mikethehiker

Oregon 31-6 3 turnovers 4 sacks 263 passing yards Ducks finally start doing a few things well on offense with short fields to assist.

I'd much rather spend on offensive line and defensive line anchors along with a lights out inside linebacker.

Maybe UO could sponsor a Chris Brown concert or something similar to keep these young men out of trouble after the game.

Maybe we should continuously run fake punts. We have a great punter.

Did we just pull a tackle to block across the formation in pass protection leaving the end to smash our QB? Is that normal?

Now Auburn beats Georgia! How are they going to fit all 16 SEC teams in the Top 10?

Texas will plunge two spots following that loss. Almost as far as Mississippi St.’s 3 spot plunge following a 0-31 loss. Florida and LSU back in the top 5.

Dylan Raiola's performance on Saturday two weeks following the USC game had to have shocked everyone inside the locker room just as much as all of us outside the locker room. I don't blame coaches for sticking with him as long as they did. It was so unbelievable. Despite our offensive line, this game was winnable. But then the fumbles kept coming. Brock lost one under center and almost lost another in shotgun. That's not all on coaching. Offensive lines generally don't get healthy in pass protection. They get healthy when they run the football. We've got to get back to running the football. That is coaching. Honestly, if we've got guys in that locker room already eyeing the exit for more NIL and more opportunities to have the ball in their hands - that's a BIG part of the problem with this team. Connection? Do we have players who are here for the right reasons? We'll find out in the coming weeks.

Imagine DAK in this game after inspiring these edgy new uniforms and the "origin of speed" and now linking these uniforms to this terrible offensive performance. That had to be a big part of his frustration.

That's really stinks. You don't want to see that for anyone. Hate that every replay that shows his injury will also show our defender delivering a completely unnecessary punch at the end of the play.

I believe there are issues with both coaches and players across both offense and defense. One week the offense shows up, the next week the defense shows up. We just have no offensive identity. As another poster observed, our passing game has no connection to our running game. We are not scouting ourselves and I believe defenses STILL know exactly what we're doing. Quarterback play (between the ears and experience) has fallen off dramatically since Nix and Gabriel. Our OLine struggles have been well documented. I think coaches have tried to install too much playbook, when we haven't been able to establish the basics. We have two running backs with two very different running styles and I don't think either of them has established themselves as an every down back. Neither of them have looked comfortable at all this season. Sometimes, 4/5* talent doesn't translate into football IQ, nor the demonstrated ability to adapt and overcome when pressure mounts. When Dante Moore is cleared for contact, I think one change that could benefit both he and the team is if they removed his red no-contact jersey in practice. Dante needs to become comfortable and continue to execute the offense under pressure. I have no idea what's happening with our offensive staff and we learn nothing from the press conferences. Every week it's the same thing. Right after the game, "we need to go look at the tape first." Two days later, "we're moving on to our next opponent." If our coaches don't understand what's wrong by the end of the game, how on earth are they ever going to make mid-game adjustments? Sad. The worse part about promoting coordinators from within, is that Lanning (possibly) never got to hear outside perspective on how Oregon's offense and defense could have improved. It feels like a waste that all this talent was not afforded the most experienced coaching staff available. We didn't need continuity, we needed improvement to finally get over the hump. I think we'll rebound for a respectable season. This has been an unexpectedly difficult schedule to begin the season with FBS opponents' record of 20-3. Those same four team could end the year at something close to 40-8.

We lost 5 fumbles today! 5 fumbles! That doesn’t mean there isn’t massive opportunity for improvement, but no team is going to win a Top 25 matchup giving away 5 fumbles on top of 2 interceptions. It’s close to impossible to go unbeaten in this day and age, but UCLA has a great shot of going 11-1 or 12-0. If Boise State wins tonight, our FBS opponents are a combined 20-3 on the year. It’s disappointing, but I don’t think we’re as bad as it looks. I hope Dylan Raiola recovers mentally from this. Not sure what happened out there. Many uncatchable throws for sure, but there was no one open at all today. At least what we were shown on TV. UCLA was flat out better prepared today and that’s a common theme.

What’s sad for me is how far away we’ve gotten from our run game. Year by year since Chip left, it’s gradually gone down hill. All those highlights we love from 2009-2014? They are great runs from LMJ, Barner, DAT, Mariota, Freeman, etc. We’ve gone from 300 rushing yards per game to lucky if we get 100.

