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Gat, I love that you are on this board, but with all due respect, winning Big Ten football games is not a piece of cake. Cig's win at Oregon (sigh) was the one that grabbed the nation's attention, of course. But hanging in at 2-loss Iowa on a day the offense wasn't playing well, likely due to Iowa's defense, was a very good win. The win last season against a Michigan team that defeated Bama in the postseason was significant, as are the wins over bowl-eligible B1G teams. We live in a Power 2 CFB world. When did winning in the SEC become Herculean, and winning in the B1G passe? The B1G won two titles in a row, and there seems to be a journalistic jihad against the conference and its leadership. Texas and Bama have to come back against two mediocre SEC opponents, and the comebacks are the greatest of all time. In a monsoon, Wisconsin keeps it close against OBD, and The Athletic drops Oregon to No. 12 in its irrelevant poll. In the Massey computer rankings, Ohio State and Indiana are first and second. No. 6 Oregon has a respectable SOS ranking of 25 to date, 18th going forward. The computer does not rank a G5 team in its top 25. The SEC has the most teams ranked, with 10 in the top 25. The B1G has seven teams ranked: Michigan, Iowa, Washington, and USC are also ranked. Then it's B12 4, ACC 3, and Notre Dame. The Athletic's Stewart Mandel, in his latest Mailbag, referred to UW's record as being 'tainted.' A loss to the No. 1 team in the country and on the road at a ranked Michigan makes UW's 6-2 record 'tainted '? The B1G had the best postseason record in 2024-25. 3-loss PO screwed over South Carolina was defeated by 3-loss Illinois, and 3-loss PO screwed over Alabama was defeated by a 5-loss Michigan team that had many players sitting the game out while Bama had all hands on deck. I watch a lot of SEC football, and I more than respect the quality of play, but I haven't seen a team in any conference this season that cannot be defeated. Good luck with the Gators search. Florida should be competing for national championships.

At LSU the portal opens for 30 days, and some championship talent will hit itChaos is a ladder. With Brian Kelly out at LSU the players on the Tigers roster have 30 days to seek a new deal and a fresh start, and a significant number of them will take it. Part of the frustration with Kelly is that he couldn't win at a championship level despite stacking recruiting classes that ranked No. 10, No. 7 and No. 5 in the last three seasons. There are some big names on the Tiger roster, and a few of them can be pieces that could put a contending team to an entirely new level. In the 2025 class the Ducks battled to the end for 5-star cornerback DJ Pickett. A fake Twitter account went viral yesterday aping the logo of On3 Sports, claiming that 5-star linebacker Harold Perkins intends to sit out the rest of the season and enter the portal. Autzen ZooAt LSU the portal opens for 30 days, and some championshi...Chaos is a ladder. With Brian Kelly out at LSU the players on the Tigers roster have 30 days to seek a new deal and a fresh start,

I think the Coach Lannings and Cigs of the world are far better off at their new blood schools than jumping to blue blood schools. If neither never win a championship, just being in the hunt must years will be good enough for their fan bases. Can you imagine several years in a row like OBD had last year and complaining that your coach just can't get it done? I think we're just beginning to see the problems of the super conference concept. With ever expanding conference sizes, some teams will just be stuck at mid upper tier just do to basic math. UGA, Bama, Texas, OU and LSU can't all win the conference every year. Throw in upstarts like Ole Miss Vandy and a reborn Florida and someone on this list will have to be 4-4 or worse. That's just math doing what math does. OBD went out brought in an up and coming D coordinator, Indiana brought in an old coach that you had to google to find out about. The blue bloods don't want to take that route. That keeps them stuck on a flavor of the month merry go round. In the end I see most of these fired coaches just swapping schools because they will be the biggest names available. Rinse and repeat.

Great post. There is too much money floating around and no patience. Can you imagine where Oregon would be if it fired Coach Brooks before the Rose Bowl? What about Coach Bellotti after a few of his “down” years, instead of showing patience and a commitment to someone who reportedly turned down more attractive head coaching jobs to stay at Oregon? Brian Kelly and James Franklin were considered two of the top coaches in college football. Who are these programs going to get that’s a clear upgrade, worth spending $50M to part ways with those coaches, plus whatever they are going to have to spend on the new coach? Is Nick Saban, Urban Meyer or even Chris Peterson going to give up their low pressure gigs to get back in the game? Are those programs as elite as their boosters, fans and administrations believe they are? How many teams can realistically compete for a national championship every year? Hopefully the top coaching prospects see how their peers were treated by these programs. It’s not like they need the money and do they need the unrealistic expectations and pressure, on top of starting over?

