kirklandduck

Utah grinds out a gutsy win, nice job Utes! If Rising can put up 400 yards passing on USC then Nix will have a field day.

Refs trying to give the game to USC

Uh oh, this would be a really bad time for Kincaid to go out with an injury...

Hmm, Pennsylvania's article might be wrong on his stats. Other articles are reporting that he's 6'6"-6'7" and between 315-330 lbs. Monsters like that don't grow on trees!

Well, he's from Mater Dei so it's not like he's coming from some random place in the boonies. 6'5" and 280lbs with several scholarship offers from P5 schools, so the potential is obviously being evaluated and verified by others. Seems like the scenario is a project with steep upside?

Makes it even more important to pull in SDSU to keep game exposure in Southern Cali open.

If TT doesn’t get anything going on this drive then he should be pulled for Butters.

That dumb penalty by Sewell and Bennett just cost the Ducks a TD. I hope DL gives them an earful.

I think I prefer to see what Butters can do right now.

I give him a B+. Has done an admirable job molding the program in his vision so far but it's still a work in progress. The pass defense is a big sore point. Once he fixes that (and penalties) I'll move that up to an A.

Love these detailed play articles!

Agree. Nothing craters a career faster than bad decisions. If he jumps ship after only 1/3rd of a season then proceeds to fumble the next 2 as an HC at ASU, I doubt he gets any good offers afterward.

I absolutely hate it. I just want them to concentrate and execute. Nothing demoralizes the opposing team like steamrolling them while demonstrating cold, calculated indifference.

Maybe ASU will try and pick him up.

I wonder who they're going to get to replace him? Colorado is a tough place to put together a winning team in today's climate.

If both Utah and USC get into the top 10 and Oregon beats them both by the end of the season, do the Ducks jump a a non-champion SEC team?

I recall reading an article (for the life of me I can't find it anymore) that has an account from a college recruiter where they evaluated TT highly because he possessed a raw skillset that showed an extremely high ceiling but expressed specifically that he was a project, no where near what one would consider polished. He demolished high school opponents based on his physical talent alone, not necessarily be because he was a well-coached technical QB. That was 3 years ago when we first signed TT. It now seems pretty clear the assessment was accurate. TT is supremely gifted with physical tools but needed serious guidance and development, of which he received precious little of under the Cristobal regime. You can see it on the field...his confidence, demeanor, and composure when trying to run the offense looks more like a true freshman than a redshirt sophomore who spent 2-3 years at the college level. That being said, even if Cristobal didn't do him any favors, you'd think he'd show at least a little improvement practicing with college players. Last night he ran 3 series and didn't have a successful play in any of them. My bar for him was whether he could make a solid 1-2 plays to show that he's improving his vision, read progression, etc. Unfortunately we didn't even see that. He had a chance where one of the WRs was running a short cross route right through the middle, maybe 10-15 yards out max straight in front of him. Should have been an easy soft pitch and may have led to a 1st down. But TT proceeded to throw a rocket which zipped straight through the WR's hands for an incompletion...there weren't any defenders around him at the time. That shows a disconcerting lack of touch or a set of shaky nerves, neither of which instills me with any confidence if Nix goes down with an injury. Could he grow into it over the course of the season? Maybe. But the clock is ticking because Dante Moore is coming in soon and he is, in fact, as polished of a high school QB as you can get and I believe will compete for the starting spot right away should Nix not return.

The CFP committee tends to pay more attention to the situation surrounding the game than the AP or Coaches polls do. Georgia is the defending national champions and Oregon was experiencing an entirely new coaching staff, new offensive/defensive schemes, and new starters at most skill positions. That does carry some weight which factors into the rankings. For the reason I listed above I believe the CFP will weigh it more lightly than what you or Jack are considering. If OBD does end up running the table, they will have defeated possibly 4 or 5 ranked teams (BYU, UCLA, Washington, Utah, and USC - assuming they make the Pac12 championship game). Even WSU could end up ranked at the lower end of the top 25, making that 6. Even if a couple of those teams drop out of the rankings entirely, beating 3+ ranked teams is a resume highly worth considering for the CFP despite 1 loss to heavy Georgia in game 1.

I’ve seen plenty of past seasons where an early loss to a good team is generally forgotten by the end of the season.

TT just doesn’t look like he wants to be there.

TT doesn’t have any confidence…like at all. If he had just one or two decent plays to show his growth I’d feel better about him. But right now I’m pretty concerned if Nix gets injured. TT just doesn’t have it right now to run the offense.

I know TT hasn’t had much playing time but jeez he looks uncomfortable out there. Not one play he’s run so far looked in rhythm. Not a single one. I’d like to see what Butterfield can do.

Nix doing his best to score before the OL can have another false start lol

Maybe 2 more TDS

Where the heck is the horse collar tackle??