David Marsh

Here are a couple thoughts... Bad luck two years in a row but for two different reasons. In 2024 we get to play Ohio State in the Rose Bowl... absolutely awful draw and EVERYONE has said that the No.1 seed should not have been given that draw of teams. In 2025 Indiana as the No.1 seed got the winner of Bama and Oklahoma. Frankly neither teams were that good for basically the opposite reasons. Bama had a good passing offense, nothing on the ground, and a defense that was fickle. Oklahoma had no real offense but had a solid defense. Arguably Bama shouldn't have made the playoff but the fear of the SEC over-weighed the committee's fear of Notre Dame. I think if Oregon had the 8/9 draw last year they get that second round win and move on. There was some injury problems in that Rose Bowl Game. Evan Stewart didn't play and his field stretching ability being lost hampered the offense. Jordan James went out with injury that hurt the run game... but by that point Ohio State had already destroyed the Ducks. The reality is that the Ducks played an Ohio State team that was super talented and finally discovered their chemistry. If they had done that sooner in the season they probably would have left Autzen with a win. This year we had a big injury bug coupled with the transfer portal. I won't go over the injuries again... but just think of the transfers out as well. We lost Jayden Limar who was getting the first string reps at the start of the year. I was never really sold on Limar to be honest but he definitely flashed success. Then there was Makhi Hughes who was a shock that he didn't make the rotation in a meaningful way coming in as the best transfer running back. But he transferred out and wasn't with the team either. That and the injuries left the Ducks with a change of pace freshman back (who will be great) and Harris who was the No.5 back at the start of the season. The other reality is that his least season's offensive line was a step back from previous years... I think the interior was better than in 2024 where Dave Iuli and Pregnon in 2025 were better at guard than Iuli/Harper and Strother. But the tackles were a far cry from the 2024 team, the Connerly was much much better than World. Lanning's Oregon teams have depth and during the regular season the Ducks have only suffered one loss in B1G play. They weathered the injury storm. But when you combine injuries AND transfers at the end of the season there just isn't any depth. Young teams suffer transfer outs... veteran teams don't. Indiana didn't suffer from the portal opening up because their first and second string were all veterans who were basically out of eligibility. No where to transfer to because they are out of time. The Young Ducks on the other hand saw a bunch transfer out of the second string because they could play elsewhere. I don't think there is any ONE factor in either season but a multitude of things. Some big and some small but when combined make it difficult to finish out the season.

Potentially there need to be some adjustments in how practices work. Cignetti does minimal practicing but he has relied heavily on experienced players and mental reps. The younger the players the more reps they tend to need just to do things right. I think this Indiana team had one sophomore as a starter on a starting roster of otherwise upperclassmen in mostly their 4th and 5th years. Completely different needs if that's the case. Also... there were some freak injuries that I would say the practice didn't necessarily impact. Davison was injured on a play in a game where he hit the ground funny and broke his collar bone.... Not practice related. Whittington reportedly had turf toe which appears to be more of a non-contact injury... not inherently practice related. But maybe some minor injuries were more practice related... like Sadiq who sat out a couple games but also just wasn't as effective in others due to nagging injuries where he may have overdone it in practice... or potentially the games themselves. Getting the right balance of practice and rest is certainly difficult.

I was and still am very disappointed in how our last season ended. It's hard to win games when you relay on the run game and 2/3 of the top run production on the team is out with injuries. On so many of those drives that stalled out in third and short the Ducks wouldn't have converted or avoided that situation with Davison (or Whittington) on the field and being able to pick up just a few yards here and there. Davison is going to be a huge factor in the next two years! Yes, we have him for at least TWO more years! There was a reason why Harris was buried on the depth chart and I don't wish any ill will as he stepped up and tried his best when his moment came but his best wasn't anywhere near good enough. I love what Hill can provide the team but he isn't an every down back he is a change of pace back, he is the lightning to Davison's thunder. This last season ended with two coordinators leaving which frankly left some of the game planning feeling underwhelming and injuries and transfers for a key position that left the cupboard bare. It sucks but in Lanning year four of being a head coach anywhere it was still a good season. But I do have hope for the future. And remember... in the new playoff format only ONE team gets to end on a high note. EVERY OTHER TEAM is going to end on a loss because that's how tournaments work.

