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Iowa is rising out of the offensive doldrums, that's for sure. They have forced me to do other than semi-doze through their games.

I agree with the assessment that there are no slam dunk favorites for the Natty this year. The Dawgs? they share one thing that also characterizes the Ducks--a youthful roster populated with talented players, many of whom are not very experienced. I also concur that the Young Dawg defense just ain't what she used to be. Give it a year. It is good for college football that there are no clear-cut favorites and that any number of teams could break through to capture the Natty. It is going to be a very interesting playoff season that's for sure. The win at all costs mentality is shaking up the field as witnessed by the high-profile firings at such high-profile places as Penn State, LSU, Florida, and possibly very shortly at Auburn, Wisconsin, and others that I have heard rumblings about. Owing a coach tens of millions in buyouts seems to be no impediment these days. I also noted the impressive victory by the Fuskies over Illinois this last Saturday. How long would you guess it will be before the Fuskies become a real pain for other teams in the B1G? I did pick them over Illinois by the way. I thought the Illini were clearly a bit overrated.

Have you followed Nike Stock lately? lol It will take time for Nike some time to get back on track. It would be interesting, if true, how they structured a vesting schedule. Personally, I would make it merit based, and upon hoisting a Natty trophy the vesting schedule starts.

True. But... and it's a big one. How many Lannings and Cignettis are out there waiting for their opportunities to be found? There are some for sure. The reality is that all those programs aren't in search of a new head coach but a new head coach and program manager. The expectations have never been higher and the job has never been more difficult in terms of all the moving pieces. A head coach now has take care of: all the duties of head coach for game day, recruit, be in contact and work with NIL programs, recruit their own team, and soon will probably be in on negotiating salaries for players. Oh and they're expected to have their program in contention to make the playoff right away. There is no patience anymore. We are about to witness the biggest coaching carousel ever and many programs will hire a WORSE coach than the one they just fired.

Dan has been there in the SEC and is done with that, I think. How many more millions of dollars does Dan want or need? When he says he wants his sons to graduate from the same school, I believe him. Dan is likely to get another nice bump in pay staying in Eugene. The Nike deal is nice. How about the monthly retirement from Oregon PERS when he retires at 60?

The firing after beatdowns goes on, and the exit fee is irrelevant. LSU went large in the NIL arena, including one million dollars of Brian Kelly's money, and did not get a satisfactory ROI. Want a 60-something coach who has won wherever he has coached, Houston coach Willie Fritz. The ripple effect from all of these firings will be like a tsunami rolling in. The best coaches will be coaching in the playoffs through January. These new hires need to happen before the December recruit signing date, no? As Charles asked, who besides super-agent Jimmy Sexton are you going to call? His client, James Franklin, will find a new gig. I don't think Brian Kelly, unless he so desires, will be unemployed for too long. Just when you think CFB couldn't get more weirder ... 🤪🤑🙃Happy Halloweenie! This will likely keep Auburn coach Hugh Freeze and Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell employed. And likely take many top assistant coaches elsewhere. I imagine Dan and friends are in touch with the agents representing LSU 'committed' recruits.

As a side note I’m not superstitious but I hope they never wear the Grateful Dead unis again. They looked great, but counterculture and football don’t mix and the that game proved it.

I think the writing is on the wall for Novosad, and Moga to hit the portal. I think Dante comes back next year and Smith jr might be looking better than we think. If all that shakes out the roster still has Moore 5* Smith jr* Thomas 3* and Beavers 4*. Almost identical to the roster this year.

Novosad was on the injury list for several weeks as “questionable” before being cleared for Rutgers. I read somewhere it was a lower back issue / strain. If you follow the timeline of the injury report, my guess is that he probably didn’t practice for 3-4 weeks. It is reasonable to assume that Thomas earned the QB2 job during that time by passing Moga on the depth chart. With likely limited to no practice reps from Novosad, the staff probably felt more comfortable with Thomas the last 2 games. Is Novosad even eligible for a medical redshirt? He suited up, traveled with the team to Rutgers, and has not been on the injury report for the past 2 games. I was under the impression that if you travel, suit up and are not listed as “injured”, a medical redshirt is probably not a realistic option.

