David Marsh

You can build an offensive line to compete in the Big 12 from the portal. Colorado is showing how that is possible this year. But when Colorado played a B1G team in Nebraska they were annaliated. USC has major problems and they stem from recruiting. And the recruiting problems they have are on the line of scrimmage and they really can't fill those gaps through the portal. They can Plug some of them... If they can beat Oregon out for some of those transfers.. I don't know who USC would replace Riley with at this point. Carroll for a year or two but I don't think that experiment will work.

We have only had 2 games all year where we scored more than 3 points in the 3rd quarter. Oregon State and Boise State. It's bad in the third quarter offensively. In the fourth the Ducks are quite respectable. But I've been critical that the Ducks haven't broken 40 more than once this year and it has been a cause for concern. But the reality is that Oregon breaks fourty in almost every game if we score a touchdown in the third quarter. I hope Lanning fixes this soon because the Ducks are leaving the door open for some teams to stage a comeback. Thankfully our defense doesn't let that happen.

And he was going against probably some of the best defensive line talent in the country. Michigan's defense is good and defensive line is one of the best. I think Rodgers has Maryland to get some good reps in. I saw somewhere that medical redshirts can only be given if the player doesn't finish the season. I think Bedford has already used his redshirt before coming to Oregon. If that's the case and he's healthy enough to play then the staff has a hard decision to make for him. All I know is we have a week with a home game against an opponent that doesn't have an elite defensive line to figure some things out. I will say this... Sure Rodgers got beat a few times but the offensive line on the whole looked far better than it did against Idaho and Boise State. They still ran the ball effectively enough on that last drive to score a touchdown and burn out the clock.

Indiana kinda scares me... But I have to remind myself they haven't played a rank team yet. But they do frequently score 40-50 points in a game. I do wish the Ducks would break 40..

Michigan has been ultra one dimensional this year. They have rotated through three quarterbacks and may have finally figured out their QB rotation. They have an incredible tightened room, in particular Loveland is nasty to go against. I think Oregon hit them at the right time. Michigan won't make the playoff this year but they could still ruin some other teams. They have a solid offensive line and run game and their defense is good. It seems like they might be getting just enough quarterback play now to round out their team. If their QB play can continue to develop then I think they give Indiana a scare at least and may even challenge Ohio State. Glad our Ducks got our win over them now and not in a week or two.

I was with you... But then they cut to a shot of Lincoln Riley and I immediately wanted him to lose.

It feels like they just come out a bit flat and want to start running the ball and burning the clock too early. Keep the foot on the gas and get another couple of touchdowns and then brun the clock some more. At the end of the day we are 9-0.

Nice thing is that even if that Stewart touchdown didn't count and say we take a field goal. We'd still cover the spread. I'm getting really annoyed with our third quarter play though.

Herbert broke his collarbome and was out for six weeks. The thing is with the playoff is that those games don't start until the end of December. He could be back for the playoff.

Lolololol we got away with the B1G refs being bad. I love it.

Oh snap! Indiana is trailing for the first time this year! 0-3 MSU

Well... I think we're Indiana fans now that Penn State is basically out of the CCG race.

Hey now... That's the B1G meta game! Big, slow and unimaginative.

In truth is be surprised to see Ferguson. I think if we see Burch he's on a snap count. Lots of games left, assuming we make the playoffs. Need healthy players down the stretch.

Kinda. It makes things simpler if Ohio State beats Penn State right now as Oregon hoods the tie breaker over Ohio State. Indiana does play Ohio State in a few weeks. But if Oregon, Penn State and Indiana are all undefeated then the tie breaker goes to who beat Ohio State by more and our 1 point win probably would be the lowest. Which leaves us out of the CCG.

Did Oregon break Ohio State? I mean they haven't looked the same since.

Gang Green is the standard of the best Oregon defense. However whatever stats you can compare come with a little problem. Football has changed a ton in the last 30 years. Offenses, even B1G offense, are more prolific than they were in the 90's. So yes... This is the best defense.