Bo, the last of the QBs drafted at his position in the 1st round, leads them all in the most important stat - WINS! He refined and elevated his game at Oregon. When I see folks down on Dante, I realize how spoiled we were to have QBs with the most starts in CFB back-to-back.

While I agree with the fact that Cignetti and Lanning are special, I think the programs investment and backing help them be special. Indiana didn't give any of their previous head coaches the financial backing they gave Curt, and while what he's done is impressive. He really only has one great win to his name thus far. Indiana has played nobody outside of their forced conference games and their playoff game. Oregon has been a wagon since the Belotti days. Outside of Mark Helfrich who won a playoff game btw, there hasn't been a head coach dismissed due to on field performance in my lifetime I believe. Guys leave Oregon and get fired, but that's because those places don't have the alignment imo. FSU hasn't had a guy the program and fans both loved since Bobby Bowden. Jimbo Fisher left because he didn't get what he wanted, and he failed at Texas A&M with all the things he could ever want except 100 percent alignment. You have more money than agreement out there. Boosters, oil tycoons, and alumni all have different opinions of how to "Gig Em". The only thing they agree on is their hatred for Texas. Mike Elko seems like a guy who might be the one to unite the forces, he has a systematic approach to recruiting and using the portal in lockstep. I never heard of Mike Elko before his Duke team upset Clemson three years ago. I'm certain there is going to be a discussion in four years where we are talking about at least two new names that are going to be considered A list hires.

Franklin, my dear, you screwed the whole conference, and I do give a damn! 🤬

And then The Athletic released their CFB rankings this morning, and moved Oregon down to No. 12. Below is their reasoning, and I can't complain... "Oregon slips a couple of spots after a surprising battle with Wisconsin, a 21-7 win in a rainstorm. I think Oregon is a really good team, but what exactly is the resume right now? Its best win is maybe Northwestern? The teams ahead of the Ducks have better accomplishments, and I can’t keep Oregon near the top five like the polls have just based on brand name. Oregon is 10th in ESPN’s strength of record, too. Go beat Iowa on the road in a couple of weeks, and things can change."

Dan Lanning rumors may swirl with LSU Tigers job, but Oregon Duck fans shouldn't worry In a world where coaches often make vague comments and open-ended statements about coaching rumors, stating that their focus is "on the team, and on the current season," Lanning has been different. On multiple occasions, he's said, point-blank, "I'm not leaving." “I’ve been very clear and adamant," Lanning said earlier this year in an interview with On3. "I think a lot of coaches in those moments get quiet, but I’ve been very clear and adamant that I’m not going anywhere. A lot of coaches use that as an opportunity to say, ‘OK, I’m either going to get a big raise where I’m at,’ or maybe they really want that other job. I don’t want any other jobs. I’ve got the job that I want.” Lanning has done more than talk the talk; he's walked the walk.

Our own Jon Joseph, who many of you know well on this forum, wrote precisely what you see below over the weekend. It almost seemed that On3's Ari Wasserman was quoting Jon today! Big Ten Perception Wasserman questioned why the Big Ten doesn’t get the same respect the SEC receives, despite winning the last two national titles. Oregon fell out of the national conversation after losing to unbeaten Indiana; if an SEC team lost to a top-five conference opponent, the reaction would be far different. There are so many average SEC teams we deem as “tough outs,” and it doesn’t seem to work the same way up north.

This is absolutely the case! Davison forces the other team to back off its edges and gives our tackles time to settle-down. World and Harkey are good but not great, we are certainly missing the Connerly and Cornelius combo of years past. But if both have time to settle they are both significantly better. The middle of our line is where it's strongest with Poncho and Pregnon opening up solid run lanes. I don't know if there is a way to fix our offensive line pass protection from the tackle spot besides running the ball up the gut and hitting the opposing team in the nose.

Not only do I agree with your running back rotation and analysis, I think Davison's running style (up the middle) plays to the Ducks O line strength. The offense really seems to bog down when they start off by trying to win the battle of the edges then lose them against a good defense. This just seems to set up the third and longs that fail with bubble screens and short passes. Davison gives OBD that Stanford smash moth attack that I think would be a great way to start a game with. A long bruising drive to start the game could soften up the D making them more vulnerable to explosion plays off the edge later. OBD have the personnel to do it but for some reason haven't chosen to start off a game that way yet. Seems like Iowa would be a great [;ace to start.

