David Marsh

I had to look up where Stonybrook is last year. And Oregon was just shy of covering the spread on that one. I fully anticipate Miami to win by multiple scores. But Cristobal will burn a whole lot of clock and leave points on the field and as a result will fail to cover a spead that big. If it was a number more like Miami -28 I'd take it. 45 feels like the total amount of points Cristobal will want Miami to score. So if Miami shuts them out I guess it'd be good... But I saw that Miami defense in their spring game. It's still squishy underneath. Miami will give up a few points.

I'd take Miami to not cover that spread. Cristobal failed to cover the spread way too often last year.

Or in most cases really... the subscription mindless drivel... or just a less inclusive atmosphere.

For now anyways... I am sure there will come a time where the bigger powers at be will want to change things. I'm not saying it happens this year or next year but there will come a time when there is a push for unequal revenue sharing.

I feel Cristobal really just wanted bigger players from the strength and conditioning program and not really faster and stronger players. Oregon during the Kelly-Helfrich years had issues getting out muscled but they always had the speed. In the Cristobal era they had the muscle but couldn't always seem to leverage it to their advantage as they could be beat with speed. Or often just be too predictable and counted because the opposing team just knew what to do to beat them.

I wouldn't be surprised if Dillingham wants to take a shot down field right out the gate to test the Georgia defense. A deep shot is a test on the pass rush and on the secondary. It's risky but if it works that is one hell of an opening statement.

All green is good. I read on one of the other forums out there that Georgia might be wearing their red uniforms. This would be awful for those who are red-green color blind. However, for the rest of us it would be fun to see that much color on the field. I kinda doubt we see Georgia in red because of the colorblind issue, I don't know if any players on either team are color blind but if they are that would be a big problem for them.

The first attempt at putting some rules and regulations on transfers. I do believe players as student athletes should have the ability to transfer once. Many regular students have that right. However, as student athletes also get all the scholarship and sports related perks and are apart of a giant sports apparatus that gives them value, NIL value at that, there need to be some rules around this wild and crazy free agency.

Here we go... Looks like we might start seeing a push by Ohio State for some unequal media rights sharing. The Great College Football Schism is Coming FISHDUCK.COM The great college football schism is coming, and it will fracture college football in a way that will shake the...

Frost wasn't playing to win... that was reckless. Sometimes playing to win requires playing it safe and playing to not lose. That is why every team works on running a 4 minute offense. Playing to not-lose isn't inherently a bad thing because sometimes it is the very thing you need to do to finish a game. But the playing to not-lose philosophy shouldn't be used until the VERY END of the game. Frost just took a meaningless risk.

2012... Our kicker missed the field goals needed to secure the win. Also DAT missed a block for Mariota that would have been a touchdown. Also... It was another instance where Stanford got a little help from the refs as their call for a Stanford touchdown to tie the game was dubious at best as it looked like the Stanford recievers was out of bounds when he had control of the football.

Other note... Cristobal would frequently go for it on 4th and short. But that didn't feel like it was part of the play-to-win philosophy because it was more about the "must be more physical" philosophy that surrounded the Cristobal era. I feel Cristobal always wanted the other team to cave to Oregon's run game, and in fairness with a winning record they did. But teams also caved to Oregon's run game under Kelly and Helfrich because of tempo and putting so many points on the board it caused the other team a whole lot of stress. The opposing defenses knew that they had to stop the Oregon run game or else the offense would be in a bigger hole, one mistake and that runner could be gone for a touchdown. If I may throw a little shade at Travis Dye, he never had the break away speed to score those long touchdown runs. He would find himself in the open field and running free and be caught just shy of the end zone. If that was a runningback from the Kelly-Helfrich eras that runner would be in the end zone for a score. I do feel there was something going on with the strength and conditioning program that was not helping Oregon's overall player speed.

I've never counted. But I think that is always a call about feel. I watched quite a few games from that era over the summer and I found it all came down to how he got into the red zone. If they got into the red zone fast with big chunk plays then going for it on fourth seemed inevitable. If they had to fight to get down the field and they got to fourth and goal then it felt like taking the three and getting something was the choice. But you always got the feeling the Kelly-Helfrich eras that the Ducks wanted to walk away with points and not leave them on the field.

