This Wall Street Journal article appears to be locked but it is not.

You knew this was coming.

https://www.wsj.com/sports/football/oregon-portland-state-84-0-b48f9b2a?st=KaNoNs&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

FEBU

I just came off an Alaska Cruise where I missed this game and the Oklahoma State game. I did not want to watch either game on the DVR. No desire to watch us fall apart in Stillwater and I felt running up 84 points is excessive.

Are you going to tell the kid who doesn't get much playing time to NOT score the touchdown? To Not intercept the ball? To Not sack the quarterback?

Go Ducks.

DL isn't going to pass up opportunities for real game reps, regardless of score or opponents.

It's not against any rules. If people don't like this then change something else. My high school league had a 45 point rule. Once you were winning by 45 the game was over. To avoid this one time to get more reps our coach called a play "bad snap" to turn the ball over to the other team so we could play some more.

Then there was the time we played Oregon School for the Deaf, and it was dangerous playing a team that couldn't hear the whistle, so we 45'd them as fast as possible.

Every single rep in front of 60,000 fans and a live television audience matters. When you are put in a situation where your talent and experience can make the difference between winning and losing—between achieving your goals or just "playing the game"—you have to take it. Not taking advantage of those opportunities is foolish from a performance perspective.

Besides, easing up does nothing to build the esteem of your opponent. As if losing 55-0 is somehow more virtuous than losing 84-0?

Come on, people!

Furthermore, if you stop playing before the game is over, you are robbing PSU players of the opportunity of a lifetime. What if one of their bench players makes a spectacular interception in the end zone and gets noticed by a school willing to spend NIL money on a defensive back? Or what if a PSU linebacker stands up Tradirian Ball at the goal line and catches the eye of an OSU defensive staff member?

Would you rob them of that opportunity (perhaps of a lifetime) because of a false sense of athletic chivalry?

As a high school JV basketball coach, I have been on both ends of the spectrum.

When my team is getting their collective butts kicked, I don't want mercy from the other coach. I want my team to learn what it takes to win. Frankly, it's more embarrassing for me and the players if the other team "takes it easy." Last season, we lost two games by 30+ points. We watched film, worked hard, and beat each of those teams in the rematch and the postgame celebrations were fantastic! I'm not sure that would have happened had our opponents took it easy on us and let the final score look more competive than the game actually was.

When my team is doing the butt kicking, I'll take out the starters and not press and perhaps even play zone D. But no way I am going to tell the reserves not to play hard. They have been working hard in practice and this is their time to shine. And it can be a cancer to a team to ever instruct a team to stop doing what I have taught in practice.

In other words, play the reserves, don't employ any exotic strategies, and coach up your reserves to keep executing and playing hard. Just lilke the Ducks on Friday night!

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