sports fan

Lowest point in the Altman era, 15 years. Starters Bittle, Shelstad, Simpkins and backup Demer out for tonight's game. Can't win when so many players are banged up.

Hoosiers 35-17 1 1 289

Yikes! Coach Altman just said Nate Bittle will be out for a month, maybe longer. And Jackson Shelstad is still not available to play. I hate to say this, but looking at the upcoming schedule, I don't see a single win for our Ducks with two of our best players out of the lineup for the foreseeable future.

I was curious how Oregon's players lined up with other players around the country. But I found that the NIL value is undisclosed and not recorded as public record. But I did find a list that shows the top 20 paid athletes. The figures are in millions of dollars. 1. A. J. Bybantsa BYU 4.1 2. J. J. Toppin Texas Tech 2.8 3. Yaxel Lendenborg Michigan 2.3 4. Boogie Fland Florida 2.1 5. Donovan Dent UCLA 2.0 *** 6. Jayden Quaintance Kentucky 1.9 7. Braden Smith Purdue 1.9 8. Moustapha Thiam Cincinnati 1.8 9. Oscar Cluff Purdue 1.7 10. P. G. Haggarty Kansas St. 1.7 11. Bryce Hopkins St. John's 1.7 12. Owen Freeman Creighton 1.6 13. Malik Reneau Miami 1.6 14. Ian Jackson St. John's 1.5 15. Josh Dix Creighton 1.5 16. Henry Veesaar North Carolina 1.5 17. Cameron Boozer Duke 1.5 18. Bennet Stirtz Iowa 1.5 19. Dayyrn Peterson Kansas 1.5 20. Darrion Williams N. Carolina St. 1.4 *** Here's an example of what can happen even if you spend a lot of money on a player. Donovan Dent at UCLA is bringing in a cool two million but that doesn't guarantee a spot in the NCAA tournament. As of today, according to ESPN's bracketology, the Bruins are currently listed as the first team out. As my Duck friends who commented on a previous article, Oregon would have to spend some series cash to make them competitive. Spending more on basketball would probably cut back on football funding. How do you guys feel about this? Keep it the same, with our football program close to the top of the football pyramid and basketball floundering at the bottom of the standings or make basketball more interesting and exciting to watch. It takes a lot of money for a lot of football players to achieve that 'natty' we so desperately crave. But with basketball, probably two players and a strong supporting cast could bring a championship caliber team to Eugene.

I know we're all disappointed in the final game so I took a deep dive into our football program and as Duck fans we should hold our heads up and be proud of our team. I just got a notification that Dante Moore will be returning! See how blessed we are. Chip Kelly 46-7 .868% Under Chip, he posted undefeated records against both Oregon State and Washington, something never before achieved by an Oregon coach. Mark Helfrich 37-16 .698% Willie Taggart 7-5 .583% Mario Cristobal 35-13 .729% Dan Lanning 48-8 .857% overall record 173-49 .779% George Horton 375-281 .572% Mark Wasikowski 206-106 .660% overall record 581-387 .600% Listening to the college baseball show with Jared Perkins, Mark Garland and Will Mossa, they pick our Ducks to finish in 2nd place in the B1G ten, only behind powerhouse UCLA. Dana Altman 378-171 .689% Our basketball program, for the most part, has been very competitive and exciting to watch. There has been the occasional bump in the road but overall have done fairly well. But this season is different. Is it the coaching, player development or NIL. For the past four seasons, there have been quite a few injuries that have derailed the Ducks. Anybody have an answers how Coach Altman can turn this around? Looking at our winning percentages in football, baseball and basketball, we should be very pleased at the winning cultural at Oregon.

Jon Wilner wrote an article that said "What's next for Oregon after another playoff collapse: The leadership and structure are right, but something's missing. (I was going to provide a link to this article but it's behind a paywall). He goes on to say it's time to whack the button in Eugene. But which one? The eject button, the panic button, the snooze button, the reset button? The Ducks are a CFP regular contender that's far from championship caliber. How far? 54 points. They were beaten by Ohio St. and Indiana by that much. Oregon losing to Ohio St. and Indiana in the CFP isn't the issue. It's the fashion in how they lost in the Rose and Peach Bowls. Only coach Lanning can uncover the glitch in his system that left Oregon embarrassed in the biggest games the past two years. He mentions how Will Stein and Tosh Lupoi have departed for their head coaching positions and who their replacements will be. To win games deep in the CFP, to beat opponents with comparable talent, you need equivalent expertise. Are their replacements up to the task? It's believed that Oregon needs older, wiser coaching staff at the coordinator level. The Buckeyes and Hoosiers staff that sliced and diced the Ducks had decades more experience at the head coach and coordinator levels. Lupoi's replacement, Chris Hampton has never called plays at the Power Four level and Stein's replacement, Drew Mehringer has one year of coordinator experience at the Power Four level, in 2016 at Rutgers that finished number 127 in the country in scoring. The Ducks appear so close and, at the same time, so far.

