David Marsh

One thing that your post Mike had me thinking about is when you said that most receivers get open by pushing off the defenders against Oregon... Basically offensive PI. What we haven't seen for the vast majority of the season are officials throwing flags on that and we haven't seen many flags on opposing teams, especially when it comes to holding. Iowa had one penalty for zero yards against us and if you rewatch the lien of scrimmage play I saw Bear Alexander being dragged from behind multiple times away from the ball. Textbook holding... But no flags. Against JMU flags were thrown for two offensive PIs and a bunch of offensive line holding. Will see see the officials actually throw flags in favor of our Ducks this game? If we do I think it's a sign that our stats may have been deflated because of so many missing flags throughout the year.

Unlikely money. I think it's more likely that he is obsessed with football and doesn't know or want to live without it. I'm sure he loves coaches and what he does. After his time in the NFL as a HC ended as it did I thought he'd sit out for awhile and evaluate his options but he turned around and took the HC job at UCLA real fast. I get the feeling that he will be one of those coaches forced to retire because no one will hire him when the time comes.

The time zone difference isn't going to play a factor this game. Both teams will have plenty of time to acclimatize and both have played in the east coast time zone, Oregon has done it more. The bigger question is does TT suffer the round one bye slump?

I also love how the poptart mascots are basically eaten by players or other mascots. Or at least they did last year. It's a really wacky bowl game. Last year Miami and MC in that game was hilarious because he didn't want to lean into the wackiness of the bowl game.

Still in the stop gap range. He's in his 70s does he want to coach beyond 5 years? Probably not... But he has enough time to right the ship and make a run of it.

This feels like a stop gap hire. Without seeing the contract and being in the room I'm not sure how long they are anticipating Whittingham to be there. I kinda think 2-3 seasons. Enough time to get Michigan on track and make the playoff a time or two before looking for a younger coach. Or ... Not. More resources makes some elements of coaching easier and others a whole lot more difficult... Namely the expectations. Whittingham has always been a coach to get more from less but as we've seen that doesn't always translate to higher level programs.

I watched some of the lions and Vikings... Because it was on. I don't usually watch the NFL.

Just win and I won't care!

I think we are approaching peak offense. If Moore and the receivers perform just as cleanly as they did in the first half against JMU I think we stand a great chance. Yes, Moore had two interceptions. One was a fluke that should have been an incomplete pass but bounced right into the hands of a DB. There was also a collision between the receiver and another defender a few seconds earlier in the play but as it was before the ball was in the air it was not PI. The second was a bad pass that just kinda floated while Moore was pressured. However, Kamari Johnson did fall down which left the lane open for an uncontested interception. I think the decision to go there was the right one for Moore as that seemed like a hot route and Johnson was in isolation. He was bigger than the defender and if he didn't lose his feet he could have either caught the ball and put muscled the receiver for the TD or just deflected the ball for an incompletion. Both happened but I don't think either was super egregious just not ideal.

Notre Dame just needs to join a conference. Even make a short term deal with the ACC and reevaluate after 5 years. If they were in the ACC this year they probably would have won the conference and then be in the playoff over Miami. Then playing USC earlier in the year doesn't effect their playoff chances as much.

His growth this second half of the seasons has been significant. He used to either make a bug play or get 2 while running into a pile of linemen. His vision has improved considerably in games. I've been yelling at the TV for years as Whittington healthy or not has made both good and bad plays. But he is consistently getting good yardage now and that's because he's seeing the game better.

Yeah I knew we wouldn't win it. I figured we'll be finalists again next year and not win it next year too..

Need Davison and his power running and blocking. Also did anyone else notice how little Whittington played against JMU?

Oregon v Ohio State!!!! Winner: OREGON Other winners: everyone who can't stand Finebaum who will probably lose it completely if that comes to pass.

I think his completion percent is a bit lower than what Oregon is looking for.

Especially after two weeks of fairly consistent rain.

Oh I've been there! And... yeah a loss to Texas Tech would really suck.

