David Marsh

Vegas doesn't set the spread to be accurate. Vegas sets it to best get people to part with their money. If I were a gambler I'd take Oregon to cover that spread because I believe Oregon should do it. On the flip side I have read a few Georgia posts on other sides that would take that bet in a heartbeat for Georgia. Vegas isn't inherently good at predicting winners. They are good at separating people from their money. That's how I really feel about this line. A great number to get people to place a bet because it seems like a sure thing on both sides. But only one side will cover so we'll just have to wait and see. Vegas will do just fine is all I know for certain.

I would be concerned about the tight end factor based off last season. The place that Oregon frequently was gutted was the underneath throws, usually prime tight end territory. Those would just eat yardage and in the case of Georgia set up the run in the red zone. Now I do think Oregon's defense is good enough to give some trouble. But they will need to be better this year and I think with this new staff they will be. I think for Oregon is going to need to play a flawless game and get a little lucky for things to go Oregon's way. The big x-factor here though is no one quite knows what Lanning is going to do and trying to study Oregon's roster for the past few years beyond potential talent isn't entirely useful. The scheme is going to be better on both sides of the ball. Oregon has a good amount of talent but due to poor coaching and development most of it has not reached its potential. What happens when it does?

I think Oregon was going after one tight end in this class regardless. I think they might go for a second tight end due to the passing of Webb.

Well it was about 2 thousand Greeks with only 300 Spartans. They did eventually win that battle. It was the battle of Salmis where Persia's navy was sunk by the Greeks and it was pretty embarrising and killed their invasion entirely. Beyond that... I was thinking that Washington can be Persia but only if we get to be the upstart Alexander the Great and we get to topple the purple giant... However... Alexander only lives to 30ish years old and then dies and then there is a series of massive Civil Wars. Can't we just be Rome? They lasted for a good while.

This feels like the Huskies are trying too hard. I have no real issue with the uniform look... It's all white with gold highlights... It's fine and is probably better than their normal flare because of the reduction of purple. But royalty? Really? Talk about arrogance... But I guess it's what we should expect from the team that has "Bow Down" as their slogan as well. I hope they don't lose to an FCS team in these uniforms... Oh wait... I DO hope they lose to an FCS team in these uniforms.

Vanilla defense during the spring game is pretty standard... not a ton of time for the install and all spring is about anyways is just making sure that everyone has the basics down and maybe a few extra things for some flare. I'm also sure that Lanning has dreamed up some schematic ideas that he never used at Georgia just for the time when he is the head coach somewhere. Georgia is a big week one opponent and quite possibly the biggest opponent they will face all year. So that is the game I fully expect Lanning to throw out some weird and wild stuff. Something that would give Oregon an advantage. Considering Oregon is going to need some added luck to stand a chance at beating Georgia something new and crazy is just what we need as well.

I think this is a good point as well. So much happens during practice and they have to evaluate plays from both sides of the ball that I don't think there is much that can be reported on by the head coach especially directly after a scrimmage. Sure he probably has a few highlights in his head and those are the things that are usually mentioned along with the overall tone of the day. But individual players and plays ... Not so much. It would be interesting to have some questions asking about the scrimmage a day or two after the scrimmage itself. But usually reporters just move on to the next story.

I found Cristobal to be much more open in the first couple of years at Oregon than the last two. I remember him more openly talking about injuries and that sort of thing. His last two years you couldn't get anything out of him and he was pure coach speak. Coaches can get away with not being open to the fan base when they are winning... which was why fans tolerated the Kelly era and Kelly not talking to the media at all and fans even tolerated it for the first 2-3 years of the Helfrich era because Oregon was still winning. But come 2016 and that disaster of a year fans and boosters wanted answers and not just coach speak. We'll see where Lanning falls in all of this. I think he has a personality that is much more open than previous head coaches and that gives him more likability, but that doesn't mean he'll answer questions.

I give a first year head coach a bye on the level of secrecy. As a first year head coach there is actually stuff that could be hidden and saved for the first few games. Same goes for Dillingham. Both Lanning and Dillingham have expirence as coordinators but both were heavily inflicted by their head coaches. So now that they have a chance to create something more in their own image why wouldn't they want to hide it from the world until game one against Georgia? After this off season it is silly to hide anything that will be on film from actual games. That is what I feel is the most annoying thing about coaches being overly secretive is when they are hiding stuff we already know about.

There were a few tidbits but for the most part these weren't interesting questions and the answers weren't that interesting either. On the QB side of things I wouldn't be surprised if they don't announce a starter publicly until the first official depth chart comes out. The emphasis on special teams and on end game scinarios was nice. I feel like end game clock management and end game strategy is going to be more solid than under MC.

