David Marsh

It was a long shot that he stayed for another season. Johnson has really come along this season. Olesh and Harrison (the due is six foot seven!) I think we will have plenty of weapons at tight end. Though we lost two tight ends so that is less great for the depth. Wouldn't be surprised if we go after another tight end in the portal at this point.

I turned the game off at the start of the second quarter. I needed to be a good role model for my young children and yelling at the TV is not that. After losses I usually need to disconnect a bit for a few days. It did ruin my entire weekend for the record... kinda hated it was a Friday night game because of that. I'm now dipping back into Oregon football again... in part because I feel like I am a true fan... in part because I think I'm just addicted to Oregon football. I can't stay away forever. It does have an emotional toll on me for sure... but the wins are amazing and lows are really low. https://fishduck.com/2023/12/the-pain-of-being-a-superfan/

COVID shirts have kinda skewed the blue chip ratio. Having players who are older and more experienced do make up for having more athletically talented and younger players. Oregon has had younger teams than the last few national champions because we haven't been able to hold onto our young talent into their 4th or even 5th years. Yeah... we've had some 5th and 6th year QBs in Nix and Gabriel but not a roster of them. What is the average age of the starters on Indiana's roster? Like 22? That's super old and old vets are going to be more consistent than younger players. It might be the new path forward to undermine the blue chip ratio ... just get a bunch of old grizzled vets. Also the way the transfer portal works it doesn't get put into the blue chip ratio. At least I believe blue chip only counts players out of high school and some of the most coveted transfers are players who didn't big names out of high school but developed into something. Probably need to start changing how the metrics work.

First game I would say yes... Second game... maybe.

I think it probably would have been better just to hold the game at Indiana and probably more Oregon fans would have shown up.

Biggest transfer portal losses in the Lanning era! Many are not all that surprising, namely Novosad and Moga, but this is a LOT of backups lost. Vander Ploog is not that surprising as Oregon got Olesh (sp?) from Penn State. Remember last year Olesh was Oregon's 2nd choice for Tight End and wiffed there and ended on Ploog. Cooper Perry is a little surprising that he is leaving as he got some snaps as a freshman and could build off that but a new receiver class is coming in and I could see the motivation to leave. This is cleaning house for sure... whether by player choice of Lanning's. LOTS of players going away and this will be an interesting reload.

Money... money and more money problems. Just like most things college football the west coast is pretty isolated from the rest of college football world. The only major bowl game on the west coast has been the Rose Bowl. Oregon fans in Oregon had to travel to the Georgia which was going to be a far more expensive plane ticket than anything in Indiana and then there is hotel fair and all the other things that go into it. Additionally... the game was on a Friday night which means taking off more work for travel. Indiana was a shorter flight but also fans could conceivably DRIVE there.

I mean... yeah... probably the right answer for the Pac-12 to be honest. Work on trying to get back Washington, Cal and UCLA... probably add Stanford on that list too even though Stanford wouldn't dream of being in the same conference as Boise State. I think Stanford and Cal are the most likely west coast additions to the B1G if they look at adding a couple more teams. Probably Stanford to go with a Notre Dame addition to keep that rivalry alive. This is not a likely scenario right now. But yeah... if I was the Pac-12 commissioner I would be working behind the scenes to try and get Washington, Cal and UCLA back for sure. Now is that realistic? Absolutely NOT! I think Cal is the most likely one of that bunch because they aren't making B1G dollars but if Lupoi can get their program back on track and competing for the ACC then I think they hold out for a B1G invite and real money at that point. It's dumb but probably their best option. I went over this years ago and the reality is that the west coast is geographically isolated when it comes to expansion candidates. https://fishduck.com/2022/06/the-pac-12-is-geographically-isolated-from-the-rest-of-the-college-football-world/ Everything is just so spread out on the west coast that before the conference collapse there was no Power Conference overlap between the Pac-12 and any of the other Power Conferences. The B1G and Big 12 has Iowa and Iowa State in the same state, The Big 12 has West Virginia which is next door Virginia and Virginia Tech in the ACC also Penn State in the B1G. Then then the state of Texas had TAMU and the Texas schools in the same state and they were next to Louisiana and Arkansas both SEC states. I mean this goes on and on... But the Pac-12 never touched any of them... until now... but that doesn't count so much because G6 schools overlap with all the conferences doesn't mean they are good targets for expansion. Unless you are the zombie Pac-12 that is.

This has been going on for sometime now... coaches have been sitting players down and outlining their current trajectory towards playing time. Effectively being encouraged to leave.

I know he hasn't reached his ceiling. But I will be honest.... with the way this season ended I am questioning his promoting the two new coordinators from within. I think Hampton is up to the task as he had a lot of control at Tulane but I am questioning maybe the scheme Lanning is running at this point. Probably a point for a future article as I don't really want to go into it right now. But as for the offense.... I don't know if Mehringer is the right man for the job at the moment because the offense needs a kick in the butt. The athletes are there but when put up against the top defenses it fails to perform. Is it a Dante Moore problem? An offensive line problem? A receiver getting open problem? A schematic problem? More of the same doesn't feel like it will get us to where we are demanding to go... Going to be honest... I'm far more upset by this loss than the loss to Ohio State last year and Washington the year before that. That is three years and three failed rematch games. That is a pattern. Something needs to change. Furthermore... the Lanning defense has struggled against strong passing teams. Which are the three teams we have failed to beat in a rematch. Run heavy teams seems to be something we have figured out... but pass heavy is a problem.

I think Harris has stated he is intending to enter the portal but has not officially done so yet. This would align with how Lanning usually works with athletes in the portal in that they are no longer with the team once they enter the portal. See what is happening with Limar. But if Harris is saying he intends on entering the portal but has not done so yet that would be different.

Cristobal's team is more mistake prone and undisciplined. Oregon v Indiana is going to be a lot harder team for both involved than the National Championship. Not saying Miami can't win it but Cristobal does not build disciplined high execution teams. They all have gaping flaws which is why they get exploited a few times a year by lesser teams that shouldn't beat them. Need to get past Indiana tomorrow! Go Ducks!

And get those angry linemen out there to give him the protection so he has the time to take the shots. Yes, he did have time in the last game but the pressure messed up his internal clock.

Portal extension for players in the national title game. Also portal extension for anyone who loses their HC after the portal window closes.

Seems like Whittington is ill... And you know what ... I was saving this for later but as I seem to have a way with it whenever I question Whittington's ability either in the forum or an article he turns around and proves me wrong! So let's do this! Come on Whittington I'm not sure if you're though enough or angry enough to run all over Indiana! That's right... I'm questioning your ability again. Now go prove me wrong!!! Got it covered everyone.