David Marsh

Patience... Crazy enough Oregon probably doesn't need a prep QB this recruiting cycle. Moore will be around for one or two seasons. If Moore leaves after this year Novosad is probably next up. Moga and Smith are both promising and we'll have a fuller picture as to whether they stick around or not after the season. But I'd bet that one is guaranteed to stick around as they'll likely be in play for a backup spot. And then Oregon can always get someone from the portal if needed.

No. 9??? Well that's a minority opinion for sure. They are welcome to it... But as we all know they're wrong. For many in the B1G, tradition outweighs everything else. Maryland is pretty low on their list and they are similar to Oregon on their more recent approach to uniforms... Though less successful. I love how Oregon isn't anti tradition but so much of the Oregon tradition now is innovation and ever changing.

Going to throw out a crazy thing here... In 2014 Bralon Addison suffered an injury in the spring that knocked him out for the season and he was our most experienced returning receiver that year. But a couple redshirt freshman came in and made a massive impact along with a freshman. Devon Allen and Charles Nelson both had pretty good years, though Allen would be injured in the Rose Bowl, Darrin Carrington did pretty darn good too, though he sat out the national championship game due to failing a drug test. The Ducks moved Byron Marshall to receiver and he had the best year of all. And to top it all off Mariota won the Heisman. So inexperience is not everything but I think we'd all rather have Stewart in the lineup but I'm confident this staff will a solution.

Looking at some of the softball and baseball rules complaints I've seen from Ducks fans in both of those tournaments we as a fanbase would have absolutely been pissed off if the tables were turned. Though this is one of the mose instances with fringe rule in a fringe context that was so brilliant that every single coach int eh country studied what Lanning did to either use it or counter it after the game. I don't think it would have been a problem in the future. However, I guess I was more bent out of shape how the rule was initially changed mid season because a blue blood complained enough. It should have waited for the off season for a rule change. But I also love how Lanning has had an impact on the game already.

I was writing an article as I was thinking about this exact same thing.... I still might finish it ... but I do think Oregon is ahead of everyone. I also think there is a very real factor that some of the other college football powers are playing massive catch-up. What USC is doing right now is not current NIL practices or even future NIL practices, USC is seriously doing exactly the same thing that Texas A&M was doing in 2022. Throwing money at all the five stars and thinking that is how you build a roster with NIL money. USC is going to land a great class at this rate but is the locker room going adjust to this influx of money in a positive way or is it going to be a TAMU repeat where it implodes? Oregon is built around sustainability and Oregon doesn't have recruiting geography on their side. I'll probably still write that article ... I have more thoughts on this as well.

Absolutely. And Lanning and Co have pulled the best out of the portal repeatedly. There aren't many quality linemen who enter the portal but Oregon has taken the lion's share of them since the portal era started. Getting high schoolers to Oregon is always going to be difficult. We lose to distance, mom, and the girlfriend far more often than we win. So we gotta use the portal. Lanning has shown that he can take a transfer player and elevate their draft stock. Nix is case and point. He went from undrafted to a first round pick. Gabriel went from probably undrafted to a 3rd round pick. With his height disadvantage! Come to Oregon and get elevated and further developed.

I am sure we'll probably get one Peacock game... but I think realistically the only game that might get the Peacock treatment is Rutgers. We could dodge it but I don't think that is going to happen. I suppose the Oregon State game might be put on Peacock but as that one is a rivalry game it will probably avoid it.

The Stemming penalty was just super frustrating these past few years. I get that it's not fair for a defense to be yelling out directions that sound like the quarterback to throw off the other team and cause a false start... but the defense gets to communicate. Nothing in the rule book says that the defense must operate in complete silence. Giving the defense clear words that are theirs also means the offense can't yell weird stuff to try and throw them off. Clarity makes the best rules.