Thank you for your kind words. And playing off meta is how Oregon burst into the scene in a big way. A credit to the Brooks era to stabilizing Oregon and to Belloti for elevating Oregon and bringing in a certain offensive coordinator. But it was Kelly and Helfrich (yes Helfrich) playing off meta with the spread offense and up tempo. We couldn't recruit the linemen needed and instead they countered with raw speed and space. And it worked, big time! It worked so well that many elements of Oregon's offense became the META for football. Saban's Alabama and Dabo's Clemson national championship teams BOTH used elements of Oregon's offense. Kelly caught lightening in a bottle with the right offense, the right staff and the right players. Helfrich couldn't fully adapt to the changes in football when everyone caught up and the Ducks style of football wasn't so special anymore. There is much more in what went wrong for Helfrich but not going into that here. Lanning was a part of a shifting meta in the game away from high powered offense and back to smothering defense at Georgia. Now he's really brought in a high powered offense and now we are seeing that defense at Oregon. Lanning is changing the meta of the game right before our eyes! Enjoy it everyone.

And at this rate he might in the running for rookie for the year. Just think.... Two vastly underrated Ducks in the NFL draftt might pull that off. Herbert won it in his rookie season. I'm pulling for Nix to get it this year.

Well... I do think there are some B1G regrets! Are There Some B1G Regrets? | FishDuck FISHDUCK.COM We are at the halfway point of the 2024 season and this new era of college football. The B1G added four... The answer in the media is at least... Yes.

A big thing to look out for now is that with only 4 games left on the schedule is how many freshman are going to suddenly rotate into the game in some way shape or form. They get to keep their redshirts at this point AND they get experience for playoff play. Riggs looks like he is poised for some big yards in his one appearance so far. Do we see more of him in the next few weeks and does he make it into the runningbacks rotation at this point in the season to give James some more rest? We'll have to wait and see.

Caleb Williams hid a lot of the Trojan's offensive line problems. If he had a good defense they would have made the playoff one of those years. Miller Moss isn't a bad quarterback, but he isn't Williams. He can't hide the problems of USC's offensive line and they don't seem to have the world beaters at receiver this year either. The USC run game this year actually looks better than it has for the past couple of years. But this USC team is frankly built for the Big 12. They would probably be No. 2 or 3 in the Pac-12 this year in truth. They might get edged out by Colorado only because I think Sanders is a better QB than Moss and that game would be a shootout.

But there is a mindset that is stuck in that style of play. Washington State saw they weren't winning any games so they went out and hired Mike Leach and his air raid offense. Sure he had runningbacks on his roster but they got just enough carries to be dangerous but more often they were just another pass catcher. Washington State under Leach weren't always good but they certainly had some good seasons and they were always interesting. They were also always good for stealing a game or two away from a top team in any given year. How do you stop that kind of air raid offense? It's certainly possible and if given enough time to prepare very doable. Leach lost a lot of bowl games and some of them badly because his opposition could take weeks to prepare. Washington State also never won any conference championships or went to any major bowl games under Leach. In the end if given time any good team was going to beat him. However, if you're a team struggling to get top recruits and you just want to be good and bowl eligible most years then adopting the air raid or other off-meta offense can certainly do that. Teams lost to Washington State because they couldn't adequately prepare in a week, and even if they did they were often in some dog fights of games. The B1G meta (excluding the newbies) just doesn't have really any of these strange teams outside of Ohio State.

In truth I'm feeling a bit more nervous about this game than any of the others, outside BSU and Ohio State. Michigan is in wounded animal mode and are desperate for a good win. They are also starting to figure things out a bit. They are like Illinois but without a quarterback. But if they start getting that QB picture together they are a much better version of Illinois.

The reality is that it isn't really about player safety but safety theater. There are some hits that are dangerous but aren't targeting. There are some targeting hits that are so minor and incidental that they should be a foul. The problem is always about the written rules and trying not to leave too much up to refs making a call on the field. They have to make enough of those as it is and they're not hitting them at a perfect rate already. If we want to take player safety seriously when a big hit happens with helmet to helmet contact both players need to be removed from the field and be checked out by a third party. Intent is something that should be evaluated. Lowering the helmet and launching is obviously bad form and should be targeting. A defender trying to get low to make a tackle on a shorter runner who makes a quick movement and there so happens to be helmet to helmet contact shouldn't be a foul. Though if the hit is hard enough the players should be looked at. Helmet sensors should be a part of every teams equipment to measure impacts. A third party should be in charge of watch those sensors and pulling players off the field if they trigger. I'm not saying a coach doesn't care about his players or the medical personnel don't care, they absolutely do, but you don't want there to be any questions about why a player wasn't pulled to be looked at. Football is a dangerous game and there is no way to take he danger out of it. But there are ways to insert safety into the game. Agree or not these are the sort of real steps needed to actually address safety.