I think either towards the end of this recruiting cyle or the start of the next Oregon is going to have to reevaluate their NIL budget for players... Well not directly Oregon but the big time doners. A lot of these losses have an NIL part in them, not all, but Oregon isn't spending on recruits as much as other programs. However, I think Oregon is also very happy to play the transfer portal and might be able to pick up some linemen on the "cheap" because they aren't locked into NIL contracts that require them to stay at their university if they want the payout. So we will just have to wait and see.

Looking forward to this practice report... So many of the practice reports are mildly interesting and you get a sense where the team is going or at least the tone of the team. But the jucy stuff comes from the scrimmages and who starts to emerge as contenders for starting jobs.

Glad we don't have MC because he would be pretty near the bottom. Especially with last year's showing. We failed to cover the spread against sooooo many teams last year. I believe we failed to cover the spread against Stoneybrook!

Now if this class can buy into what Altman is coaching, it could make for a very special team.

Getting enough big uglies is getting more difficult with NIL. These are players that have something that is completely unteachable... Size. Schools are going to pay for the top OL guys. It sounds like Iowa probably spent their entire NIL budget on landing 5-star Proctor.

So apparently Anthony Brown had a pretty good preseason game. Titans vs. Ravens - Game Summary - August 11, 2022 - ESPN WWW.ESPN.COM Get a summary of the Tennessee Titans vs. Baltimore Ravens football game Herbert was stunted for multiple reasons between scheme and not having a stable of receivers to throw to. But Brown had some good receivers available and the scheme, even with Moorhead, didn't do him any favors. But I this preseason NFL game Brown had some good plays and went 10-15 passing. And some of those passing plays were vertical throws. So Maimi... You all better look out. That prized quarterback you have on your roster now, and your 2023 5 star in Rashada who your boosters are paying 9 mil for, may not turn out to do much of anything. Though they may make the NFL despite Cristobal so who knows.

Flowe is going to cause problems for opposing teams by himself. However, think how much more effective he will be with Sewell next to him??? Then throw in DJ Johnson and Bradyn Swinson and Brandon Dorlus... And that is going to be a nightmare to scheme against. Especially when it's Lanning's defensive scheme that is deploying all that talent.

One of the reasons why conferences that can't play round robin schedules are annoying. Part of me wants to say if it's a two team tie breaker then you just need to put those two teams in the field as a sort of semi final championship game and just be done with it. Multi team tie breakers ... Well presumably at that point two of those teams already played each other and eliminate the loser.

I hope this is good and productive weight loss. By the sound of it it might be. I just remember Jordon Scott lost a ton of weight before the 2020 season to be more explosive and instead he became rather ineffective. Howey, that was with the old strength staff.

Ten years this year. 2012 was the year o became a die hard duck fan. Even though I already graduated from UO... Weird, I know.

Trash talk isn't always a problem going out... It's a problem when it comes back and the players don't know how to not engage in it. When they engage in trash talk by dealing it out they have less control staying out of if it later. Don't engage from the start and it's easier to stay out of it.

Stanford has wrecked many Oregon seasons... And Oregon has gotten some revenge as well. Stanford ruined Oregon's shot at the natty in 2012 and Oregon ruined Stanford's shot at the playoff in 2015. In the same vein Oregon and Utah have both wrecked each other's shot at the playoff as well. Oregon destroyed Utah's shot in 2019 and Utah destroyed Oregon's shot last year... Though Oregon was such a battered and broken team by the end of the season I don't think they could have completed.

Oregon is actually 1-1 with pink uniforms. In 2013, Oregon defeated WSU while wearing pink, most notably with the pink helmet. Then in 2014, Oregon lost to Arizona while wearing a uniform with pink highlights. This is the only regular season loss of 2014. I still think the pink is better than any of the grey uniforms if I'm being perfectly honest. The grey uniforms suck in every variation.

I have mixed feelings on this. On the one hand crowd sourced funding is completely normal today so why not have people directly fund their favorite athletes. However, this doesn't feel like a place where fans should shell out more cash towards our team when we already prop up the backbone of college football as it is so why should we feel the need to directly pay the players? Yes, I'm aware of the obvious that it is all about getting the best players by offering a competitive amount of money at the very least but it doesn't feel right when media deals worth billions (with a b) are being signed and yet we as fans still feel the need to directly pay the players. Also I only glanced at the site but is this money going to bind players to Oregon in some way with a contract that they'll have to stay with the school in order to get paid or is it just throwing money at players that could transfer if they think there are greener pastures elsewhere?

Negotiations are about to actually mean something. A few weeks ago I used the football analogy that we were all just sitting in a tie game and both sides were happy to punt. Well now it looks like someone is going to have to make a move and put forth some real effort. Early stages in negotiations always feel pointless because there is no pressure to get anything done. Well now the pressure is mounting and we get to see where it goes. Conference expansion talk will heat up but there will be something more real behind it now and the survival of the PAC is in play.