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.

24 minutes ago, Charles Fischer said:

A: I’d stay busy seducing Washington, Cal, and UCLA. Stay in their ears. Keep whispering. Do it privately, not publicly. The new-world Pac-12 should absolutely focus on doing the best business it can do in this new era, but given that we’re going to see another round of chaos when the current media deals are up (and maybe even before), I wouldn’t stop being proactive on the expansion front.

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.

1 hour ago, DuckFan93 said:

I think a lot of OBD fans including me are starting to wonder if DL has reached his ceiling.

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.

41 minutes ago, Mudslide said:

Jay Harris is filling in in spite of his appearance in the portal.

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.

4 minutes ago, Nevada Dawg said:

I think the Ducks would have the better shot against Miami

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!

1 hour ago, Charles Fischer said:

and I agree--take some shots.

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.

4 hours ago, kirklandduck said:

If Oregon makes it to the championship game, I think that will be played on January 19th. Transfer portal closes on January 16th so Harris would be gone by then (unless for some reason he decides to withdraw his name from the portal and stay at Oregon).

Portal extension for players in the national title game.

Also portal extension for anyone who loses their HC after the portal window closes.

24 minutes ago, Vanducky said:

If wine breaks the curse, I've got us covered.

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.

36 minutes ago, GeotechDuck said:

Unbelievable. I am convinced we are cursed.

Probably are... But we can break this curse with a wine which I still feel is possible.

24 minutes ago, HDuck said:

At some point, if there are too many guys in the portal, or guys with questionable past performance stats, then a bunch of them lose leverage for any deal they hoped to achieve. Supply exceeds demand and the price drops. And, or, the scholarship disappears. The dream of sending money home to help mom becomes a disappointment for mom that you didn't keep your scholarship.

Well the supply and demand curves need to be split into two sets...

Because for top end talent the demand has NEVER been higher. We are seeing QBs going for 5 mil or something bonkers right now. So the price for the best talent is just going up and is at the highest its ever been. Partly because it's been proven that teams that can acquire the best transfers can potentially be instant CFP candidates... Texas Tech here.

Meanwhile... the other side of the talent pool is probably reaching the lowest cost its ever going to be because there is so much supply and the demand for it will be filled mostly by low tier teams that can only afford scholarships at best.

Definately a sign of how College Football is diverging into the haves and the feeder schools.

And I'd venture to say most won't find a new home.

15 hours ago, EastBayDuckDad said:

give Boettcher the rock and glue him to Pregnon's fanny on 4th and 1.

Though I think it would be fun to use Beottcher in that way I think keeping him as fresh as possible is going to be key for the defense.

2 hours ago, Charles Fischer said:

So Oregon has made 14 MILLION for the conference?!

Shouldn't we be treated a little better?

And how much as USC, Washington and UCLA made for the conference combined?

My guess... is no where near that number. I don't know the bowl game payouts but it isn't 14 million that's for sure.

14 minutes ago, Jon Joseph said:

I wasn't all that happy to learn that Big Ten refs would be reffing the Peach Bowl game. I hope it's not the same crew that called no penalties on Iowa in a war at the LOS game in Iowa City. Is this an all-star crew, or has this crew previously worked an Oregon game(s)?

It shouldn't be B1G refs the goal of non-conference affliated refs is to take the bias out of the the officiating. However, I would say in this scenario there is still potential bias because these are officiating crews who work in the conference and they probably have their preferences. The reality is that there should be centralized officiating and it should be organized all across the sport in that the NCAA (for lack of another entity) should manage the officiating and training and not the conferences.

With that said.... I know every conference grades out their officiating crews to determine which are the best and worse. I'd imagine here that only a crew that had the highest scores get this job appointment for the playoff.

1 hour ago, Solar said:

Hill has had all season to work on his blocking. He'd better be ready to pull his weight blocking the pass rush.

Hill has been asked to pass protection from what I remember watching. If he's not taking a hand off he's running a route.

Whittington has done some pass protection but frankly he's awful at it.

Harris has done some pass protection and maybe he's still with the team. Limar has done a decent job at pass protection early in the season before he was hurt but the report says he's out and probably due to him entering the portal... Which Harris has done as well so not sure what is going on there.

I read on another site that Brayden Platt (inside linebacker) has been taking some reps at runningback. Probably as a linebacker he isn't afraid of contact and can pass block... And he's big so for some basic runs between the tackles he can probably get the job done.... I hope!

Only Davison is a major loss at this point.

If Whittington runs like he did against Iowa and Minnesota I don't have as many concerns. But he needs to run mean.

This is the last Covid shirt year I believe... and apparently Indiana has a lot of the few players remaining in their 5th and 6th years.

Michigan and Washington both benefited greatly from the Covid shirt in 2023 as they had rosters heavily laden with 5th and 6th years as well.

I like these uniforms.... and if this is the uniform redemption tour so be it!

Few other thoughts I will add.

1. No one saw Oregon shutting out Texas Tech. NO ONE! Sure the offense struggled and maybe Texas Tech's offense was a bit over rated but was it shut out bad? That sounds insane but it happened.

2. Alabama is a good team, but there are lots of good teams. A good team is a team that wins more than half their games. Alabama is not a great team and probably not worthy of a playoff spot. They were one-dimensional where they had poor offensive line play and no run game to speak of. Their defense was ok. With Simpson going down in the first half they became no-dimensional. I think every other team in the round of 8 could have beaten Alabama.

1 minute ago, mikethehiker said:

I had the same flashback. I can’t think of a more worthless scheme, especially against a team with incredible lateral speed. The longer the play extends, the smaller the box gets.

I would love to see the play start that way but you put Dierre Hill in motion going the other way after the snap. Anyone in charge of covering him gets wrapped up in the chaos of the shift and then then QB turns around and throws a lateral pass backwards to him.

Loads of risk involved with that and could still backfire in if the reverse runner is covered but I hate limiting the play like that on a 4th down especially.

17 minutes ago, tee duke said:

Despite the many eyes on a play and the frequent review of videos. It's anyone's guess how game officials will call any contested pass play.

I believe the other thing at play here is that PI is a non reviewable call. That means it can't be reviewed if it happens to be overturned but it also means that if the play is reviewed it cannot be added.

If there isn't a flag at the end of the play there won't be one.

I don't think I'd like it if it was a reviewable call to be honest because it would slow down the game if they could call these after the play.

24 minutes ago, Steven A said:

Because it wasn't against Oregon . . Duh

THIS!

Some day we'll get the officiating benefit but not until we have won 5 titles.

I would also love to see more 13 personnel, 1 running back and 3 tight ends. Put the tight ends in line and motion them out and create mismatches and nightmares or keep them in line for some power running.

We did some of this this season and it makes the other team struggle. I don't think Indiana has enough players who can cover them AND line up against the run. And that's the point.