David Marsh

This basically happened for two weeks last year. In the week leading up to the Utah game Nix didn't practice at all. He mentally practiced but not physically. Then the week leading up to the Oregon state game Nix practiced a bit more but Thompson still got a bulk of the reps with the ones. My concern about Thompson isn't how he practices. It sounds like he practices well and is very coachable in practice. My concern is how that doesn't translate to a game. He has all the physical tools to make it big. He used those tools in high school where he was far more physically gifted than his competition. He doesn't have that buffer anymore so he must be more confident, know the system better and execute at a higher rate than he needed to in high school. He hasn't shown he can make that leap yet. He did look better in the spring game... But he needs to carry his practice into the game from what it sounds like.

I think if the conference gets paid well enough the fan base will swallow it for now. The problem is that those late night games don't bring in the same kind of eyeballs as earlier games because the east coast isn't staying awake for them. so the networks don't want to pay for them at full price but the bargain rate because they aren't primetime games. Pay each PAC member 50 mil and I'll live with a bunch of 7 pm start times... Just long enough until Oregon wins a national title and demands better game times. Also... Friday night games would be something interesting to offer as well.

And ESPN wants it on the cheap if they can. Streaming isn't quite there yet for numbers and ESPN knows this and I wouldn't be surprised if they are trying to leverage it to get the PAC on the cheap. Fox would probably like to see the PAC collapse so they can push Oregon and Washington to the B1G and they consolidate the west coast. Right now I can just see ESPN wanting PAC games for that late night spot but doesn't want to give them earlier time slots because they want those for their prizes conference, the SEC. I do feel the problem with the PAC right now is that the conference isn't seen as worthy of primetime, certynit east coast primetime, but we are good filler but filler doesn't cost big dollars.

They both should get plenty of opportunities against PSU. But whoever has more control of the offense should get more against Hawaii. I do think it's worth trying to preserve Novosad's redshirt if possible.

Well... It might push those LA teams to leave at some point if they have to play even more games on the east coast. Or the la teams beg for otherwise coast teams to join because they can't take the travel costs. Either way, I'd love to watch the groveling.

I'm sure he'll get some offers but I agree this is his dream job and maybe Oregon state is going to have to get him some more cash but I would be super shocked if he leaves.. And Oregon state will do all it can to keep him there.

ACC is a bad choice... Not just from a travel perspective but mostly because they are actually in a worse position than the PAC in terms of media payouts. So that would be a double downgrade for the Ducks in terms of less money and way more travel. The big-12 would be simply worse than the B1G all around. Lots more travel and less money. So even if numbers with the new PAC deal are comparable with the big-12 it would just mean increased travel costs so no real gain. So really besides the PAC the only real alternative is the B1G. But my favorite alternative is a PAC and ACC merger of sorts. Which seems bad and weird on paper but look at it this way. They wouldn't do a full mix of conference games. It would be broken into two regions and further more it could be cool to do some cross division games and also there could be a mini tournament for a coastal conference championship. The winner of the PAC vs the winner of the ACC. That would draw some eyeballs.

Shouldn't these athletes just wait a year and go after the B1G instead? They have much deeper pockets now. Also what happens if this case continues on after the conference realignment? I know legally all parties will continue but at that point the PAC might file a motion for dismissal as USC isn't in the conference. Granted if these attletes have graduated they may be looking for back wages or something of the like and that keeps the PAC still in the case. Just going to wait for realignment problems.

Gone but the damage is still done. It might be the doom if the conference as undoing that damage is pretty savere.

And we see the same thing happening in Colorado. Granted Colorado was real bad last year but they had some good players. It really does feel like new coaches, especially flashy ones, want to just scrap their whole roster at their new program say they suck and bring in their own guys. Lanning at least waited a year before the roster was cleaned out. Gave everyone a chance to compete and show off if they could make the new systems work for them.

I think this is a sign saying they are planning on getting those teams out of the PAC to one of the mega conferences at some point. They won't pay top dollar for them in the PAC but they would be more willing to poach them to a "better" conference. This is the consolidation of resources and the PAC is deemed not worthy. With a shattered PAC picking up late night programs on the cheap from the reminents becomes viable as they would have no bargaining power.

The market is absolutely chosing to pay for bloated contracts. But the major players have also determined that west coast football and other college sports must die to pay for it. ESPN a d Fox have both taken on making bigger conferences in the B1G and the SEC and to pay them some massive bucks. Either want to pay the PAC for anything more than late night programming and are happy to watch the PAC die to pay for their new mega conferences.