Yes... but only if some crazy shenanigans like this past year doesn't happen. I think at least one three-loss team is probably getting in in any given year. If Clemson (3-losses) did not win the ACC last year it would have been one of the 3-loss SEC teams that gets in that did not win their conference. Clemson jumped on in and SMU held onto their spot because they only had 2-losses (one being the Conference Championship game). So I think it is completely possible for a 3-loss team without a conference championship to get into the playoff... but being that team is going to come down to some unique circumstances and some quality wins.

Hate to say it but strength of schedule hasn't mattered for awhile... Or has been a myth. The SEC was exposed last year and they just pounded their chest and said the SEC is better by default so all their teams are better... Therefore better strength of schedule. It's all about media hype and number of wins.

Its interesting because the strategy of the two for decades has been to cohabitate but don't compete. The reality is that everyone just assumes that the NFL will destroy CFBs ratings. They do draw bigger ratings, sure, but it's not a one-sided fight. CFB will also hurt the NFL's ratings if the two are forced to compete. They are going to have to interact to find a way to cohabitate at this point. The NFL cannot just dictate the rules.

I saw that Oregon leads the B1G conference championships race for the academic year. 8 of 28 Ohio State comes in at No. 2 with ... 4 I think there are some B1G regrets out there for sure.

I will shamelessly plug my most recent article here. Should the Ducks Host More Events in Portland? | FishDuck FISHDUCK.COM A few years ago the University of Oregon acquired a home for their Portland Campus, the former Concordia... At the UO Portland Campus there are baseball facilities. A few series in Portland, maybe even against the Beavers in the future, could be a fun way to drive the attendance. Granted... I don't think they have much in the way of concessions but I'm sure they could take care of that. But great to see our Ducks have a great fan base and turns out for them!

We are flying blind when it comes to NIL deals. Though from everything I've seen this is basically the pecking order for portal NIL. 1. Tippy top tier quarterbacks. Rare but there. 2. Offensive lineman. 3. Defensive lineman. Exclude the rare quarterbacks and linemen are at a premium in the portal. Getting good high end linemen is been more expensive. Lanning and co have done an incredible job getting the little top end linemen talent there is in the portal. In the prep recruiting world... There is a lot more talent available in linemen that just needs time to develop. And as stated... Even that 5 star talent requires some development.

I could also see a compromise that sees a re ranking occur after the first round of play, doubt they're that clever though. But just think that Oregon would have played BSU or Indiana in the Rose Bowl last year if they just ranked it straight up.

We'd have to. That's too many games to put players through at that point. I'd also add that each round gets re-ranked.

The reality is that it's nice to have some big games at Noon. But not all big game at noon. Oregon settled into a prime-time slot last year around 6pm because of the way games are effectively drafted by the broadcast companies. The biggest team in the B1G in the east coast time slot was Ohio State and they basically got pure Big Noon kickoffs. I can see why their fan base grew weary of that because that was the only time they seemed to have games.

Just think if this were to happen during a football game? The College Football world would be losing their freaking minds. Let alone the team's fan base that took the L for this happening. It wouldn't happen in College Football, the game would be postponed and finished later. It shouldn't happen in any sport.

You have the right to your opinion. Right now with two toddlers I have enjoyed the 7pm start time games because both kids are in bed and I get to watch the game uninterrupted... Or mostly uninterrupted. But I also know that I'm in the minority for that opinion. Granted I don't mind a 9am game in truth. I'm usually up by then anyways because of the children. However, my eldest doesn't like anyone watching anything on the TV that isn't Bluey or Dino Train these days.

Ouch... That is not good. I would like to see these numbers for the other way.

