Portland, OR is fine... But we can tell there is a big winter storm because the gorge winds from the east are cold which means the continental weather systems are COLD.

But I'm happy to not be in the massive winter onslaught.

10 hours ago, 1Ducker1 said:

Looks like the B1G is going to have to do some promoting.

They need to change up their scheduling but that can't happen until the next contract.

Big noon is a cool time slot to fill a premier game but outside of that other major games get split between CBS and NBC. Which don't put college football on all day like ESPN/ABC.

Also Fox Sports 1 was supposed to give some competition to ESPN but it doesn't. Same thing with CBS sports. So those aren't helping the viewership cause.

Furthermore, some fans get real picky about commentators. I seriously reading other forums complain about the commentators is funny because they hate everyone for one dumb reason or another.

Then at the end of the day the South is just more heavily invested into football culture.

Another thought... Probably doesn't help that the football viewer base on the West coast is now pretty fragmented. I know we aren't a power house of viewers over here but with all this conference realignment I still find myself not caring about almost all other B1G match ups that don't concern the Ducks. Seriously I only watched a couple of other B1G games all year. In the Pac I would watch other teams play but I'm not connected to the B1G yet and I know I'm not alone.

3 hours ago, oregon123 said:

They didn't seem to pass protect as well as the 2024 guys, but I sure did like seeing Harkey throw some nasty blocks. That dude is an animal.

Two fold problems on the pass protection.

1. World and Harkey just got wrecked by speed in multiple games. Though they were pretty good run blockers.

2. Gabriel (and Nix) could just read a defense so fast and could get the ball out so fast that they could avoid the pass rush. Moore isn't that fast (yet) and when he is that fast it's usually a predetermined pass and less reading the defense. As a result this years line has had to protect a lot longer which will lead to more pressures.

There will be one addition. Transfer from Yale.

But I think development in the OL takes time and sometimes those timelines don't match up with need. However, keep in mind that Oregon have been finalists for the Joe Moore best O line award for the past three years. So they're still doing something right.

However I'd say this seasons line was a step down from the previous two. Harkey and World just weren't as refined at tackle.

1 hour ago, Charles Fischer said:

Another AI spoof...as it looks official, but there is On3 Sports, but no such thing as No3 Sports.

The Duck's eyes look a bit crazed in this ai picture. No way a Photoshop by Oregon itself makes the Duck look that demented.

2 hours ago, Jerseyduck13 said:

Portal has been open for weeks and we have yet to address LB. Am I crazy to be concerned or is it early enough to still fill that spot?

Sounds like the staff likes the guys they have.

I don't feel I understand how linebackers are supposed to work in Lanning's system but they seem to need to be able to do everything.

Which requires an athletic freak which is difficult to get.

I kinda feel they may need to rework what linebackers are supposed to do and maybe even simplify the role. But I say this feeling inadequate to really answer.

But I also feel most people don't exactly know what linebackers are supposed to do in Lanning's defense.

1 hour ago, anyotherduck said:

To quote Cignetti, "We play to win. Other teams play to 'not lose'"

This could not be a better explanation of ODB in recent years. Mario figured it out at Miami and damn near won with his Mari-go offense and Mari-no defense.

I'm highly skeptical of Lanning's coordinator hires. Where is the 'change' going to come from? I'm not seeing it.

I don't think there will be much change at all... I think there is a greater chance at refinement. But I do think there needs to be some change to get over that last hurtle.

1 hour ago, Washington Waddler said:

It may well be a talent Cignetti has that no one else does, but that shouldn’t stop us from studying and trying to incorporate what he does into our system.

The stars aligned for sure... He got lucky he didn't lose any critical players he didn't have a backup for. And it helps to have senior laidin team that isn't suspectable to transfer portal because they're out of eligibility.

That and his coordinators aren't going anywhere.

Oregon got burned back by the portal killing depth, bad timing on injuries, and coaches focus was divided. Too many things to go wrong... Not going to say we would have won if everything was perfect but all those together just broke the program.

58 minutes ago, The Kamikaze Kid said:

Doubling Penn States yardage but being tied 3-3 or tripling Iowa’s and being behind needs to be a thing of the past.

