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Saturday Blitz writer, Josh Yourish, with some very good thoughts on the first week of the 2025 season. My take on the best wins in Week 1 relies on the preseason AP Poll's best guesses. 1. No. 9 LSU 17 - No. 4 Clemson 10 2. No. 3 Ohio State 14 - No. 1 Texas 7 3. No. 10 Miami 27 - No. 6 Notre Dame 24 4. Florida State 31 - No. 8 Alabama 17 5 No. 24 Tennessee 45 - Syracuse 26 G5 - USF 34 - No. 25 Boise State 7 Saturday BlitzTable for 12 Week 1: 1st impressions of Arch Manning and...Every program in the country is vying for one of the 12 seats at the College Football Playoff table, and each week, FanSided’s Josh Yourish will break it down.

Based on last year and this year so far it is a short yardage formation. It's only designed to pick up 3ish yards at the most. It's less about clogging the running lanes and more about creating windows via timing. My article I wrote about it last year looked at it's use against UCLA. But when they used it in that game they put Cornelius and Connerly side by side on the right side of the formation. Both were NFL draft picks. The blocking scheme between those two was rather complex and then the additional blockers coming off the delay from the snap as they were the ones standing next to the QB and the RB being lined up directly behind. It has lots of potential but the timing and precision of the blocks has to be just right or it gets disrupted.

Wow. Good catch, as I did not know that. David Marsh revealed in his article that Benson was the surprise leader in receptions for the game, and it bodes very well for us. Like you, Solar, I am feeling MUCH better about the upside of our passing game.

What I like about the formation, (Shades of Stanford and David Shaw) is that it is balanced. Thus we can overload blockers to either side, and while the defense has to line up balanced--we can overwhelm them on one side. It is a very successful formation for inside the five, IMHO.

College football has become surprising more balanced at the top, as the portal and now NIL are evening things out. While it is a fun conversation, my gut tells me that Oregon...like another nine teams, could win it in a given year, and challenge for many ensuing years, but not do it again for some time. The way Georgia dominated for a while? It is hard to believe that they have not won one since, and their slight decline has been puzzling to me. But GatOrlando...you are very kind, and most of us crazy, die-hard Oregon fans would be incredibly grateful to win ONE 'Natty right now... Gary Bryant Jr. Gosh I love this new uniform!

Without Penix, perhaps DeBoer and UW would not have won all of those one-score games that led UW to a PO spot, a one-score win over Texas, and a champ game beat down from Michigan? Penix went with DeBoer because of a Hoosiers connection. All of the terrific WRs Penix threw the ball to were not recruited by DeBoer. Recruiting at Bama under DeBoer has been very good. With this talent, there should be no no-show games. In 14 games against unranked opponents, DeBoer is 6-4. In 128 games against unranked opponents, Nick Saban went 124-4. https://rolltidewire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/crimson-tide/football/2025/06/18/alabama-football-records-unbreakable-nick-saban-derrick-thomas-bear-bryant/84259608007/ DeBoer's hire is looking more and more like the Harsin hire at Auburn. It's one thing to lose to unranked FSU; it's another thing to get punched in the mouth and out-coached in the process. Bama plays on the road against Georgia, Mizzou, South Carolina, and Auburn, and plays Tennessee, LSU, Oklahoma, and Vandy 😁in Tuscaloosa. I don't think a mega-upset will happen when Wisconsin visits in Week 3, but the Badgers will come in 2-0 and with an improved defense. You're right not to knee jerk after Week 1, but none of the predictions that Bama would turn it around in 2025 with a terrific O-line, defense, and Ryan Grubb to call the plays for Ty Simpson panned out in Tallahassee. DeBoer has a huge buyout (why these ADs do not contract for a Right of 1st Refusal if the coach gets another offer is baffling) but if Bama misses the expanded PO back-to-back, He Gone! And Danno will receive another salary bump. 😍

They dominated if you want to say outscoring a Mountain West team 14-0 in the fourth quarter is dominant. They certainly looked better than their little brothers in Pullman who barely hung on to beat the Idaho Vandals 13-10. *I realize Oregon struggled with that same team last year, but to me there's some weird magic regarding Oregon and teams from Idaho. Washington State isn't going undefeated and head into the playffs as the number one seed. They could win the PAC Who this year though. Oregon State looks terrible.

ESPN was the only game in town decades ago. ESPN is slowly sinking, competition has decreased viewership, and they rely heavily on college football to float their boat. They will be all in on SEC football, and the CFP, because that pays their bills. They will always tout the SEC, before others, for as long as they hold the contract to show SEC sports content. It is all about who pays their bills.

