HDuck

One additional note about B!G games: The pleasure of watching and listening to traditional large marching bands.

One of the best things about Big Ten stadiums is their geographic locations due to the stadiums' age, i.e. built close to campus. With a couple exceptions, like Penn State and Rutgers to name two, the stadiums are on campus or very close. Depending on the site that can reduce nearby parking but gives gameday an ambience of college atmosphere. You can walk thru campus, or have food/drink at nearby campus hangouts before or after the game. In some cases, it can lead to unique tailgating. For example, at Iowa the original stadium is old enough that neighborhood houses arrived afterwards. And, those homeowners "rent" their front yards/driveways for tailgating on game days. Including, for a price, adding a porta-potty in the driveway. People make season long reservations $$$ to have a spot at a particular street address close to the stadium. That address makes it easy for friends to find your tailgater. You can tell them whether there will be available parking, or whether they have to walk to that address. And, season long reservations means the friends always know where to find you. This can mean traffic jams after games, but with stadiums much higher capacity than Autzen you should expect that regardless. Many have shuttles from perimeter parking lots into the stadium area.

There is a core of the fan base which believes when they are standing that it somehow transmits a karma wavelink to players on the field. It is somewhat akin to those who wear lucky socks, lucky shirt, lucky hat, lucky underwear, etc. Of course it is b.s., but they believe it. I don't mind the standing when it is a key defensive play and standing helps project a deep throaty growl to disrupt an opponent. But some just never sit down and in my opinion if that is their desire they should buy tickets in the highest rows so they minimize the disrupted view for others. We are all fortunate we have a progrum which is impacted by standing fans these days, rather than the program of the not so distant past when there was often less than 15,000 fans in the stadium and if you didn't like conditions at your seat you just got up and moved to somewhere else.

Heard that he'll have a Metamucil NIL deal, and replace Mike Huckabee on the Relaxium Sleep commercials.

His record at Washington suggests he should hire Chris Petersen for talent evaluation and recruiting. The 2023 season at UDub success was largely on the shoulders of 4th, 5th and 6th year players - though Penix was also a mature player transfer-in. Fisch is going to have to fill some big holes on the roster in Seattle, as DeBoer didn't leave much behind.

Michigan and Penn State have long objected to Friday night home games due to (1) desire not to compete with Michigan and Pennsylvania high school games, (2) large stadium crowds which create community issues due to games after dark. They have said they would be willing to play Friday day time, or Friday night road games, but desire to limit those as well. Ohio State doesn't seem to have the same objections despite their large stadium. Michigan did not have stadium lights until relatively recently. The obvious question arises, well if they can refuse, why not other refusals? The theory is that other schools won't refuse because they want the viewership that comes with a periodic Friday night game. I believe part of the tradeoff to get approval for UO and UW was the sense that those additions would mean longer term Big Ten teams would then not have to host as many possible night games. So, UO/UW were approved which will result in more night games for the two. The Big Ten is trying to develop a schedule which will provide either a bye, or a home game, on the following weekend for any member who has to travel to the West Coast. This link is a bit dated, but provides some more of the background. Big Ten facing Friday-night blowback: Penn State refuses to host, Michigan won't play at all WWW.NBCSPORTSCHICAGO.COM The Big Ten’s decision to play some games is not going over super well with some folks, but it’s not just fans on Twitter who are upset with the conference’s choice to play six games featuring league...

Signing his new contract while in Tucson. That's brutal for Cats fans.

The 5-0 start in the Pac12 is only the third time in 14 seasons for Altman. 7-0: 2012-13 in a 12-6 conference season 8-0: 2016-17, 16-2 And tonight WSU knocks off Arizona, after earlier loss this season to Ducks.

Alabama's AD talked about it today. He positions it as building candidate plans A, B, C, D without a priority. My interpretation of it, "you're all equal until somebody says yes. Alabama AD Greg Byrne discusses DeBoer hiring | Watch (msn.com)

Alabama candidates Mike Norvell, Kalen DeBoer, Lane Kiffin and Sark are all Jimmy Sexton clients. in the SEC, 11 of 14 coaches in the league last year were repped by Sexton, along with both 2024 new guys Steve Sarkisian and Brent Venables. There is publicity this morning from Austin that Sark is getting a new contract. If DeBoer is meeting with the Dub AD it is just another example of Sexton leveraging an opening for more client money. For Sexton, Christmas comes after December 25.

Byrne could just shorten this process real quickly if he would name Miss Terry as coach, and have her hire Nick as one of those infamous SEC analyst staffers.

"..having to re-recruit his roster and coaching staff every year" Yep, at some point that would leave that category of "coaching challenge" and enter the category of big pain in the butt. Especially if you are 72 years old and have the wealth he's accumulated. Don't know how old his dad and grandad were, but you begin thinking about it as you get closer to their age of demise. (Actually his father died at age 46) There's also a certain amount of pride in having former assistants you helped develop come after the King, but that also can become a pain in the butt. Along with a fan base that has unreasonable expectations.