I can see shoes on my phone!

I'll add this... I have been critical of Whittington in the past. I can probably go through and dig up all the articles I have promoted runningbacks over Whittington. Last year I know I was saying Whittington needed to become a receiver instead. The funny thing is that whenever I make an article like we seem to get a great game out of Whittington. Almost like he is trying to prove me wrong. Whittington is a good Runningback but he is not an elite back. He lacks the size of Davison and that size and physicality makes yards. Davison has a level of physical running that outstrips Jordan James from last year to be honest and I think he is a bit faster as well. Davison is a truly special back and he can be a tone setter for this team if they let him and this team needs him to be that tone setter. Iowa is up next, after a bye, and Iowa has had good defenses and if the Ducks want to get some early points on the board they are going to need to let Davison get some early carries and gain some solid yards to set up Moore and the receivers. It's an added bonus that Davison is also a fantastic blocker which is part of his size advantage. At best I have seen Whittington delay good linebackers at worst he gets thrown aside and doesn't impede them at all. I have seen Davison destroy linebackers as both a pass protection blocker and a run blocker.

Amen David! Many of us were thinking as you suggested, but you laid out the case extremely well in your article. I also love the top featured picture of the article, as it is the same as what our forum background picture is at the moment. For those looking at this forum on mobile phone, they cannot see our photo background to the forum. But for those on desktop, (as I am) or laptop....you can see Davison scoring in the rain. For those who use a Pad to view the forum....can you see this background picture?

Great article! Since I agree with pretty much everything, I'll keep this brief: RB1, RB2, and RB3 should be Davison, Hill, and Whittington, respectively.

Why the onside kick and fake punt. To exploit perceived weaknesses. Dan Lanning explains special teams aggression in Wisconsin win

Two Oregon Ducks shine on Sunday! Oregon Ducks On SIBo Nix and Troy Franklin Are Quietly Fueling the Broncos...Former Oregon Ducks quarterback Bo Nix and wide receiver Troy Franklin had a day to remember in the Denver Broncos 44-24 win over the Dallas Cowboys. The Bronco

David I agree with all you have said. Thanks for writing what many of us see. OBD Forum is blessed to have your contributions. Thank you! For what it's worth, I feel that Jordon Davison gets to the hole quicker than Noah Whittington or Jayden Limar. It seems to me that those two are looking for the home run and waiting for the hole to open. When a RB is waiting for the hole and looking for it to open he's a sitting Duck (no pun intended). He is not at full speed. Getting up to the linemen and trusting them that the hole will be there leads to more positive yards. Davison and Hill are more explosive and get to the line quicker thus more positive yards. This also results in moving the pile forward for yards after contact (YAC). Running backs are taught to trust their linemen, follow the foot path, and explode into the hole.

I think Davison will be like Royce Freeman who ended up being the feature back after settling in during the 2014 season. I really like Noah as a change of pace back as stated in your article. He reminds me a lot of CJ Verdell. He's great when the holes are big, but lacks the vision to find the cracks. I'm looking forward to seeing how this RB rotation evolves.

Breaking Down Oregon's Rough Remaining Big Ten ScheduleThe No. 6 Oregon Ducks are 7-1 after a win against the Wisconsin Badgers. Oregon coach Dan Lanning and the Ducks are heading into a bye week, with four games remaining of the regular season. Oregon Ducks On SIBreaking Down Oregon's Rough Remaining Big Ten ScheduleThe Oregon Ducks are 7-1, going 4-1 in the Big Ten conference, following a win against the Wisconsin Badgers. The Ducks are heading into a bye week, and will ha

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That's the problem with these bigger blue blood programs. There are many stakeholders who want to see an immediate return on their investments. Texas and Auburn have traditionally been the worst. Their boosters have a lot of power and they make sure the coaches know it.

I actually think he will be Jonathan Smith's replacement. He started his head coaching career up in Michigan, so I think it's a good fit. In fact, I'm sure MSU already has the wheels in motion.

Not really a trend but a tendency: Oregon playing better on the road than at home. Against Iowa that may become a trend. Offense needs to get established early with the ground game behind Davison so the RPO and passing opens later on. Defense needs to shore up run D by bringing Theinemen or Flowers/Johnson down into the box to help with spotty play by the LBs. The current Oregon by -2 sounds about right.