Agree with the consensus in this thread. ESPN FPI deserves to be flushed down the toilet! This article speaks of it. Ducks snubbed in the most drunk, inaccurate, useless ESPN FPI ranking everThere are lies, damn lies, and statistics. British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli never saw a football game, but he apparently knew more about it than ESPN, which updated its Football Performance Index after Week One in college football, only to come up with the most preposterous ranking ever. The update was issued before AP No. 10 Miami's 27-24 win over No. 6 Notre Dame. FPI purports to be "The Football Power Index (FPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team's performance going forward for the rest of the season. FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is." It ranks all 136 teams based on 20,000 simulations, but something about their data or calculations is haywire. ESPN’s FPI has been updated following Saturday of Week 1. No one can take this seriously ever again pic.twitter.com/IVzsX7meNk Autzen ZooDucks snubbed in the most drunk, inaccurate, useless ESPN...There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.

With Alabama losing it's fourth game vs an unranked opponent under DeBoer in the first game of his second season, he has already matched the amount of times Saban lost to an unranked opponent during 17 years. It got me thinking about dynasties and how eventually they all end. The Patriots and Crimson Tide both won 6 championships in eras that weren't meant to allow it. Salary cap, walk on and scholarship reductions plus draft slots were meant to keep programs from dominating like Bear Bryant, Chuck Knoll, or Tom Landry did. But during our lifetime we have seen two dynasties under two men that shouldn't have happened. In baseball you don't even have runs anymore like the Yankees in the 90's or in the NBA with Michael and the Bulls. We've seen the Dodgers win a couple, the Warriors won four and in the NHL we've had the Kings, Blackhawks, Lightning and Panthers win multiple times or back to backs. But nothing like the 80's Islanders or 90's Red Wings. But in football we had the Crimson Tide and Patriots run dynasties concurrently. Will we see another team take that title in college football? Can the Chiefs continue on their trek to get Patrick to match Tom? I think the Chiefs dynasty is over, but I could be wrong. I don't think I'm wrong with the Crimson Tide being done though. The majestic whale has finally been caught by Ahab. There is no bigfoot or dragon out there. In the NFL you have the Chiefs, Eagles, Bills, Ravens, Commanders, Bengals and Rams as potential multi championship winners imo. Mostly because of young QBs or great young coaches that can win another Super Bowl. In college it's obvious to put Ohio State up there as they just won a title, they have a young coach that now has a title and recruits very well. But who else? Texas? Notre Dame? Georgia would be the other obvious choice as Kirby has two titles and runs his program like Saban. But I'm looking for new blood. I'm looking at a program led by a guy in his late thirties that learned under Kirby. I'm looking at Moby Dick to become Moby Duck. I think Oregon has a great chance to not win one title, but multiple titles. Perhaps we won't have another six title dynasty, but Oregon can have a Clemson type run.

Thank you, David. And thank you, Natalie. No one appreciates an excellent editing job more than I do. What's the news on Hughes? Will OBD receive a positive ROI? I hope so, but as you noted, with or without Mahki, Will Stein has a deep RB room to work with. Great first outing from Benson. OBD sent a darn good Benson to FSU, the top RB on an undefeated Seminoles team. Wouldn't it be nice if FSU returned the favor? Love the Triple Lindy Skadoo! I said, 'Shotgun!' formation. Right out of backyard ball with the neighborhood boyz, where little brothers blocked and big bros played QB or went deep. 😁 A perfect result from a perfectly scheduled, and sold out 🤑let's get the Duck feet wet game. Lasso the Cowboys!

I may be in the minority, but I personally don’t want to see the Buckeyes in the playoffs again, after the past few games…

Yikes. Maybe they'll get it sorted out later. Everyone keeps saying that on paper Alabama is the most talented team in the country. That points at a coaching problem, but... Perhaps their 5 star freshman QB can get up to speed soon and take over for Simpson and be a Penix like miracle worker. Perhaps the Grubb offensive scheme is a big adjustment for the players to get used to. And FSU was really balling. It's still really early to completely write Alabama off.

LSU’s performance was extremely underwhelming due to the fact that Clemson’s defense doesn’t come close to what they were when they were winning championships. They get Florida in a couple of weeks at home and I think the Gators will knock them off. The SEC’s worst nightmare is ending up with a two or three loss conference champion like the ACC last season. There is a decent possibility of that happening

