Solar

I'd be thrilled with Bama or Miami. And whoever we get, I hope it's 36 degrees and raining. Even dudes used to playing in snow would be complaining about how cold it is.

Excellent point. For players from So Cal, they know just about everyone they know will be watching the game and they will want to show out.

"This will mark GameDay’s first visit to a USC game since the 2016 season." "The Oregon Ducks have been featured on ESPN's College GameDay 11 times from the 2016 season through the current 2025 season." (USC will be number 12.) No wonder we live in their head rent free. There is nothing worse to their fans than simply being irrelevant while we steal the spotlight over and over... This will be our 3rd Game day appearance this year. I expect us to act like we've been there before. We'll see if USC can handle it.

We get a decent amount of pressures, we just don't get home for sacks as our strategy is to collapse the pocket without giving any escape routes to the QB.

Thanks David. So to clarify a little bit, we can do damage running or passing out of any formation, and now that we are using play action more, the front seven of the defense can't commit to run or pass until QB and RB are past the mesh point. While they are frozen for about half a second, the OL QB and RB are executing the offense at full speed. Football may be a game of inches, but inches come from motion (distance per time), so it's also a game of milliseconds, and 500 of them is a big advantage. An extra half second for Moore to survey the field would have a massive impact on yards per drop back.

I really wish we played all 3 West Coast schools every year. This USC matchup is a rivalry to USC although they would never think of it as such. They just think we are hogging the pedestal need to get off so they can step back on it, but the hatred is very rivalry like.

USC is significantly better in the trenches this year, although if they do have a weakness it would be pass blocking, but our defensive strategy is to pressure the QB without allowing escape lanes which is why we get home infrequently. We trust our secondary to hold up longer and defend the pass better. Makai Lemon, like Serrat is going to make some catches. There is no defense for the perfect pass and catch. I think if there is a weakness on USC's DL it's the edges. Their strength is in the middle.

Which teams have we struggled against with a high power passing attack? Indiana is the only one. Rutgers and Minnesota had pretty good passing attacks and they had little success. We have some of the best passing defense in the country statistically. It doesn't mean we are going to completely shut down their passing attack, but we can definitely limit them moreso than other teams have through the air. But they've also have had a lot of success on the ground. It's clear we are going to have to put up points. I think it will be first to 30 wins.

Good catch, I didn't notice that. One thing I have noticed, which Indiana and ever school afterwards exploited, is that Dante doesn't do well when the right side of the pocket collapses. He's not comfortable throwing and struggles to slide to the left. Moving Pregnon to the right helped with that I guess. And psychologically I think he handles the unseen blind side pressure better than the front side pressure. I also think he showed in this game that he has improved on these weaknesses, there were sometimes when the pocked was shrinking fast and he didn't get happy feet. Although maybe that confidence is more a function of our WRs running free all over the place with very little tight coverage. Minnesota's secondary is horrible tbh.

Johnson got a lot of run in this game showing the value he can bring as a pass catcher at any time.

They're been really bad on the road, so we shouldn't be too surprised I guess. But it's nice to dominate a team with a winning record. Moore going 27/30 was great to see against a team that supposedly has a great pass rush per the stats. I thought it was supposed to rain, but maybe that rain got diverted to So Cal for tomorrow..

1 sack and only a few pressures from a team that has the 6th most sacks in the country. That was an area of progress we were looking for. Minnesota also is really good at tackles for a loss. I don't know if they got any until our starting OL was pulled, then they got a bunch. Great job by coaches and players to get that cleaned up.

I like this Benson guy on punt returns. Sure hands, but also believes it's actually an opportunity to get some yards.

Interesting they let our touchdown stand. I think it was crazy close, but the shot they had from a mile away over the shoulder of the ref that had their eye on it sealed the deal. I bet they figured the ref looking right at it from 10 feet away saw it better than we can. Don't question it. Of course that ref could be trying to help Oregon beat the spread for Vegas, so we'll never know for sure!

They are 6 and 3 for a reas Minnesota is a good passing team. We were able to shut down Rutgers, but the Minnesota OC has been mixing things up pretty good.

I think play action passes are having a near 100% success rate. I think the coaches are seeing the same things everyone else is finally.

What the Duck was all that? 7 points I guess, we'll take it. This Minnesota team is not showing up on the road again. Their OL is bad and their defense is swiss cheese outside a few good DLs and pass rushers.

The biggest thing missing in all of this is why we need this extra money in the first place. Is the conference going bankrupt due to paying students, or have grand plans to expand and improve the product in some weird way, or...?

This is the biggest crapshoot game this season. Minnesota is wildly inconsistent, we don't what the weather will be like and we don't know whether our players will really show up. I'm highly confident we win, but I don't think we cover the spread. Ducks win. 31-13 4 sacks 2 turnovers 230 passing yards

As a San Diegan, I can say southern California has the worst weather prediction ability, for the obvious reason that the weather rarely matters. Looking at precipitation estimates is a fools errand. And there is a lot of truth to the old saying that it never rains in California, but when it rains it pours. It's most likely to be dry even if they say it could rain, but if it does rain it could be a downpour.

I didn't think there was a question. You don't want to make the B1G Championship. It's an extra game with the chance to skip ahead to a slot that was 0-4 in last year's playoffs, or get beat badly enough to drop to a 9-12 seed play on the road slot. There's a world where coach Cig throws the game by blatantly resting his starters to keep them healthy and force the Playoff committee to discount the game enough that they stay a 5-8 seed. The conference championship games need to go in this current format. There needs to be a single bye week for each team in either the 6th or 7th week a single bye week after the 12th game then a single week of conference play-in games, no playoff byes for anyone. I hope Oregon wins out and stays in the 5-8 seed for a home game after a single bye week, same as their opponent. That's the best case scenario in this current format.

Our defense is the opposite of bend don't break this year. I'm not sure what it is called but I think it is intentional. Our team is fast enough and good enough in the secondary that we play more aggressive in some ways that leave us more vulnerable to occasional dagger plays, but on the whole is very effective.

6 on 4, what could go wrong? It's not like having the DC up in the box would have had him screaming at DL for a timeout or something.

If I were king I'd just make all OOC games not count for the regular season, just like preseason in the NFL. If you want to schedule Georgia and Ohio State, go for it, or schedule cupcakes. Either way you may only see the starters for a few drives, but it gives an opportunity for every player on the team to get good in game reps and show their value to the depth chart. Of course the fans won't show up for games that don't matter just like the NFL, but more playoff teams and games would make up for it. (Round of 24 anyone?) It's almost like the NFL already figured this stuff out..we'll get there eventually after we've worn down compromise for tradition to a barely perceptible nub.

There is one name that never seems to come up when it should be first to mind for any team needing a coach: Kenny Dillingham I realize he's an Arizona guy through and through, but you HAVE to at least make a run at him. He's got it all. The youth, the offensive mastermind and the record, nearly picking off Texas in the playoffs.