David Marsh

Wait... What? How is UCLA leading Penn State? 10-7 ... It may only be brief but that's a hangover form last week.

This year's first bye feels better than last year's. Last year the bye was earlier though came at the right time to help sort out the offensive line. This year everyone feels healthy and it's a rest up and keep working week. Feeling good about next Saturday at the moment.

If Hughes does transfer out, which is likely, it is an incredible recruiting pitch for Lanning. When he says "if you're good enough, you're old enough" he absolutely means it. I don't think it would detract from transfers because we have seen so many transfers become major impact players and boost their draft stock. But for prep recruits... They have proof they can make a major impact as true freshman if they have what it takes.

No it at all surprising. In truth I wouldn't be surprised if Hill and Davidson start taking over the RB room and rotation. They were by far the most effective backs against PSU.

Oregon's defense was looking quite tired. I think it was a couple things. They were tired it was a brutal slugfest of a game. Oregon has a two score lead and complacency set in too much. The players probably subconsciously just took the foot off the gas and lost momentum. It's a rather young team still and it was a learning experience. But once OT hit they did get an adrenaline hit and pulled it together. In future games it will be interesting to see if they can close it out better. Keep in mind that the previous four games many of these players weren't even on the field for the fourth quarter.

Incredible video. These videos are so good for the program. It's a recruiting tool and the fans love them. Additionally... It allows Lanning to give the most pointless press conferences where he basically answers none of the interesting questions. Because as fans we know we'll get something better. We'll get a peak behind the scenes with these videos.

I think Moore has already learned his lesson and seen it pay off. He rushed to start in college and it didn't go well for him at UCLA. He sat and learned a year and developed and is now seeing the benefit of development. I'm still not banking that he'll be here next year but I do believe he is focused on the season right now and he will make his d vision to stay or go after a careful evaluation at the end of the season.

Probably fair. But in terms of some of these rivalries getting some extra juice there is still the possibility of playing Penn State 2 more times this year..somewhat as t unlikely but possible.

I know in Autzen the Ducks are dealing with "reverse" noise in that the offense gets to work in a more quiet environment and the defense gets to play in a much louder one. However, I would imagine that even just playing in Autzen all the time the offense can block out the noise a bit easier. Still an incredible road challenge to overcome for our Ducks. Those conditions might not be as loud as Autzen but they did have to travel across the country and then still play and in it all.

If PSU loses three games they're done. But a two loss PSU team with losses to probably no.1 and 2 ranked Ohio State and Oregon probably keeps them in the playoffs picture. Especially if they are only one score losses. But their ooc schedule is garbage and they should be punished for it if things get tight.

I would tend to agree that true rivalries need early games and takes decades to develop. But on this new world just ruining each other's seasons and being towards the top of the conference will have to be good enough. With the pac-12 we were all effectively born into rivalries and were the next generation of the rivalry. Each generation added something more to the rivalry to make it special. In the B1G our only established rivalries are the ones that we brought with us from the pac-12. Washington, USC and UCLA and then putting Oregon State on double-tripple-secret life support don't have the same feel to them in this bigger pond. Washington and USC will be good but we're not competing with them for the conference crown at the moment or a playoff spot. B1G Rivalries will develop in some of our lifetimes but we are on the first generation of these new rivalries. So Oregon ruining Penn State's shot at a conference title and then turning around to ruin their white out fo a long way to establish the loathing required to make a rivalry.

The difficulty the Penn State fan base faces right now is that some are calling for his firing. Which is reactionary and not realistic. Lets for a moment assume Penn State fires Franklin. Who do they hire that's better? I believe the answer to that question is... No one at least no one obvious. The problem Penn State faces now is that Franklin has to be introspective and make changes to himself and his program and how it opposites. It isn't good enough and there is no easy fix. Even changing the offensive scheme comes with risks because do they have the players to do something different? It would also impact the defense in terms of how they opposite as Penn State likes to be a ball control team. Oregon by the way dominated the time of possession. Dan Lanning is absolutely a rar coach. He was basically a no name that Oregon nails the hire on and gives him all the supports he could dream of and he's proven he's up to the task as a first time head coach. Lanning's Ducks are the terror of the B1G for sure.

