch of games finishes with Oregon being: 7-3 Well, here it is. Coming into this one on a win streak, and with 2 of the 3 losses coming to top 12 teams (one of them top 3), revenge on it's mind, and prime-time coverage that will draw attention with the overdue national recognition of Utah being much better than "pretty good." Unfortunately, Oregon can't quite bridge the gap the was painfully revealed last year. I'm being "Captain Obvious" by suggestion this year's version will be closer than last year's GAMES, but - it will be. Improvement, but still: 7-4 Was checking OSU postings to get a take on how they felt about their schedule. I just plucked the following (in italics) for reference. Brenden Slaughter & Jared Halus BeaversEdge.com Staff Last but not least, we arrive at the rivalry game with Oregon, and with it being back in the friendly confines of Reser Stadium, anything is possible in that contest as well. Well, they're a feisty bunch but that's not going to get it done. 8-4 Of course these "guesstimates" are all conjecture until we get closer to the regular season. Just too many variables at this point, and then there's the question of overall team health going into game #1. Look forward to playing "Jester the Greek" again following the spring game.

The last two days just make me wanna:

Jordan James is a DUCK!!!!!!!!!!

CBS Sports HQ just stated Miami and Florida appear to be the leaders for this kid with Miami making a late push. He supposedly visited both schools within the past week.

MC stumbled across this headline while scouring the internet for a DC and just couldn't resist a candidate that focuses on the "P" word.

I asked my son for a tweet ruling / interpretation. His response was, "The kid just wants you to say hi to him". I followed-up by questioning the tone of tweet. So Hunter (my son), could the tweet be construed as being somewhat "arrogant" or laced with entitlement? The response was, "No, what are you talking about?!" I decided this warranted a deeper dive. We sat down and I asked him to basically break-down Jahlil's comment as if we were conjugating a sentence. He obliged. The first part "if you see me say what's up" is basically an open invitation to from Jahlil to please say "hi" to him if you recognize him. Part II ("I wanna see the love"), which seems to be the questionable part of the comment, is his way of suggesting he wants to experience the friendliness of UO, and that he welcomes it with open arms. Me: "Why wouldn't he just say that?" Hunter: "He did." Funny how terminology evolves. Things that were once "cool" are now "fire". If you haven't heard that yet...you will. Feeling a little outdated, I asked my son another question. Me: "So, do you guys have a term for people, like me, who are over 50 years old?" Hunter: "Nah, you're still just old, Dad. But, for being as old as you are, you're still in really good shape." Nothing like comforting words from your offspring to brighten your day. He's lucky I love him!

Pretty good take on Justius here.

I’m gassed. I have to check-out from this, or any forum, for just a little bit. I’ve read way too much news pertaining to transfers, NIL, and TV deals in the past few weeks. My opinion of college football is unfairly starting to sour. Years ago, I made college football my safe haven away from free agency, the “it’s all about me” attitudes of NFL players, and the greed of NFL ownership. Sadly, I feel as if college football is now running laps around the NFL in terms of gluttonous behavior with a wanton disregard for the character development of the (student) athlete. I just view the current environment as robbing the student athlete of commitment and perseverance, among other valuable characteristics. Let’s face it, most of these transfers are not centered around being homesick or for unforeseen family related issues. All that’s really taking place is that we’ve given young people an avenue to bow out when things get too difficult, to seek monetary gain elsewhere for services not yet rendered, or to just plain quit due to not feeling the love in their current setting. Regardless, we’re coddling…not cultivating an environment for human growth. I’ll be back when I grow up and feel as if I can begin to accept the way things are. Kudos to those of you who can roll with the punches of the game outside of the game of college football. I personally want to give credit to Jon Joseph & Haywarduck. Agree with Jon or not, his postings in regard to everything I just complained about (transfer, NIL…etc.) are typically insightful and very discussion worthy. If a chat board had to vote a party whip – it would be Jon. As for Haywarduck, I look forward to reading his takes based on his ability to remove emotion (as I’m presently NOT doing) and write with clarity, purpose, and just plain common sense. He’s always a good read. I’m going to the gym. Be back when I’m done being a bull-headed whiner.

I apologize to all of you if this pic. has already been posted, particularly since it may rip open a few scabs from from the 2011 BCS game. To those that haven't seen this, that youngster at the bottom left of the photo is supposedly Bo Nix. I just find it interesting that a kid can attend a championship game as a fan of Auburn (vs. Oregon), grow up to QB his first start against Oregon, and then for his closing act, transfer to the University of Oregon in the hopes of playing QB. Just makes the world seem a little smaller that two universities separated by over two thousand miles will play such a big part of this young man's life. Bo, I hate to say it, but thus far when Oregon, Bo Nix, and Auburn have collided we've been on the short end of the stick. I think you owe us one...maybe two.

I'm going to take consolation (for now) in knowing that Oregon seems to be "in-the-running" to obtain top-tier recruits. A few of the guys (that didn't commit to UO) are at least stating that UO made it to their final 5 or 6. Eventually, those dominos will start to fall. To set that in motion Oregon will have to win, and win with style points. Winning ugly while sporting a different uniform each week may not cut it. This isn't Bama, style points and attitude matter here. Let's hope the new staff can build momentum and get this thing moving.

I'm fine with however this one plays out. I felt that Travis was one of the two guys (Noah the other) who consistently showed-up and gave 100% week after week. Thanks for your efforts and best of luck moving forward. We'll miss the ease at which he could turn a 3 yard run into a 5-10 yard run complete with spin move and a lunge for a first down. He was tough to catch in a phone booth, and had enough strength to break PAC-12 arm tackles. But... If he goes, I'm looking forward to a homerun hitter. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the ability to move the sticks but I miss seeing a Duck back turn the corner and win a foot race to the pylon. Looking forward to seeing the next group of backs get their chance.

Really...calm down there 7th round draft pick, all crimson & white, Greggy Mc. Who hasn't made a statement, at lest in jest, regarding an educational institute of the south? I have, so I'll guess I'll be taking the test with KT and Snowflake. Boo-hoo, he picked your school. LOL! Apologies if I seem completely insensitive to this whole thing, but I grew-up in a house that carried the motto of: If you want sympathy look between sh*t and syphilis. I'd stick around and continue making an ass of myself on this topic, but I gotta find my Hurt Feelings Report and get it out to an emotionally distraught Gregory Vincent McElroy A.S.A.P.