David Marsh

This I think would be interesting... I do think MC and Co. need to take a really deep dive into their game management and pre-game prep. As a classroom teacher I know some days I have to bring the energy for everyone to keep students engaged. Other days they bring enough themselves to help feed me. The Utah game neither the coaches or the players were bringing the energy or urgency to the game. This team has a really high floor... but the coaches need to find a way to get them off the floor and playing to their highest levels.

It doesn't... and it's not even close.

I would like to say that MC has gotten better as a head coach since taking over. Does he still have problems? Absolutely... but the product he is putting on the field is better than what he started with. Don't compare him with Saban because there is only one Saban and he is an absolute anomaly in the football world. In his first two years MC was really dependent on Herbert to make the whole team go and lets be blunt... Herbert didn't have much of a supporting cast around him. Sure we saw some nice games from Verdell and Dye and the offensive line was ok to good on average but Herbert really ignited that rebuilding process. The 2019 class is the bedrock of his team right now and to say it once again... in terms of games played.. they have played 2 full seasons and are only NOW into their third as a class because 2020 was a mess of a year. 2020 was a practice season for the Pac-12 and it had mixed results for Oregon. The 2020 class is starting to come into their own. Then this year has been so riddled with injuries that the majority of the 2021 class has been pressed into service and burned their red shirts. We tested our depth... we are out of depth now. That is the type of season it has really been. We made it this far into the season and survived wave after wave of minor and major injuries and now we don't have any more actual depth but freshman who would be otherwise red-shirted. Realistically... most teams play for conference championships and make the playoff with STRONG 3rd and 4th year classes with some youth sprinkled in as high flyers. Oregon this year is the opposite.. they are a super young team (50% of the team are still at Freshman eligibility and KT is a sophomore!) who have some 3rd and 4th year juniors and seniors sprinkled in... and I am going off FULL SEASON experience which includes a FULL OFF-SEASON. Is Cristobal the coach to bring us to the promised land? Maybe, maybe not... but you know we are stuck with him for better or worse for the foreseeable future. Just think what this team can do next year with this year's experience and we don't have as many injuries to deal with.

We got through one gauntlet of injuries only to face a whole new set this year. This year's team is horribly snake bitten. Also... we weren't going to win a National Championship with Brown leading this offense so lets not kid ourselves there either. Thompson has played in 3 games, so he has one more game left before he burns his redshirt. As fans we would have burned it ages ago but we don't make the calls and we are obsessed with the star-rating beside his name. I think the coaching staff learned a lesson last year with Shough. He was the starter going into last season, he didn't have a full spring or fall camp and he performed, ok actually, but Brown started taking over because Shough was struggling to stay calm and make the right reads. Pulling Shough and replacing him with Brown is probably the reason he transferred. If we had a full off season in 2020 and a full season maybe Shough would have been prepared enough to keep the job and would be our QB this year... he throws the ball better than Brown. So I think the coaching staff is cautious with Thompson right now, let him develop on his own time to make a real run next year. A Pac-12 Championship and a Rose Bowl are still in play this year which for a team composed of 50% Freshman is still a big deal. If Oregon wants to be Clemson of the West (well not this year's Clemson... but typical Clemson) then we have to own the west first and then go for the Playoff.

Just when we think we weathered the injury storm... It comes right on back to bite us.

Nice to see refs from other conferences mess up big time. Nebraska has been one of those teams this season where they just can't put a fill game together. Oregon has had a bit of that problem at times too.. bit Oregon comes out with a win.

Time for the next great Troy to emerge at Oregon? Troy Dye was pretty good... Now is it time we see Troy Franklin?

Right now I'm not feeling good about this part. But I am hoping for an Oregon stompfest.

Cristobal kinda did that... His initial contract wasn't that big but he and his assistants do have very highly incentivized contracts. For a lot of programs head coaches do have to choose to a degree how much they want to be paid and how much they have left over for the assistances. The super too programs don't really have this problem but the rest tend to. It also leads to the head coach getting poached for more money and a better job when they prove themselves.

Utah? More like P-Ute ... they aren't that good... Ok.. that was SUPER LAME (even for my standards)... but yeah you're right not much you can do with Utah and the Utes.