Tuck? I think somebody is trying to have fun with web site readers. Tuck is probably Mel Tucker who was an assistant for a year at Alabama. You know - the infamous Michigan State Mel Tucker.

"Seeing reports now that DL is actually not in Tuscaloosa" Yep, I saw a "report" that he was seen at Market of Choice in Eugene. Rumor mongering on the Internet is not a "report" which is a word that implies fact based. Another one, "the Alabama plane can no longer be tracked on Flight Aware." Yep. Hasn't been for months. As I recall when Byrne hired Rich Rod he disguised his travel significantly. Hell, Lanning could be in Alabama recruiting for all we know. Or, he could be taking his kids to a movie.

Tuscaloosa? Probably wants to be readily available to represent Oregon when the recruiting decommits at Alabama start coming in. Ryan Williams, No. 9 overall recruit, decommits from Alabama - ESPN WWW.ESPN.COM Ryan Williams, the No. 9 overall prospect and No. 3 receiver in the 2024 ESPN 300, told ESPN that he has decommitted from Alabama after Nick Saban's retirement.

Every guy has his own ego, and sense of self-worth, but I would rather be the guy who follows the guy that can't live up to the legend, than be the guy who follows the legend. Life was a lot easier for Bill Curry who followed Ray Perkins than it was for Perkins who followed Bear Bryant.

There was an interesting column in today's Athletic about how the Michigan D stymied Penix. They were able to bring pressure using 4 down linemen, and would drop a 5th guy into coverage which rattled Penix who didn't have enough time to account for the extra defender in receiver territory. That scenario was as compared to many of UW's earlier opponents having to use 5 guys at the line instead of 4. Not going to go into all the details here that The Athletic column included. But, without their best running back UW could not make UM pay the price for dropping the 5th guy which was also a factor. Bottom line, UM had statistically the No. 1 defense this season, and those 4 guys at the line of scrimmage were a big reason. I was surprised watching the game because I felt Penix was really good this season in getting the ball out of his hand quickly. But, if receivers need more time to get open, or never get open, and he was also facing pressure to put him on his butt, I can see why several balls were off target.

Bucky. After Whittington went down for the season early, Bucky delivered. Also, caught 56 passes and was consistent catching rather than dropping them. I could comment on 10 or more guys, but I interpreted Charles challenge as to pick just one.

No. 2 in the AP final poll ranking history - the AP is the oldest commonly accepted poll dating back to 1936 What was the program's record over the next 5 seasons after No.2 ranking? Washington 1984 - 36-21-2 - (No. 2 behind Miami) 1991 - 39-18-1 - (No. 2 behind BYU) 2023 - ?? -?? - (No. 2 behind Michigan) Oregon 2001 - 37-25 - (No. 2 behind Miami) 2012 - 44-22 - (No. 2 behind Alabama) 2014 - 41-24 - (No. 2 behind Ohio State)

The UNLV QB flipped from Georgia to USC.

With UW's loss tonight, Oregon becomes the last Pac12 team ever to complete their season with a victory. Prior to tonight, the leading teams in the nation in passing yards per game were (1) UW, (2) Oregon. With 255 yds passing tonight, that order has flipped. The Ducks finish the season leading the nation in passing yards per game. One thing about the 21 point loss, it does soothe the angst a bit for Huskies fans. After a bit of time, I doubt they'll rue the missed opportunity as much as Auburn 22-19 vs Oregon?

Impact of mature players? Here is a column on how UW has been helped this season, the so-called Natty 9: https://www.si.com/college/washington/football/huskies-natty-9-provides-roster-backbone-for-cfp-title-run I think the COVID year for additional experience, and players like Nix who stuck around, created a situation this year that probably offset some advantages the SEC has had in the past. We may never see a "maturity season" again like this one.

A trite phrase, but 2023 for UW may just be destiny. The number of close games is borderline unbelievable. Four of their regular season wins by 3, 2, 3 and 3 points, and 9 games by 10 pts or less. Huskie fans my end up touting this as their best team ever. Frankly, I don't think it comes close to some of their best in the past. But Lady Fortune has shined on the dogs butts this season. Can the Michigan defense disrupt them? I'm not so sure. Penix gets the ball off his hand extremely fast. His O-line has been touted, but I really think his O-line has benefited from how fast from snap to throw Penix is. I think the Michigan defense is going to get frustrated. On the other hand, UW defense has given up a ton of yards per game. A ton. Will Michigan be able to take advantage?

Name the Oregon coaches who would have kept the pedal on the floor as the half wound down? Kelly, probably. Any others in Ducks history? (history: Ducks led TCU 31-0 at the half, so - keep playing)