I know Brock Thomas didn’t quite finish the comeback (he would have if we would just kicked extra points), but seeing a hometown amateur athlete come in to potentially become a hero is why I fell in love with college football. I miss watching amateur student athletes playing with nothing to lose for the love of the game. The ones who know they’ll never go pro and are playing their last football of their lives. The 2026 Ducks will go down as definitive proof that it takes a lot more than one of the most expensive football rosters in the country loaded with 4/5 star talent to field a good football team. Give me Brock Thomas and other players and coaches who are there for the love of the game. It is what it is. Now is where real players play for pride and real coaches coach out of pride. Let’s get to 4-2. P.S. I have no idea if Brock gets some NIL, but I’m sure it’s not much.

Another QB controversy brewing. Did anyone else notice how terrible Iowa players were at dancing after they made big plays and even routine plays? No TikTok spirit whatsoever.

Thoroughly impressed with the Iowa linebackers’ play.

Ducks 38, UCLA 10 2 turnovers 5 sacks 285 passing yards

Shocking news for this time of year. I thought for sure Altman would had had enough by the end of last season. Maybe he'd seen enough practices to know he couldn't take another year of this.

Thanks Jon. It's not the two-loss teams I'm worried about, it's unexpected one-loss teams that could come out of the Big12 or ACC. And the committee has shown precedence for not punishing teams who play in conference title games. For example, what would have happened had BYU beat Texas Tech in the Big 12 title game last year? Both would have been in (similar to Clemson beating SMU the prior year). What if UCLA goes 11-1 this year? It probably seems foolish betting against chaos in college football with increased parity, but I wouldn't count on it this year.

We don't know how good UCLA is this year. This feels like Indiana coming in last year and I didn't have two worries about the Hoosiers. Not equating UCLA's progress with Indiana from last year, but we better treat this game just as serious. UCLA has not had to put much of anything on film for us. They will have some wrinkles along with a veteran QB who could make life very difficult for our defense. If I'm UCLA looking at this game, there is no Ohio St. or Indiana on my schedule. If I shock the college football world with a win in Eugene, there is nothing that stops me from believing we can run the table to an unbeaten regular season. However, they have not been remotely tested yet and have not had to make adjustments. School is back in full swing now for Oregon, so I hope those who are able to attend at Autzen bring their A game. Go Ducks!

Oregon should not feel comfortable taking a 2nd loss this year. This year feels a little different to me. I don't think we can count on Miami and Notre Dame stumbling twice this year. The Big 12 has a few compelling teams towards the top that could lead to a second playoff spot. With a G6 qualifier, that's potentially 5 spots taken in the CFP, leaving 7 left. KDB may have finally found his footing in Alabama, and along with Georgia and Texas will lock in 3 spots for the SEC. Indiana and Ohio St. take 2 for the B1G, leaving two remaining spots for the likes of Oregon, LSU, Ole Miss, or one of the next B1G teams (USC, UCLA, Iowa, or Northwestern). If one of the 2nd tier B1G teams or a 2nd ACC team goes on a run, it could put OBD playoff hopes in jeopardy. IMHO, we cannot afford an ugly loss or a two score loss in Columbus or anywhere for that matter. Every game is a fight for our playoff lives and anything less than a razor thin loss in a thriller to Ohio St. could land us in the Alamo Bowl.

Wow Charles, this topic really hit a nerve! I'm a 'no' as well. I believe his potent offensive philosophy also leads to his teams' Achilles heal. When the rubber meets the road, his teams cannot grind out wins against better teams. They neglect establishing the run and in his world, defense will always play second fiddle to the offense. When your defense doesn't have the opportunity to practice against an offense that can really grind, it weakens the whole team. Others have spoken to character and maybe some of that is true. However, LA is a very easy place to not focus on football and the character of each player also must factor in.

David, your observations are spot on. I didn't really want to get into this discussion this early out of respect for Dante and the team, but inevitably, the topic was going to be brought up. I have my thoughts on how this plays out, but will refrain and wait for a larger sample size. I think it's prudent that Dylan starts against UCLA for Dante's continued healing. I'm sure Dante was really looking forward to playing his former team, but his former team has had a complete makeover.

I saw some excellent pass protection and blitz pick ups from our running backs as well! Great team effort.

I’d be interested in seeing the breakdown for LB snaps tonight. Seemed we had freshmen in for key stretches tonight which may cause growing pains but likely better for us as the season progresses.