David Marsh

That was a touchdown. Gonzo's heel didn't touch the ground and this he stayed in bounds.

Feels like the ducks were sleeping walking this second half.... Gonzo might have just ignited some life in Oregon.

+7 right now in the middle eight. We will have to see what the other 4 look like.

Middle eight minutes coming up here. Watch for what plays are called and the tempo.

So that he could be a tight end instead and catch a forward pass..

Entering phase 2 of the Lanning game plan... More tempo and aggressive offense that wants to score boat loads!

Still in Lanning phase 1 of the game... Getting the team comfortable and settled.

Another J-14 personal variation!!!!

A bunch of insiders have stated it repeatedly over the past couple of years. So being as that information is well over 24 hours old I figured it's fair game to share..

If he didn't actually slash it may have been ignored... Like he just held his had around his throat but not completing the motion. Not a good look either way.

And with the CFP expansion the way it is they have plenty of access to the playoff so that is not a concern for them either. I'm also sure that they get a bigger cut of the playoff proceeds than a team that is a full conference member. Now ... NDs biggest problem would seem to be winning football games.

I can see this potentially being the eventual future. I think USC and UCLA would love that to be the case.

I heard the same thing. Venables is older which is a major reason I feel he won that job. Also doesn't Venables have an Oklahoma connection? I'm fine with Oklahoma passing on Lanning and happy they did.

I'm not 100% sure that is true today... but I'd be surprised if it isn't still true. I remember that Kelly and Helfrich had what they were wearing on the sideline already selected for them for game day. They get some say in what they want to wear... Kelly wore a visor while Helfrich wore a baseball cap. But the look is put together for the coaches so they complement what the team is wearing. Lanning wore a similar black and pink look with the Ducks wearing black and pink. Lanning will be in green if the focal color that week is green.

I think Mullens and Knight are willing to match. Remember they offered something very close to what Miami offered Cristobal, or it was at least even with the original offer Miami gave because Knight apparently pulled the Oregon offer off the table when Cristobal refused to take it because Knight wasn't going to be used a leverage for Cristobal to get more from Miami. I do feel Cristobal would have signed that massive new contract extension if it was anyone BUT Miami that came knocking. Thankfully for all of us it was Miami because I think we would be looking at a 3-4 loss season right now. Oregon has the money to pay a coach who is worth it but that price tag does come with a level of loyalty to the program as well. I don't think Mullens and Knight want to get into a bidding war to hold onto a coach.

They usually have the entire season's worth of uniforms all planned out ahead of time, before the season even begins. Often they have what the coaches are going to wear planned out as well. There might be some student input on the early end but at this point everything is already planned and barring anything like a massive heatwave like we saw for the Eastern Washington game, where Oregon flipped the uniform combination with the BYU game to accommodate heat, nothing is going to change from the original plan.

Oregon is going to give Lanning a raise and probably a new contract extension after this year. If recruiting holds the way it currently is, we will have a solid recruiting class, and his on-field results are excellent so far. Barring some crazy end of season disaster, Lanning is getting paid. Also remember... Cristobal was on everyone's list for any open SEC job when he was at Oregon as well. Hell, Cristobal was even on a lot of pundit's lists to go to USC! On the National level we are still treated as a stepping stone job and for the most part we have been so its not a surprise are still being treated that way. I do think Mullens and Knight feel like they have their guy and they are going to give him the pay to stay. They will probably be giving Dillingham a pay raise too by the end of the season. Keep in mind that Lanning's contract is pretty "cheap" right now not because of his current results but because he is a first year head coach. We got him on the "cheap" because we are giving Lanning the opportunity to be a head coach and build his program. As Lanning continues to prove himself his price tag will go up and I think all the major players are currently satisfied with what they have and are willing to pay.

I'll be honest this uniform combination is not working for me. Nightmare green and egg shell uniforms aren't my favorite to begin with but I'm ok with them as stand alones. But mixing and matching the two... Kinda looks like someone jumped in a pile of ducks uniforms and that's what they came out as ... It just doesn't feel cohesive. Switch out the egg shell top for just white and I'm onboard.

Zaga is basketball which is a revenue maker... But football is where the big bucks are located. I can't help but feel on this one that this move would benefit Gonzaga more than the big-12. Sure it helps big-12 basketball but does nothing to move the foot all needle. Also is Gonzaga going to make enough money here to actually make conference realignment profitable? That's a lot of distance traveling. Gonzaga as a private school does mean that the media market is more defuse but it is still not that big of a market. I think there is a reason that Gonzaga hasn't really made too many PAC conference realignment lists... But we will have to wait and see... It is interesting.

You have it right I'm pretty sure. Lanning is really following more of a philosophy for the middle of the game than adhering strictly to the middle eight minutes. If you go just one more minute earlier in the second quarter against cal Oregon scored another touchdown... That would be around 5 minutes left in the half. Technically it is outside of the middle right so it's not recorded as a part of the stat but it does show just how aggressive this philosophy is in the game and how it could exhaust opposing teams.

Though they cannot entirely control who has the ball and when in these middle minutes what they do have control over is their mentality and making in-game decisions around that mentality. Basically... its phase 2 - the aggressive phase of the game. What is Oregon going to do? Be aggressive and try to score as many points as possible before the half. Not getting the ball after the half? That still means play aggressive and maybe call a few different pressure packages to force getting the ball back. Lanning doesn't have a guarantee of getting the ball after half time but he does have control over how he wants his team to go after the ball.

Tune into FishDuck tomorrow for a whole article about this...

Donte Thorton takes Hutson's place at that point. We have depth and I'm not that worried. But it isn't a good look. I think it looks even worse this year than last year when Pittman left the team when he did because at least Pittman could enter the transfer portal. McGee is leaving just to sit out and wait at this point. He could be working hard to get himself in the rotation and then choose to leave once the window opened. It's just modern college football.

I would agree with this... I am hoping that the CFP Comittee has more forgiveness in them than the national media that can't seem to forget that the embarrassing Georgia loss came from a team with a first year head coach in his first game with a brand new staff against a Georgia program that had some coaching turnover but nothing compared to what Oregon underwent.

And an Oregon coach is NOT on the list! I'm actually very happy with that.