HDuck

It's defense as usual? Current NCAA ranking Scoring defense 1-Ohio State – 12.1/game 2-Notre Dame – 13.6 4-Texas – 14.5 7-Penn St – 15.8 16-Oregon – 19.4 Yards allowed per game 1-Ohio State – 244.6 3-Texas – 277.7 6-Penn St – 288.8 8-Notre Dame – 295.4 15-Oregon – 315.9

"It took Harbaugh 5 to 6 seasons to build and recruit the talent at Michigan to beat osu2." It is a different era now with the portal, BUT: - Kirby Smart won his first Natty in his sixth year at Georgia. He inherited a top 10 team that had been 20-6 in two seasons. - Saban won it at LSU in his fourth year - Sark is 38-16 in his fourth year at Texas - Lincoln Riley was 55-10 at Oklahoma, now 81-24 - no championship - Ryan Day is 68-10 at Ohio State, will this be his year? In sum, it ain't easy. Saban obviously had an effect on other program's possibilities, but there typically have been temporarily dominant programs thru the years. In sum, it ain't easy.

"The game in Eugene in October was Oregon’s one Fool’s Gold: That October victory over Ohio State gave the Ducks the false belief that they were better than they were. " The Buckeyes are statistically No. 1 in the nation in defense for total yds allowed per game. They are also No. 1 in scoring defense per game. The two highest scoring opponents were Oregon 32 in October, Oregon 21 on January 1. Based on the preparation for January 1 by the Oregon staff, I'm not sure they weren't biased by the October game. Would be interesting to know how much prep time they allocated to reviewing Ohio State's other 11 regular season games.

Undefeated Montana State plays N. Dakota State for the FCS Championship. Montana State visits Autzen next Fall to open the season.

Don't want to diminish Ohio State's offense on January 1 by this comment, but I would just add as a reminder the Ohio State defense is No. 1 in yards allowed. The game in October was apparently a one-off in terms of their season long defensive performance. Thus, it makes me wonder what the Oregon staff was looking at in the film room between the game in Indianapolis and Pasadena. Were they re-running the October game on a loop and expecting to see the same Ohio State defense on January 1? I understand that losing James early, and not having Stewart, can affect play calls. But, it just seemed the preparation for what-if scenarios was wholly inadequate.

"He did take part in bowl practice as an early enrollee..." As one joker said, "he's the first Cal QB to appear at the Rose Bowl since January 1, 1959."

Relative to the 11 seasons of the CFP: Oregon was the seventh No. 1 seed to lose but just the third to lose before the championship game, along with Alabama in 2014 and Clemson in 2017. (Obviously, both lost in the semifinals in the 4-team invitational.) The six previous losses by No. 1 seeds were by an average of 12.8 points. The Ducks lost by 20. Only one No. 1 seed has lost by a larger margin than Oregon: In the championship game for the 2018 season, undefeated Alabama lost 44-16 to Clemson. And, some pre-Playoff history: 2013 BCS Championship: Alabama beat No. 1 Notre Dame 42-14 2012 BCS Championship: Alabama beat No. 1 LSU 21-0 2008 BCS Championship: Florida beat No. 1 Ohio St 41-14 - yes, the same Buckeyes program that beat Oregon 41-21. Though when it quickly became 17-0 and sitting in a very subdued Oregon crowd, I was thinking it could end much worse than it did.

As I posted elsewhere in this forum, the Ohio State at Oregon game was an aberration for the OSU defense. The statistics of that game in terms of yds allowed by the OSU defense was wholly uncharacteristic. OSU leads the nation in total yds allowed per game at 244 per game. On January 1 they allowed 276 after allowing 496 at Autzen. The most passing yds allowed in a game in 2024 by OSU were to Oregon. Both Oregon games rank No. 1 and No. 2 in yds allowed passing. The most points allowed by OSU in a game were 32 and 21. Both of the Oregon games. Obviously OSU made adjustments between October and January 1, and the one-off defensive effort in October, led to a team underestimated by the Oregon coaching staff in my opinion. The OSU we saw on January 1 was the OSU that hit the field in 13 of their 14 games. It was a major mistake to believe that the OSU we saw on one October Saturday was the one who would also show up on January 1.

USA Today…we’ve taken a closer look at the top 25 programs in total revenue from its recently released figures for the 2023-24 fiscal year for public universities. A necessary note: This was the final year before conference realignment and the explosion of the Big Ten and SEC’s television deals. Going forward, expect the 18 Big Ten and 16 SEC programs to rise toward the top of the list, while the rest of the country begins to slip. 1-Ohio State - $251,615,345 total revenue 2-Texas - $239,290,648 9-Penn St - $181,227,448 Notre Dame is not a public school 5-Georgia - $203,084,566 13-Indiana - $166,761,471 17-Clemson - $158,283,618 18-Tennessee - $154,566,935 19-Oregon - $153,510,555 Not in Top 25: ASU, Boise St, SMU (private)

https://x.com/FBSchedules/status/1875333095454601605

"...graphic during the game that showed something like 8 of tOSU's 11 defensive starters had something like at least 4 years in their program.." I read elsewhere today an opinion that this Ohio State team may be the last national champion with primarily non-portal players. Yes, the QB came from the portal, but primarily "program grown" roster this season. There are not many holdouts which are avoiding the portal. Clemson?

