HDuck

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.

I did think it was interesting that near the end of Canzano's interview with OSU AD Scott Barnes, Canzano asked, "what can you offer a new head coaching candidate?" Barnes replied that "we are in the top quartile of resources at our level." So, perhaps, maybe, Barnes is no longer attempting to sell the new Pac as a Power 5 conference. Canzano: Oregon State AD Scott Barnes sounds off on firin...Exclusive 1-on-1 interview.

I think Indiana deserves the kudos. They had scouted Oregon well. Even beyond scheme to the skill sets of individual Oregon players. They loaded the box on defense and threw a lot of blitzes and stunts at Oregon. Their D-line was adequate, but more than adequate when backed up by their DE's and LB's. They were rewarded with 8 sacks and a lot of hurries by Dante. They were mixing the rush to keep Dante guessing so Dante couldn't position RB's for blocking. It was frustrating to watch in person and entertain thoughts on what would happen if Oregon's RB's could just break the box and there would be huge running gains. Likewise, yards after catch if TE's/WR's could catch quick throws. Indiana was not afraid of Oregon's outside speed, especially WR's, because they were disrupting things at the line of scrimmage. Indiana had a bye week to prepare and they took advantage. Why Oregon didn't make better adjustments in the second half is baffling. The fourth quarter stats comparison is beyond baffling.

Observations The O line is not championship caliber. Coach Cig had his team better prepared than Lanning did and I’d say coached better during the game as well. Didn’t see a plan B from Will Stein when the passing game got bottled up. Receivers not getting separation. That paragraph...repeated from above...and I fully concur. Dante Moore "fault" for not making adjustments? Hell, Indiana was running so much stuff from different spots into his face...and Oregon sacked 6 times....he didn't have in-play time to make adjustments. No single blocker "adjustment" was going to slow down what Indiana was able to do on defense. Indiana had almost all their guys in a box within 7 yards of the line of scrimmage. The Oregon RB's couldn't gain more than 3-4 yds. Moore didn't have time. I'm not sure what kind of adjustments Stein could make to what was going on. Whatever, if he did, it didn't work in the second half either. Disappointed the RB's weren't able to gash into the secondary to make IU's box defense loosen up. And, let's stop the nonsense about Oregon's O-line and the Joe Moore Award.

The athletic department pays attention to demographic trends. Oregon population grew by less than 1/2 of 1% in the last year. And, that was all age groups combined, all ethnicities combined. So, how many "new" fans might find their way to Autzen? What would make them fans? What is the renewal rate on season tickets? What is the pace of replacement with new ticket buyers to ones who "age out," or move away, or who prefer the economics and convenience of watching from home? Aside from restrooms, concessions and wi-fi what will attract new fans, and retain old ones, given similar W-L records as the recent past? Offering alcohol to seating areas can both attract and detract for attendance. I suspect the AD's plans are more data driven than emotionally driven? And, that is why speculation about expansion is relatively modest. Digital and Social Media SportsAttendance Issues in College Athletics and What Leaders a...It used to be so easy. Before the days of every game on TV, of highlights available moments after the plays occur, of Netflix and Twitch – before all that and more, the stadium or arena was t…

Essentially anything that goes on around Autzen would be subject to City approval due to traffic arteries, transit, infrastructure, police resources, etc. Given the political climate in Eugene, no one should ever assume anything relative to what city planners would recommend and what the council would approve. https://www.registerguard.com/story/news/2023/01/24/eugene-uo-university-oregon-autzen-alton-baker-park-science-center/69833009007/

UC Investments and CalPERS are both large investment funds in California, but they serve different purposes and constituents. UC Investments manages assets for the University of California system, including its pension and endowment funds, while CalPERS manages retirement benefits for a wide range of public employees.

Second time for Sabrina. She joins many other "multi-pickers." Charles Barkley leads the list with 6 guest picker roles. 11 people have appeared 3 times or more. An additional 19 (including Sabrina) have appeared twice.

"Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham said on her 'Show Me Something' podcast that she plans to be in Eugene for Indiana at Oregon on Saturday — to 'do some College GameDay type stuff,'" it seems unlikely that Cunningham, a Missouri grad with no real ties to Oregon, would be given that role over a famous Oregon alum. Then again, the show did that exact thing last week by having podcaster and comedian Theo Von in Tuscaloosa for the Alabama-Vanderbilt game. Perhaps Cunningham's ties to Indiana will result in her being a Von-like hostile guest working against the home crowd?

I wonder how much "expert opinions" affect betting? That's another reason that drives everyone including the mailman to have an opinion. Some just get to spout it on TV. The Oregon - Indiana line opened early Sunday with the Ducks favored by 14. That has diminished greatly. It is now around 7-1/2 to 8. Obviously a lot of money was flowing in on Indiana to win/cover that early spread, so the spread had to narrow to get more money flowing to the Oregon side of the house ledger.

The dynamics in the game have REALLY changed the last 3 years due to transfers and NIL. I don't think most of the "expert pundits" have caught up yet. Take Penn State, for example. Pre-season the punditry was they are returning many of their starters, more than their competitors. Thus, they are a CFP lock, and likely for the Natty game. What gets overlooked is the teams they are going to play aren't as static as they used to be when the only roster churn could come primarily from adding freshmen to replace departing seniors. This year's Penn State squad is not playing their opponents last year's rosters (+freshmen). Their opponents are changing their rosters via transfers and NIL. Their opponent may have lost some seniors, but have replaced them with senior transfers who are as good or better. It is difficult to predict how a new guy on the roster like Duke's transfer QB Darian Mensah (from Tulane) will do, but a few guys can have a big impact, like Mensah. You can say the same about other position players, not just QBs. The pundits don't really have the analysis expertise to predict what will happen because there is way more churn in the rosters than there used to be.

