Solar

I'm still in show me mode about the B1G's statistically tough defenses, as in show me it wasn't just that your offenses statistically suck. Also, I think the bad weather thing is a little overrated too. With exception of the PO games we are talking about late fall Midwest weather for at worst, which isn't that bad 95% of the time. I'd strongly prefer 20-30 degrees and dry vs 40 and raining having played football in both. I think they use the weather as an excuse for archaic offensive systems. As in we have to have a strong running game in case the weather is bad. Ok but what about the other 95% of the games where you can't keep up? Even Fickel at Wisconsin has seen enough to feel confident to bring in the air raid.

I am shocked how good DeBoer is doing recruiting at Alabama, which reflects really poorly on UW as a program inclusive of their NIL. So Fisch does have an uphill battle recruiting to UW, but he hasn't made it any easier on himself telegraphing so clearly that UW is a pit stop on his way to bigger and better things. At the slightest wiff of success at UW he will be gone.

Seeing how violent players were with their own teammates in the spring game backs up the talk from my perspective. Ohio State speed with Michigan physicality is a scary combination for opponents. Just like last last year "Oregon is team nobody wants to play."

"The pair (James and Whittington) averaged better than seven yards per carry last season." I don't think people are truly letting that sink in. Those are 1a and 1b in the country respectively. I do expect B1G DLs to be better on average, but I also expect Gabriel to force defenses to respect the QB as a runner more than with Nix and Stein making sure to take advantage of that with read options.

FSU vs. Georgia enters the chat.. Agree, Alabama will continue to be a problem with DeBoer at the helm.

I address the coach to coach communication further in my posted comment. I don't disagree with your "definition" of stabilization as you state it here. There have been self imposed guardrails to keep things in check, just no speed limits yet.

The trajectory is important. We saw what happened with Helfrich. We saw players that played their best as a freshman and only regressed. My rational self says USC should have a good season with a new excellent DC and some decent talent, but reality is anybody exposed to LR for more than a year regressed. Grinch was a fine DC, but LR just wore him down to incompetence. Honestly, the trajectory is down for USC, so it's not out of the question they finish 4 and 8, falling apart as the season wears on like our Ducks did in 2016, where the internal rotting of the culture fully exposed itself.

My only skepticisms with the article is I'm not sure rates have or will ever stabilize without salary caps. Secondly the statement that when bidding is over the top institutions have bid a similar amount and the recruit will then make a decision purely on other merits. That's not how auctions bidding wars end. The end when one bidder is not willing to pay as much as the other individual. I will say that coaches at other institutions have said Oregon coaches reach out to confirm an offer value the recruit said the other school had made. I'm sure this is mutual, but this only serves to keep the bidding in check without an auction house managing the bidding process, so at the end of the day I would assume that 99 times out of 100 a recruit has many unequal NIL offers to weigh against the historical differentiators. There is a strong chance that on average we are the highest bidder for recruits that pick us. It takes too much illogical hand waving to assume otherwise. That being said, choosing top dollar for yourself and having strong character ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE. It is more than conceivable that humans both buy the cheapest option available, and take the highest job offer presented if all options are "good enough." What's wrong with that? Absolutely nothing.

Helfrich 2016, Taggart 2017, Mario 2018. Auburn 2019 was his second season as HC.

We'll see, but keep in mind how high of a bar it is to start at WR for the Ducks going forward. If you aren't at least borderline elite you'll be leapfrogged by a portal transfer of one of the best in the country and won't start. Justius Lowe is arguably a better WR than his dad was given his physical abilities, but I don't know if he will ever start either.

Dickey may not live up to the hype. Before the spring game interception he completely misjudged the trajectory of the football. That's not something 5 stars do. He had a great excuse regarding the injury, but he was whole in the bowl game and spring game and was ineffective. I don't think he ever starts for us. Same with that other fast and tall dude that never connects on a pass.

I don't think Dante Moore has the intangibles to lead us to a championship. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not optimistic on him.

Judging by that recruiting board, it seems inevitable that at some point Danno will have to overcome his DeBour problem. I really wasn't expecting Kalen to do this good at Alabama. And this REALLY doesn't reflect well on UW's recruiting apparatus.

Didn't cross my mind that I don't have to worry about that. I'm not exactly itching to say something stupid, but it sure is nice around here! Thanks a bunch!

Okay, you made me check and you're right, we have merely officially left the PAC12, but not yet officially joined the B1G. So an interesting bit of trivia for future generations will be the Oregon was once independent! If only for a month in the off-season.

EDIT: We've only left the PAC12 and are independent until August 2nd when we officially join the B1G.

The numbers are the most traditional they have been this millennium. Not big, not small, a more traditional block font with a nice outline. I think this is good for entering the stodgy B1G. They'll be intimidated by us in these unis vs. looking down on us. Mixing the wings and diamond plate is well done as well. Maybe in future years after we establish ourselves at the top of the B1G we can get back to more innovative looks.

The no confidence field goal kicking was a major factor in those games as well and that has been addressed.

I don't think there is a future for 1 dimensional offenses without generational talent. The new multiple defenses are to easy to adjust to take away your strengths and make you play to your weaknesses. I don't think Michigan beats Georgia if they met in the PO last year for that reason. It's gonna get ugly on offense for many of the B1G teams we will play.

Agreed and this list is far better than it has been in the B1G for the past few years. Their mediocre passing games are what make B1G defenses look so good statistical. Can't wait to show them that their reference point for their greatness isn't that great.

OSU and M had great defenses, yet I think they would have given up an average of 3,-5 points per game more if they played in the PAC12. Iowa's incredible defense made a living off picking off the ball from mediocre QBs that can't read a zone, which applies to basically all of the QBs you mention above. Given the improved talent, our secondary is going to see a significant improvement in statistical performance this year.

Of course we'll improve on that. Our team is better and B1Gs offenses suck. I get sick of seeing that every B1G defenses is like top 20. Maybe they are just slightly above average, and their offenses suck on average. I mean look at what numbers the only two offenses that were actually good M and OSU put up against all of those "really good" defenses. We aren't going to face a single QB in the B1G that would even have been in the top half of the PAC12 last year. Think about that.

Yeah, but as I keep saying, it's irrelevant, because the probability of accidentally leaving out the team that would have won it all drops by roughly 2/3rds, which is what really matters. I mean Georgia, Oregon and OSU could have won it all last year in a 12 team playoff right? But we'll never know. That alone is reason enough to ignore the whiners next year, which is what I think will happen. It's media fodder but in general people won't be paying nearly as much attention to the outrage next year when the relevance towards outcomes is diminished substantially.

But that's the thing OSU and WSU were the lowest rung of the PAC12, so they would have had the most late games on the Pac12 network status quo. So I would argue they have benefitted as much if not more than any other former Pac12 team from the pack demise in terms of access to awake eyeballs. It's a win for the fans that don't care about ultimate success as much as just being able to watch their team play. A narrow victory, but given their position any victories should rightly be celebrated.

This is a win for OSU. Every beaver fan in the country CAN watch them play finally. And channel flippers sick of watching some blowouts could find OSU gritting their teeth against the G5, because CW is typically a channel not too far away from Fox and abc. Sure they won't have "this changes everything" viewership, but it beats the pants off limited access PAC12 after bedtime every week of the season like last year.