If Brock Thomas replaced Moore in the playoffs, I would turn the TV off. I would prefer Smith Jr face the wolves and risk his confidence before I would give the reigns to Thomas. That clearly means I have no issues with either Moga or Novo. Brock Thomas has done a fine job. The play that should have been intercepted was-in my opinion a late throw. Dakorian Moore was open two seconds earlier. No disrespect to Thomas, but I doubt his arm strength downfield. More than our scholarship QBs. Thomas may be padding his highlight reel for a portal transfer. Penn State lost Bo Pribula (what an irony, Allar and Pribula get injured back to back weeks) because everyone got to see what he had to offer. He was forced to make that decision because of the Portal rules. Penn State would be in much better shape (definitely would have defeated Iowa) had Pribula been allowed a reasonable decision process. I believe that is in play at present. Novo and Moga can start for several conference foes. No reason to give them impetus to recruit them in my opinion. If I were Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Purdue Minnesota (who I believe may be losing their good QB), I would be chasing both Novo and Moga right now. Both would be an upgrade for those programs.

Look at how he abandoned his Cincy squad the day after they finished their best ever season in 2009. He just left without even talking to his team the day after they came within a Texas extra special bonus second from going to the BCS Title game. Florida trashed that Bearcat squad in the Sugar Bowl, but it felt like Brian Kelly couldn't even do what the notoriously less than motivated Scott Frost did when he finished out the season at UCF even after taking the Nebraska job. UCF almost beat the same LSU squad that would go on and become that 2019 legendary wagon. People don't ever talk about that because Cincy isn't a huge brand. But the signs of Kelly being a pretty classless guy goes back almost twenty years now. He fired the LSU strength and conditioning coach that had been there since the Les Miles days. He destroyed what made LSU special. If I were Wisconsin, or any other program that might give him another shot, I would think twice. He'd dump them for a second if he started winning.

Can't see Orgeron at LSU ..

Really like your point of view GAT! In my eyes, Franklin should wait until the dust settles. He is under rated. Reputation be damned. That guy should wait to see if Vandy's coach gets scooped up and go back to Nashville. Va Tech is another "fit" I see for him. A program like that won't be unreasonable in their expectations. College Football is looking more like a landscape of parity. Franklin will revive a program from the ashes (Va Tech), or maintain a middling program as a threat elite programs will have to take seriously (Vandy). The dust is going to settle pretty unbalanced at Natty seeking programs like PSU, UF, LSU, Auburn and Florida State. They are going to be competing to keep their talent and convince the younglings they are worthy enough to develop them. There probably are some hidden gems in the coaching field at present. Some fan bases are not going to be happy with the choices they receive since they all have a title and expect one "yesterday". If the P2 get their act together and provide a better football environment than what has emerged the past two years, College Football has a wonderful future ahead of itself. If... I never imagined how wonderful and exciting the football world has been the past 15 months. NIL has shattered monopolies, and despite the sour taste of spoiled 17-22 year olds looking for unearned bucks, it has been a joy to watch the drama unfold these past two seasons.

Hope Oregon cleans up on a few recruits and transfers. We can be very picky.

I never thought Brian Kelly was a good fit at LSU. I was right.

