David Marsh

I had to dive back into that mess and this line stuck out about Ross James the painter that I thought was really another poor argument. "James’ punts were only fair-caught 55.6 percent of the time which means that returners found it in their favor to attempt to run the ball back. Only 11 of his 27 punts were within the 20-yard line and each punt only averaged 48.4 yards." The argument here is two fold... First that James didn't pin teams back inside the 10 very often. That has more to do with the offense and decision making where Lanning was far more likely to go for it on fourth if we were around mid field or just over midfield and on the opponent's side. So not a lot of opportunities for those kinds of punts because the offense just wasn't stopped on a regular basis. And when the offense was stopped and forced to punt James was punting deep in Oregon territory and his job was to flip the field and he did that. Also the comment about how returners didn't fair catch his punts enough feels logical or more of a punt protection problem. The hang time and distance on his punts were pretty good. And again it goes back to the fact of the matter that James didn't punt thatich because the offense was just just that efficient. This one felt more like he just wanted to see the newer guy, Australian Like Dunne, rather than the vet. If Dunne wins the job more power to him but James was by no means a liability. I like Camden Lewis... Who is out of eligibility.

The guy knows nothing... He was completely WRONG about Florence as his argument hinges on the two losses to Washington. In the first game Florence was injured in the second half. Bridges got burned a couple times and made some decent plays but Florence wasn't in the game. The second game Florence didn't even play because he was out with an injury. So that right there is an argument based around no evidence. He should be replaced because he was injured is the argument which is a poor argument. Our punting was pretty solid so Ross James, we just didn't punt all that much. I know mid way through the season he would have been considered perhaps the BEST punter in the country but he didn't have enough punts for him to be ranked. That's a testimony to the offense. And as for Boettcher... Incredible athlete to play linebacker. I'd be a bit surprised if he plays as much this year because I feel some of the youngsters are more athleticly gifted but need to learn the system. They know the system now so they will probably surpass him. But does he need to be replaced? Probably not. I fully expect him to play next year and contribute, especially on special teams.

I have to recheck... but I think you can get most of the channels (minus peacock) on one of Sling's packages. Pac-12 required both and then some.

Starters rarely transfer if they are in stable programs. I do think part of it is also Offensive linemen build each other up as a unit. So the best linemen don't want to transfer out and start over with a new line. Whereas if they stay with their guys and coaches they are going to start and put themselves in the best position to be drafted. Though in the end I'm not sure why the best linemen opt not to transfer on the whole. Part of it I do think is that the NIL money comes through at the top schools with the top linemen to ensure they stay put. There are always a few good linemen in the portal, not saying they're aren't any, but compared to quarterbacks, receivers, runningbacks, linebackers and the like there are very few. Colorado built their lines out of the portal so there are linemen available but the linemen Colorado got were relatively small compared to what Oregon, Alabama, Ohio State and Michigan have on their lines. There is a reason why Oregon bullied Colorado on the line of scrimmage so hard, its because the size of linemen. For whatever reason high quality linemen don't enter the portal at the same rate as other position groups.

Great link, thanks. Colorado being in the losers category even with 22 new transfers is telling because the one thing they need isn't in the portal en mass... Linemen. Sure there are some and some very good ones but no where near enough to build a roster on. Linemenust be recruited at the high school level.

It does still mean that they have one more coaching spot so someone is getting hired/promoted somewhere.

Probably not... Lanning, Lupoi are both in the recruitment. But also the key here is that Wadood is also in on the recruiting. He is a Grad Assistant at the moment but he may become the new CB coach. I'd probably venture a guess and say there is one person who has not been working on his recruitment and that is probably Coach Meat because Lanning has probably known for a while now that he was going to take that MSU job.

This is absolutely brutal. Sure they can work on filling a lot of those positions via the portal but as I have said multiple times the best players in the portal this year are cycling through now or have already chcled through. Sure he'll bring some from zona but I doubt it'll be 20. I suspect 10 at most. But I've been wrong a lot lately so what do I know. The spring portal will open and teams like Oregon will be looking at shedding a few players because of potential overages. Living over the scholarship limit is how rosters are managed these days, not under. Also... As we've seen with Colorado, there is plenty of average to good players in the portal but very few great players. Teams like Oregon snatch up the great players. It's going to be ugly at Washington that's for sure.

