HDuck

Gabriel had four completions of at least 28 yards in the first half in Oregon’s 32-31 victory on Oct. 12. That wasn’t the case at the Rose Bowl as his first long completion — a 44-yarder to Traeshon Holden — didn’t come until there were 30 seconds remaining until halftime. “They dropped eight. First game they played us man. That was their game plan to stop us and they did it to the best of their ability and they succeeded,” said receiver Tez Johnson, who had five catches for 32 yards in Pasadena after having seven for 75 in the first game. Ducks obviously didn't adjust to D-line pressure, and to the D-looks.

"I believe we purposely held back a ton of the passing offense to unleash in the Playoffs." That's an interesting thought. I disagree with that strategy because that element of your passing game is never "practiced" in actual games. Then, you would still be reliant on the dink and dunk when it comes to playoff games because neither your receivers or your QB has experience/comfort in the long game. It's one thing to practice it in practice against teammate DBs who are likely not as aggressive as opponent DBs in games, and another to "practice it" in actual games. Your QB isn't "trained" to look mid/deep, and your WRs not trained to get separation.

Can participate in fan vote here.... and two names out of 6 will be very familiar. NFL Announces Nominees for 2024 Pepsi® Zero Sugar NFL Rookie of the Year | NFL Football Operations OPERATIONS.NFL.COM

He will join 2023 inductee LaMichael James. In 2025, 18 former college players were selected. The original ballot also included Kenjon Barner. RBs Montee Ball and Steve Slaton are part of the 18. But, RB guys like Kenjon who also were not: KiJana Carter, DJ Dozier, Gaston Green, Bryan Hanspard, Garrison Hearst, Craig Heyward, Mark Ingram, Marshawn Lynch. That's pretty heady company joining Barner on the sidelines this time. Oregon connected inductees College Football Hall of Fame: 2025: Haloti Ngata 2023: LaMichael James 2014: Mike Bellotti 2007: Ahmad Rashad (Bobby Moore) 1986: Mel Renfro 1977: Len Casanova 1972: John Beckett 1969: Johnny Kitzmiller 1966: Norm Van Brocklin 1954: Hugo Bezdek

Report in The Athletic that Miami is paying Georgia's Carson Beck $4M for one season, though the writer clarifies he has also heard $3M.

Re: the charter schedule in earlier comment 7:45 pm PT depart Columbus 12:15 am PT arrive Eugene (3:15 am State College/Columbus) Actual was: 6:52 PT depart Columbus (after flight from Penn St to pick up WBB) 11:23 PT arrive Eugene

Ducks final AP ranking x - 2024 (13-1) 2- 2014 (13-2) 2- 2012 (12-1) 3- 2010 (12-1) 2- 2001 (11-1) The other 5 L's on that list are probably your top candidates?

NET rating Not sure how that works, but as I said seven Quad 1 wins for Auburn (NET ranking No. 1) are on average higher than the seven for Oregon, though both seven's are within Quad 1.

expected charter Flight Log for return 4:45 pm PT depart State College (7:45 pm State College) 5:46 pm PT arrive Columbus, OH - pick up women's team (game ended about Noon PT) 7:45 pm PT depart Columbus 12:15 am PT arrive Eugene (3:15 am State College/Columbus)

Ducks are now 7-2 in Quad 1. Tied for Quad 1 most W's with Auburn. Auburn avg opponent rank in Quad 1 is better, but their Quad 2, 3, 4 wins are lower ranked than the Ducks. 7 is a pretty good number at this point in the season. Quad 1 is something you'll hear a lot more about when Bracketology time comes in early March.

Ohio State defense, yards allowed per game 2021: 59th – 372.6 2022: 14th – 321.5 – Jim Knowles becomes D-coordinator 2023: 3rd – 265.4 2024: 1st – 251.1 (15 games) 496 - Oregon in October 276 - Oregon at Rose Bowl

Recent Ohio State spreads: 19-1/2 vs Michigan (10-13) 7-1/2 vs Tennessee (42-17) 2-1/2 vs Oregon (41-21) 6 vs Texas (28-14) 9-1/2 vs Notre Dame That Michigan loss doesn't match USC losing as a 41-pt favorite to Stanford in 2007, but it is truly baffling.

I did not see the game, so commenting "blind" here. Remember: the Pac12 had horrendous basketball officiating and was very inconsistent. The only thing consistent was opponents getting railroaded by officials when the games were in Tucson. Entering the B1G I commented that the Ducks would have to get used to playing a rougher brand of basketball. It was also evident when Pac teams played in the NCAA Tournament, but the B1G would be a whole other world for how games would be called.

