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I'm glad the early returns are promising!

To quote the cheater, "who's got it better than us? Nobody!"

Wow. That let it rip mentally is dangerous. I think he’s telling his team he believes they’ve arrived and just go out there and get it done. The blocking in this game was insane. They were driving guys back thirty, forty yards on the long plays. This team looks motivated. Lanning looks possessed. What a lucky fan base we are.

Dan Lanning discussed Novosad's injury today.....it is a precautionary issue with his lat muscle. Could go if he had to....paraphrased.

“The Bull Don’t Care”, and today we are the F….ing Bull. Lanning is a master at motivating these guys…

I wouldn't cross Mad Man Dan... He'll set lose a bunch of rabid Ducks.

I don't think we saw this level of complexity out of it last year because it's a two year install for many players and especially the quarterback. Last year's offense felt a bit vanilla compared to the 2023 offense with 2nd year Nix. Yes Stein was in year one but by the sound of it Lanning had an offense that he wants to run and made Stein adapt to the terminology of the Ducks and not the other way around. Lanning knows what he wants in the offense for sure. And this offense is going to continue to develop and be freaking scary. Last year's was acceptable but I think we may look back at that team and seem that a down year.

Let’s see…our vanilla offense will run, or throw out of the Shotgun, pistol, or under center. Depending on the down we will go empty backfield, multiple RB’s, trips, or quad receiver overloads, and multiple TE sets. I have to wonder what Stein considers a complicated offense.

Now if we could get them to say Eugene correctly? It is not YEW-gene, it is yew-GENE with the emphasis on the second syllable. No sweat, they'll get it down....in about five years!

Remember what KSmart told Lanning after the game? Now we can tell teams like OKSt that we have better players! BTW, for those of us who have been around since the good old days, have you noticed that everyone can pronounce "Oregon" now? No more Orygun or Oregone. I think that's 100% because of OBD's success in Football.

No prob. We won't be punting anyway....

Herbie is not Ducking about what he sees, wake up to the Ducks! Kirk Herbstreit Reveals National Championship Contender 'Nobody Is Talking About'

Gainesville is so confusing. All of those Waffle Houses to choose from. 😁

Agree with Charles 100%. Of course being 2 years older and wiser helps a lot too! It's important for a high-end QB to be humble. Speaking of the dumpster fire, UCLA program is really hot now, LOL UCLA Unlocked: Someone must take accountability for this dreadful football product - Los Angeles Times

I say we will cover easily again, if we played anything like the first 2 games. Go Ducks!

Oh, my orange-and-blue friend...this is one time that I politely disagree. We had physical football in the old Pac-12, but nobody watched us to see it, as the time-zone thing is real. (I think also Utah fans would take umbrage to being implied as soft, as an example) We did not toughen up; we were already physical, and simply blended in easily to win the conference. I see the scoring in the Big-10 is up already this year, and I would posit that the conference is adjusting to OREGON, and not the other way around.

Something I noticed at UCLA was a complete lack of pocket presence, and he stood flat-footed in the pocket, and thus between those two elements...got sacked easier. It appears he is not flat-footed in the pocket now, and I did not see any of the lack of pocket presence these last two weeks that I noted he had at UCLA. He might have felt quite a lot of pressure in Westwood to create something special, whereas the weapons he has here at Oregon would give anyone more confidence. In both Oregon games thus far, he has thrown the ball away when nothing was open, as opposed to forcing throws for the Bruins that created Pick-Sixes. As I ponder it...he looks completely different at Oregon than his UCLA days, IMHO.

Great article David, thank you! I can only agree with the points you (and others on this thread are making). For me, the depth, athleticism, youth, size, speed, and leadership are all factors that separate this year’s version of OBD from previous versions. The thing I did not see coming that truly sets this group apart is blocking. These guys are not just willing to block, they are like heat-seeking missiles seeking to utterly destroy their targets! You can see it on vertically every play at every level of the field. Not just the big uglies, the speedy skill guys as well! It is like they understand that is what will keep them on the field. THAT is going to make a huge impact on this year’s success. Go Ducks!

I lost all empathy when they turned around and destroyed the Mountain West conference.

So far Dante Moore has only had to play 7 on 7 with the occasional shuffling of feet in the pocket. Moore was a 5 star based on his 7 on 7 abilities. Obviously I'm not giving him full credit for running the offense, which isn't easy to do, but he still hasn't seen anything in the way of pressure that got him to make mistakes at UCLA that got him benched. How does he handle a defense having some success getting into the backfield consistently, and how does he handle the pressure of executing a game winning drive when he's forced to throw every down because there isn't enough time left to run? Does he have the clutch to put the team on his shoulder in key moments? I guess it's conceivable we are so good and will be so lucky that we win a national championship without either of those things happening to him, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Oregon is fifth in blue chip ratio at 78%. Michigan is currently the record holder for the lowest blue chip ratio to win a title at 54%. More importantly I think Oregon is tougher after spending a year in the B1G. Some may scoff at that, but there is a gap between the big two and the other two or formerly three. Even high performing members of the PAC like Washington and USC struggled with the week in and week out physicality. Oregon won the darn thing, but you could see the defense starting to wilt at the end vs Penn State and Ohio State at the lines. I think moving to the B1G is going to be the thing that finally gets Oregon over the hump. You can't simulate weekly physical football. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/blue-chip-ratio-2025-these-18-college-football-teams-can-actually-win-the-national-championship/

Well my entertaining friend, you bring up so many astute observations yourself. You're a key part of an ensemble of guys that really help me look at OBD from better perspectives. I do hope 1/1/25 is on everyone's minds every hour on the hour. The time off (three weeks) really hurt, but that sting is ample motivation to make sure that never happens again. And I want some Buckeye blood. I already have a problem with Buckeye fans (I happen to really like Ryan Day, and that fan base is ridiculous about the guy-he's been nothing but stellar. And he is starting to look a lot like Kirby Smart in his own fashion-so their arrogance and distaste for Day miffs me quite a lot). I think Lupoi has improved. I don't like the Mint defense, so that may be more my problem with the issues I see. But I do like that he is moving players more towards their strengths. He absolutely must get his linebackers to take away patterns in the middle of the field. They keep drifting out of coverage responsibilities. Coverage rules in my mind dictate the corners take the short routes outside. That leaves the LBs in seam, slant, digs and post pattern support. But that's just me. Let's see if Lupoi irons those things out. Keep them coming Jon. You add so much to this forum!

Thanks for the article David. Another deep set of observations as usual. Not much to add to this one, as you really hit the nail on the quality performances coming out of so many players.

I completely agree with this post; as quickness in a defender can be recruited and trained, but it can be slowed down by hesitation created from so MUCH preparation needed when facing Oregon. I am in the camp of running all the offense, but continue to add unseen elements out of the back of the playbook, as Helfrich did often as OC. Throw lots of stuff out there that requires defensive preparation, but pop new wrinkles on big 3rd downs.... Will our OC do that? This is a new element of entertainment to watch for in upcoming games. How much will be the same? How much will be new? You can score easily from tactical components, not just with raw talent, and we saw a ton of that last Saturday.