David Marsh

Ooof... Chip it's a sign that you should just retire when you're looking at WSU. Or go do TV for a few years.

I know a Stanford had it rough. They need to find players who could theoretically get into Stanford on their own outside of football and recruit those kids. Then to make matters worse if a player graduates early and wants to get a master's degree they have to apply and be accept r to the master's program without football in consideration. In short... If a Stanford football grad wants to use some of their eligibility to get a master's degree degree they are going else where. It also means their portal use is highly restricted to those who meet their academics. Granted... I am just all around jealous of those who automatically, or effectively automatically, get auto enrolled in grad programs. I applied for four schools to get into a grad program... And then I had to pay for that degree out of pocket. But i will say this about Stanford... They do seem to walk thr walk when it comes to heir academics in their programs. Now Washington should take note.. because that's academic prowess.

They need to be revamped. By themselves they are unexciting but they could be incentivized. NIL is a thing so pay the players and give the winning team more. This can be done lots of ways but still. There should also just be a second tournament like in mens basketball and that should be the bowl game system. Schools are going to be able to pay players directly soon and bowl game payouts could absolutely be part of the equation.

The G6 conference champs are fine for inclusion the way I see it. They played their schedules and came out the other side conference champs and based on the system they get in. The ACC champs failed to take care of business along the way and should be grateful they have Miami representing them at all. Bama probably shouldn't be in but the committee positioned them as such that they were going to be in no matter what. Notre Dame probably deserves to be in but not over Miami. If they were in the ACC they probably would have won the conference and we wouldn't have this conversation. Notre Dame just needs to join a conference already. But the 16 team playoff probably will enable them to stay independent. The B1G should probably have another team in the field too much cannibalism for that to happen. Truly competitive conferences are not rewarded for being competitive as we all know from the Pac-12.

On the academic performance front there are SO many services around athletes these days that it's hard to fail. I was at UO when the academic support building was built and completed. Those players have a lot of help. They also have a full time job in their sport as well so I'm not entirely knocking it. I haven't seen anything about drug testing in a long time. I'm sure it happens from time to time. I'm sure they'll find a way to disqualify our best receivers of we make the title game.

They'll probably be out on the West coast for several days before the game. School's out for everyone at that point. They'd pay for the use of a practice field somewhere, probably a high school, and get used to the weather and time zone a bit. Not saying it won't be a factor just less of one.

And maybe Kirby has smartened up against DeBoer's offense which has always been pass heavy.

I am 90% positive that was the case for Hampton. Come to Oregon as the co-DC to become THE DC when Lupoi leaves. For Mehringer I am sure that was potentially part of the deal with bringing in Stein. He wasn't ready when Dilly left but he is probably ready now. I'll trust Lanning... Because what else am I going to do? Sit here and be mad about it? I'll probably just be proven wrong. I would also like to point out that a lot of people weren't too keen on Stein, a young up and comer from a G6 team... But he turned out pretty good.

Does it kinda suck to lose out on Henry... yeah.. But... BUT! We have as many 5 Star recruits as 3 stars according to Rivals! That is just INSANE!

Or at least LSU's NIL boosters want a say!

He's a good coach who has gone under the radar for a while now because he didn't jump ship from Iowa State the first chance he got. He'd be a good get for Penn State if it happens. I also wouldn't be surprised if he stays put.

People grow and people change. I'm not saying he's my first choice but I'm also sure that Lanning see way more than we ever will. And as I have zero input into who the OC will be... I'm cool with whoever Lanning picks. At least for now... But I am sure I'll be yelling at them via an article next year to run the ball more. I've done it for Lanning's first four years and I will plan on doing so in year five as well!

Whose to say he isn't a top notch candidate? If Dan trusts him then I am absolutely fine with it.

Makes sense... I mean its kinda surprising they came out to Eugene twice considering they don't get to broadcast any B1G games. They do get to broadcast the SEC championship game so they might as well hype it up.