I always find the idea of _______ or bust to be an interesting mentality. The season is a book and each game is its own little chapter in that book. If Oregon wins the National Championship this year that makes this an INCREDIBLE year and you put that book on the shelf as a part of a longer Oregon Football history. But if we fail to reach the title game or a semi final game or whatever was this season just a waste? Personally, I have enjoyed the journey so far this year (minus the one bump) and I am excited to see how it all ends, though I would personally love to see it end on a win and there is only one way that happens. Maybe I just don't get on the "bust" mentality. I want a national title as much as any other Duck fan but I know that each season brings its own story and I'm here for that.

And Jordon Davison lined up in the backfield and Dak Moore just on the field as well. Though in truth I think Johnson will be a bigger threat next year than Harrison just because he'll be more polished. But the future is absolutely bright at Oregon.

I'm not surprised. He's pretty good and works hard... But pretty good doesn't get you on the field with the Ducks. He got knocked out of the rotation this year by freshman and transfers. He got back in rotation because of injuries. And next year he'll probably be out of the rotation by some up and coming redshirts and true freshman. All the power to him in finding a place to play. He's been a benefit to the Ducks for sure and stepped up when his number was called.

Not going to lie ... I was kinda expecting black.

Green and yellow? Yes please! Quite probably the only time we wear home uniforms this post season so I'll take the green and yellow where I can get it!

They have both changed the nature of recruiting at Oregon. I put a link to one of my previous articles that was from the Cristobal era that touches a bit more on the subject. https://fishduck.com/2020/09/scott-frost-was-absolutely-right-about-recruiting-to-oregon/ But I would say the family atmosphere Lanning has created is appealing to recruits. Along with recruits seeing there is a path towards their end goals like the NFL if they are coachable. The social media games has changed greatly and the number of scholarships offers has changed dramatically as well from how Oregon recruits. In the Bellotti, Kelly and Helfrich era Oregon typically offered less than 100 scholarships. It was a rare and highly sought after get but that was also paired with their overall lack of official visits and the difficulty to get recruits on campus. Under Cristobal and Lanning Oregon gives out excess of 200 offers now (most are verbal) to varying degrees of interest. With more official visits they can get more recruits on campus and build those relationships. I honestly don't remember where these numbers originally came from for scholarship offers and I haven't been able to find them again but they are rattling around my head. As I couldn't find those data points I didn't include them in the article. But this is a forum post so my standards a bit lower. Thank you for reading, is there anything I missed you feel should be included?

I've thought about those series and I love them. I think they are one part recruiting tool and two parts fan service. I'm sure it's nice for a player to get a behind the scenes peak in the early recruitment process but I'm sure outside of that they get a way better look at what's going on for with the program and how it functions. But for fans those videos are an amazing peak into the program. I think those videos are also part of the reason why as fans we accept Lanning's general refusal to answer a lot of questions at media events. We know we'll get something special, though edited, later. Though I also wouldn't underestimate the power of those videos to get recruiting going for the Ducks.

Absolutely, the fact that Lanning isn't leaving gives recruits the peace of mind knowing that he is highly likely to be there for their entire career. Just think of all the other coaches since Bellotti at Oregon, only one other coach gave players that feeling they were going to be there for their entire college career, Mark Helfrich. Now, in the end it wasn't up to him as he was fired but if it was a decision up to him he wasn't leaving. Lanning isn't leaving. If he wasn't leaving for Bama he isn't leaving for any other program. Recruits know that and the way he recruits is also worth noting, again ran out of space, but he has a full staff recruiting method. Sure, the "primary" recruiter is often the position coach but the reality is that he uses the whole staff to recruit each recruit. There is a reason why Oregon lost BOTH coordinators in Will Stein and Tosh Lupoi and lost ZERO recruits. Are recruits disappointed, probably, but they are invested in the entire program and the staff and not on just one recruiter. Contrast that with the Ohio State and the Chris Henry Jr. saga where Oregon almost managed to flip a recruit who has been committed to Ohio State for years all because the recruitment opened up in the loss of their wide receiver's coach and offensive coordinator. If Oregon was willing to spend a considerable amount of additional NIL funds they probably could have pulled off the flip.