The first game and a half of the season the offensive line was in a complete mess. The second half against Boise State the offensive line started to look significantly better and then by Oregon State it was a pretty dominant force and it just kept rolling from there. There were several games and plays that they just didn't get the same amount of push at the point of attack. The line certainly was not as good as previous years but some B1G defensive fronts were physically bigger than what we typically faced in the Pac-12 (see the Oregon State game). I think the injuries played a greater role than Terry in the overall decline of the running game this last season. That and not having Irving who had a wonderful combination of vision, breakaway speed and balance that made him an explosive play waiting to happen. James had the power but he lacked the breakaway speed. Whittington had the break away speed but seemed to lack the vision and balance to get him into the open field. Those were problems consistent with these players going back to 2022 and 2023 and not indicative on this particular offensive line. If this year's offensive line starts off as poorly as last year's and there are no real significant injuries, then I'll go ahead and put more blame on Terry. I think the whole staff was put in a difficult position as two preemptive starters and rotational players in Iuli and Bedford were out due to injury so late in fall camp that they did their best to find a solution. The first game was awful and the second game was mostly awful. But by game 3 and 4 it looked much improved. As for the 2016 dreaded Alamo Bowl. The starting center went down for Oregon not long after Adams was out of the game. Helfrich and company had to make a decision. Put in Doug Brenner (who was actually the third string center) or burn the redshirt of Jake Hanson (the actual back-up at any other point in the year). They opted to preserve the redshirt of Hanson as burning it for the second half of a bowl game didn't seem like a good deal. Sure Brenner and Locke were not good... but also blame the defense for that game as well because they gave up the 30+ point lead.

I think he was rehired because he had success and they must have all departed on good terms. I think everyone knew that if Nebraska called he would take that job and that's what happened. In hindsight we can say he shouldn't have left but the reality is that Nebraska has been a hot mess for several head coaches and it wasn't just a Scott Frost problem there. And he found the limitations of his coaching ability at Nebraska. He's not the only coach to be rehired at a school they used to be the HC for. If they understand what the program can offer they know how to sell it and that's harder than ever in this day and age. Additionally, I think Frost likes being able to recruit rather local and the level of competition. We'll have to see how successful he'll be the second time around.

Last year I was seeing Penn State ahead of Oregon in terms of NIL money. I don't know how they get their information but I know that Oregon is always near the top but rarely ever the top.

The last two years have seen a significant decline in the QB run game. I think 2023 was due in part to needing to avoid losing Nix to injury like what happened in 2022. Last year it sounded like from the players that Oregon had some back-up QBs that could fill in for Gabriel if needed. However, even though Oregon went undefeated the vast majority of the wins weren't blow out wins where Gabriel sat on the bench in the fourth quarter. I think for that reason alone Lanning and co opted to run Gabriel sparingly because the team just wasn't super dominant in victory and they didn't want to run the risk of needing a back-up. I think the trend is to not run the QB and I believe that is what will probably continue next season. Stein just doesn't seem to want the QB has much as Dillingham did. However, if Moore and Novosad are super close in terms of ability... then maybe we'll see the coaching staff risk it a bit and run the QB more for the potential benefits.

Beyond that... our rotation of runningbacks just wasn't as strong. Additional note... B1G defenses are a bit stouter on the line of scrimmage than Pac-12 defenses. I did a pretty extensive breakdown of the running game's decline last year over previous years that can be found via the link below. Rebuilding Oregon’s Offense for 2025: Running Back | FishDuck FISHDUCK.COM Oregon’s run game in 2024 was good. At 13-1 with a B1G Championship under their belt, the Ducks were a very good team... I don't think the offensive line was as cohesive as it was in 2022 or 2023. I think the injuries to both Mathew Bedford and Dave Iuli in the early season certainly had a negative impact on our offensive line. Poncho has developed nicely though breaking in a new center does have bumps. Though I will say the runningback room last year just didn't feel as deep as it did in the previous years. In 2022 James was used as a short yardage back while Irving and Whittington shared snaps and Nix actually had the most rushing touchdowns. In 2023 Nix didn't run as much but the combo of Irving and James was pronominal. This last year James was the featured back and without him we didn't have much of a run game. Whittington is at best a change a pace back and the youngsters were still developing. Hoping this year the runningback room and the offensive line reasserts itself. Final note... last season we saw a new Offensive Line Coach in Terry and a new runningback coach in Samples.