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I couldn't have said it better Solar! If you're going to get criticized anyway, you might as well do it your way! I do believe the best coaches are flexible however. Think of Nick Saban throwing a Freshman into the fire in the second half of the Natty. That takes guts!. Then imagine the next year, those two players switch again, and defeat the same team-again. In both cases, the playbook expanded according to each players' relative strengths. Against an extremely talented defense both times. In my eyes, that says to me Saban recognizes things happen that require junking your game plan. Of course, that's a tough pill to swallow if you believe in your philosophy (or game plan), Which of course means, how much do you trust yourself and your instincts? How much do you trust your staff? There are so many components to dealing with the intricacies of the game. Which means sometimes it really isn't ego, but just going with what you feel is the best move to make according to what you see and feel about what's happening. Which is why I believe your point is so valid.

Oh I believe we all feel this way. We really want that Natty!

I'm with you on this Drake. Sometimes it just boils down to mano y mano, and your philosophical take on the game won't necessarily work.

Not sure there's enough man-explaining power to mansplain this.

@Mike West - Great article, thank you! All of your article, and many of the comments here, focus on Lupoi being the sole steward of the defense. Am I being too much of a stickler if I link Dan Lanning to the defense as much as Lupoi? Seems like he should have the defense humming, regardless of DC, given his background, no? Would be interesting to know how involved Dan Lanning is in the defense. Then I remind myself to put things in perspective that I can't expect OBD to thoroughly dominate every single team on both sides of the ball. Other teams have excellent coaching and talent and resources, too. The spoiled fan is coming out in me, that I want perfection against . . . the best teams in college football. Ha, that's not fair Either way, I'm very excited about this season, and have high hopes for both offense and defense.

The Maryland (!) AD with inside information? If this were coming out of Columbus or Ann Arbor, I'd have more buy-in. How about 24, all Newbies are AAU members - Notre Dame, only when the ACC implodes and ND loses the ACC scheduling agreement, ASU, Kansas, UVA, UNC, and Duke. Eat What You Kill. Winners keep the Moneyball postseason money that they win. Eyes on the Prize. Revenue is distributed based on the number of folks tuning in to watch your games, including postseason games. Four 6-team divisions. West - OBD, UW, UCLA, USC, ASU, and the farthest west Central time zone team, Kansas. Central - Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Northwestern. Mid-East - Indiana, Purdue, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Rutgers. East - Penn State, Notre Dame, Duke, UNC, Maryland, and UVA. Rutgers fits in the East, but is placed in the Mid-East, and ND in the East for competitive balance. WAG ALERT! Swallow this along with a B1G serving of crab cakes.

I honestly doubt North Carolina and Virginia go the Big Ten, since there's been countless reports the Tar Heels and the SEC have mutual interest.

Yes sir, there are HS age kids getting work done on a regular basis and you cannot trust any photograph of anything.

I don't know, I've yet to see Bill starring in an ad for Viagra. 😁 If it is true, I'd advise Billy Bob to insist on a paternity test. 🙃

Aside from the ND fantasy…in no particular order; UNC, Duke, Virginia, FSU, Miami, Clemson (sensing a pattern?) probably top the list. B12 is lacking any truly marquee brands to pilfer imo. All kinds of chatter out there, but 2 teams should come from this list. My guess is still that by 2030 this will all be moot.

When the ACC dissolves....Florida State and Clemson will go to the SEC, while North Carolina and Miami to the B1G? Set up two Big-10 divisions with ten teams each; play the other nine in conference, and three OOC games for the schedule with a conference championship game. Notre Dame is making too much money with their own TV contract to take a pay cut going into a conference IMHO. Although they would be a great fit for us...

Yeah. I was perplexed by BSU and SDSU fumbling all over themselves to join like it was an invitation in 1995. They should have held fast with the MWC and made OSU and WSU come to the table eventually. The PIG2 could not have held out forever. Instead they gave up all leverage and decided to go to court for years. Completely moronic, with all due respect and imo. 😂

I appreciate everyone's patience in overlooking those "backlink" sentences in articles that help to pay the bills of the two FD sites. The SEO company who paid me on this backlink was located in... Andorra! A nation the size of the Willamette Valley...

In the latest embarrassment for the "Scrap-12?" The UNLV AD issued an interesting remark, a real backhanded-slap to the current Pac-12, and John Canzano was trying to downplay it, but to no avail. UNLV Athletic Director Erick Harper: "...based on the current landscape, we felt the best decision for us was to stay in the Mountain West. For one thing, the Pac-12 is not what the Pac-12 once was. It’s the same logo but without USC, UCLA, Oregon, Washington, Utah, it’s not the same conference."

Yikes!

Can see the full storyline here: A Big Ten AD says conference will expand again by 2030Michigan Wolverines On SIBig Ten AD says conference will expand again by 2030The Big Ten is expanding again, according to a report from On3's Brett McMurphy. Although McMurphy reported the conference isn't sure which schools it will be a

"There are a lot of reasons to suspect that the 2025 Oregon Ducks offensive line will not be as effective as recent units. There are some reasons for optimism though. The staff has shown that if a combination on the line isn’t working, they are willing to make changes. I would not be surprised if we see three transfers play against Montana state, but that they re-shuffle to play only one or two by the time they head to Penn State" This is the kind of stuff that I'm not crazy about. It pretty much says, "Well, I guess we don't know as much as the coaches, but, well, we probably do, so at least when they realize we were correct, at least they have shown the willingness to be flexible to do what we knew was best." Not a huge fan, especially when one side is two guys relying on spreadsheets and the other a highly paid, experienced group of coaches who see the players practice daily. 🫤

Who knows but how bout Utah and Az St? Might help with west coast travel disparity.

I read somewhere she is pregnant. Wowser.

There is no fool like an old fool...

The quote "Lies, damn lies and statistics" is attributed to Mark Twain. One needs to be a bit of a humorist to get an upside out of ATQ's take on the perils that OBD will suffer as a result of having three transfers starting on the O-line. Pass and block error rates calculated on Excel over an entire season may yield valuable data, but does it take into account position and growth over a season? Is a transfer at center riskier than one at guard or tackle? What about the coaching staff identifying and correcting the root causes of why talented OTs like World or Harkey whiffed so often in certain situations? I have to assume that the coaching staff has evaluated the potential starters and will choose the best five based on practice and scrimmage situations. Cohesion and acting as one is the critical thing for an O-line and having Poncho as the veteran homegrown anchor should mitigate some of the transfer effect negatives. The miserable up front play that plagued last year's Idaho and Boise St games were identified and corrected by the time Ohio State came to town. Unless the 2025 version of the OL gets off to the same start, I will remain optimistic in Oregon's front five.

Dan Lanning: "Preparation’s going to create confidence."Head Coach Dan Lanning meets with the media following practice on August 27, 2025. Matayo Uiagalelei: "Each day, each week, it’s a battle." Everything Oregon head coach Dan Lanning said on Wednesday before Montana State game Oregon coach Dan Lanning offered his final remarks before the season opener with Montana State on Wednesday. Here is a full transcript

Dumb Stick personified.

BTW...look closely at her picture. I've read where even young women in their 20s have had facial surgery...doesn't that look like a pumped-up cheekbone? High forehead with angled eyelashes?