And I do appreciate that he didn't want to just clean house last year when he signed on but took the time to understand what he actually had on his roster. Not all the pieces fit but by working to preserve the team he built trust with the team and fans.

I would say it would make for some interesting interactions with his former team mates when Oregon trashes Colorado this season. But in truth it won't be awkward at all... His whole team is basically gone now under Sanders.

Here's to a new and improved duckndecense that will not let that passing attack deal as much damage as last year. Also.. Washington's defense couldn't stop the Oregon run game all that well and that's coming back for them.

I think the Big-12 jumped ahead for four reasons. 1. They had their crisis a year earlier with Texas and Oklahoma announcing their departure to the SEC. So they were already living in crisis management mode. 2. George K didn't become commissioner until the Texas and Oklahoma crisis was in full swing. The conference didn't try and pounce on the reminants of the big-12 for better or worse at the time. I think George had a ton of crazy Larry Scott stuff to unravel that we don't even know existed. There also didn't seem to be much of a desire from any PAC member schools to scavenge the big-12 either. 3. In a swing of desperation the big-12 added new members, they had some decent options due to their geography. 4. USC in particular lied to George K a out being satisfied in the PAC. Sure the moaned and groaned about their share not being what they wanted but from everything I've read they just wanted a better media deal, and unequal shares too, but when asked they gave no indication that they were planning on leaving. I feel right now the PAC has far more patience than the big-12. The big-12 doesn't have a second set of teams that have a major audience draw like the PAC. The PAC lost the LA schools, which hurts a lot but Oregon is a big national brand and Washington has Seattle. That is leaps and bounds ahead of what the big-12 was initially left with. I do feel that the new media contract has gone for too long and I do feel there have been many missed opportunities along the way. I also feel that the big-12 was eager to sign any new media deal they could go declare victory. I don't think the PAC feels that desperate. But I would love to hear SDSU is joining the PAC for starters.

I do feel the coaches, the Cristobal era, really did some star chasing at linebacker when they secured commitments from Sewell and Flowe. Neither Sewell or Flowe as players had the bodies or ability to do everything that was required of them. Flowe has some explosive speed and probably could pull off coverage but he never understood the playbook well enough and was constantly out of position. I think some of the coaching was probably fine but the biggest problem was that there was a failure in recruitment.

I would say the big thing that makes the defensive performance at the spring game encouraging us that it was dominant but we also all know this offense is deadly. We all know that Bucky is going to break loads of tackles next year and that Franklin is going to beat his man in coverage regularly. But seeing the defense crap some of that down is significant.

I am sure this is happening in more places too. Sports gambling is big business and the prospect of a payday is hard to resist.

What is really interesting is that Lanning really does feel like a coach who is in the Duck continuity that was established for years. Brooks, Bellotti, Kelly, Helfrich, Lanning... They all feel like they were brought into the program as part of the continuity of the program... As all but Brooks and Lanning were continuity hires. Taggart destroyed Oregon's continuity, rightly or unrightly so. Taggart came in and declared Oregon a disfunctuonal rebuild and fired all the coaches. Were there problems within the program? Absolutely. But it's funny to also think that some of the biggest stars of Taggart and Cristobal years were those players who were brought in by Helfrich and his staff. Troy Dye, Justin Herbert, a large portion of the 2017-2019 offensive line, CJ Verdell (yes, signed under Taggart but committed under Helfrich). Along with many many others that I'd need to look at rosters to compile.

Oregon posted some good numbers and we don't have a flashy headline making new coach. So let's see how the season goes and how next year's spring game goes. I think we beat Colorado next year.

I would say this is a pretty accurate assessment of the program and fan base right now. Silently surging. We will let USC take all the limelight right now so we can make it all come crashing down for them later.

One other observation is that I had about the dline v oline is I don't remember a whole lot of sacks. Sure lots of defensive pressure that forced some errant throws but I don't remember a lot of sacks. Last year I do remember a lot of sacks. Nix also has the ability to leave the pocket and extend the play which I think is by design and just out of instinct as well. It will be fun to watch that's for sure. I feel both sides have upgraded from last year.

In past years when Oregon had an open practice in Portland the Ducks drew larger crowds.

Hardest thing to gage with a spring game like this because they mixed the groups. We didn't see the first string or the second string, we saw linemen just playing with those they really don't practice with. Last year's spring game looked similar in terms of offensive line play... Actually worse I think, and we had a great line once the season got going. I'm not worried at all and from what I've read about practice, we're in for another good line from the sound of it.