I think some of that comes with experience. Remember we had / have a quarterback who has started less than 20 games! He's grown but we all know how many open receivers he missed and just didn't even see. Get Moore seeing the field better and that will help finish some of those drives. Seeing the field requires two things.. good offensive line protection and experience.

Then on the runningback side of things we are returning TWO incredible runningbacks who were freshman! Seriously... Jordon Davison and Dierre Hill were amazing runningbacks this year and they were freshman. Just wait to see what they can do in year two when they have continued to grow into their bodies and have a deeper knowledge of the game.

Not having Davison and Whittington in that last game really did hurt our chances because if he carried the ball I think he would have sustained a few of those drives. Harris was just too big of a step down. I'm by no means saying we win if we have both... but I think the game looks very different.

Also Davison is a BEAST pass protector.

McClellan has been pretty clutch in coverage as well. Some incredible catches.

I kinda felt like he didn't get enough targets in the last two games in particular.

I feel like in the off-season Dante Moore is going to have to really work with his receivers to build some extra chemistry. It felt like he had good chemistry with Dakorian Moore in the early season but had to build some chemistry with Benson and McClellen in the second half of the season. There needs to be more trust between Moore and his receivers to take some educated risks.

Many of his picks came when he fixated on a particular receiver.

Another interesting piece I'm seeing these days is the Jordan Seaton transfer portal recruitment. The Ducks sound like they are in it, for whatever that's worth and the number going around for his services is 3mil-ish.

That's as much as our two newly promoted coordinators combined (more or less) for one player.

In the past I think Dan would have given this a pass but I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the NIL budget might have been given a bit of extra juice after the last loss.

32 minutes ago, JabbaNoBargain said:

After seeing Miami last night, pretty clear our pass rush was the biggest weakness this season imo. Mendoza with time = game over. Might have done it this year with more rush…I don’t know if it was scheme or an altered scheme reflecting personnel issues.

Hard to say.... Matayo was definitely not as good this year that last year in terms of the stat sheet.

The backend of our defense felt pretty good for the most part... But was picked apart when QBs had time.

On 1/16/2026 at 9:32 AM, SoutheastDuck said:

Apologies if this is covered in another thread.

Is there a systemic issue here with the Oregon D-Line? We've lost the vast majority of all backups, I realize the portal affects all teams and these guys want playing time, but I find it hard to believe Oregon isn't willing to try to retain them with NIL/etc, and is there a systemic issue here where they are all fed up with the starters coming back and then all collectively walked? isn't it 7 maybe 8 who have left? Seems extreme especially for those that are freshmen, showing promise and are still learning.

Thoughts?

In my article tomorrow I look a bit more broadly on the changes coming to the program.

But to make it short... The first string all stayed and the second string would have the same role they have this year next year. And there probably aren't the NIL resources to pay everyone and the starters just got a whole lot more expensive.

Probably the most expensive players in terms of NIL are 4th year starters because they could have gone to the draft but aren't and will need to be compensated for staying.

Definitely a depth piece.

Johnson is returning and will be a beast.

Olesh from PSU has lots of potential but will need to learn the system. Plenty of time for that for sure.

Kendre Harrison is massive at 6'7" but will need to put on some eight for sure as an incoming freshman.

With only three tight ends the room was going to be thin. But adding another will definitely create some depth.

I'm surprised that Vander Ploog and Roger Saleapaga both opted for the portal when Sadiq was moving on and Johnson was the only returning starter and Harrison was the incoming frosh. Lots of space for them to carve out roles for themselves with expirenced in the Lanning system.

17 hours ago, Dave23 said:

I'm going to miss Purchase a lot he brought a great change of pace on the outside of the line and could be a dominant player with a bigger role.

But was he already getting pushed out by Wyatt? Purchase redshirted last year and Wyatt haa entered the rotation as a change of pace edge rusher.

I would rather have Purchase on the roster but with both ends returning and Wyatt and maybe even Rushing pushing him from below how safe was his position on the two deep?

Crazy thing is that many players are being paid more than the coaches these days.

