David Marsh

Yep... And I do think the State of California for the most part is the problem for the Pac-12 as strange as that sounds. California is a state of professional sports, not college sports. California is home to three NFL teams (4 if you want to count Raiders fans in the mix even though the team is formally in Vegas) and four NBA teams. California is a massive media center but outside of LA (which is still a big media market) college football isn't a primetime event. This does leave the Pac-12 in some strange geographic position. If california is supposed to be the media market that provides the foundation for the pac-12 financially with the other media markets as support. I am sure if you break it down the California market is still big. However, it isn't big enough to support the conference compared to the other power 5. Furthering, the hottest recruiting ground is southern california for the whole pac-12. Mostly due to culture and how football isn't the lifeblood of entertainment on the west coast.

Am I crazy that I want a couple of plays with BOTH quarterbacks on the field at the same time. It makes me think of one of Mariota's two receiving touchdowns as Bennett and Mariota were both on the field at the same time and Mariota caught a touchdown pass.

Thanks Jon. Outside of ASU how many other schools still support Larry? Last I heard is that Larry has lost a lot of support. Now getting rid of him is overly complicated and comes with expenses which I am sure are painful enough to make all institutions involved being cautious... But something needs to change quickly to get things going the other way. The way I see it these are the programs that are prioritizing football in the pac-12... Oregon, USC, Washington and Utah. Utah really doesn't have the same budget but they are throwing their program enough to keep that program rolling. Utah could certainly be placed in the next group as well. Now... The programs that have the fan base that want football as a priority but lack funding: Washington State, Arizona State, Colorado, and Oregon State... Oregon State fans want a relevant program more than anything... But they have really been suffering since 2014 when Riley left for Nebraska. They are on the way up but completely on a shoestring budget and on the cheap-cheap. then there are the programs that don't have any real interest in football... Cal, UCLA, Arizona, and Stanford. Oddly enough I think the problem is California... As a state. USC has a major fan base for football but the other three schools really only generate fair weather buzz from their fan bases. UCLA has been mediocre to bad and the fie hard fans demand better but there isn't much drive to do so... The Kelly hire seemed good enough for the management. Stanford is the worst of the lot... When Stanford is good they are good and can challenge conference championships but the fans dry up in on years. Playing on the Farm is can be like playing in a library... Not a whole lot of a fan base outside if the spectacular years. Shaw is a good coach and will keep Stanford as a good team but Stanford fans aren't a driving force in the conference. I could go on but I have already written a lot for the time being.

As time goes on things grow more dire requires more drastic measures. The bungling of the 2020 season has set the PAC back more than in a normal year. If this was a normal year with a full slate of games played and a full roster without opt outs... I do think Oregon could have been playoff material. Which would have stemmed the blessing. Though now we are looking at another lost season with more lost income and no progress made on the football front will mean the options for saving the conference have grown thin. I am far more optimistic on the possilities of saving the pac-12 than Jon Joseph is though time is running out.

Very few one and dones are successes at the next level, or at least it feels that way. I really hate the one and done rule for the nba. It really seems to spit on colleges and makes colleges feel like meat grinders. Which they basically are for sports... But at least with football the three years allows most athletes with a shot and incentive to get a degree.

No excuses for last year... The Pac-12.has had a lot of coaching turnover and programs influx... Oregon among them. So hopefully we see some significant turnout next year and some non-confrence wins both early season and bowl season. Not holdingy breath on that front though.

A few other things to think about this year.... The big-12 has played almost a full slate of games and the practice time that comes with it. The big-12 has in effect had double the season than the pac-12 and that is a lot of player development time that just can't be made up. Also Colorado is probably the no. 4 team in the pac-12 this year. With the top four being... Oregon, USC, Washington, and Colorado. I'm actually not even convinced washington is a top 4 team of the PAC this year and if be inclined to put Stanford in front of them... No matter. But Colorado was put into the Alamo Bowl because USC and Washington had both opted out of bowl games. Colorado has been a surprise this year but three head coaches across three years takes its toll on any program and Colorado has a nice base to grow on. Just a shame it reflects poorly on the conference. It is up to Oregon to carry the touch for the conference... Last time the conference was truly relevant was in 2014 and guess who was leading the conference then... Oregon. Out of the way Huskies, Trojans and Trees the conference needs the Ducks.

This helps build future classes as Oregon can prove they can get talent to the NBA. Granted sometimes that talent needs to play college for a few years before they make that jump and Pritchard is a great example of talent developing to the professional level of the course of a solid college career.

Lenoir may grow if he returns for another year.... But there is also the risk that with the amount of talent growing up behind him that he might have a diminished role. Manning has been sidelined this year but next year he won't be and can Lenoir keep him from taking his starting spot? Probably for the start of a season but for the entire season?

MC has learned the lesson from Saban that former head coaches can make good assistant coaches. MC was one of the beneficiaries of Saban's hiring of former headcoaches. The Moorhead hire was a good hire but MC needs to let Moorhead run his offense. We have seen what good things happen when MC let his coordinators work in that Avalos has good an over all good job with the defense. However, this is not always true, just look at the Helfrich Hoke hire. Now Hoke is a head coach at the group of five level and doing fairly well for himself but he was a terrible DC. The next evolution for Cristobal will come in taking his hands of the reigns of the offense and letting his coaches work on that side of the ball. We have already seen that start to happen this year... But keep in mind it is only a start.

From watching the Alamo Bowl... Or as much of it that was interesting... I don't think USC would have faired terribly well against Texas. USC would have kept the game closer but I don't think USC would have walked away with a win.

