Geeze. What an abysmal Saturday that was. After a surprisingly easy first drive TD against the 90th ranked defense in the country, the Ducks proceeded to enact every negative offensive characteristic that they've displayed all season up to this point.

Discombobulated O line, check. Confused and flustered QB, check. Drive killing whack a doodle play calling, check. The classic third and nine two yard pass so common that everyone called it pre snap time and time again, check. The people of Illinois should thank the Ducks for allowing that retro reenactment of the 85 Chicago Bears defense to take place on their home field.

Lanning is going to have to address one of two elephants in the room. Either he has assembled an offensive unit of fake 4/5 star players or he has assembled a fake offensive coaching staff. Every QB the Ducks have put on the field this year has looked atrocious. Is that because two five stars and a three star have forgotten how to play or is it that a former tight end with no QB position coaching experience has no idea what he's doing?

Are all the 4/5 star guys on the O line all frauds or does the O line coach not know how to teach the position. The success of O lines past has come from experienced portal guys coming in or pre Terry guys already on the roster. His pre Ducks OL coaching experience was a whopping one year at Hawaii.

Is the entire offensive unit just not getting the genius of OC Mehringer or could it possibly be that he is truly the worst OC in the country?

This morning Coach Lanning will have to make this assessment and act accordingly. He either blames his players and keeps his coaches or blames his coaches and makes changes. If he keeps his coaches and blames the players then they will all just tune out and start planning their post Duck futures and rightly so. If he acknowledges his own staffing failures and acts on it, he lets the players see him take accountability with a plan to course correct next season.

This year has gone up in the biggest what if inferno since Dennis Dixon went down. The fan base can either still root for accountability regardless of outcome or will tune out denial as more 3rd and 9 two yard passes stack up. The choice is Lanning's.

"Either he has assembled an offensive unit of fake 4/5 star players or he has assembled a fake offensive coaching staff."

Exactly. There's only Door #1, or Door #2.

There is no Monty Hall (just to show my age there) offering a Door #3.

7 minutes ago, Desert Duck said:

There is no Monty Hall (just to show my age there) offering a Door #3.

I'd take Monty calling plays at this point.

Geoff Schwartz's thoughts:

I am an old time DUCK fan. As a student, my first Head Coach was Len Casanova. I played JC basketball in California and tried to walk on the Oregon BB team and lasted all of one hour. I have watched all of this for 60+ years and have finally reached some level of exhaustion.

I think our Head Coach Dan Lanning has lost control of this team. Where is the leadership? All the comments about the OC and DC and position coaches are the result of the HC hiring these coordinators and position coaches and not being willing to make changes. Last night Oregon did not look like a team. Illinois looked like a team with a HC in charge.

RaShaad Samples gets a DUI this summer and there was no visible punishment. No surprise to me to see Evan Stewart get a DUI plus no drivers license. I lost a family member to a drunk driver so I have no mercy here. I started my own business 50 years ago and retired last year. I hired people and I fired people. I understood that ultimately the success of my business was me making good decisions and sometimes tough decisions. Our President Harry Truman had a sign on his desk that said "The Buck Stops Here". I think it is time for Rob Mullens to get actively involved.

5 minutes ago, Santa Rosa Duck said:

I think it is time for Rob Mullens to get actively involved.

No joke. I can chalk up the Ok St defeat to you win some you lose some but everything since then has been gross neglagence.

I agree Lanning is NOT capable of bringing us to the promised land.

Seems like a great speaker until you realize that he really didn't say anything.

Never really cared for Cristobal but he is a better head coach than Lanning.

40 minutes ago, The Kamikaze Kid said:

"Is that because two five stars and a three star have forgotten?"

While I agree with the majority of your post, based on what I saw of Raiola yesterday, my answer is a resounding "Yes, at least one five-star has forgotten how to play!"

On one fateful drive midway through the third quarter—with an opportunity to retake the lead—Dylan rolled to his right. He had a receiver wide open at first-down yardage with nothing but green grass between them, yet he proceeded to throw a 10-yard pass five yards over the receiver's head.

At that point, it was hard to blame the scheme or the coaching. There is no other conclusion to draw: this guy has truly forgotten how to play the game.

2 minutes ago, John Charles said:

At that point, it was hard to blame the scheme or the coaching. There is no other conclusion to draw: this guy has truly forgotten how to play the game.

Hard to ague with that logic. My point is what could a Joey Harrington or Jonathan Smith as a QB coach teach about staying poised and disciplined during a chaotic play vs a back up tight end as your coach.

1 hour ago, The Kamikaze Kid said:

Geeze. What an abysmal Saturday that was. After a surprisingly easy first drive TD against the 90th ranked defense in the country, the Ducks proceeded to enact every negative offensive characteristic that they've displayed all season up to this point.

Discombobulated O line, check. Confused and flustered QB, check. Drive killing whack a doodle play calling, check. The classic third and nine two yard pass so common that everyone called it pre snap time and time again, check. The people of Illinois should thank the Ducks for allowing that retro reenactment of the 85 Chicago Bears defense to take place on their home field.

Lanning is going to have to address one of two elephants in the room. Either he has assembled an offensive unit of fake 4/5 star players or he has assembled a fake offensive coaching staff. Every QB the Ducks have put on the field this year has looked atrocious. Is that because two five stars and a three star have forgotten how to play or is it that a former tight end with no QB position coaching experience has no idea what he's doing?

Are all the 4/5 star guys on the O line all frauds or does the O line coach not know how to teach the position. The success of O lines past has come from experienced portal guys coming in or pre Terry guys already on the roster. His pre Ducks OL coaching experience was a whopping one year at Hawaii.

Is the entire offensive unit just not getting the genius of OC Mehringer or could it possibly be that he is truly the worst OC in the country?

This morning Coach Lanning will have to make this assessment and act accordingly. He either blames his players and keeps his coaches or blames his coaches and makes changes. If he keeps his coaches and blames the players then they will all just tune out and start planning their post Duck futures and rightly so. If he acknowledges his own staffing failures and acts on it, he lets the players see him take accountability with a plan to course correct next season.

This year has gone up in the biggest what if inferno since Dennis Dixon went down. The fan base can either still root for accountability regardless of outcome or will tune out denial as more 3rd and 9 two yard passes stack up. The choice is Lanning's.

Spot on post. I don't think Dan is unaware of the very valid points you made.

In today's world of CFB you cannot lose the off-season.

Texas A&M's Mike Elko is in the same boat as Dan. And Elko doesn't have his 1st string QB out for a significant part of the season. But under a new OC, A&M QB Marcel Reese's play has regressed. Like Oregon, A&M is getting a terrible ROI from one of the most expensive rosters in CFB.

There is nowhere to hide in the Power 2. The B1G, of course, has a few bottom feeders, but it is very difficult to win games, especially on the road. Unlike the SEC, Big Ten conference losses matter. Will anyone be surprised if Texas returns to the top 10 and Ole Miss stays there?

Yesterday, Wisconsin upset USC and, in Iowa's case, a Minnesota defense that was carved up at Purdue shut down the Hawkeyes.

In today's world of CFB, you cannot stock a roster, and you better have a top-drawer strength and conditioning program to minimize injuries.

In terms of underperforming offenses, Oregon has B1G company. Michigan, UW, Penn State, Indiana, and even Ohio State are not running the ball at historic levels. O-line recruiting, development, and portal picking are at a premium.

The marketing of the Oregon program has been extraordinary. But I think it's time for the Japan stuff and the other fluff to take a back seat to returning to the basics: blocking, tackling, and hitting the other guy in the face.

Make Kelly Smelly!