Short answer... Yes... Lanning is going to have something in his back pocket to use or abuse this rule. He's that kind of coach and we love him for it. Go for it Mad Man Dan!

I'd probably throw Oregon beating Ohio State in 2024 on that list and potentially 2021. For 2024 it was a massive moment for the Lanning era. For 2021 it was a step forward where Oregon finally got a win over Ohio State who were 8-0. How they're 9-2 ... It's certainly q change in the times.

Absolutely... I can see pushing things to 16 just to get rid of first round byes entirely. Make everyone play. But after that there is some prestige lost for making the playoff. Get ranked in the top 24 and be in... that is 3 loss teams galore! I think there needs to be a reevaluation of the rankings to be honest because the notion that the B1G can only get 3 teams in and the SEC got 4 and I would argue Bama and Oklahoma probably didn't belong. Bama over Notre Dame is debatable but the committee opted to not anger the SEC, which in itself shows why ND needs to join a conference because the committee's fear of angering a conference is far greater than angering independent ND but they bent to give them a freebie for now. The talent difference between top 10 and top 24 is a gulf and there will be blow outs in the first two rounds. It's just the way it would be.

As a tight end Sadiq wasn't going to be a full time receiver but also a blocker. Sadiq was used in so many different ways this seasons but a lot of his plays were also him just blocking. Sure he had some spectacular games as a receiver and some amazing plays but tight ends spend a whole lot of time blocking. Also Sadiq was banged up for a good 3ish weeks in there. He disappeared in the first Indiana game because of injury. Against Washington Sadiq was targeted a lot but he dropped a TON of passes that game. Against Texas Tech he got a lot of targets early but Johnson started to get open more as teams keyed in on Sadiq.

I'm going to throw out another name... Aaron Flowers. . He was super active and in on every play. He also just hit opposing ball carriers really hard.

Yeah Finney is going to be huge next year. He'd count for sure. I also left off Dante and Dakorian. So much of this roster is young first year starters who are going to have big impacts next year.

Yeah I had him on my list and I would count him. He is going to play a big part of this offense next year.

They learned how to defend it and replicate it enough to nullify Oregon's uniqueness for recruitment more than anything else. The offense took a dip in 2016 under Helfrich mostly due to the defense being so bad that the offense never had the ball.

Frost was right that it was and still is hard to recruit to Oregon. The worth ethic and recruiting chops that really made the difference. This isn't to say coaches before Cristobal and Lanning weren't hard workers but they knew their limits with the Oregon brand at the time. Kelly had something unique to prich... Cool uniforms and a cool offense. Everyone caught up on the offensive side and for a while there tried to keep pace with uniforms. Cristobal and Lanning has been able to approach recruiting a different way because of the brand laid down by their predessors and in turn both elevated recruiting. NIL has also been a massive game changer for Oregon because they wouldn't have stood a chance with some players on this roster without it. Recruiting to Oregon was hard and is still hard. Recruiting in general is super hard work. I know most of us wouldn't want to work the hours Lanning does. So don't take Frost's old quote as a slight on Oregon. It was true that getting top end talent to Eugene was difficult and exceedingly rare. It was the reality of where Oregon sat back then. Instead see Frost's quote for what it was... A moment in time where the Oregon brand was in its ascent but couldn't compete for to top recruits with the big boys. Things have changed in some massive ways. He wasn't wrong then ... But that doesn't mean that a statement of a past era applies to the Oregon of today.

There is absolutely an insurance policy in place. Those aren't terribly new. I know in 2014 Ifo had an insurance policy if he was injured and as a result fell out of the first three rounds. He did and got a few mil for it. Not ideal because it doesn't always make up for the money lost on not getting long term NFL contracts but that's still enough money to set themselves up. So yes... Moore has an insurance policy and has probably had one in place for a couple years.

It will always be an awful decision to move him from defense to offense. He would have been a star in an Oregon uniform if he stayed on defense.

I think I was referring to Ka'ai and Araghi both look very young. Probably upper 20s or low 30s. I have no qualms about Hampton and Mehringer in terms of experience only potential execution.