DSC Inside Read: 3-2-1 Look at the win over Montana StateThree Observations1. Dante Moore Looks Ready for the Stage 2. Run Defense Shows Needed Growth 3. Preparation and Execution Set a New Tone Two Questions1. How Predictive Is This Blowout? 2. Can Oregon’s Secondary Handle More Sophisticated Passing Attacks? One PredictionIf Oregon replicates Saturday’s discipline (3 penalties), balance (253 passing, 253 rushing), and defensive control (1.7 YPC allowed), the Ducks will beat Oklahoma State comfortably — especially with the Cowboys starting backup quarterback Zane Flores. But don’t expect the same kind of physical mismatch we saw against Montana State. This game will reveal more about Oregon’s ceiling than the opener did, particularly along the defensive front and in the secondary. Duck Sports CentralDSC Inside Read: 3-2-1 Look at the win over Montana StateOregon Ducks football, Dan Lanning, Oregon recruiting, college football, NIL, Big Ten, Pac-12, Scott Reed, Duck Sports Central, recruiting news

Great article, lot's to be excited about. I think MSU was probably better than Northwestern and little bro U are. We're going to be a problem in the B1G again this year. I wasn't crazy about the shotgun full house formation. It's like trying to clog 2 more players through the same pipe and compacts the defense over center even more, and it takes longer for the exchange to happen while the DEs and DBs crash down like a pistol run. I'm not a fan. You'd be better off removing the QB with a wildcat snap and putting a WR way outside to pull away one defender. I remember Taggart running something similar based on the same premise of having all these good backs so get them on the field at the same time. It wasn't worth more than a shoulder shrug and I think it faded as the season progressed.

Welcome back, Buckeye! Matt Patricia at DC was a 'pretty good' hire. 😊 ESPN - FPI - BIAS? Res Ipsa Loquitur! 🤬 Texas is still No.1, right🙃? Conference champ game? How about 1/19/2026 - Hard Rock Stadium - Miami Gardens, Florida?

Welcome back! Always love to have fans from other schools joining our forum with their knowledge and insight on the college sports landscape. Agree about ESPN and the SEC. If you look at the changes happening this year with playoffs, it benefits the SEC. New College Football Playoff Committee Metric Could Endanger Ducks Playoff HopesStrength of schedule means more in 2025. Politicking at playoff time will be more intense. The College Football Playoff Committee announced last week that it has “adjusted (SOS metric) to apply greater weight to games against strong opponents. An additional metric, record strength, has been added to the selection committee’s analysis to go beyond a team’s schedule strength to assess how a team performed against that schedule.” Autzen ZooNew College Football Playoff Committee metric could endan...Strength of schedule means more in 2025. Politicking at playoff time will be more intense. The College Football Playoff Committee announced last week that it h

He ran a 10.4 in high school. I think game breaking would be a matter of route selection. Now that he has leaned out, bring on the double moves. He will likely be every bit as dangerous as Evan Stewart which is the point of this thread. Thoughts of concern about not being able to replace Evan Stewarts ability and production have been addressed by Malik Benson's development. I'm projecting a little bit, but I'm trusting my eyes here. I'm excited about our ceiling in the passing game.

Should Division Street buy the Ducks this Taco? https://duckswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/ducks/football/2025/09/01/oregon-ducks-lauded-montana-state-wr-speed-athleticism/85924432007/?utm_source=smg-duckswire-strada&utm_medium=email

Great to see you back, and hope you will continue to offer feedback about B1G foes. I treat ESPN with the same disdain I do when I hear over-the-top political commentary. "Ignore it because it is dumb." I was extremely impressed with how your Buckeyes reloaded on defense, and it seems that your team is in the same boat as mine; however our QBs go...so do we.

Great fun, and great observations David. So many surprises contained in what you noted, especially the rotation of the running backs. Thanks!

Oregon Ducks 5-star TE Kendre Harrison dazzles with one-handed TD catch https://duckswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/ducks/football/2025/08/30/oregon-ducks-kendre-harrison-one-handed-touchdown/85910558007/ Yes, please…

NICE Oregon Ducks Pay Special Tribute To Lee Corso Tribute in Autzen Stadium

Congratulations on the National Championship and huge win on Saturday! I can’t stand ESPN or the other cable TV sports networks, and no longer watch them except during the games. The commentators are all over the top and to get paid you need to be outrageous/controversial (see Steven A. and the dude on College GameDay). ESPN/ABC has always drooled over the SEC (it’s a large $$$ investment for them), even though the B1G has been the dominant football conference the past few years (they can’t and won’t ever admit it). I said on another thread that although the Buckeyes appear to have an awesome defense (maybe the best in college football), I was underwhelmed by Arch Manning, after all the hype (certainly not his fault, as it’s a product of his last name). You would expect an elite QB to have a few drives and make some key plays (Texas’s defense certainly played good enough to win the game or at least give them a chance). Perhaps he’ll end up as the best QB in college football but he has some work to do and there is probably a reason that he didn’t play much last season. Good luck this season. I hope that the Ducks and Bucks both go undefeated and meet up in the conference championship game.