I've been fortunate enough to keep my power but my brother lost his. Waiting for the ice storm today to see what comes next. I'm a high school teacher in pps so thankfully I don't have to worry about work at the moment.

Only need to live with it for a year or two... then he'll be off to somewhere else.

Wasn't pleased how grabby he was playing against him.... However... he didn't seem to get called too often for how much contact he made. So I guess I'm fine with it. I would just love the amount of pain it would do to the Husky fan base at this point.

I don't see it as a good move for him. I still think it's better to wait a year and leverage that into a position.

The Colorado number is INSANE with 21 new portal commits. Looks like they're doing a bit of. A rinse and repeat with last year's strategy, it might work better for them this year but unless they fix their line of scrimmage problems they won't see drastically more success. Oh wait... They are in a tier 2 conference now. Yeah they'll have more success than last year.

And I thought we could be a dramatic bunch... I'll conceed the Huskies have us beat there.

Shaw could be good. He's still a good coach but what he ran up against was the transfer portal more than anything else. Stanford is still a net loser to the portal as they can't really make that much use of it due to their academic standards. Then Stanford can't retain players like they used to because they don't allow players who have their bachelor's to roll into a grad degree without going through the academic process every other grad program requires any non-athlete to go through. (I'll be honest as someone who was rejected a few times from grad programs, I kinda like this idea of no special treatment) But this means once players have their bachelor's degree in hand they'll probably transfer elsewhere as a grad transfer. On the flip side of that, Stanford can't make use of really any grad transfers because they need to be accepted on purely academic merit. But at Washington he wouldn't have those issues. So he could probably recruit better and make use of the portal. However.... I don't think Shaw wants to return to college football because of the recruiting.

By the end of the season I was more impressed with James than Bucky. I think Irving was playing a bit banged up but he was just getting stuffed for little to no gain. Where James on the same run was getting significant yardage. Probably a bit of an injury thing but James defiantly looks ready to be the read rusher. But as stated above we also have a big body in a transfer as well. Whittington is a change of pace back, he isn't the bell cow. However, how Oregon likes to rotate backs anyways we don't really have a primary back per se. I think so much of how this runningback room operates is through throwing fresh legs at an opponent with slightly different skill sets and making their defense adjust. The key in most sports is if you can make the opposing team think, you're winning. Forcing the opponent to think means they won't play as fast and that could mean the difference from a 2 yard gain and a 40 yard touchdown run.

Oddly enough... I could see that happening. I don't think it's crazy likely... but I could see it.

I wrote this went MC left us. The Changing Face of Loyalty in CFB Coaching | FishDuck FISHDUCK.COM Loyalty for aspiring top-tier programs is dead in College Football. The desire for loyalty is commendable and... but you're right loyalty goes both ways.

And if he makes the playoff with Zona he'll be in a fantastic spot to land it.

He would have been better off in the draft.... Kiss that draft stock good bye!

That helps thanks. Hard to keep track of all the rules these days. So theoretically Fisch could take the UW job and take a bunch of his players with him if they wanted. But to me Fisch staying out at Zona is just as likely because he has his entire roster that he built and probably a better shot af the playoff next year. Then leverage that into another coaching gig in the power 2 if he wanted next year.

TAMU picked someone with existing connections to the program. He was the DC there before he left to become the HC at Duke. Also I think DeBoer was really the only splashy choice for Bama. I think Saban waiting to announce his retirement was a mistake. Sure, it allowed him to get this recruiting class but announcing earlier in the coaching carousel may have given them more options.

Bama can't do anything but hire a big name. Their AD is trapped in that regard. Could you imagine Bama hiring a coordinator who had never been a HC before... Especially someone who didn't have any connections to the program? Some like Dan Lanning to Oregon. Their fanbase would flip the fricken out! Now I know the AD's job is about what's best for the university and not what fans want.... However, sometimes what fans want is what's best because they're the ones who fill the seats. Bama either had to hire a big name coach from outside the program or promote someone from within. This is the curse of all blue bloods. Look at USC, LSU, Texas or any other blue bloods. They go big or go within.

When you only win by one score you can't afford to put 2s and 3s in for any playing time.

Better roster! I think our blue chip ratio may be around 70% next season. And that's with some of those blue chippers developing over the past couple of years. Think of all those freshman and sophomores who played snaps are starting to come into their own. Think of Florence who was solid last year getting even better!