OSU points allowed this season in 15 games: 32-Oregon 21-Oregon 17-Nebraska, Tennessee 15-Indiana 14-Marshall, Texas 13-Penn St, Michigan 7-Michigan St, Iowa, Northwestern 6-Akron 0-W. Michigan, Purdue 12.2/game is best in the nation 14.3/game, No. 2 is Notre Dame Scoring offense 37.0 for Notre Dame, 6th 35.8 for OSU, 13th

Smith? Yes 1 reception, 3 yds, after 3 quarters. Tennessee and Oregon combined: 13 receptions, 290 yds

14-7 half-time... So far, the Ohio State roster is doing a good job of stopping both offenses. Well, 7-0 until 30 secs. left 178 yds - Texas 236 yds - Ohio State

Remember all the snark pointing their finger at UW and UO for rejecting a deal that had heavy emphasis on streaming and no firm commitment for traditional cable/satellite? That streaming "is the future." Some streaming news today:

mid 2nd Q - so far, interesting to me how much Ohio State is throwing into the middle of the field rather than toward the sidelines

I don't think the Ducks will be playing the same Ohio State defense in the same setting next season, so comparisons would not be valid. But, if the Ducks were doing so, Stewart still wouldn't be open soon enough for Gabriel to find him. Gabriel had no time even if Jerry Rice had been his wide receiver. No sweat.

agree with DuckHeart: OSU collapsed the pocket and at the same time kept Gabriel from running. Gabriel was tackled 12 times for minus 43 yards, this includes both sacks and intentional runs. How many passes were batted down? I think eight or nine. I don't see how Stewart would have made much difference---Gabriel would have not have had the time to throw to him deep, he would have been on his rear end. Gabriel was under immediate pressure following the snap, and being short not only had passes batted down, but had too little time to spot receivers even if Stewart had been playing. Whether having James available would have made a slight difference is hard to contemplate. Falling behind so significantly, so quickly, also eliminated playbook options that are still available with a more narrow deficit. Ohio State came out with their hair on fire, while the Ducks appeared to be on hold waiting for the barber to answer his phone. After the first 19-1/2 minutes it was 24-0. The Ducks four possessions were punt, punt, punt, downs - 60 yds gained followed by 5th and 6th possessions of 3 and out each . On Oregon’s first four drives had the following pass attempts: -5 yd gain -5 yd gain but no first down because lost yds on earlier run -2-yd gain -incomplete 4 yd pass -incomplete 7 yd pass -3 yd gain -9 yd gain -DB knocked down -6 yd gain -12 yd gain -5 yd gain - DB knocked down There was no time to look deeper because Ohio State was in Gabriels's grill

"Oregon state is a waist of time..." Well, some of those OSU o-linemen do reflect a waist of time.... but in terms of waste in playing Beavis I still would prefer to see a rotation of old Pac12 members in that week's slot: WSU, Cal, Stanford, OSU on a rotation rather than OSU every season.

Somewhat related, an interesting column on Army and Navy seeking approval for a 13th regular season game. Their argument is that the annual Army/Navy game comes too late in December to be considered a potential W for playoff eligibility, and that December timeline is unlikely to change. Thus, they feel at a disadvantage (11 games) when compared to Boise State (12+conf championship game) and other potential Group of 5 teams. Though, this season Army did qualify for the conference championship which was played before Army-Navy. Army was 11-1 before playing Navy, while BSU was 12-1 after winning the Mt. West. The 13th game would likely have to fill a bye slot because the cadets & midshipmen are in military training during the summer spilling into early August. Proposal could let Army, Navy play 13th regular season game to fortify future College Football Playoff hopes - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM The NCAA would need to change its rules that hold teams to 12 regular-season games

There was an interesting column on January 9 in The Athletic (paysite) about what Ohio State did differently on defense after the October game. One stat of interest about the Rose Bowl was defensive looks that forced Gabriel to hold the ball about one-second longer than in October which led to more negative yardage plays, sacks. In addition to changing looks in the OSU secondary, just better play from OSU D-linemen. The Ohio State position group that should have College Football Playoff rivals scared WWW.NYTIMES.COM Ohio State's stars are finally showing up in the biggest moments and Jim Knowles' defensive scheme is working.

Oregon is 2-3 vs Penn St. 1960: 12-41 in Liberty Bowl in Philadelphia 1963: 7-17 in Portland 1964: 22-14 at State College 1995: 20-38 in Pasadena 2024: 45-38 in Indianapolis

Since his first season at Penn State in 2014, Franklin is now 1-15 against teams ranked in Top 5 in AP. I'm sure like most coaches he has self-analyzed those losses endlessly, and most were against talented Ohio State and Michigan teams, but at some point he has to wonder exactly what he is missing. When that kid threw the pick, his heart had to drop into his stomach. But, why 24-24 at that point in time? Ducks open the Big Ten season portion next year at Penn State.