HDuck

Nick Duzansky the backup long snapper also leaving. Not sure he was on scholarship.

Saleapaga and Green become No. 24 and No. 25 defensive linemen Xadavien Sims, Ashton Porter, Jericho Johnson, Tionne Gray, and now Green receivers Justius Lowe, Kyler Kasper and Cooper Perry, defensive backs Jahlil Florence, Dakoda Fields, Solomon Davis, Sione Laulea, Kingston Lopa and Daylen Austin, quarterbacks Austin Novosad and Luke Moga, offensive lineman Lipe Moala, running backs Jay Harris, Makhi Hughes and Jayden Limar, outside linebackers Kamar Mothudi, Blake Purchase and Tobi Hasstrup, tight end Vander Ploog and Roger Saleapaga

Raiola was one of the top freshmen quarterbacks in 2024. A semifinalist for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year award, Raiola led all FBS freshmen and ranked 14th nationally in completion percentage. He also led all true freshmen and ranked third among all freshmen in passing yards. I think Nebraska's W-L record 2024-25 had more issues than Raiola. Head coach Matt Rhule was 19-20 at Baylor and is 19-19 at Nebraska. They fired Mike Riley when he went 19-19. In between Baylor and Nebraska, Rhule was 11-27 as head coach of NFL Carolina. O-coordinator Dana Holgersen perhaps should have done more with Railoa. But, the O-guys around Raiola didn't make his life easy. In the 8-year history of the Alexander Award, two QBs have won it: Trevor Lawrence and Drake Maye. Raiola was a semi-finalist.

An interesting piece in The Athletic (pay site) about Ohio State which has seen 29 players enter the portal, so far. short excerpt Why is Ohio State losing so much? Keeping depth players sidelined for multiple years doesn’t work anymore when they can get money and playing time elsewhere. But Ohio State’s commitment to developing high school players, which has been the Buckeyes’ philosophy for years, is being overhauled right now. Losing 29 players to the transfer portal is never good. That’s the equivalent of losing an entire recruiting class. On the one hand, though, there are reasons to be optimistic about next year because Ohio State is returning 9 of its 11 offensive starters, has a talented linebacker corps, and is working to add more defensive pieces in the portal with another week in the window. But there’s also the pessimistic, and possibly more realistic view, that no matter what Ohio State’s transfer portal plan is, it doesn’t matter if it can’t land the players it is recruiting. Waiting for players to enter the portal later is fine, but it puts a higher emphasis on locking them in as recruits than ever before. Ohio State doesn’t live in a “we tried” world. Expectations are too high for the Buckeyes. They need to add some impact players sooner rather than later.

In addition to the Indiana out-bound number being low due to their continuing portal window dates as a result of them still scheduled for a game, another factor is in play. They have a lot of mature guys whose college playing careers will end at that last game. They have no more eligibility to use if they enter the portal. So, they have a bunch of guys who won't be portal eligible. As a result, in Indiana's case, the number to monitor will be in-bound transfers and recruiting. So far, they have a combined 22 recruits and 12 in-transfers. They will likely be seeking more in-bound transfers to offset the losses of guys who won't be back or going anywhere else.

I suppose I shouldn't be cynical, but when I look at that portal list of out-bound announcements I'm reminded of all those guys within that list who when recruited said, "I chose it because it was my dream school." And, that list isn't final yet for 2026. And, 2027 will bring another list of guys who maybe stuck around for one more year before leaving their "dream school." Crazy.

As of early this Sunday, these were "into-portal" numbers for the top conference standings: 7 - Indiana - still have a game Jan. 19 which affects when their portal ends later 29 - Ohio St 15 - Oregon (more now - others may get higher too) 27 - Michigan 20 - USC other teams which lost coaches: 36 Michigan St, 49 Penn St As of Saturday, yesterday, some from the SEC: Auburn – 36 Arkansas – 35 Mississippi State – 34 LSU – 32 Florida – 30 Tennessee – 25 Oklahoma – 25 Missouri – 24 Texas – 22 Those SEC teams already have a good start on replacements over "late players" like Oregon. But still, they had to deal with the disruption. No wonder Saban retired. He was 3-3 in CFP championships. How many of those 6 games might have fallen off the radar if he had been busy replacing players due to the portal?

For perspective, the season team total plays snaps: 988 offense, 932 defense (15 games). So, Purchase would have been on the field for 352/932 = 37.8% of the snaps. All defensive players: 879 snaps out of 10,252 (932x11players) = 8.6%. All offensive players: 621 snaps out of 10,868 (988x11players) = 5.7% But, keep in mind those small percentages are just players who are in the portal. Seniors who played and are graduating would have to be added if you were calculating the total amount of snap experience not returning next season. But, Charles point still applies: the portal guys (not the graduating guys) may have been able to help next year, but they were seeking a guarantee of playing time they didn't have this season.