Cardwell looks really good the past couple of games. He has some incredible vision... dare I say better than Dye's? And Dye has better vision than Verdell. Carwell also looks like he may have that extra gear. I love Dye but the biggest problem with Dye is that he has great acceleration but his top speed isn't that high. So many of Dye's big runs end up with him being caught from behind before the end zone. Verdell has a bit of a higher top speed as his big runs can make the end zone, look at what he did to Utah in 2019 and what he did to Ohio State this year. Cardwell has had a good few 20+ yard touchdowns but I really want to see him rip off a run of 40+ for a touchdown. I want to see his top speed.

Key words.. Should have... We did win... if not for that final call of the game that even the announcers were questioning. That was a PI? If anything it was offensive PI not defensive.... again... that game is going to piss me off for the rest of the season.

And... don't forget Bridges who was supposed to play a big role that game because of his height... he was a second string CB but losing anyone in the rotation hurts and we lost him on the opening kick off for targeting.

I also do not recall Utah losing their OC the morning of an away game... just going to throw that out there too about Oregon's sole loss.

A downfield passing game is still possible... or more downfield anyways. But why go away from a run game that is working and seems unstoppable? Also... we wont see a truly robust passing game as long as Brown is Quarterback. He just isn't that kind of quarterback.

Harmon doesn't know the Ducks and the Oregon season to date. Which is fair, I haven't watched every Utah game. However... anyone who knows about the Oregon-Stanford game knows Oregon was without Moorhead, the final call of regulation was incredibly dubious from a reffing perspective and the Stanford team that Oregon played was VASTLY different than the team that Utah played. Stanford is down to their 4th string QB now, or close to it, and for a team that is light on scholarship players as it is they are deep in their reserves right now. Utah's rush defense isn't as good as it has been in the past. So can Utah bottle up an Oregon offense that is stopping teams that are rushing the entire front 7 and still finding success?

and... that wasn't the first dumb penalty he had this year. He had a penalty against Cal (or Arizona but pretty sure Cal) for blocking a defender in the back that resulted in the drive stalling out badly when the drive would have otherwise resulted in points. I am sure there have been some other penalties that have been costly this year from Pittman as I feel his name has come up a few times. Hutson had his bad unsportsmanlike penalty against Arizona and then turned around and has been all the better for learning that lesson.

Which creates a dilemma for the defense... to stop the run requires a LOT of personnel. WSU were sending a full seven to stop the run and it didn't work. So will Utah sell out to stop the run? If they do they may slow the run but as we saw against UCLA and Colorado, Brown can still pass the ball well enough to get it to play makers. Or... maybe Oregon just continues to run the ball with success. Utah doesn't have a stellar run defense this year... they will need some help to stop Oregon's run game but maybe that means they get beat on passing routes because the safeties are brought closer to the line of scrimmage.

Just as Duck fans we have come to associate those flashy numbers with being in the National conversation. Do we need a super flashy offense to win a National Championship? No... but it is certainly nice to have one.

I think the offense is really focused on just the run right now. I saw some replays of the past couple of games and saw some crossing routes where the receivers did beat their man... But the play became a run play instead. Brown doesn't have the vision or patience for a passing game. Which is why creating so many run plays is working.

The next level of both progression and watachability for the offense comes with a solid vertical passing game. I think Oregon has that next year with Thompson or Butterfield.

To the question of is the west really that bad? Yes and No... we have great high school talent it just isn't staying out west these days. Getting more of that talent to stay home is vital. Winning more non-conference games is really important to increase the Pac-12's look. Last year in 2020 the Pac-12 played by far the fewest games. We really didn't have a season last year and that has REALLY hurt the Pac-12 in the opening games this season. Some more than others. I think we will get a better idea as to how bad the conference is in bowl season. I am not terribly hopeful that we make a major improvement but I am hoping the Pac-12 wins half their bowl games...

Bigger isn't always better. Yes, you need size on the offensive line but you also need that size to be able to beat out their opposition. To date Utah hasn't been able to bully all their opposition even though they have one of the physically biggest lines in the Pac-12. Will Utah's linemen be fast enough to stop KT, or Sewell, or Swinson, or any of the other stars in the making? Will they be able to it for four quarters?

I did talk about how Cristobal was reshaping the conference in my article last week. Though I didn't go through all the turnover, but the more recent coaching turnover and the bigger question that every program looking to hire a new head coach has to answer... "can they beat Oregon on the recruiting trail and on the field?"

I know coaches are fined for talking bad about the refs. But announcers? Really?