jrw

Trying to think of a Ducks game in recent history that was this much of a total collapse. Ducks' players look completely beaten, as they well have been; taken to the woodshed and schooled. No fire, no heart, no desire. It's really bad to see this at the end of the season.

Something is wrong inside the Ducks' program. No clue what it is, but this look twice in three weeks is not the sign of things going well behind the scenes,

Ouch...Herbie says "only one team showed up tonight".

Kinda embarrassing to be a Ducks fan. Glad I'm not out in public.

Mario has some serious explaining to do...about how a game like this happens 2 out of 3 weeks. How a team apparently can't learn a thing, or improve a thing. Why he keeps doing the same thing over and over and over, when that thing isn't working.

Prime time again, national television again, egg laid on the big stage again. Not healthy for the program going forward. Some fans wonder why the Ducks don't get national respect. We're seeing the reason why for the second time in two weeks. And, Verone holding up that "Thorpe" whiteboard? He should be worrying about the game, not his post-season award possibility. Poor look.

Opinion question: if the game continues like this, will AB get pulled?

Now that Utah has established the pass, here comes the running onslaught.

AB, our Jekyll & Hyde quarterback, is having another of "those" games. When he starts this way, he does not improve.

This offense is simply sad. Sad, sad, sad. Why not put in TT? It literally could not get much worse.

Ducks seem awed and intimidated by the Utes.

Put a pause on that contract extension for Mario until after this game.

Anyone else going to bail out on this game?

He just threw a pick-6. His ankle is taped. His team is down 14-0. Why should he not be benched?

Mario, we have a problem. A big problem.

I don't object, in principle, to losing. I just don't like losing while looking embarrassingly shabby.

Ummmm....

Then why did Mario recruit prize passing QBs such as Butterfield and Thompson?

Oregon 28 - 17, 2, 3, 265

Can't the entire athletic department at ASU hear the NCAA's footsteps coming down the hall?

Dilbert used to bang the heads of new employees on his desk; if they gave off a hollow sound, he put them in Marketing. But, marketing a small business was all I did in my so-called career, so if you hear something, it's the echo from my head. What recruiting is, is selling a brand. A college football brand has to be sold to two targets: the recruit and their family, and parts of the public at large. So, you need to know the markets you're going after and what are the needs and wants of your markets. I'd say Oregon is pretty - like really - good at selling the school's brand and assets to recruits and families - winning, facilities, uniforms, academic and personal support, getting to the league - and pretty darn good at marketing to sectors of the public. As long as Oregon can maintain the Nike connection, the Ducks will have access to the design, advertising, marketing, and NIC talent of one of the best companies in world at selling their brand, like Nike or not. So, if the status quo endures, I'm not worried about recruiting to Eugene. Sorry, Scott.

His job consists of guessing what other people are thinking. Strenuous.

I think not caring is a big part of it. So what if you're wrong? No big deal, there will be something else to opine on in a few minutes. The so-called pundits are rarely held accountable for their accuracy; hits, clicks, likes, and number of followers are all that matters.

Yeah, these days all the attention goes to the so-called smart guys who have the most strident, instant, knee-jerk predictions on everything. There's no downside to being wrong in the current media environment, as everybody forgets what you said after about 15 minutes. So, I'm with you; I love it when the instant authoritative predictions go down the drain.

It's the happy honeymoon period now, for Riley and USC. They think they're the Mecca of college football and it's all a love-fest. Reality will set in and life will go back to normal; USC will be a huge recruiting rival and a maybe a much better program. Time will tell. But, not every SoCal kid wants to go to USC. That's why there are other schools and programs in other parts of the country that are successful. Ever been to the USC campus? It's kind of a dump, in a dumpy part of town.