If you have been part of a program that has the 102nd wins record in NCAA history, your attitude is that you are going to buy as many tickets as you want - Rose, Peach, Miami home game. Because, for 100 years you've been nothing and you can mentally amortize the cost over those 100 years of nothing. The Oregon fans that have the means to have traveled to Fiesta Bowls, Rose Bowls, Holiday Bowls, etc. will have a different attitude about how much to spend to go to CFP games near the Eastern Seaboard.

Blake Purchase to enter transfer portal (joining QB Luke Moga on Sunday) OLB Purchase's 352 defensive snaps were 14th for Oregon, 3rd among edge defenders With 16 scholarship and 2 PWO transfers so far Oregon has lost players that saw a combined 879 defensive snaps and 621 offensive snaps, per PFF. There is definitely some error with jersey number misattribution but it's minimal. Oregon at 79 projected scholarship players in 2026 Zach Grace is a backup tight-end, redshirt sophomore, from Kearney, Missouri

Resigned Kansas State coach Chris Klieman discusses why he "retired." Portal management got to him. https://themercury.com/k_state_sports/id-die-if-i-kept-doing-this-job-former-k-state-fb-coach-talks-about/article_213a7517-5d35-4d71-9658-4f97136a52ce.html Obviously Saban has talked about the current state of affairs. Saban was 3-3 in his 6 CFP championship games. It makes one wonder whether his record would have been impacted if he had the constant churn of roster that coaches face today? Would his teams have made 6 appearances? He always lost guys to the NFL, but what if he was also losing 15-20 more guys voluntarily entering the portal? (As of this morning with Moga, Oregon has 15 guys that entered)

Moga entered the portal on Sunday, joining Novosad. So, Dante is coming back? Or, they are pretty confident someone else is coming in to step in front of them? Akili Jr. is on the roster waiting. Bryson Beaver is coming in as a freshman who would seem unlikely to step in front.

Oregon last 5 defeats are a combined record against 3 teams that have appeared in the national championship game. 2023: UDub x 2 2024: Ohio St 2025: Indiana x 2 That's 5 of Lanning's 8 total losses. The last loss to a non-title-seeking team? Beavers. November 2022 in Corvallis.

Yes, those ticket prices are high. And, trips to Pasadena and Atlanta weren't cheap for Hoosier fans. But, any long-term Hoosier fan understands the net cost per season of amortizing the cost of this 3-game run over 100 years of futility.

Geoff Schwartz "My biggest wish for the offense under Mehringer is an expanded passing game. It's difficult to be built via the OL/run game while also having an extensive passing game. Normally have to pick one lane to major in but the passing game just needs new concepts and formations. It needs to have answers for the better defenses that we face. I am curious if there's another add to the offensive staff now that there's time to make those additions. " My add...I would just say that sometimes the limitations of your passing game is based on the limitations of the recognition and mental processing speed of your QB. If it is limited, or your O-line is limited, the play calls gravitate to short throws. And, against better defenses with good DBs that can stick with the WRs, that takes longer for the WRs to get open, and for the QB to avoid the rush and find them. more Schwartz: https://x.com/geoffschwartz/status/2010015034600980990

Oklahoma CFP era 0-5 0-4 in semi-final, 0-1 in opening game 2015: Clemson 37, Oklahoma 17 – Bob Stoops 2017: Georgia 54, Oklahoma 48 – Lincoln Riley 2018: Alabama 45, Oklahoma 34 – Lincoln Riley 2019: LSU 63, Oklahoma 28 – Lincoln Riley 2025: Alabama 34, Oklahoma 24 – Brent Venables Earlier – before 4-team CFP – single game championship invitational opportunity, 1-3, all Bob Stoops 2000: Oklahoma 13, Florida St 2 – single BCS game 2003: LSU 21, Oklahoma 13 – single BCS game 2004: USC 55, Oklahoma 19 – single BCS game 2008: Florida 24, Oklahoma 14 – single BCS game

Miami, Beck - 41 starts Indiana, Mendoza - 34 starts Oregon, Moore - 22 starts The winning play Miami called was a pass. Beck recognized that was going to be blown up, and trotted into the end zone in empty space. Would Moore have forced the pass? He most likely would have been "locked in." Experience matters.

Noah Whittington said he suffered a turf toe injury last week against Texas Tech. He didn't practice all week before the Peach Bowl.

Davison revealed tonight that he was injured in the first quarter of the Orange Bowl but continued to play anyway. Had surgery on Monday of this week.

"Our big game record as of late" includes beating the Big12's No. 1 team in the Orange Bowl.

Total Yards Offense 378 - Oregon 362 - Indiana Passing by QB 24 of 39 - 285 yds - 2 TD - Moore 17 of 20 - 177 yds - 5 TD - Mendoza Turnovers 3 plus a blocked punt for Oregon led to 28 points by Indiana

Most points scored vs Indiana this season: 24 - Penn St 22 - Oregon 20 - Oregon 15 - Iowa

Ducks retain the biggest semi-final margin ever - 39 pts - 59-20 vs Florida St

Indiana 28 points after Oregon turnovers.