Which is why I think there needs to be a third party that looks players over because we do focus on the player receiving the blow but the player delivering the blow is also in danger.

I've watched this like 10 times and it never gets old..

Absolutely.... It needs to be broadened to forceful helmet to helmet contact. And everything else I said above.

Gross time mismanagement there. They needed to run the ball once or twice to burn the clock or some timeouts. If they scored on a run play so be it... But a pass play resulted in a touchdown, which is good... But an incompletion would have meant the clock stops and no timeout needed.

One other point. That's also irrelevant. I don't think the PSU player's action was malicious. He wanted to make a play and Limar was already low to the ground, he may have already been down. But intent has no say in the rule. There are some actions players take that it looks intentional and malicious and I do believe those should be punished more than incidental contact. The reality is that to make this rule really about player safety any helmet to helmet contact that takes place should result in all parties involved leaving the game to get checked out by a third party doctor/medical specialist to assess for concussion. Ejection from the game should only be enacted if the conduct appeared malicious which goes to intent which is always difficult to determine but somehow you just know it when you see it. I know players are no longer required to leave the stadium for targeting but are effectively suspended for 1 half of game play. I probably can write more on this topic and there is a lot more to get into but the rules are play right now are for show and frustrating.

If you ask me, it's targeting. There was helmet to helmet contact and the defender did seem to launch himself. Incidental contact is often something where the offensive player moves in a split second and there is no way for the defender to move. Also... The targeting rule is all about safety theatre not player safety. I wrote the article below a few years ago but I think it's still relevant to this. https://fishduck.com/2022/03/the-targeting-rule-is-not-about-player-safety/

I mean ... Dan opted to take the points earlier than going for it on fourth and that resulted on a missed field goal. Granted if that field goal was made then the game would have stopped the OT. Could have even resulted in Penn State not scoring that touchdown to put it into OT because that final drive of regulation was slow and methodical which is what Penn State needed. But force them to play faster could have resulted in some more bad plays from Allar with the pressure on.. In the end Dan is going to play aggressively.

I respectfully disagree. I think they are BETTER than last year. They are shedding blocks better and applying pressure better. The whole defensive line last night did incredible. Bear read a play perfectly where he dropped to cover a runningback as an passing outlet while another rusher applied pressure to Allar. The ball was thrown badly and resulted in an incomplete. The teamwork seen this year so far on defense has been superb. And when the team plays well together all the pieces shine. Also... Talk about that secondary. Only a few breakdowns but didn't hear too many names getting called out last night which meant they did their jobs. Which meant the pass rush could I theirs.

But... At least it should be direct seeding this year instead of last year's stupidity.

Sad thing is that every single penalty killed a drive. That's how small the margin of error was in that game. Also... The Harkney unsportsmanlike probably won't have been called in 90% of games. I couldn't see see it. However on the whole the refs did just let them play it out. I saw a bunch of uncalled holds on the Penn State offensive line and I saw Isaiah World get away with some holds on Sutton as he got worked last night. It was a physical and brutal game.

Oddly enough I think the Ducks need to settle on some runningback rotation. Hill and Davidson are just so good they need more touches. Whittington just isn't good enough I hate to say. Hill was getting yards that Whittington wasn't. Hill was running for around 8 yards per carry against THAT defense. Get the guy the ball! He also had a receiving touchdown on a screen which is an extension of the run game.

I'll have to rewatch the game at some point but I'm not sure how many deep shots were available. Moore wasn't sacked (at least I don't think he was) but he didn't have a ton of time to throw and let a play develop. Jim Knowles really didn't want a repeat of last year's regular season Ohio State game and I think he was trying to implement the same plan he used in the Rose Bowl and try to take away a deep shot. However, credit to Gary Bryant for making his presence felt. Some big time catches. Penn State Washington certainly keyed in on Dak Moore and had him well covered. Many catches that Moore was making in previous weeks were a whole lot more difficult.

And with UCLA's loss to Northwestern... Our Ducks hold the LONE win on the left coast in the B1G this weekend!