I saw the salleries of these two the other day and both are making less than 2mil. A lot of big name players are making double that or even triple that if some reports can be trusted.

I mean that freshman tight end at USC is supposed to be making 2 mil a year and he hasn't even played a down of college football yet.

58 minutes ago, HDuck said:

While it would have been great to have Oregon in the game, I was just thinking a couple days ago how my daily activities this week were significantly different than if I had been checking the Internet every 5-10 minutes for updates. laugh

I had students raking a test earlier this week... So I sat there checking any transfer portal news constantly.

But otherwise I am moving into off season mode. I won't watch any of the championship game. With a 3 and 1 year old at home the ONLY games I get to carve out watching time are Duck games.

I frankly don't care too much about who wins the national championship. I won't be happy with either winning but it is what it is.

It's kinda funny for me because I football season but I generally hate the begining of the school year because as a teacher it is pretty boring with a lot of paperwork and not that much fun because you don't know any of the kids yet.

So oddly enough right now my classes are more fun to teach but moving away from football season itself. I have other stuff to focus on at this point. I guess I'm ready for a bit of down time.

1 hour ago, Solar said:

Mehringer has way more to prove. Rutgers offense sucked when he was OC, but he was young and it was Rutgers.

Absolutely this... that stint as an OC was in 2016!!! That was 10 years ago. He's developed and changed as a coach or frankly he wouldn't be a Oregon.

I trust Lanning and I look forward to seeing some minor changes. I want to see more deep passing routes on offense for starters. Let lose some of these speed demons we have. Probably need some offensive line improvements as well but I think he'll get them.

1 hour ago, DrJacksPlaidPants said:

The teams in the losers bracket would then have to play each other in the most humiliating bowl games like the New Mexico Bowl, Idaho Potatoes Bowl or the Dirty Myrtle Bowl.

Or my favorite... the Clorox Bowl

Come on this needs to be a bowl game!!!

1 hour ago, The Kamikaze Kid said:

I'd prefer a sixteen team playoff with a sixteen team NIT playoff. Dan's format for home games and schedule that ends around New Year's Day. I'd also suggest that first round losers be eligible for bowl games if those still end up being a thing. I think an NIT tournament would be cool so the rest of the country could be included in the fun and not just be for the same ten teams every year with a few sacrificial lambs thrown in.

It could also be fun that if teams lose in the playoff they have a losers bracket! The losers of each round of the main playoff get seeded into the following rounds of the losers bracket.

That wouldn't happen at all but it could be amusing for sure.

8 hours ago, oregon123 said:

I don't know who or how many Indiana is losing.

Almost everyone.

The average age of their offense is something like 22.

Beyond that most of their starters are in their 4th, 5th or 6th years. They have like one sophomore starting and the rest are long time vets. They are losing pretty much their entire team.

And ... The playoff should end in early January not basically start.

And signing day should be late January or just revert back to the more traditional day in February.

December is madness right now.

Ok... I don't like it because of tradition... But tradition is dead.

I overall like it for this reason... If a player is in a place where they would like to hit the transfer portal because of the depth chart and want to preserve their red shirt in the process they could reasonably say to their team...

"Hey I want to hit the portal this off season and preserve my redshirt. I'm low on the depth chart but I still want to be committed to the team and stick it out the rest of the season and contribute whenever and wherever I can, and preserve this eligibility. Maybe even the playoff when redshirt doesn't count"

The player I think of most for this is Makhi Hughes. He didn't want to lose a year of eligibility sitting behind 3 to 4 backs at Oregon but just think he could have contributed late in the season when we lost depth.

More than anything it gives players incentive to buy in and not quit to preserve their redshirt.

Nine games mean they have to sit for three regular season games. That is easy to plan around.

Benson MIGHT have had an additional year as he was a JC athlete apparently. He would have had to petition for it and not guaranteed.

He was great this year and I wish him well.

Was he expecting to start this year?

I mean I doubt he was thinking that.

So why not stay a year and develop and see if you stand a good chance at starting the next season? You'll know where you stand by the time the portal opens up in a year.

It what it is... I won't get too worked up about it.