David Marsh

The Taggart era cleaned the slate at Oregon. He got rid of the entire staff and in the process did bring us Cristobal. In the process Oregon lost so much institutional knowledge. Just think if Cristobal was on the staff during the Helfrich years and he was apart of the Oregon blur offense and then he ascended to head coach after that, would he have a different take on the offense? Taggart's offense was Taggart's offense, when he left he took his offense with him. He called the plays and it was his thing, for better or worse. There was far too much freedom in the institutional void of Oregon at the time that Cristobal really could choose what we wanted the offense to look like, espeically when his OC was still Arroyo, who hasn't done well offensively at UNLV. Not sure if things would be different... but it's worth thinking about.

I have gone from a non-fan to a die hard fan and all that happened in the Kelly years... a die hard fan that writes for this website. After a loss like like the one suffered last Saturday I find the need to detox myself and get some perspective and then I realize that all my internet activity is Oregon Ducks related or history, news, or board games. I find myself in the similar spot Charles, I find myself frustrated because the product on the field isn't terribly interesting from an offensive stand point. The defense being bend but don't break or just bend until breaking is kinda run of the mill for Oregon so it has to be a truly powerful lock-down defense for me to get excited about it. This Oregon team has kinda needed a loss like this to be a kick in the pants to get them to wake up... but I really do find that the players might wake up a little bit.. but the changes really need to come from the top. The offense needs an overhaul, it needs to be a modern offense. At the end of last year I did write an open letter to Mario Cristobal. I feel what I wrote then is still valid today. I don't think I will lose interest in the team, it has kinda become a hobby that has dominated my free time. I don't think getting rid of MC is the answer... because if not MC then who? No one should be making comparisons with ANY coach to Saban. Saban is an anomaly at this sport. Though MC really does need to get introspective and determine what needs to change is him.

It feels worse. That was a coaching error. This feels like the refs manufactured a Stanford win. Now, did they or didn't they? That's up for debate but it feels that way which is the worst thing a ref can do. The utmost priority to good reffing is consistency. Players need to know what is a penalty and what is allowed. Every ref team has their own variation and that is completely normal. But there is trust formed throughout play and players usually know when they pushed it too far with a group of refs. That trust was destroyed on that last drive. That trust was destroyed on the final true play of the game with that pi flag. That's why this loss hurts. It feels like it was stolen... Not by the poor play of the Ducks (there is that) but by a group that is supposed to be neutral on the field the refs. Blaming the refs should never be na excuse for a loss... But it really feels like the refs were pulling for one team at the end of this game.

If KT was called for targeting that was targeting too.

The reffing has been aweful in these last two mins. Oregon hasn't played great but that wasn't targeting... And why all of the sudden change what is acceptable okay for pass interference?

That was NOT targeting... He led with his hands and there was contact but that was not targeting.

Right now this feels like watching old school Stanford football where they burn all the clock. Only it's Oregon running the ball.

... not Sewell now.

Hopefully not too serious... It has been the narrative this year sadly.

We got that and now we need to punch it in.

No Moorhead on the field might be a reason to not play TT because there is no QB coach on the sidline. But I think there is still way more upside. I think Oregon is going to have to lose for a change to be made.

I think part of the fan frustration right now is that we can see Brown isn't cutting it. He has reached his ceiling and is isn't good enough. We would rather see Thompson with some freshman struggles rather than watch Brown, a sixth year senior, fail to play at the level nmthis team needs.

I would make the call personally. I'm not sure this coaching staff has the guts to make that call though. It's a big risk but Oregon needs something to give them some life.

Normally it is a handoff to a running back at least... Until this year it has been a handoff and let the running back take it into the pile. Now it is the QB?

I'm starting to feel like Brown is a selfish player with some of these QB runs. Oregon has killed it when they have attacked the edges but he keeps the ball on the read at 4th and 1 to go up the middle? Especially when lacking the starting center. So many times the past couple of games Brown has kept it when he shouldn't have. He is either making the wrong reads or thinks he can do better than the running back.

What was that??? Brown runs on 4th down? That is just straight up the WRONG decision.

I'm close to turning it off myself.

Brown has looked aweful so far. The interception was a bad and the rest of those passes have been pretty aweful and off target. A bit if a miracle there haven't been more interceptions with those passes.

Stanford doesn't have a good run game this year which means they will need to throw it. If Oregon can get them in third and longish and get a stop there won't be a 4th down conversion attempt. The big key for the defense is stop the run and get off the field. Oregon's offense is good enough to get it done but they need to be on the field. Can't spend a whole quarter like last week with the offense sitting on the sidelines.

I know I'm showing how young I am... but I do love me some highlighter burn-your-eyes-out yellow. It kinda happens once a year... but I'd love to see a Yellow Out become a real thing at Oregon. Do this at night with the stadium lights on and ALL THAT BRIGHT YELLOW! It could be pretty cool. Right now we kinda do it against a lesser opponent early in the year and it is typically an afternoon game. It just feels lacking when it could be something spectacular.

I think it is more likely that if those two upsets happen that Penn state jumps us to no. 1. Too much of the country can't imagine the idea of a pac-12 team being no. 1 in football. We also need Ohio state to win and start looking better to help our case.

Oregon 45-20, 2, 2, 203 Passing

Learning how to just beat lesser opponents is tough to learn. It requires four quarters of solid play and those 2nd and 3rd quarters and put the opponent way. These young teams haven't had the experience to not get bogged down in the heat the game but instead rise above it and just take care of business. It is difficult keeping that institutional knowledge and talent in the program for a long period of time because graduation and players leaving in a series of waves (especially because they are successful) leaves the team very young without that knowledge. Oregon lost an insane amount of talent after 2014. In 2015 there was still some good talent left on the roster but at the end of 2015 it was ALL GONE. In rolls 2016 which was a bad year for defense was Hoke's defensive scheme was just bad but beyond that it was a team built on underclassmen. 2019 and 2020 was really two years of graduations rolled into one because of the opt outs. 2019 was a pretty disciplined team (especially compared to today) and really understood their roles on the team. That defense was incredible and the 2019 class were true freshman that year. Now they are the leaders of this team but they should have had another year being underclassmen. That 2019 class though are some of the best and most productive players on the field so they have really stepped up but the team was gutted of veterans. Will everything be better and fixed in 2022? Probably not... but it should be much improved. We should see some improvement in the coming weeks as well as more players gain that starting experience and learn from their mistakes.

This is something that would be a bigger problem if Stanford had a running game that chewed up the clock which they really don't have this year to date. It also requires a solid defense that can get off the field quickly and then get that run heavy chew the clock offense back on the field.

I think job assignments and a deeper understanding of the defense is the biggest problem with this young Oregon team. Getting Hill on the field more would be a good thing. I do believe DeRuyter is looking at this and is not satisfied with the results and is working to improve it. I just wish it didn't take so long.