David Marsh

This is actually a very good thing to happen or potentially good anyways. A player sitting out spring ball because he is not getting paid enough to his liking is going to accelerate this whole NIL insanity... Now I know what some of you are thinking that that would be a bad thing... Well bad for the short run yes... But the lonn run is pulling NIL into line with something that is reasonable. Right now there is a whole lot of money flying around because it can... But once there is a large enough number of players who don't give a good return on investment the money flow is going to slow. A player refusing to literally play ball because of not enough money is going to drive some investers away. I feel someone is going to probably pay this kid but that will drive other investers away as they see this sort of behavior rewarded. NIL will get rules and be tempered at some point... But when that happens all comes down to just how crazy and insane it has to get first... So this is just accelerating the process so maybe we see some rule changes at some point sooner. Other thing to think about ... Scholarships are contracts... We may see some of those rules get tightened up first concerning opting out of practices.

With houses that big I always wonder what people actually do with all that space. I know there are rooms in my 2 bath 3 bedroom house that I rarely use.

And finding those Casey Mathews type players will become even more important as these are the players who will perform at a high level.

I don't feel the third question needs to be answered or even should be answered by the end of Spring. Ty Thompson or Bo Nix or Jay Butterfield... we need to see all of them get a nice chunk of snaps but who wins the starting position can wait until a couple weeks into Fall Camp as far as I'm concerned. Let them play, learn and improve and then let them show it all over again during fall camp. This isn't to say a starter shouldn't be chosen until the end of fall camp but the first week or two into fall camp still having a lively competition isn't a bad place to be.

More Oregon Duck hate... just let KT get on a team with a decent defensive coordinator and turn him loose. KT at Oregon did need a decent supporting class around him to be successful. In his freshman year when Oregon had a strong secondary which allowed the pass rush to get home KT was able to wreck games. But in both 2020 and 2021 when the secondary at Oregon gave a massive cushion the pass rush struggled to get to the quarterback on a regular basis because there was always an outlet. Defensive player evaluations are difficult to get a real sense of each player because if all 11 players are doing their jobs at a high level then every player looks better. If there is a weak link then even the strongest players struggle to make an impact. KT disappeared in the games against Utah this last year because the other defensive linemen on Oregon's roster couldn't get enough push to put regular pressure on the quarterback which meant Utah really could put more blockers on KT. Also Utah regularly used 3 TEs against Oregon that really negated the Oregon pass rush. Then add that with Oregon's leaky secondary and that gets you a scenario where KT disappears from the game. I'm really looking forward to Lanning's defense this year.

It's interesting that they have chosen to make the spring game the second to last practice of the spring game. It makes a lot of sense because they can review the film and then take the time in practice to really address some of the things that come up.

If this was Cristobal's staff it would be a more than valid question as to whether or not Oregon will show up and play up to their potential. Now, we haven't seen Lanning coach a game yet but I am hoping that he will have the Ducks ready to go and playing with energy. This whole coaching staff seems to have that level of energy that can be transmitted to players. Sometimes coaches need to bring the energy first. Additionally... playing at WSU in September or October is WAY better than Novemeber. So that is a help for Oregon.

With a Lanning defense and a talent gap, I feel Oregon can use those advantages to keep Washington State down.

I still find the Stanford loss wrong... I have never been quite so angry by an Oregon loss. At least not for quite a long time. I really can't wait to see Lanning and company shut Stanford down as Oregon will have a better roster and hopefully now coaches that can use that roster to their full abilities.

I'm pretty sure people can suffer from Carp-pull-tunnel from fishing too much. It's amazing how Herbert managed to dodge those injuries.

The team is just not geling and that really has to do with the players. The best teams in any sport are player led, not coach led. This Oregon team needs players to hold each other accountable and to build those bonds amongst themselves. At this point in the year that has either happened or it hasn't and there really isn't a whole lot that any coach can do about it at this stage. The culture will need to be reassurted by the coaches in the off season and players will need those build their bonds in the off season. Unless the players want it now and then we will see what they can do.

In the past I would have said that games ending in ties would not be satisfying... and I still kinda feel that way. But after sooooooo many Oregon games were delayed or shuffled to some backwater ESPN channel this last year so that the previous game can finish their multiple overtimes... Yeah.... I feel ties would be just fine. The biggest problem with a tie that I can see is that the "tie breaker" game between teams that tied a game for a conference championship with equal records don't have a real way to determine who should represent their division. But the brokenness of Conference Championships based on a divisional break down is also dumb and is another discussion.

Being able to appeal is a move in the right direction... But it doesn't solve the biggest problems with the targeting rule during the game. What about accidental helmet to helmet contact? What about offensive players lowering their heads and effectively initiating helmt to helmet with a defensive player who can't change their angle in time? Both of those could certainly be appealed and overturned... But outside of the immediate contact and concussion concern, which should be looking at ALL players involved in the contact ... It really just continues to punish defensive accidental contact. Better than nothing but won't solve the problems with the rule.