They are definitely protecting the SEC and Alabama here by moving them up one place. Notre Dame will get cut if it comes down to it and Bama probably protected. But Miami is probably out no matter what at this point... so that is kinda delightful in itself.

A few things have me feeling pretty good. In the post I saw about Stein taking the Kentucky job it also said he would continue his duties with the team until the season ends. He probably has an arrangement similar to what Lanning had with Smart at Georgia, where he wasn't allowed to recruit for the team anymore but could begin to recruit for his new team. What makes things more difficult for Stein is that I don't think he is officially hired at Kentucky yet and TODAY is National Signing Day so who knows the recruiting class he even has to work with at the moment... well I guess I can look it up.... ranked 58th with 15 recruits basically all three stars on Rivals and I can't tell who has actually signed at this point anyways. The reality is that Stein is going to have to recruit who he can before the second signing period and dive into the transfer portal. The portal doesn't open until January and I wouldn't be surprised if he takes the lion's share of Ducks who transfer. His first season is going to be a bit rough but the reality is that with the NSD being so early now that new coaches are barely hired before they have to sign a recruiting class so they'll be portal heavy. The same goes for Lupoi and Cal. Though in the case of Lupoi I haven't seen anything saying that he intends on finishing the year at Oregon or not. However, Hampton has called plays on defense before and Lanning is the HC so I am a little less concerned on that front.

I mean the biggest problem with a committee is how do you build a body of people who can be objective AND make it their only job for about four months to watch every single FBS football game? It's possible and I am sure there are people out there who could do it but is there the will or the desire to do it? No really. A whole new system needs to be created because with super conference playing your schedule is the only thing you can do and sometimes your schedule is weak. I do not fault the Aggies for winning 11 games but I do fault them for losing to 3-loss Texas in their very last game. A top three team shouldn't have dropped that game.

I bet this will happen!!!

I kinda doubt it... That would burn a bridge with Lanning and I have a feeling he wouldn't want to do that. Coaches talk a lot behind the scenes and burning a bridge by stealing recruits out the door is something that would burn those bridges real fast. Besides there might some transfers out of Oregon that he would be interested in landing and that would be mutually beneficial for all involved. Not to say that couldnt happen in addition to stealing recruits.

This defense has worked great before the red zone. I think there are some schematic problems for our red zone defense. Letting a touchdown happen from 4th and 8 against Washington kinda highlights the problem. That shouldn't have happened. It looks like there was a bit of a rub on the play that got Boston open but still... shouldn't have happened. However, this team holds teams to less than 15 points per game so I can't complain too much.

Contending for a playoff spot is what they expected. It took Smith third year at OSU to get it in the right direction. Every program expects instant turnaround or continuation. They look at Lanning and Cignetti and say... "We want that" but they're the exception. Lanning inherited a good roster but needed to completely overhaul it for his desired team. And Cignetti just transferred over a ton of guys from his previous team and did an instant rebuild which is incredible. Still want to see the Hoosiers lose... But I can respect what he's done. Most coaches can't turn around and put together a winning team in year one.

First round game at Autzen. Get those injured guys back on the field and warmed up for a good run. A month off with a bye is a LONG time and for someone like Dak who has missed all of November his last game would have been 2 months ago at that point and now it's against a team that had a warm up game. Let's have the warm up. Especially if we are the no. 5 seed and will probably need to go throw Ohio State to reach the championship game.

Sadiq did not have a good day. The pass end zone TD pass that he caught out of bounds was a slightly off target throw by Moore. But Sadiq had several passes in his hands that he dropped that would have been for good gains. Also... McClellan had a catch that wasn't. Or a PI that wasn't called. Moore felt off for a lot of that game but it wasn't completely his fault. A few more completed balls and he might have found that rhythm.

The Chip Kelly record is going to be tough to beat... But I believe Dan can do it! Chip just left at his peak.

I mean... Puddles is a better name. But I still love The Duck.