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Not only a sweep of the Dellinger X-country meet, but also men finished 1, 2, 3, 4 & 6. The article gives the women the same finishes, but I'm a little skeptical. And this does set up our first BIG CShip of the year Oct 31. Balazs, Cherotich Sweep USTFCCCA National Honors - University of Oregon Athletics

Everything Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano said about Oregon in his Monday press conference Find out what Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano had to say about this weekend's matchup against the Ducks

Agreed, it's not been good Quick clarification on the stats below: "Off. Points per Game" is points scored by offense in regulation (i.e., no D/ST/OT points) Offense including non-conference games: Offense conference games only:

Hoping the Ducks will soon sign Gus the Mule (or his equivalent)!

Spot on, Geo, and I'm sorry, OBD Forum friends and fans. 😒But ... Cheer for SC to Fight On to victory at Notre Dame, and for UW to win in Ann Arbor. Also, an Iowa win over Penn State at home, and a Nebraska win in Minneapolis, would help OBD's SOS cause. 💩 You don't have to tell me, I'm already on the way to my room. 🙃

I went back and watched the interception that sort of ended the game. There were over six minutes remaining and it was only 27-20. This play sort of summarizes the day for me. The Indiana DT plows into one of the B gaps and the DE loops around him stunting and fills the spot left by the DT. Harkey picks up the DT and shoves Luli back to pick up the looping DE. This should look pretty familiar to the Duck OL from practice (as the Duck D has been doing the same thing regularly this year). I'm not sure if the shove from Harkey is the usual way the OL trades rushers, but the shove is so hard it actually pushes Luli several steps and spins him (you can see he actually is all the way over to where the ball was snapped) and he is now facing Dante Moore instead of the Indiana rush. That leaves a big gap for the looping DE to run through untouched. Dante is looking for Dakorian sort of slanting in at about 8-10 yards, that might have been there without the free rushing DE. Moore almost has no way of not seeing the rusher -- if he isn't totally staring down the WR from the snap. The announcers say something like "I'm not sure who got their big paw up there on that"; but, it looks more like the defender throwing his arms up and knocking it high in the air because of a surprise reaction to a ball coming right at his chest or face. The previous 1st down play is almost as bad. WRs overloaded right, it looks like a bit of misdirection where the OL pushes all their DLs left and the play is to the right, which they all do except Harkey who gets turnstiled by his DE. Moore avoids him and steps up but as the whole OL has gone left, there is no pocket to step into. Moore gets sacked by four arriving Indiana defenders (two LB who just sit on the play, one DE who gets off a Sadiq block, and one DT who spins out of the block by the Duck RG). It looks like the WRs are there mostly to run off their defenders (and block downfield if the play gets there) and the pass is to the RB coming out of the backfield (from what I can tell); but, Harkey's man is on Moore so fast, there isn't even time for a throw (or even for the RB to get to where he is trying to go), nor anywhere for Moore to really go as Harkey's loose man prevents him from rolling or drifting right. I don't see any actual run option, and it doesn't seem like a deeper route as there is no pass protection. Misdirection, overload set, TE in motion, all for one option to try to get the RB in the flat out of the backfield? Maybe if someone else watches it they can tell me if it supposed to be something else (6:23). In the end there is an illegal shift penalty on the offense and the thing wouldn't have counted anyway. That is why I say microcosm of the day. Simple slow developing play with a lot of eye candy but not a lot of options, blown up by a missed OL block, that wouldn't have counted anyway, followed by an interception where the Duck OL "friendly fires" one of its own leaving a free rusher the QB fires the ball right at, while he is staring down a single WR.

Or, it could have been 13 - 13 or 17 -13 as we don't know what Indy might have done after a kickoff. That 58 yarder is quite the weapon.

Is Oregon going to have a Top 25 win at the end of the season? It’s possible they may not. They probably need to win out.

Even with all that said Jon the path to the playoff is still simple. Just Win! Even if USC and Washington are ranked and potentially in play for a playoff seat by the time they meet the Ducks the Ducks can knock them out of their way. The B1G Championship game is more difficult but I am frankly not as concerned about that at this point as I think conference championship games are more detrimental at this point. Outside of a strange scenario like Clemson last year, it's probably better just to get into the playoff and have a first round game to get your feet wet rather than an extra bye week.