Oregon: -23 rushing, 299 passing in Rose Bowl, 276 total offense 245 yds – average total offense per game allowed by OSU defense in 14 games is No. 1 in college football October game at Oregon Ducks: 155 rushing, 341 passing Ohio State, most yards allowed rushing: 172 – Michigan 155 – Oregon - October 153 – Tennessee 92 – average in 14 games 12 rushing TDs allowed, 3 of 12 were by Oregon -23 rushing in Rose Bowl was fewest allowed by OSU in 2024 Ohio State, most yards allowed passing: 341 – Oregon - October 299 – Oregon - January 201 – Northwestern 152 – average in 14 games 6 receiving TDs allowed, 4 of 6 were by Oregon Ohio State, most points allowed: 32 - Oregon 21 - Oregon 17 - Tennessee/Nebraska 12.1 - per game - Oregon 53 of 169 pts Ohio State defense/special teams allowed The OSU defense allowed 18 TDs so far in 2024, 7 of them were by Oregon. The OSU D we saw in the Rose Bowl was typical of 13 games played by the Buckeyes. The October game was not typical. How well did Oregon game plan to avoid the bias of the October experience?

Whatever many of us may think about Mario's in-game management, he deserves a pat on the back (lesser extent Taggart) for demonstrating to the Oregon establishment that it was possible to go nation-wide in recruiting and get players to commit all the way out in Ory-gone far from their mother's home cooking. Who knows the details on Ward. Cristobal is being tight lipped about any deal they had for him to play at least a half. The first half vs second half comparison may actually have enhanced NFL interest in him, because I don't think the second half had wholesale substitutions at other positions.

Will Herbert end up with a record today? NFL passing first 5 seasons: 20,618 - 80 games - Peyton Manning 20,455 - 77 games - Justin Herbert 153 from matching Peyton. At the moment I post this Herbert has 82 so far in first quarter. how much they had in rushing yards first 5 seasons: 556 - Manning 1,163 - Herbert

And, another link about "the long season" Penn State Football: Embracing the Long Grind of a Record 15-Game CFP Season…and Counting | State College, PA WWW.STATECOLLEGE.COM It’s been a long and grinding road for Penn State in 2024. And it’s not over yet. So far, the Nittany Lions have not just survived and advanced despite a

YouTube impression: liked his balance and footwork on his cuts and change of direction moves Sources - Tulane's Makhi Hughes enters transfer portal - ESPN WWW.ESPN.COM Tulane running back Makhi Hughes, who rushed for 1,401 yards and scored 17 total touchdowns this season, has entered the transfer portal, sources told ESPN.

"Getting invited is what counts and a screwed up 12 team CFP is better than a SEC/ESPN rigged BCS or 4 team invitational" As noted in a The Athletic column, more teams mean more programs make the "investment" in their programs because they have a "chance." Even if they fall short as the No. 13 or No. 14 team, or they succumb to the moment and become a blowout loss, that investment provides more teams playing at a higher level during the regular season. That benefits their fans, and creates more interest in college football in the regular season. For programs like Indiana, SMU, BYU, Iowa State, Louisville, Ole Miss, Missouri to name just a few, the "chance" is a tide that raises more boats.

Today Kansas State plays Rutgers in a bowl game. KSU is led by QB Avery Johnson, a dual-threat type, who actually visited Oregon while in high school recruiting mode. KSU "pushed out" current Ohio State QB Will Howard to make a playing opportunity for Johnson this season. Howard assessed his NFL draft stock, and chose the portal instead for one more year and ended up at tOSU. Johnson had multi-years ahead, and KSU didn't want to lose him and telegraphed to Howard that it was Johnson's job to lose in 2024. You gotta think Howard will be extremely motivated to carry tOSU as far as possible. 2:30 today, Thursday, Johnson will try to carry KSU to a win over Rutgers.

To paraphrase Clemenza in The Godfather, "leave the nuts, take the win."

Penn State from 9-1/2 to 11 vs Boise State Ohio State from 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 vs Oregon Same Texas 13-1/2 vs ASU Georgia 1-1/2 vs Notre Dame Basically when odds rise it is because the House gives the underdog more points to attract bettors to that side. For example, Georgia is currently pulling 45% and Notre Dame 55% which means the House has those odds about right.

Ohio State favored by 1-1/2. They were favored by 3-1/2 prior to Autzen visit in October. tOSU was dominating tonight, so that plays in to number the oddsmakers use. Could be a straight pick'em by day of game?

Over the past few hours the initial odds have stayed pretty stable: Penn St 10 vs Boise State Texas 13-1/2 vs ASU Georgia 1-1/2 vs Notre Dame Oregon vs Ohio State should be posted shortly.

Coach Lanning has said more than once in recent days the first order of business was to scout ourselves. Will be interesting to see how much both teams staffs adjust their offense and defense to bring "a new look" to the game. Away from Autzen, I don't think the Ducks can do the same old same old and get a W.

"Tennessee features one of the nation's strongest statistical defenses, holding the No. 4 spot in total defense (278 yds), No. 8 in run defense, and No. 17 in pass defense." End of third quarter for Buckeyes 111 rush 311 pass 422 total Tennessee has 95 rush 92 pass 187 total That Eugene game, Oregon 496, tOSU 467