TOO MANY INJURIES I hope I'm wrong I hate to say this but... Indiana wins 27-17 1 1 239

The Ducks and Hoosiers both played road games at Iowa City and University Park. Here are the results. Indiana 20 Iowa 15 Oregon 18 Iowa 16 Indiana 27 Penn St. 24 Oregon 30 Penn St. 24 (2 ot) Total points for and against: Indiana 47 - 39 plus 8 Oregon 48 - 40 plus 8

All four coaches spent time at Alabama with Coach Nick Saban. Curt Cignetti 2007 - 2011 wide receiver coach and recruiting coordinator Mario Cristobal 2013 - 2016 associate head coach, tight ends coach, assistant head coach, offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator Pete Golding 2018 - 2022 defensive assistant coach, co-defense coordinator, inside linebacker coach and defensive coordinator Dan Lanning 2015 grad assistant

Ducks 31-20 1 1 269

Ducks Win 45-13 2 2 250

It's very hard to beat the same team twice in the same season. Based on that, Alabama wins a close one in Norman.

This article is behind a paywall. A Huskie fan asks; Why is Oregon Coach Dan Lanning rarely mentioned as a candidate for some BIGGER-NAME schools that have lost coaches, such as Penn St., LSU and even Florida? As a Washington season ticket holder of nearly 50 years, it would not bother me to see him go down the road to another school! -Rob M - Jon Wilner answers; Lanning has been clear about his desire to remain in Eugene, both because Oregon offers him the resources to win at the highest level and because his family is happy. In fact, he put his money where his mouth is upon signing a contract extension in 2023 (that has since been amended): The deal includes a massive buyout of $20 million, suggesting Lanning was content with the terms that most schools with vacancies would consider exorbitant. Essentially, he took himself off the market. In exchange, Oregon offered more security and more money, with a deal that was worth roughly 7 million annually at the time but has since been amended (to approximately $11 million). The Ducks have a first rate coach who wants to stay so they moved aggressively to keep him. That said, he's not a forever coach in Eugene. At some point he'll look elsewhere. There are only a few jobs that might lure Lanning away - Georgia is probably atop that list - but if the right NFL franchise has a vacancy in coming years, he could very well be tempted. I certainly enjoy all the misery the loser Huskie fans have for all things Ducks!

Ducks 27-20 1 1 222

DUCKS 31-24 1 2 211

I look at this game as a final 'tune-up' for OBD. Next week they head to Las Vegas for the Players Era Festival. I'm looking forward to this tournament as Oregon will be facing stiff competition. It will show us how well they play and the areas needed for improvement. #22 Auburn (3-1) lost to #2 Houston 73-72 and San Diego St. (2-0). Although not in the top 25, the Aztecs come in at #26 with 71 votes, OBD at #29 with 28 votes.

DUCKS WIN 31-10 1 sack 1 turnover 179 passing yards

Weather 100% rain low 40's wind 7-10 mph Brrrrr Ducks win 24-17 1 1 176

Ducks favored -15.5 Hope they're over the opening-game jitters. Go Ducks! (and no injuries)

Phillips injury is undisclosed and his availability is a game-time decision.

OK, I've read all the comments and completely agree with all of them. But I noticed that Oregon had a 14 point lead when Kwame Evans Jr. went down. Of course, the Rainbow Warriors went on a 14 point run. That just goes to show how valuable he is to this team. If he is lost for any length of time, this will be a crushing blow. Looking at this years roster, Oregon has only THREE starting returning players from last year, Shelstad, Evans Jr. and Bittle. Jamari Phillips only played in 14 games last year with a total of 75 minutes. That's just over five minutes a game. Oleksandr Kobzystyi, coming back from an injury played in two games for a total of 8 minutes. Dezdrick Lindsay, also injured, did not play. Add all of the newcomers to this year's squad and I can easily see why there were so many turnovers and missed shots. Take away Shelstad and Evans from this game, and it's no wonder everything was falling apart. Moving on, Oregon has a game against the Rice Owls of the AAC. Their pre-season predictions have them slotted at #12 out of 13 teams in the conference. The game is on the B1G + network, which unfortunately I don't have. I'll be a scoreboard watcher.

Specific odds will shift as the game day approaches, but here are the general lines being offered by sports books. Spread -2 Ducks Money line Ducks -135 Hawkeyes +115 Total points (over/under) 46.5

Here are the results of the games each team played. Oregon 56 at Rutgers 10 Iowa 38 at Rutgers 28 at Oregon 20 Indiana 30 at Iowa 15 Indiana 20 at Oregon 21 Wisconsin 7 Iowa 37 at Wisconsin 0 Oregon 30 at Penn St. 24 (2OT) at Iowa 25 Penn St. 24 The Ducks scored 127 points for an average of 31.3 per game The Ducks gave up 71 points for an average of 17.3 per game The Hawkeyes scored 115 points for an average of 28.3 per game The Hawkeyes gave up 72 points for an average of 18 per game With both schools having a bye week, I expect a low scoring 'barn burner' unfolding in Iowa City.

I love football, but am excited to watch basketball, too. Regarding the Ducks exhibition win over Utah, 73-53, it's good to get that first win of the season, although it won't count in the standings. Out of the 16 schools in the Big Twelve, the former PAC 12 schools are not expected to fair too well this season, with the exception of the Arizona Wildcats. The preseason rankings: #4 Arizona, #13 Arizona St., #14 Utah and #16 Colorado. The Ducks next game is another exhibition against Stanford. Of the 18 schools in the ACC, former PAC 12 schools are also not expected to do very well. #15 California and #16 Stanford will be in the bottom half of their conference.

Ducks 48-10 2 2 195