For the record I don't think this offensive line is bad... I think they played badly. Their inside run blocking was quite good but they were getting beat on the edges. It felt like the line was struggling and it didn't help Moore's struggles because he did have open receivers but he didn't have the time and comfort to find them. The reality is that this game was pretty close. The missed field goal was a six point swing for Indiana but if Oregon made that field goal at the end of the half they would have gone into the half up 13-10. There were a few holding calls that killed drives, if those calls don't happen I am sure the Ducks put up some points. Cut back on the interceptions down to one and the Ducks probably win this game by a score or two. Credit to Indiana, they needed the Ducks to play poorly and force them into bad play and they did just that. But if a rematch comes in the playoff... don't expect the same result. I am expecting this offensive line to have a chip on their shoulder for the rest of the season.

Thanks, DM. It isn't easy having to perform an autopsy. 😧 The two starting OTs were exposed. Still, the defense after Finney's pick-6 could have preserved a victory. In the 4th quarter, the defense has been bad vs. B1G opponents. 2nd stringers on the field against Northwestern, but it's NW, man. The offense has not been impressive in three games vs. B1G opponents, including at 4-2 (!) Northwestern and at 3-3 Penn State. Both the offense and defense failed against quality 6-0 Indiana. As he admitted, Dan and his assistants were schooled by a guy with far more coaching experience. I liked your noting Sappinton's misses on important FG tries. Will OBD ever find a clutch you don't have to pucker up when he walks on the field, FG kicker? Two very disappointing efforts coming off the last two byes. Something needs to change in the off weeks. A sense of urgency in the Rose Bowl and on Saturday was lacking. Badly outcoached off the last two byes. Time to get right at Rutgers, a team with a good offense and a crummy defense. If OBD cannot cover -14.5 at Rutgers, then DUCK! I'm looking at the game vs. Indiana as an anomaly and hoping I am correct in doing so. Wins at Rutgers and against Wisconsin should be no problem. (Knock Wood.) But at Iowa, the following Friday night against a Gophers team coming off a bye, and USC, and at UW will not be easy wins. Indiana has handled its trips to the Pacific time zone perfectly. Without a word of whining. OBD has no chance to hand the Hoosiers a regular-season payback before 2028 in Bloomington. 🤬

I hear Penn State has a nice box.

If I want to see venting, I just visit the rodent board every week.😄

Disagreement and discussion is good, but I've learned not to appoint any of the experts as "right," because I imagine the Oregon coaching staff might have some disagreement with their analysis. Remember, Geoff blocked in Chip Spread offense, and Wrightster was under Bellotti? Things in CFB have changed since then. For example, they did not have to deal with "Simulated Pressures" back then.... https://fishduck.com/2023/10/keys-to-the-wsu-game-that-fishduck-is-watching-for/ Pressure can come from unexpected directions, as these “Simulated Pressures:” are an overload on one side.

Good point about the ipads. If anyone is at the games, have you seen the coordinators locked into the ipads when the other side is on the field. Still this only allows adjustment after the series is over. And a screen doesn't have the same impact as watching your play call go down in flames due to X's and O's in real time, seeing it's not going to work as the play develops. Another consideration is audibles and in helmet communication systems. Why wouldn't you take advantage of that as an OC, to get up to the line quickly with a fake snap count and be able to help the QB change the call and protections before the system shuts off 15 seconds before the play clock runs out? It would be interesting if the press were to ask this of the coordinators if there was a possibility they could do their jobs better from the box.

With regards to the O-Line performance, Geoff Schwartz and I disagree with your title and synopsis. Yes it wasn't their best showing, they got some penalties and had a few bad blocks, but they were pretty consistently handling the rusher in front of them. The bigger contributions were everything else, RBs, Moore in more ways than one, and Stein's play calling formations that took a middle of the road approach of not adding extra blockers or not adding extra WR to stress the LBs. Read Geoff Schwartz Twitter post in the other thread.