That's a pretty brutal injury that really derailed his entire season. I wish him luck at the NFL level.

It's interesting that Cristobal is still pursuing NW kids. Recruiting nationally for Oregon is a must and Oregon needs to go into Miami's backyard to pick up a kid or two there whenever they can... But it's kind of odd that Cristobal is trying to pull talent across the country the other way. Yes, Miami is still a national brand and yes there is probably an existing relationship because Cristobal and co have probably been recruiting Wayne for at least a year or two... So right now I suppose it's not too unexpected to see Maimi recruiting out west still and this is a high potential player, so much so that Bama is after him too... But it will be interesting to see how long we feel a constant Miami recruiting presence out here.

The pistol isn't a bad formation... but it is not an every down straight ahead no deviation formation. It needs to be utilized in a varied way that is not predictable. The use of the pistol here gives me hope of it being used correctly. Lots of teams use the pistol as apart of their overall scheme ... Cristobal wanted to use it like an I-Formation and it didn't work... but that was mostly because it wasn't being used correctly.

Well that's a big aspect of it... The other way to reach that number is to have a really bad defense. I just wanted to point out with the article how that actual 80 plays per game number has only been reached once at Oregon and according to the stats it came with a pretty good defensive year.

Ok... personally I find it somewhat funny that I went to Oregon for my under grad and then for my Masters in Teaching I went to Concordia.... which is now going to be an Oregon campus... I guess things come full circle in that regard.

I tuned into the Oregon-Ohio State game last year expecting a big loss... Oregon in the previous week lost KT and Flowe and Mathis... basically week 1 and three starter injuries.... not a good way to start. Then Oregon left Ohio State with a win... soooo I'm going to be cautiously optimistic here but I am not expecting a week 1 win for Lanning.

I don't find this all too surprising... I find that with so many things from the Kelly era it is that support staff that was the glue that enabled Kelly's Xs and Os genius to actually work. Sure there were some players close to Kelly but Kelly has never been a player's coach. Even UCLA players have complained Kelly is cold and distant.

A major element for many of those Oregon blur teams not reaching 80 plays per game was also due to the explosive plays. Arizona under Rich Rod would regularly run more plays than Oregon... but Oregon's offense was more efficient and more explosive. In the only stat that matters... Oregon had more wins. 80 plays per game doesn't mean those are efficient plays, just lots of plays run. Personally I'm fine if Oregon doesn't make it to the 80 play mark as long as we score more points and the offense snaps the ball before there are 5 seconds on the play clock on a regular basis.

There seems to be a consistent level of anti-Oregon bias in the NFL draft the past three years.... Herbert, Sewell and Thibodeaux all getting the same treatment that they aren't worth a top 10 pick. Well Herbert and Sewell have more than proven their worthiness of that top 10 pick status. Thibodeaux will probably prove it too in the NFL. But every year... we seem to go through the same song and dance that _____ Oregon player isn't worth an early draft pick. You know what... I'm ok with that... get these Oregon players on some better teams and let them shine from the get go and increase Oregon's NFL talent. I know there is some prestige in getting drafted in the top 3 but those teams can be dumpster fires and a bad place to start a career.

I think it is possible but perhaps a bit unlikely... Georgia has lost a lot of starters that made that team tick but they are going to reload fairly well. Oregon will put up a fight and I think if Oregon plays an inspired and clean game with a few lucky bounces the game could go either way. Though barring some help from lady luck I feel it is Georgia's game ... at least for now. As for Oregon going into Ohio State and beating them last year... I think there is a factor that Ohio State fans collectively realized but haven't actually said... Maybe Ryan Day isn't as good as all the media says he is? Yes, he can recruit well and with Meyer's players he got to the playoff and National Championship game... but he has some learning and a ways to go himself. Ohio State will get better but Day also has some learning curves before he can be considered a great coach. By no means am I calling Oregon's win at Ohio State a fluke... Oregon outplayed Ohio State that day but it also felt like Ohio State perhaps didn't live up to their own talent.

Keanon Lowe was a beast of a blocker... he just created lanes for runners by himself. I remember clearly seeing him block like 2-3 defenders all at once with one block, it was a thing of beauty.

Not getting sacked in passing situations would help a lot from an injury point of view. Simply put... if he is running the ball and gets to the second level he is getting tackled by linebackers or a secondary player. Ideally a safety or corner... but either linebacker or secondary are both smaller players than defensive linemen coming in at full steam. Or if he is running towards an edge he has the option to just step out of bounds and avoid a hit all together. I would argue that he sustained so many injuries because he wasn't put in a position to run the ball. At Tennessee a mixture of a bad offensive line and a scheme that forced him to play a style of football that isn't his natural fit resulted in a whole lot of unnecessary hits which led to injuries. Then injuries not healing or not healing properly just leads to more injuries.