HDuck

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.

"8 sacks 13 tackles for loss, not sure anything else mattered. Oh and minus yards rushing." I read somewhere. Don't know if it is accurate. Ohio State blitzed 3 times. The results in quotes were mano-oh-mano D-line vs Oregon O-line.

Would like to read the impressions of the 8 teams, and the four bowls reps, that were played Dec. 31/Jan. 1. Seemed like the "reward" for going to a bowl game was very much diminished. For example: The Rose Bowl, traditionally a time for pageantry and pre-game festivities, has undergone a metamorphosis this year due to the expanded College Football Playoff format. The Oregon Ducks and Ohio State Buckeyes arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday, just three days before their New Year’s Day clash, setting up a time crunch that has squeezed out the usual Lawry’s Beef Bowl and Disneyland visit traditions. The Beef Bowl, which had been a cherished pre-Rose Bowl tradition since 1956, won’t take place the week. The event, held at Lawry’s The Prime Rib restaurant in Beverly Hills, involved the teams dining separately on prime rib. One player from each squad would conduct the ‘salad spin’ and perform the ceremonial first cut of prime rib. College Football Playoff’s Tight Schedule Squeezes Out Pasadena Restaurant Family’s Time-Honored Tradition – Pasadena Now PASADENANOW.COM Daily Newsmagazine and City Guide to Pasadena, California featuring local news, breaking news, events, weather, sports news, schools news, shopping, restaurants and more from Pasadena...

Beck is from northern Florida and won high school championships. Other schools are named, including Oregon by one pundit, but Miami probably makes the most sense. And, Beck is developed enough Cristobal probably can't screw him up. Maybe Ole Miss?

Not to be forgotten is the Whitman County judge decision that penalized the majority of Pac12 schools for "departing early." Whitman Co. judge rules WSU, OSU have control of Pac-12 conference | Sports | kxly.com But, his decision was based on the schools giving prior notice rather than waiting until the end of the Pac12 contract. His interpretation was notice of intent to leave creates the date of departure. Thus, all those schools would have been better off not giving notice and instead "hiding" their intent to leave until the end of the contract. The Washington Supreme Court then denied requests to review the decision. Court denies review of Pac-12 appeal, handing league control to Oregon State, Washington State WWW.USATODAY.COM Washington Supreme Court declined to review Pac-12’s appeal of lower court ruling that gives control of league to Oregon State and Washington State. In his original decision, Libey asked WSU and OSU to be fair in their judgement to the other schools, and to make decisions in the best interest of the conference. Whether the 10 schools have the guts to go back to Libey and ask for reconsideration based upon OSU and WSU actions appears doubtful. But, if they think they have any grounds to do so - particular for Rose Bowl and NCAA Tournament shares - they should do so.

12 wins, or coulda/woulda 2001 – 11-1 – W-Fiesta Bowl - loss to Stanford by 7 2007 – 9-4 – W-Sun Bowl 2010 – 12-1 – L-BCS Game - loss to Auburn by 3 at the gun 2011 - 12-2 – W-Rose Bowl 2012 – 12-1 – W-Fiesta Bowl - 3 pt loss to Stanford in OT 2014 – 13-2 – W-Rose, L-CFP 2019 – 12-2 – W-Rose 2023 – 12-2 – W-Fiesta 2024 – 13-1 – L-Rose - 20 pt loss Maybe 2024 gets it based on road wins vs Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn St? But, 2014 had some big winning margins, as did 2012 and 2010.

?? 2001, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2024 all have an argument in their favor.

"..allegation is that Oregon offered a Boise State defensive player, but the player mentioned in this paragraph is an OT.." That is a clumsily written paragraph. The coach speaking was referring to NIL offer for a D-player. Then, changed subject to make a comment about one of his O-players. The writer should have made a paragraph break.

Outgoing Boise State coach says Oregon Ducks offered Broncos player $700K to transfer WWW.SI.COM In a wide-ranging interview on KTIK with Mike Prater and John Mallory, outgoing Boise State offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter spoke candidly about the Broncos’

rather than offense? Scoring offense 4-Notre Dame – 37.7 11-Ohio St – 36.4 21-Texas – 34.3 24-Penn St – 33.7 17-Oregon – 34.9 Yards gained per game 17-Texas – 443.9 25-Penn St – 436.3 26-Ohio St – 432.5 49-Notre Dame – 406.6 22-Oregon – 437.4

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