We're halfway through the 2025 season. With the home loss to Indiana, Oregon does not have an easy path to repeat as the B1G champion and return to the College Football Playoff. Autzen ZooDucks on a collision course along a very tough road in B1...Dan Lanning and his players performed so well to start this season that Oregon fans forgot this was a young team in a rebuilding/reloading year. Two B1G teams are undefeated - 6-0 No. 1 Ohio State, and 6-0 No. 3 Indiana. Four teams have one loss at the halfway mark - Oregon, Nebraska, USC, and Washington. No. 25 Nebraska is ranked behind No. 24 Cincinnati, a team the Cornhuskers defeated in its opening game in Kansas City, and behind several 2-loss teams. S(ec)MH! Two-loss teams, Illinois, Michigan, Northwestern, Minnesota, and Maryland, are still in the B1G title and playoff hunt. But none of these teams are odds-on to play for a conference title or be included in the playoff field. Except for USC and 5-2 Illinois, all Big Ten teams have six conference games remaining. This Saturday, before finishing with five conference games, USC plays Notre Dame in South Bend. No. 26 Illinois is 5-2. A back-of-the-envelope strength of schedule using future opponents' records to date has USC tied with OBD with games against the most difficult remaining B1G opponents. USC, with the game at Notre Dame, does have the overall most difficult remaining slate of games. All of the below schedule-ranked teams have three home and three road games left. Two of USC's five remaining B1G games are on the road. 1. No. 20 USC opponent records, including No. 13 Notre Dame - 24-12/ +12 USC B1G opponent records - 20-10/ +10 - including road games at No. 25 Nebraska and No. 8 Oregon. 2. No. 8 OREGON - 23-13/ +10 - including No. 20 USC and at No. 28 UW. 3. No. 25 NEBRASKA - 22-14/ +8 - including No. 20 USC. 4. No. 28 WASHINGTON - 20-17/ +3 - including at No. 27 Michigan and No. 8 OBD. 5. No. 3 INDIANA - 17-18/ -1 / No ranked opponents remaining. The most difficult remaining game is on the road at 4-2 Maryland. Once ranked, Penn State is also a road game. Indiana hosts an improving UCLA. 6. No. 1 OHIO STATE - 15-21/ -6 / This is the B1G murderers' row remaining for the Buckeyes: At Wisconsin, Bye, Penn State, at Purdue, UCLA, Rutgers, at No. 27 Michigan. If Ryan Day doesn't get the Wolverine off of his back this season, then when? Easy to project from the above - December 6, 2025 - Ohio State vs. Indiana in Indianapolis. Considering 2-loss Notre Dame is ranked No. 13, and 2-loss Texas is ranked No. 21, and with G6 USF ranked No. 19, Washington at No. 28, with its only loss to No. 1 Ohio State, is inexplicable. Both No. 26 Illinois and No. 27 Michigan could be ranked. Tony Pettiti, do not back away from your AQ playoff model, please! It's prove-it time for Lincoln Riley at Notre Dame, but based on results to date, including SC's beat down of Michigan, USC at No. 20 is absurd. GO DUCKS!

I read an article that had some decent logic as to why ADs should stop giving such big buyouts, especially when they are already making top of the food chain salaries.

Maybe Oregon should hire Schwartz and Wrightster as "Analyst/Assistants"

I'm sure they know it, it wasn't like this is what they wanted to happen, but in the end it's a bit of a zero sum game, either you have the horses or you do not, and if you don't have the talent than you have to find ways to get around that schematically. I'm sure the coaches are very aware that the talent has to start picking up, last year was improvement recruiting wise on the line, this year they have good start, hopefully by next year or the year after we'll see this bear fruit. I guess when it comes to QBs, I trust the coaches, if they felt like getting transfer was the key to winning a championship I'm sure they would do it, they had confidence in Moore, he's been great so far other than this last weekend, I still don't think it's a given that Nix or Gabriel would have been significantly better. I don't really think any coach out there has a policy that they will always bring in a transfer QB, they look at their roster and decide who would be the best fit for the program. Sometimes that means bringing a guy who has two years left, sometimes one, sometimes it's a guy who has been learning the system and was a 5 star QB who everyone in the building said was ready to be Heisman candidate. I know this....if we are known to only play transfer QBs, you can say goodbye to any chance of recruiting 5 star QBs as freshman, not a single one will be willing to wait their turn to eventually sit behind whoever is comes in the summer, and if they do come, they'll be transferring within 2 years at a minimum. That does not mean that the coaches can't decide that the 5 star who came in is automatically dialed in to play.

I would love to see an expansion, but I'm not sure how much more foot traffic the current configuration can handle. There's very congested pinch points, especially on the north side, where some of us poor schmucks have our season tickets. I was reminded of that yet again prior to the Indiana, game, as people backed up in the concesssion and beer lines almost completely blocked through traffic to the north side. The new stairways that were installed a few years ago are great for getting out of the stadium, but don't help much for entering the main entrance on the footbridge side. Improve/expand the amenities on the north side and fix the concourses first, otherwise any increase in capacity would be a logistical nightmare.

The offense may be happy they have to leave early for a road game at Rutgers so they don't have to spend the next 6 days being forced to watch, and re-watch, the screwups vs Indiana.

Know the Foe: Five Rutgers Scarlet Knight players to know The eighth-ranked Ducks will play across the country in New Jersey this week when they meet Rutgers on Saturday at 3:30 PM. Here are five Scarlet Knight players to know entering the game.

Whittington missed several blocks and tried to get a big play instead of taking the first down yards on that first series. The blocking was quite poor and it wasn't just the offensive line for sure.