Forget about what I said for a moment. There are some very, very valid concerns about OBD. We look horrible. To the degree that a Big Ten Podcaster questions whether OBD are as good as Iowa. As you always find a way to explain Jon, other teams are deadly in their own manner. I also agree it is ridiculous that Iowa and the Fuskies aren't ranked. How in the world is Vanderbilt a top ten team? That is utterly ridiculous. I say that because Bama pretty much exposed them as an ordinary team in the SEC. Very ordinary. They, like USC, UW and Michigan, Iowa and even Nebraska are benefitting from a pretty ordinary schedule (much like Missouri, A&M, Oklahoma and Tennessee). It is, or it should be obvious the contenders in the P2 are Georgia, Bama and A&M, Ole Miss, OBD, Ohio State and Indiana. And the records aren't the reason. There are moments when USC, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Missouri, Iowa and those dreaded Fuskies have looked the part. The difference between that second group and the first is 1. talent and 2. they have demonstrated they can overcome poor play and win games they are supposed to win. No matter the circumstances or conditions. As I mentioned earlier, there isn't a fan base in group 1 that is claiming their team is going to win the Natty. That definitely includes Ohio State (they haven't played one elite team, nor have they faced anyone with enough talent-especially Texas-that has really exposed their flaws). All of the above programs will have to face the gauntlet of each other. Nobody looks like they are going to run away from the pack. Especially Ohio State. Idc what people are saying, Ohio State has not faced an A&M, Georgia, Bama or Indiana on offense. We will know what Ohio State is in December. We already have an idea of what the rest of the elite field looks like. And we know we haven't seen the best from any of them. OBD are quietly in the discussion, because lord knows, when the Ducks are humming, they are extremely scary. As in Ohio State will have problems if OBD unleashes the offense we saw in August. So the question is who does this team want to be? Not who are they? At least in my mind. Because it is time to commit. It is time to survey the landscape and determine how are we going to attack the playoff field. None of the teams on the rest of the schedule have the capacity to handle OBD if we decide to ATTACK THE PLAYOFF FIELD IN OUR STRATEGIES. In my mind, the rest of the season is about attacking them. On offense and defense. Without exposing the entire strategy, while putting away-early-the teams left on deck in the regular season. Those analysts that we hired to scout the field-regular season and playoff caliber teams-are the main focus at this point. DL needs to determine his path forward that handles the present, while attacking the 2nd season. We cannot prepare for the playoffs after the regular season ends. That work begins now. It doesn't have to look playoff form at present, but it better by the time the playoffs begin. So ugly wins and losses really don't matter. They're history. They sure better not be indicative of our future however.

Kamikaze....I do agree with many of your concerns, but saw this and wanted to share it.

There's not enough fresh talent until there is. Twenty years ago Urban Meyer wasn't a known commodity. Two years ago Curt Cignetti was a guy in his 60's that never had any high league experience. Four years ago Oregon lost Super Mario and hired a guy in his thirties that had no ties to the West Coast. His first game didn't go that well, that guy is still there I think. Six years ago people were asking why Ohio State would hire some unknown dude from the NFL instead trying to poach Brian Kelly. Who thought Notre Dame would promote a linebackers coach in his thirties to head coach? FSU isn't getting anybody from anywhere. Virginia Tech might get James Franklin, but they aren't getting a P4 coach currently employed. Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Auburn, UCLA, maybe they get some of these retreads like Kelly, Jimbo, Orgeron? Why is it that programs like LSU, Florida, FSU, Miami, Michigan, USC, Texas, Notre Dame, Tennessee, and Texas A&M would cycle through coach after coach, while Oregon has only fired one coach in thirty years? Wisconsin had a record like that until they fired Chryst four years ago and hired an outsider who wanted to change the way they play. Nebraska fell into that same trap when they hired Callahan after the 2004 season. Has Ohio State fired a coach for on field results in your lifetime? I'm on the train of thought that you gotta have the right system in place before you can consistently win. Oregon has the facilities, alignment up and down the booster and athletic director tracks. When you hire a guy, you have total support in place and he just has to do his job. I don't think Lanning or Cignetti would ever leave because they have everything and anything they will ever need to succeed. At Penn State, Florida, Texas, USC, Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, there are about fifty million different levels of people you have to appease. It's not easy. That's one reason why Lane Kiffin or Eli Drinkowitz could choose to stay where they are. They won't face the same pressure and they'll both be paid just as much without the pressure to be Joe Paterno or Steve Spurrier.

I was hoping they wouldn't take a knee at the end.🙂 My first time predicting a score. I'll either be hooked or retire with a perfect record!

Stone cold, my friend. But only because your comment is true. Four weeks ago, I thought we likely had a championship caliber team. But now, as someone else around here said, I can't believe we had to go into double OT to beat PSU. So, if you were to ask me how good I think OBD are, I kind of have no clue. But, my instincts say we might get away with winning the rest of our regular season games. But if that amazingly happens, when the playoffs get here -- at least at this point, I don't think we've got the stuff this year to win against the OSU's & Indiana's. And I certainly hope I'm wrong.

yes, yes it would. It would have been 38-7 and I would have won the prediction contest. LOL

Sheldon High School has been very-very good to OBD. The great Chris Miller in the 80s (13 passing records while at Oregon & NFL Pro Bowler). And the almost walk-on at Oregon, the great Justin Herbert. And who knows... maybe the young Brock Thomas.

Coaches Fired LSU Penn State Florida OK State Arkansas UCLA Virginia Tech Oregon State Colorado State UAB Pending Possible Firings Auburn Florida State Wisconsin Michigan State