kirklandduck

WR Malik Benson, intrigued by QB Dante Moore, commits to Oregon - ESPN WWW.ESPN.COM Wide receiver Malik Benson commits to Oregon. He had some pretty subpar stats at FSU last season which most are saying is because of bad QB play. Should be interesting to see how this shakes out.

This mindset will start changing after what happened to all of the top 4 seeded CFP teams. I wouldn't be surprised if DL might start pulling starters the last game of the season next year if their seat on the CFP is confirmed. Look at Kansas City, they basically pulled most of theirs because they were already 15-1 heading into the matchup with Denver this past weekend. The big loss on the surface isn't a good look but in context made perfect sense.

Transfer WR Malik Benson joins Oregon for 2025 football season WWW.SI.COM Transfer wide receiver Malik Benson has committed to Oregon out of the portal for the 2025 college football season, the player announced. Benson played last sea

I like listening to Josh Pate because he always offers very nuanced opinions backed up with facts and common sense. I think he's spot on with where DL is in his career and how that aligns with Oregon's trajectory. Most fair weather fans I see online are quick to dump on him and Oregon for losing a game (albeit in the playoff) with complete disregard on how much he's accomplished in his 3 years as a HC. I also think we should keep in mind that Will Stein is also very young and has only been an OC for 3 seasons as well. Putting that into context, I like where the program is headed.

After Bo got injured in year 1 I think it was a deliberate decision by DL to ask WS (or potentially any incoming OC) to greatly minimize QB runs which I can completely understand. I do think they dialed it back a bit too much through. Some games Bo and DG didn't run at all and I feel like just 3 or 4 designed QB runs per game would be just enough to keep opposing defenses honest.

Bo is a very high IQ player who, combined with several years experience, really excelled in Oregon's offense. DG shares many of those traits which is why he had similar success here. Watching Bo perform in the NFL this year probably made a lot of teams wish they had taken him earlier!

I hope Steward and Bryant Jr. return next season. Then you only need to worry about the other two WR slots which would provide opportunities for the younger recruits to show how much they've developed over the last 2-3 years.

Next season is a transition year because of the turnover in so many position groups, mostly importantly at QB. The real test will be how well the HS recruits have been developed since DL's 2023/2024 recruiting classes will be in their 2nd and 3rd years in the program. If things have gone as well as I hope, there's no reason OBD couldn't have a 2 loss season and make it into the CFP for a 2nd straight year.

Kind of wish he took Dante's time at UCLA as a cautionary tale.

Well that's the thing, it would require the offense (and defense) to be extremely aggressive to blow out a team by halftime. Based on what I've seen this past season, DL and WS look like they're deliberately slowing down play overall to last what could be a 16 game run (not to mention hiding a large amount of the playbook until later in the season).

I get the feeling that we'll see fewer blowouts in the coming years due to the lengthening of the season by the CFP. Coaches will be more inclined to dial things back and also reveal less of their playbooks in the interest of succeeding beyond the regular season.

All valid questions and we'll probably see some answers next season. I surmise that the younger underclassman were out performed in practice by the transfers which makes sense since those older kids just know their positions more due to experience (plus DL has shown that he finds solid talent in the portal). It's a catch-22 though since you're importing experienced above average talent at the detriment of on field time for the high school recruits. But in this area I think DL is a little stuck because there's just so much pressure to keep winning that there's less patience to let the younger kids develop on the field because of the risk of losing. But perhaps after experiencing this season there may be more tolerance for getting some of those youngsters on the field more, particularly against the lower end competition like Purdue or Maryland.

I certainly wouldn't mind snagging this running back. I'm 99% sure Jordan James is going to the NFL and Noah unfortunately does not have the same ceiling as Jordan.

I was afraid of this. It never made sense to me to sign two high school QBs in the same class, it just guarantees one of them will transfer and you've used up a scholarship that could've been used to sign someone in another position of need. Based on HS performance I actually would have preferred Jaron than Akili. He seems to be further along with his development.

Agreed. There's no incentive to win the conference championship if all you're getting is a harder road in the CFP than the runner up.

I'm going to venture a guess that DL was already aware of this weakness a couple years ago and has been already working on improving it. Proof is in the last couple recruiting classes (Rivals 2023-2025): 2025: 5* Na'eem Offord 6'2" 178 lbs 5* Trey McNutt 6'0" 180 lbs 4* Dorian Brew 6'2" 181 lbs 4* Brandon Finney 6'2" 170 lbs 2024: 4* Sione Laulea 6'4" 185 lbs 4* Dakoda Fields 6'2" 175 lbs 4* Ify Obideqwu 6'1" 185 lbs 4* Aaron Flowers 6'1" 185 lbs 2023: 4* Rodrick Pleasant 5'11" 175 lbs 4* Daylen Austin 6'0" 178 lbs 3* Collin Gill 6'0" 202 lbs 3* Tyler Turner 6'0" 180 lbs 4* Cole Martin 5'10" 175 lbs There is a clear progression towards bigger, more talented DBs from his 1st recruiting class to next season's incoming one. Basically they're averaging 6'2" and 180+ lbs so he and Chris Hampton definitely have a type. The help from in house is definitely coming, it's just going to take time for them to develop.

I agree, "overall" the defense was good enough to contribute to an undefeated regular season and a B10 conference championship. But there are definitely areas of weakness to work on that others have noted, specifically LBs and DBs. Part of that is talent level and time in the system, during the game it was very correctly pointed out that Ohio St had a lot of starters that were 4 or 5 years in their system and that really counts for something. DL has done an admirable job of speeding up success by being a master of talent evaluation in the transfer portal to plug in vital areas of need. But to truly get to the pinnacle you need to develop guys in house for multiple years (recent case in point, it's not an anomaly that Bo Nix was better in year 2 here). DL just wrapped up year 3, which means even his 1st recruiting class are still mostly just redshirt sophomores. That means next season we should finally start to see the fruits of DL's labor in his recruiting classes and then really see that take off in year 5.

DG needs to stop holding onto the ball so long and just run. He’s got enough speed to do some damage.

He did for a bit, when he ran forward it would force the LB or safety they used to spy on him to run up and cover him, that opened up the middle for the receivers to get open. Suddenly he’s stopped doing that and running backwards…

Not a good offensive possession. DG just needs to take off and run, even if it’s just for 5 yards.

I’ll take a 3 and out like they just did. Defense looks more organized and aggressive right now, a good sign.

Now the defense needs to show some serious adjustments.

Gabriel causing problems with his legs which is finally opening up the offense since the defenders now have to take him into account on the ground.

Offense finally got some opportunities when DG started scrambling and creating. It buys the WRs time to make some moves and get open. Hopefully WS has taken note and builds on that coming out of halftime.