David Marsh

What made them so deviating is the lack of a consistently explosive offense. We had more false starts in the Kelly-Helfrich era and they rarely hurt the scoreboard... Let alone were game changing. The offense either needs to avoid all false starts to stay on schedule .. or have a scheme that allows for some big chunk yards to make the occasional false start irrelevant.

Third-and-long not being converted by the opposing team. Really don't want to see a 3rd-and -13 be converted for a first down on a shockingly regular basis.

I don't think there can be much of a back-up plan... besides having a list of potential replacement candidates ahead of time. I mean I guess if there is someone on the staff that is the heir apparent then that is the back-up plan of sorts... Brooks > Bellotti > Kelly > Helfrich ... Taggart > Cristobal But that back-up plan only has value if there is a long line of institutional loyalty... which there really isn't... any pretty much every program now. By the way... shameless self promotion time... Might be worth reading my article on FishDuck tomorrow concerning coaches and loyalty.

So far it hasn't been a crazy big number but it is growing every year. The transfer portal is going to be a disaster for players.

And as we have seen with Lanning's contract... he isn't getting paid that 7million... at least not yet.

I also heard the pay Oregon offered Wilcox was rather low... it was a deal meant to be refused but would appease the pro-Wilcox boosters. Also the Oregon pressure cooker is such that someone like Wilcox might not want that level of pressure. Oregon has become a brutal program with its expectations.

The last three games can be brutal... but at least it is a home run at the end with the only away of those last three being Oregon State which isn't a huge journey. Granted... playing OSU at OSU is going to be a lot more difficult.

In video games as a kid I would never punt and I would only do onside kicks... It was amusing for a video game.. and I can see how it could be successful in high school. However, we live in the age of offense now so depending on the defense to make stops with poor field position can't be relied upon... as well as the offense converting all 4th downs and special teams recovering all onside kicks will not happen. At high school... a good offense can mitigate these problems... but college, not so much.

Chakes to answer your question in the article about the last time Oregon ran the wild cat ... I think it was 2015 when VA was out injured there was some funny wild cat stuff Oregon did with Addison. Or at least some weird enough stuff that had fans at the time wanting Addison as the QB over Lockie. I could be wrong but that's what is coming up in my brain this morning. Thanks for the article... Looking forward to an offense that is designed to score points more than burn clock.

That would be awesome ... But I kinda doubt anyone would go for it. But maybe he has an Oregon O on his lapel for an interview???

Gie the record Verdell was a Campbell recruit. He stuck with Oregon after all the coaching changes.

Well... I don't know who I even favor. In truth I'm not even that interested in this bowl game. The only thing I am finding remotely interested in is what does the Oregon offense look like with out Cristobal... does it look the same or do we see something with some significant tweaks? I don't think we see anything too different from the regular season because there isn't a ton of practice time between now and the game so it will only be small things they install. But still... will it look different? I do think we are going to see a whole lot of players from both team not giving two craps about the game though. It is going to be a boring game.

DJ James is in the portal. I don't think he has landed anywhere yet.

Anything with some tempo would make me a happy camper. One if my many annoyances with the MC offenses is how everyone is lined up. The clock ticks down to 15-10 and then everyone looks to the side line... Play change and snap the ball. Yes... There are times to milk the clock but I do actually want to watch some football please. It would also be nice to condition our players a bit more to be able to handle the tempo game. I swear some of those annoying time outs used were to give players a rest. That is ok from time to time... But it felt like there was at least one to two of those resting time outs per game.

The NCAA might get involved in this... and I know what you are thinking... but wait the NCAA really doesn't get involved in anything until it is super old news. But... the NCAA was opposed to allowing players to get any money in any way shape or form... they might be feeling upset and left out of this one and feeling like they lack control over a situation they might actually care about.

I think Verdell's draft stock is gone with his injuries... His only hope for the draft is to play next year and avoid getting injuries ... Before this year he sat out the second half of a lot of games dur to monitor dings during the game. Not good for NFL teams. Dye is awkward size wise for the NFL.... He isn't really big enough to be a running back and he may not be fast enough to play the slot... I have always found he lacked that extra gear on a long run to get him into the end zone. He always seemed to be caught from behind.

Seven McGee has opted to transfer out of Oregon. This puts transfers post-Cristobal at 2 for Oregon. What I find interesting for McGee is... does this tell us anything about Dye and Verdell's intentions to stay with the program for one more season? I could see McGee opting to stay as the No. 2 running-back behind Cardwell... but not the No. 4 potentially behind Verdell, Dye and Cardwell.

But then we'd have to have Lake as a coach ... And that's a hard pass. Didn't he also prove he can't recruit that well?

Georgia has had a great defense which has allowed for their good not great offense to succeed. Alabama challenged Georgia to a shootout and Georgia's offense failed. It kinda reminds me of Oregon s problem this year ... Oregon's defense has been not great but good enough to keep Oregon's offense in the lead. But when the defense failed... The offense couldn't win a shootout.

New coach honeymoon... I'd be shocked if we got any real tough questions. Also what kind of tough questions are out there. He charmed his way through the "you've never been a head coach before" question.

I've said it multiple times... but with Oregon a top 20 finish would be fantastic all things considered. We'd prefer a top 10 but that is pretty difficult in our situation. Also... keep in mind 85 is the max number of scholarships a program has to work with... right now Oregon is projected to be over that max number with our measly 12 commits currently. There simply isn't a whole lot of wiggle room in this class. Now, if there are some more transfers (only 1 so far post-MC leaving) and some more graduations / players leaving to try going pro.. we might have a bit more to work with but this class was going to be tight regardless. We are LOADED with players who are classified as Freshman for one reason or another. The next two years we are going to have a whole lot of players peaking. No excuse for youth next year, at least in terms of players (maybe the HC though? lol).

Right now the timing is super awkward ... a win at this point with many recruits is getting them to hold onto the commitment but opting not to sign early to get to know the coach better. Lanning is officially hired today and has only been the head coach (unofficially speaking) for two days. It wasn't his fault that he is in this situation it is just the situation.

I'd rather take my chances on Thompson or Butterfield.... new OC coming in to shape that talent. Nix is leaving Auburn... not really a glowing endorsement of his abilities.

At the end of the first series didn't he become a logger in Oregon? I mean... We all have expirence with Florida transplants in Oregon... They never last. How many seasons until he's back in Florida? One or four?

It is a recruiting dead period right now so he can't do in home visits or on campus visits. So it's all phone calls anyways at this point. Just remember there is always the transfer portal. It may not be ideal but some more expirence at a high level of beneficial.