For the next couple of years I think USC (and to a slightly lesser extent UCLA) take the top spots for most hated in the Pac-12. Washington is still hated by Ducks fans but I know personally I have some special hatred for those LA schools right now. Right now it feels like Oregon and Washington are in a situation where we have to team up to survive, we don't like it but we know we have to stick together so for the time being we'll hold our noses and do it. While USC and their B1G move and Pac-12 backstab have us all actively rooting against them no matter who they pay. I know this year when it comes to USC, I will not back the pack. I want to see USC lose as badly as possible. I want them to to feel like they can't compete in the Pac-12 and as they look over the edge and reflect on their decision of leaving for the B1G, I want them to think about how much worse things are going to get for them with all those hours of travel just to play half their conference games. I want USC so suffer the next two years they are stuck in the Pac-12. As for Washington... I want them to beat the LA schools but lose every other game they play. Those are the only circumstances I will root for Washington these upcoming years. Once the LA schools are gone then I'll go back to rooting against Washington for all twelve games. So for me personally, Washington gets a slight respite from my hate, for only one week this year.

USC fans are absolutely the worst right now. They are relishing how they have "defeated" Oregon by running off to the B1G and stabbing the rest of the conference in the back. They really seem too happy about it.

It's more interesting in terms of how the program is being managed and the personalities involved. Dillingham is in the booth as he is most likely the play caller anyways for the offense. If speed is desired we really got the sense that the play caller typically needs to be in the booth. Moorhead was on the sideline the last two years, until his medical emergency put him in the booth. But speed wasn't ever a meaningful part of the Cristobal offense. Then on the defensive side having Prowledge in the booth is not that surprising at all. Tosh really feels like a sideline motivator type of guy. I am sure with the Lanning defense the desire is getting the information in to him quickly with he play call and he has the ability to change it if he wants to. I'm sure Lanning could do that with the offense to as he is the head coach. But it's interesting in just getting a feel for how the Oregon command structure is going to run.

Cristobal has lots of flaws and he's gone. I figure most of this is directed at Cristobal and not Oregon as an institution. Cristobal builds great relationships but his culture was certainly wearing thin with last season.

A QB who can pass the ball and a scheme that allows for some easy throws that go for some decent chunk yardage would make all the difference. Oregon was super one dimensional last year. If we were running the ball we were throwing a short route. Utah had the blue print. Sell out to stop the run and challenge Oregon to throw it. It worked. I think Klemm is going to have our offensive line more specialized and our run game is going to have some more diverse ways of getting players into space. MC didn't want his runners in space, he wanted them to pound up the middle and win the game through physicality alone. Then we are going to have a QB who is going to stretch the field. Beyond that we should be seeing more of Oregon's tightends who can come across the middle and make those shorter catches. All of that will freeze the linebackers a bit so they can't just mindlessly crash down on Oregon's offensive line. All of that opens up the run game as well. We cannot assume that this Oregon team is the same as last year's and will suffer the same fates. The scheme sare different if when the personnel is the same. Beyond that the coaching is different as well. And that will play a huge part as well.

Nebraska is a has been blue blood. What made them great was when they could bully their conference and recruiting was far more local and your past meant more than your present team. Nebraska is not cool anymore and they can't bully their conference. They have never been a big power in the B1G and they have thought about leaving a couple times... Or at least their media has... The paycheck is just too good. It took Michigan years to get back to being relevant and they have only had one season at being relevant. Nebraska is trying to get there but they are going to need to recruit better because those B1G teams are bullying them and not the other way around.. After all... If you have a choice between Nebraska and Ohio State right now.. where are you going? Or Nebraska and almost anywhere else.

I feel Irving is built more of the thumper and Cardwell is a bit shiftier. Cardwell has some great vision and I can't wait to see what he can do with a scheme that enables runningbacks to actually make cuts.

I think Irving will probably be the No. 1 RB this season. I think we might see a tandum of Irving and Cardwell. It may be the start of the next James-Barner like tandum for Oregon. It's been a while since we had something that potent. Verdell and Dye actually had some pretty good numbers. But with offense they played in took a lot of the excitement out of their play. Oregon has options for several change of pace backs but I think we may see the Irving-Cardwell (or Cardwell-Irving) duo a lot.