As I have read above... Yes the offense needs some significant improvements as defense alone cannot consistently win games... Though a good defense can save games. I would argue the Leavitt era was a stop gap. It took the overall decent to good talent on the Oregon roster and gave it a scheme that allowed that talent to succeed. Whether Oregon holds onto Avalos or not the defensive machine that has been built will continue to roll. I am confident in Cristobal's hires... Especially on the defensive side of the ball.

Nevermind... it has gotten quite ugly in the second half.

"...by the article standards many here fret about Oregon being a tier 2, or (gulp) even tier 1 program. That is simply over valuation on our part due to irrational rival stuff and the facts of our recent history which I stated above. In reality they are a tier 3 program with an asterisk. The asterisk is they lack the some of the advantages that keep them from dropping from national relevance." (From the comments of the linked article) This sums up a lot of Husky fears of Oregon. They have the better history and recruiting ground and yet Oregon is the program on the rise. They are also very bitter about not playing in the Pac-12 Championship game. I think if the Oregon-Washington game happened this year they would feel the same.. as Oregon would have beat them. Simply put, Oregon's defense bottomed out against OSU and was rebounding against Cal (the offense failed against Cal) and the defense met some of our base level expectations against USC. I think If Oregon played Washington this year Washington would have been on the receiving end of an angry Oregon defense out to prove something. Especially since Washington's offense looked bad. Thanks for the link 30... reading the comments has been entertaining and I have wanted to dump a bucket of cold water on their fan base as that Husky fan base really believe they are in the tier 1 or at least tier 2 camp... never mind the fact that Oregon has won more New Years Six games this past decade (4: 2012 Rose, 2012-12 Fiesta, 2015 Rose, 2020 Rose) than Washington has in the past two decades (1: 2000 Rose). Under the Peterson years Washington failed to win any major bowl games and now I think Washington fans are looking into the abyss as Oregon prepares for their second NY6 game in as many years and they know that Oregon is building a juggernaut and Husky fans are in denial.

My wife went to UW... and a major reason why our relationship works is that she doesn't care at all about Football and supports the Ducks because that makes me a much happier human to be around. Now... it is really nice that Oregon has beaten UW the past few years and have won the Pac-12 Championship twice as well. My inlaws are casual Husky fans as they have more links to the University than to the sports program. They also feel the UW-WSU rivalry is the bigger rivalry rather than Oregon v Washington. So when hate week rolls around there isn't much hate... but I still love seeing the Huskies lose and lose often.

SPOILERS! At the half Colorado is putting up on hell of a fight. They could win this game if they can keep it going.

Colorado plays Texas today. Though I think texas will probably win out, we as Oregon and by extension pac-12 fans should be rooting for the ONLY other Pac-12 team playing in a bowl game. Oddly enough this year the Pac-12 is only playing big-12 teams for bowl season. Now if.. if Colorado and Oregon win their games they can both make a statement, even a minor one, that the pac-12 still draws breath. So... Go Buffs... I guess.

I'm inclined to side with Oregon on this one... but then again I'm always living in my own green and yellow bubble over here. Looking at how Oregon managed to get pressure on USC by rushing only three and sometimes four was a major component to that win. If they can keep that going against Iowa State I can't see Iowa State gaining enough momentum on offense to win. Yes, Shough has some major problems... but if Moorhead can get him comfortable with some easy passes to the edges I think we see the Shough we saw earlier in the year.

Kiko Alonzo was so much fun to watch. Just a game wrecker on the field.

Just to complicate matters. It sounds like boise state is a bit stretched for cash right now which doesn't bode well for resources. The mountain west has come a long way since the Peterson days where BSU ran the conference.

Definately could use JTT. KT really only had one year left... Unless convinced to stay for his senior year which would be incredible and incredibly unlikely. But need some defensive linemen. We have a couple youngsters that are putting it all together but the defensive line is always a tough place to ensure there is enough depth.

Shough's arm strength is definitely a factor. When looking Shough's interceptions this year a good few of them needed more air under them to go over the top of the defender and allow the receiver to make a play on the ball. Obviously this was not the case for all of his interceptions but going back and watching the film his interceptions are under throws. Maybe it isn't arm strength at all but still...

Great points... I do think Oregon fans have become very spoiled when it comes to quarterbacks. In reverse order (most recent to past). Herbert, Adams, Mariota, Thomas, Masoli, Dixon, Clemons, Fife, and Harrington. All save Adams and Fife were MULTI-YEAR starters. That list takes us back to to 2000 and there are some incredible gems on it. Shough may progress to their level but he may not.

Not talking the best Oregon player... Just your favorite player. Mine will sound boring and uninspired but... Marcus Mariota. I really started following Oregon football intensely in 2012 when MM started his Oregon career. This last summer I took a tour of past games as we sat in a football drought and it was a complete joy watching him work the Oregon offensive system. Second favorite... DAT... Because DAT. Enough said. Do who is your favorite player of all time?

And... Oregon is carrying the PAC on both of these fronts. Remember the last NCAA men's basketball tournament... The 2019 one... Lowly Oregon won the the Pac-12 tournament when they "had no right to" according to Husky fans. Then Oregon was placed as a 16 seed as they had an automatic bid and made it much much further in the tournament than any of the other pac-12 teams and only to lose to the eventual national champions. Yeah... Oregon is carrying this conference right now in the two money making sports. Women's basketball is pretty healthy in the pac-12 though... Granted it Oregon is dominating that as well.