David Marsh

Is Bucky more fun to watch or is it just this amazing offense? I don't really know ... But I do know this offense is super fun to watch and I love how Bucky runs!

The culture is taking hold in a lasting and meaningful way. Also... Holy crap, Franklin just blew up last game with some big time numbers. It was also really good to see Nix with that deep pass connect with a reciever and it go for a touchdown rather than the reciever sprawl out to make the catch at the 2 yard line. Extra fun against UCLA whose defense is set up to not allow plays like that at all.

I think there will be more Oregon fans at Cal next week than Cal fans. Certainly lounder. There is zero crowd noise at Cal tonight against Washington. Also most of the stands are empty. Cal, Stanford and UCLA don't put fans in stadiums. They are super quiet.

Bo needs some Heisman hype. He is playing good enough for it. Meanwhile... The media still loves Caleb Williams who is good but I'd say Nix is better. Oregon has the most offense in the conference and that is because of Nix.

And Washington is wearing their new "royal" uniforms!

Lanning is keeping this team engaged. If it was MC Oregon would have beaten zona on the road by maybe 10 points ... Oregon put them away with no issue and closed that door on zona. I'd be nervous if we still have MC... But not with Lanning.

I think both have an extra gear over Dye as well... If they are in the open field they kick it up another notch and are gone. Dye was and still is frequently caught from behind. He has good acceleration but not the home run gear. Verdell has better top end speed. But MC didn't get them to either of their full potential. Also... Bucky just sheds tacklers like a windbreaker to rain. But we all know it never rains in Autzen.

Getting more special. Kicking is an A Returns are a B ... No real major return game but not hurting us is good. Punting... Still not sure. Only one put today.

UCLA has a good offense. DTR and ZC are both good... ZC is an absolute beast! So Oregon holding them to their lowest scoring output all season is actually pretty good. It was definitely bend but don't break defense today. Should we be bummed about not forcing a punt... Absolutely... But let's take the win.

And the PAC doesn't exactly get much respect these days. But the only thing Oregon has control over right now is just winning their games. If it happens that would be great but if it doesn't that's just the way things are... I have a feeling it is going to be 2 SEC teams plus Ohio State right now. The fourth spot is a wild card... And I wouldn't be totally shocked if another SEC team sneaks in.

Lupoi and Prowledge are both co-DCs... I get the feeling everyone is still really learning how to work as a team on the side of the ball as a coaching staff. I'm sure Lanning is also torn in terms of how hands on he feels he needs to be for the defense. I would also like to say that I do believe the defensive side of the ball was pretty neglected under Cristobal after 2019. The last two years the defense hasn't been good enough. The only difference this year is that the defense really isn't being called upon to make a final stand at the end of the game to hold onto victory. The offense is putting up plenty of points to help the defense out.

I'm more concerned about the defensive side of things. The special teams haven't been hurting us but the defense couldn't get off the field against UCLA. Thankfully we had that brilliant onside kick by special teams to steal a possession to give us a solid lead.

Ole Miss went down today. The path to the playoff is appearing. Only one thing for the Ducks to keep on doing. Winning!

8 turnovers??? Is Maimi playing football or basketball? There isn't a team out there that is going to win a game with 8 turnovers.

Well... We saw something special today against UCLA. That onside kick was amazing. Brilliant call (especially since it worked) And brilliantly executed. That was something special.

Also... Put Nix in that Heisman conversation already!

This is MODERN physicality! Stress them with power, speed and most importantly stress them mentally!

Again... They'll give Cristobal two years to get Miami's house in order... Or so they think. He'll also make fans super happy and excited during the off season with recruiting wins and new coaching hires. We have all lived this... And bought into it to varying degrees. Now we get to watch Miami fans deal with it. Meanwhile... How about Lanning's Ducks?!?!?!

Steak a possession with an on-side kick and then hold them to 3 points... I can live with that.

Seeing a bunch of pass plays right now which are working... I just don't want Dilly to forget the run game. Don't forget to feed Irving!

One side kick??? I LOVE IT!!!

I think injuries are certainly a major factor here as well.

I can see why this rule re-interpretation was put in place. When the defense sees this, even as a fake, they crash down to stop a run play but then it leads to another pass which the defense cannot fully react to. But the rule change means it can still be a fake but a run play is still THE play... or at least a play behind the line of scrimmage. The way this play will probably get redrawn is that they do the fake fly sweep like that and then the quarterback throws a backwards pass to the edge. I guess this was really just a lazy trick play.

I think this is part of trying to correct the problems of special teams neglect under Cristobal. Sure Oregon had some good returns under Cristobal but they were inconsistent and only really occurred when the other team's coverage broke down. I feel this year the standard for the return game is really going to be don't hurt the team. Next year I do expect a whole lot more from the return game. At this point I feel there is a consistency element that keeps putting Hutson onto the field over others. McGee has been mentioned for some time as someone taking reps at practice for special teams but we really haven't seen him on the field. I suspect he isn't consistent in some element of the return game. Lorig has a reputation of being a pretty good special teams coach and I feel he needs time to get this part of the game in better shape for the Ducks. It was really neglected under Cristobal.

That's what I was saying about last year's mountain of injuries... I don't remember how bad 2019 and 2020 was in all honesty. It's not a full pattern yet but if 2023 brings an equally large pile of injuries to Miami we have a pattern. I do remember a lot of freak injuries along the way and those were usually pretty big last year... Verdell breaking his leg on a run for instance. But there we lots of smaller injuries that knocked players out for a week or two that felt all too frequent.