I mean the easy pick would be a QB. Second easy pick would be a runningback. So I'll go with Chase Cota. He is going to be Jeff Mael like and just make the plays that need to happen.

Injuries were a factor. Then add the Verdell and Dye combo that just monopolized the run rotation. Cardwell only saw the field because Verdell went down with an injury. Cristobal's coaching style and approach resulted in a whole lot of close games which means the starters stay on the field the entire game. Backups don't get a chance to see the field.

From what I've seen from Georgia pages and just national punditry there really is a weird perception of what Oregon currently is. This is how I've interpreted how Oregon is currently viewed and half of it doesn't make much sense anymore. 1. Oregon doesn't have the talent needed to compete in the trenches. This stems more from the Kelly-Helfrich days where Oregon had much smaller linemen. We don't anymore. We have some much larger and higher rated linemen now. They went into Ohio State house and out muscled Ohio State. This isn't true anymore. 2. Oregon doesn't recruit well enough. This is sorta the same as the first point but more something across the board. Just the idea we don't even have the talent to be in the same league as many of these teams. Not true anymore. Cristobal did stock the cupboard for us and Lanning and co are doing a pretty good job with recruiting so far though it is an on going process. 3. Oregon can recruit but not develop talent. This one is weird because it assumes the previous two points aren't a thing. While I'd say this was somewhat true under Cristobal, though the Cristobal era did come with 3 consecutive years with top 10 NFL draft picks, we don't have the same coaching staff anymore. This is just a continued assumption. 4. Oregon's offense and defensive coaching won't be able to put scheme opponents. Again... Maybe under MC but different staff now. This is just another assumption that doesn't take into account coaching chances. 5. Oregon is hurting from the loss of Cristobal and is rebuilding. This feels funny when I see anyone mention this and it usually stems from the idea that Oregon has hired a first time head coach and since MC is getting paid big money at Miami now he must be a huge big time coach, which in many ways he is. It will be very difficult for Lanning to be a worse game day coach than Cristobal. Oregon has the talent needed to compete. Now does this mean there won't be bumps in the road? Of course not and I don't expect Oregon to beat Georgia, I do however, expect Oregon to compete. No one really knows anything about this Oregon program and what it can do on a national level. I don't think we entirely know as fans just yet. But we will find out soon.

Frost has to figure out how to finish a game. Namely play strong in the 4th quarter. As for Frost's comments about recruiting to Oregon... Scott Frost Was Absolutely Right About Recruiting to Oregon FISHDUCK.COM Oregon is hot on the recruiting trail right now. Just last week, Oregon landed 2022 recruit Andre Dollar... NIL was not a factor when I wrote the article. Though I think it can be applied as an Oregon disadvantage right now as Oregon's NIL dollars are mostly going to roster preservation rather than new recruits. Additionally, Oregon just recruited differently back when Frost was on staff. The older staff didn't adapt to the newer recruiting environment, again pre-NIL. However, they still managed to get results that were completely within the Oregon norm going back into the Belotti years. A Defense of Helfrich's Recruiting Legacy FISHDUCK.COM Mark Helfrich is generally considered the worst recruiter in modern Oregon football history. He is a coach who... Personally, I don't root against Frost. I feel many fans still dislike him for a couple reasons. 1. He abandoned Oregon, right before a bowl game, and our fan base has shown over the years we don't take coaches leaving Oregon lightly. I mean fans still have complete fits over Taggart leaving and his leaving was actually a blessing but fans still get bent out of shape by it. 2. He said it was difficult to recruit to Oregon. It still is difficult to recruit to Oregon. There are a lot of factors working against coaches but they work hard and out work their competition. This is leaving aside the NIL stuff as well. It's not easy to get a southern California kid to chose Oregon over SC when they can visit SC whenever they want for an unofficial visit because they just need to get in the car and drive. Where visiting Oregon is a plane trip which costs a whole lot more. And recruits only get one official visit. So Oregon's coaches have to work. It can be done, we've seen it. But it is certainly not easy. We have become accustomed to seeing lots of four and five stars come to Oregon lately and have just assumed it's easy. It's not but it can be done.