David Marsh

So Oregon has been on NBC or an NBC service for three games..Boise State, Ohio State and nle Wisconsin. All three games have been determined by a field goal or less. Are games on NBC just bad news for our Ducks? I mean if you're super suspicious then maybe. I just think it's an interesting coincidence.

Eight weeks without a bye is showing. But that defense is legit.

Could we call the USC v Nebraska the has been bowl?

I mean I guess we can watch the Beavers find a way to lose to Air Force...

Anyone else finding today's slate of games to be a bit boring? Nothing major in terms of upsets at the moment.

Is it just me or does that UCLA I formation for their run plays feel super far back for the runningback? It feels like there is a solid couple seconds before the handoff and more than enough time for the defense to break the offensive line.

Huskies are letting the Bruins hang around. That's what UCLA wants and needs.

The Tez and Harper injuries are the only two I have concerns about. Both are long term injuries and I don't expect either to play soon. The loss of both hurts but I think our receivers pick it up a bit better this weekend having another week to settle into some expanded roles.

I played world of Warcraft for quite a few years when I was younger. It was a fun game and certainly the game I've put the most hours in out of every other game I've ever played. But let me be honest.... This promotion is about 15 years too late. Sure WoW is still around and has an ardent following but it isn't the juggernaut of video games it was back around 2008ish. Microsoft (roughly Seattle based) just acquired Activision-Blizzard (so cal based) so so its probably Microsoft wanting to show off their new IP.

In the case of Bedford I am sure they want him to medical redshirt and to do that he needs to sit the rest of the season. He has already used his redshirt so he can't play at this point. Other players vary but for Kasper and Fields I think they have also both used a redshirt so they might be in line for a medical redshirt as well.

I wouldn't be surprised to see James and Burch play but with a snap count to ensure they aren't put too much at risk. If Harper plays it would probably only be in the first half and on a snap count. Last week's offensive line changes weren't horrible but it was a step down. However, I believe coaches would deem it good enough, especially with Iuli getting another week of reps with the 1s, to probably keep Harper on the bench the entire game if they can manage it. As for Tez... he won't play vs UW and I doubt he'll play against the other UW (can we start referring to the Huskies as the "other UW" just to insult them?) We'll need him for the CCG but probably not against either UW. Especially since Washington has a horrible rushing defense but a good passing defense so I suspect we'll want a healthy James for that game more than a healthy Tez.

But it gives us something to talk about... Indiana, like Texas, will get their shot at a highly ranked team. If they win they're in. If they lose close, they're probably in... if they lose badly then they're out. It will sort itself out soon enough.

The reality is that the SEC, like most conferences, mediocre in the middle. The SEC has had a dominant team or two for what feels like forever now that is a national championship contender yearly but this year Georgia isn't that team and Texas had their shot at a top team and lost and don't appear to be that team either. However, what really irks SEC honks like Finebaum is that the mediocre middle isn't getting the same respect as the traditional top of their conference. Guess what, the middle sections of conferences tend not to be very good. I would argue this year that the B1G's middle is downright weak, so Finebaum and I would probably agree on that front. But I don't think the SEC's middle is all that remarkable this year.

Their winning is the pitch... but I also think that is why they are punching above their weight class right now. I would take Indiana to beat many of those two loss SEC teams right now because they are playing the way they are and not because of their roster.

Big thing to watch tomorrow is if Oregon wins in a dominant fashion and plays a relatively clean game then I wouldn't be concerned with the Ducks dropping a game by lack of focus later in the season. If they play as sloppy as they did against Maryland, then I'll be concerned because they didn't learn those lessons. Or the coaches need to continue to reteach those lessons.