4 of the Ducks 5 opponents lost the next game after playing the Ducks. Only Northwestern won. All games were a TD or less. Northwestern had a bye and didn't have to play immediately. 24-30 in OT – Montana State - L vs S. Dakota St 12-19 – Oklahoma State – L vs Tulsa 17-14 – Northwestern – W vs UCLA 24-27 in OT – Oregon State – L vs Houston 37-42 – Penn State – L at UCLA

These late kickoff times for Eastern teams like Penn State traveling to the West Coast can be problematic....

His brother, freshman Na'eem Offord, is on the roster too and has played in all 5 games.

"...move the concrete perimeter wall further back?" My recollection is the stadium wall hasn't changed. However, there use to be concrete traffic barriers behind the end zones when there was more freedom of movement of fans using the field for ingress/egress. Those were removed when it became apparent, they caused potential for injury for players running into them on pass reception plays.

"...pooling the product thus negating conferences from competing with each other for TV revenues. It would be a massive money maker and thus the increasing competition would almost certainly drive up the cost for the networks." Or, the networks might look at it as competing against each other for NFL (SEC/B1G) rights vs USFL (Big12/ACC) rights?

"Top 10 games of all time" And, it was a regular season game. Probably good the Ducks have a bye to "come down" from the emotions. Indiana did have a tough game with Iowa, also has a bye. But, that's Iowa. Pull 'em into the gutter. Lean on 'em, Wear on 'em. But, Indiana got the one big play to pull it out.

Section 4, Article 5, Paragraph 3 of the NCAA Football Rule Book, the NCAA prohibits the home team from wearing "away" whites at home. 2. The visiting team shall wear white jerseys; however, the home team may wear white jerseys if the teams have agreed in writing before the season 3. If the home team wears colored jerseys, the visiting team may also wear colored jerseys, if and only if the following two conditions have been satisfied: The home team has agreed in writing prior to the game; and The conference of the home team certifies that the jersey of the visiting team is of a contrasting color Coach Franklin in 2019: "First of all, part of the White Out is the contrast. It helps us if everybody else is in white, it makes our players stand out on the field for our quarterback and those types of things. That's the first thing," Franklin said.. "The other thing is, we can't wear white at home. There's NCAA rules. We can't show up and wear whatever we want to wear. We would have to get permission from the opposing team to allow us (to) wear white, and I would never do that for anybody else, so we haven't even kind of gone that route." When Penn St hosted SMU in the opening round CFP game, SMU wore all white - jersey, pants, helmet. It was a daylight game. It was PSU's second white-out game of the 2024 season.

Oregon ever played that far east at night? Last season the Ducks kickoff at Purdue was 8:00 pm local. This week Penn State is 7:30 pm local. Both are in the Eastern Time Zone. Though PSU is approx 500 miles east of Purdue. Longest surface travel trip? Miami, likely followed by a game at Army, as the two longest trips. Both games in the afternoon. Miami was a 2-0 loss. Yes, a safety. Army was a 22-22 tie. Ducks at Maryland in 2027, and back to Penn St in 2028.

There have been 21 such white-out games dating back to 2004 (2024 had both Washington and SMU). Penn State is: 13-8 (5 of the 8 to OSU or Michigan) 9-7 vs ranked 4-1 vs unranked 3-5 vs teams ranked top ten Coach Franklin is 8-3 with 6-0 in last 6. He is 2-1 vs teams in top ten in the white-out. The white-outs are definitely games that PSU fans look forward to. And, Franklin is 6-0 in the last six.

One thought about Cignetti is that his turn around for Indiana is so impressive he will be hired elsewhere. But, will he? He doesn't look it, but he is 64. Other than Belichick and Herm Edwards, I can't remember a college coach whose first FBS level head job was older. Cignetti was 63 when he was hired by Indiana. Belichick and Edwards had been NFL head coaches. Current FBS Power 4 conference level coaches 73 – Belichick – N. Carolina 70 – Ferentz – Iowa 65 – Whittingham – Utah 65 – Fritz – Houston 64 – Cignetti – Indiana 63 – Kelly – LSU 63 – Pittman - Arkansas

IF the CFP was based on today's AP Top 12, then No. 11 Indiana would be out. No. 12 Tex Tech would be in as Big12 rep, and No. 27 USF would be in as Non-Power 4 rep. USF would take the No. 12 spot, and Tex Tech would move up to No. 11. At No. 6, Oregon would host Tex Tech.

"Indiana is going to be a very tough game if we don't step up our game, I'm very glad that one is after a bye." Indiana also has a bye before traveling to Oregon. Given the total points they've scored in the last three games it appears Coach Cig has them on a mission to impress folks that they weren't a one-time aberration last season. I'm sure they heard a lot of crap after the way last season ended. Cignetti's contract with Indiana, signed last November, is an 8-year deal worth $72 million, with an average salary of $8 million, plus $1 million per year retention bonus. Starts at $7.3 and goes to $8.7 at 8th year. If Cignetti were to leave on his accord, he would have to pay damages at the school starting at $13 million in the first year of the deal and that amount goes down on an annual basis. THAT ($13) is something to watch in today's competitive environment.

Oregon State rushing offense 67 yds - (42 yds - 1st quarter) Oregon 36 yds - total vs Tex Tech 140 yds - total vs Fresno St 68 yds - total vs Cal Oregon rushing defense 67 - Oregon St 178 - Northwestern 144 - OK State 46 - Montana St

Clemson drops to 1-3 with the loss to Syracuse at home. Clemson was No. 4 pre-season AP poll.