David Marsh

Eight weeks without a bye is showing. But that defense is legit.

Could we call the USC v Nebraska the has been bowl?

I mean I guess we can watch the Beavers find a way to lose to Air Force...

Anyone else finding today's slate of games to be a bit boring? Nothing major in terms of upsets at the moment.

Is it just me or does that UCLA I formation for their run plays feel super far back for the runningback? It feels like there is a solid couple seconds before the handoff and more than enough time for the defense to break the offensive line.

Huskies are letting the Bruins hang around. That's what UCLA wants and needs.

The Tez and Harper injuries are the only two I have concerns about. Both are long term injuries and I don't expect either to play soon. The loss of both hurts but I think our receivers pick it up a bit better this weekend having another week to settle into some expanded roles.

I played world of Warcraft for quite a few years when I was younger. It was a fun game and certainly the game I've put the most hours in out of every other game I've ever played. But let me be honest.... This promotion is about 15 years too late. Sure WoW is still around and has an ardent following but it isn't the juggernaut of video games it was back around 2008ish. Microsoft (roughly Seattle based) just acquired Activision-Blizzard (so cal based) so so its probably Microsoft wanting to show off their new IP.

In the case of Bedford I am sure they want him to medical redshirt and to do that he needs to sit the rest of the season. He has already used his redshirt so he can't play at this point. Other players vary but for Kasper and Fields I think they have also both used a redshirt so they might be in line for a medical redshirt as well.

I wouldn't be surprised to see James and Burch play but with a snap count to ensure they aren't put too much at risk. If Harper plays it would probably only be in the first half and on a snap count. Last week's offensive line changes weren't horrible but it was a step down. However, I believe coaches would deem it good enough, especially with Iuli getting another week of reps with the 1s, to probably keep Harper on the bench the entire game if they can manage it. As for Tez... he won't play vs UW and I doubt he'll play against the other UW (can we start referring to the Huskies as the "other UW" just to insult them?) We'll need him for the CCG but probably not against either UW. Especially since Washington has a horrible rushing defense but a good passing defense so I suspect we'll want a healthy James for that game more than a healthy Tez.

But it gives us something to talk about... Indiana, like Texas, will get their shot at a highly ranked team. If they win they're in. If they lose close, they're probably in... if they lose badly then they're out. It will sort itself out soon enough.

The reality is that the SEC, like most conferences, mediocre in the middle. The SEC has had a dominant team or two for what feels like forever now that is a national championship contender yearly but this year Georgia isn't that team and Texas had their shot at a top team and lost and don't appear to be that team either. However, what really irks SEC honks like Finebaum is that the mediocre middle isn't getting the same respect as the traditional top of their conference. Guess what, the middle sections of conferences tend not to be very good. I would argue this year that the B1G's middle is downright weak, so Finebaum and I would probably agree on that front. But I don't think the SEC's middle is all that remarkable this year.

Their winning is the pitch... but I also think that is why they are punching above their weight class right now. I would take Indiana to beat many of those two loss SEC teams right now because they are playing the way they are and not because of their roster.

Big thing to watch tomorrow is if Oregon wins in a dominant fashion and plays a relatively clean game then I wouldn't be concerned with the Ducks dropping a game by lack of focus later in the season. If they play as sloppy as they did against Maryland, then I'll be concerned because they didn't learn those lessons. Or the coaches need to continue to reteach those lessons.

Paul Finebaum eviscerates Big Ten, College Football Playoff committee for 'embarrassing slate of top teams' - On3 WWW.ON3.COM Paul Finebaum continued to lambaste the College Football Playoff Selection Committee for their latest rankings. I don't entirely disagree. However, it feels like he wants the final slate of teams posted right now. The reality is that the CFP rankings are a snapshot where things are today. I also disagree with the notion that the SEC is such a brutal schedule that the top teams in the B1G would be destroyed by it. He claimed that Indiana would be looking at their 5th loss if they played Georgia's schedule. While I would say Indiana maybe have a couple of losses, I don't think they'd be a 5 loss team. This Indiana team is playing with a whole lot of spirit and discipline and though they don't have Georgia's athletes I think they are playing better football. And to be blunt... the football product the SEC is putting on the field this year just doesn't look all that great. Though I suppose that's what the playoff is for. Feels like more SEC bias and that's not surprising coming from him. But hey... it's something to talk about.

I don't think a team needs to lose to learn their mistakes. It certainly makes it a whole lot easier if that happens because losing sucks. I think Lanning can hammer home poor performances that don't come with an L. Idaho and Boise State were both awful and then the Ducks went out and dominated the next stretch of their schedule. The sloppy play against Maryland could be enough of a wake up call if Lanning hammers it home and the team is receptive. I think this team has shown they can be quite receptive and that takes a lot of senior leadership who knows what losing feels like. And this team has that kind of leadership. Lots of players were on this team last who which loss twice to Washington. Those losses hurt real bad. Just need the coaches to remind them of what it feels like because the lessons have been learned but are easily forgotten.

There's a stroke of brilliance in Oregon be UO. Oklahoma is OU... You can always tell a true Duck fan by what they use. Oregon State back in 2007 changed their initials to OS instead of OSU because OSU is for Oklahoma State and Ohio State... I know Ohio State fans want to insist upon tOSU but that's being ridiculous. It always helps to be the dominant brand when it comes to an initial combo.

The third quarter lack of scoring has driven me insane along with not scoring more than 40 points in a game.

So... Run the ball and stop the run. Got it.

I know I wouldn't want to play UCLA right now. They have confidence and are putting things together.

Better than egg shell.

Just at this point I think Moore can appear in at least 2 more games maybe 3 and preserve his redshirt. Redshirt games played only count for the regular season so he'd still be able to play in the playoff if needed. So it will be interesting to see what happens if Wisconsin is a blowout and we see a backup quarterback.

Maybe... I think it's just as much about ensuring Dante Moore has his redshirt preserved. Novosad used his redshirt last year. But I'm still surprised we haven't seen another QB in at the end of the game. But I'd also argue that I don't think garbage time reps are really that valuable anymore. Garbage Time Reps for Back-Ups Don’t Matter | FishDuck FISHDUCK.COM Some of Oregon’s back-ups got a chance to see the field against Colorado this last Saturday, and...

That extra touchdown certainly made Duck fans happy. In the post game press conference Lanning basically said he wasn't sure what Moore was going to do with his remaining time outs. Was he going to get really aggressive and try and barrow the lead or just take a knee? Turns out that Moore called a bunch of pass plays to end the game that didn't go anywhere. But Lanning wanted to be safe and wanted to ensure he won by more than two scores. I think for Lanning winning by three touchdowns is the goal. It shows dominance and creates a safety net if something wild were to happen.

The NFL is a different game... Well ok it's still football. But roster management, player management, "recruitment" is all different. Then the meta game is very different too. It's not called "pro-style" for nothing. Would Lanning be a good NFL coach. Probably... But he has it in him to be a great college coach. The reality is that NFL coaches exist in their own bubble and college coaches in theirs. Sure there is some cross over these days but the two games are so different that you don't see much cross over anymore. Tosh Lupoi did a stint in the NFL as a position coach and then came back to college. I remember a few years ago during the Jimmy Lake era at Washington they were raving about how many NFL coaches they had... And that didn't seem to do them any good.