David Marsh

We're still behind against the Huskies in the overall record last I checked. But that can change if Oregon can begin another decade of dominance.

I said in my article that I think Bray did his players a disservice with that line. They played well and executed well. They just were outclassed physically.

But we all hate Washington. That Rivarly went a bit dormant with the 12 years of Duck domination but has been given some new life with the Petersen era and the DeBoer eras causing us some pains. That's a rivalry that still has some teeth to it. I think we're all looking forward to seeing Lanning and the Ducks demolish Washington at the end of this season. Our lack of feelings for Oregon State are telling that this rivalry is dying.

Well he would have had a lot of snaps last year at the very least. This year.. probably not as much. In 2022 he had a lot of playtime and was complementary with T Ferg.

I was in the camp of maintaining this game yearly as an OOC game. It felt like something important and worthwhile. But watching the game and in talking with some work colleagues who are Beaver fans and we have always had great respect for each other. Their reaction to the game was a "why bother playing this?" and it kinda hit me... at this point the game is really feeling something like Oregon playing LSU or Ohio State in the late 2000's and early 2010's. Those were games where we felt like we had a chance but once the game got underway it was clear we didn't have the players to keep up. I know I've said repeatedly that this game should continue if the Beavers want it because it will become an eternal L on their season's record. And that is exactly what this game will do for them. A large portion of the Beaver fan base will forever hate the Ducks with a fiery passion but how many of us hate the Beavers will the same passion? As Charles posted above us a picture of a Beaver fan with a sign saying "Die Ducks Die" ... I can't remember seeing Duck fans holding a sign with that much hate towards the Beavers. Instead we tend to have signs that belittle them and poke fun at them. We don't see them as our rivals anymore and rivalries need to go both ways.

Winners. We lost very very few players we actually want to keep. Sure some leave and get significantly better away from Oregon but here they wouldn't be starters. There are only a couple exceptions.

Only player we actually miss as he would be getting good snaps at Oregon still. He was getting a ton at Oregon in 2022 before he transferred.

The 2015 Vernon Adams 3OT win over Arizona State was also pretty incredible. I remember that one being a Thursday night and I was annoyed that I had to work in the morning. At least we won.

If I'm Memphis or Tulane I would hold out and see what happens to Florida State and Clemson in the ACC. If they leave the ACC and join the Power 2 the ACC may opt to expand and grabbing those two would look like a consolation prize worth grabbing. An ACC without Clemson, FSU and probably Miami would be the same tier as the Big 12 (the conference of left overs). At that point we'd have three distinct tiers in college football... well we already do now. Tier 1: Big Ten and SEC Tier 2.5: ACC Tier 2: Big 12 Tier 3: The G6 The Big 12 is right now actually earning more media dollars than the ACC due to the ACC's dumb super long contract. However, the ACC still has some significant programs that have enough value to warrant them above the Big 12 that lacks a primier program. Once those premier programs leave the ACC will be the same status as the Big 12. I also wouldn't be surprised to see the Big 12's next media deal stay the same or go down slightly. This current media deal for the Big 12 was all about killing the Pac-12. The ACC Is Next on the Chopping Block for Conference Realignment |... FISHDUCK.COM Last year I wrote an article about the Coming College Football Schism where there will be two conferences that are composed of the haves and the remaining…

They're both hoping for the long game where they might get a spot in the B1G which would come with reduced travel but be a good fit academically. I think they'll be waiting a very long time for that to happen.

A great picture for my article on Thursday!

I think Nebraska is scary... they're not getting a ton of respect right now but I think they'll surprise many.

2015 Rose Bowl against Florida State... That was an incredible game. 2014 Michigan State was really good too. I just like the 2014 team.

James may not have the great break away speed.. he does seem to be one missed tackle away from a touchdown at least three times a game. But what he does have his chunk yardage. I haven't had a chance to look at his average but its pretty high. When the line is clicking and he picks up 6 or 7 yards on first down and sets up 2nd and short... the whole playbook is completely open. James can just match it down the field himself. Whittington has his moments but I still find him frustrating at times because he seems to get stuck in a hole and not come out the other side. James seems to hit a hole and slip through or just carry the pile for a decent carry. Whittington just sort of stops. Personally... I wouldn't mind see more run plays attack the edges. We have fantastic tackles and if we can leverage them more then we might make the middle easier to run through as well.

That is a discredit to his players. The Beavers played disciplined and solid football. They are going to win quite a few games this season they are a solid team. They got run over by a team that played just as disciplined but we're far better athletes. Their style of football is a slug it out and slow the game down with long drives and lock down defense. It falls apart when they can't get a stop and they need to play catch up. Oregon executed beautifully and it wasn't too complex. They were bigger, faster and stronger and there's not much stopping that.

Both Washington and TCU and Michigan for that matter had National Championship runs built on Covid shirt rosters. They were playing with a ton of 5th and 6th year players. Oregon has had three seasons now built off 6th year quarterbacks but most of our roster isn't anywhere near as old in years as those rosters.

Fisch is a good coach. I know there are a lot of people dumping on him on other Oregon boards but he turned an awful dead in the water Arizona program around. I think most Oregon fans dump on him because he took the UW job and that's about it. Washington has no significany talent on that roster and it will take years for anyone to rebuild properly. There just aren't enough good portal guys for any one team to build a high tier roster out of ... Not when the big boys take the cream of the crop as it is. I think Fisch has had some bad meme-able moments, the shirt! But he if stayed at Arizona they probably wouldn't battling for the top of the Big 12 this year, I do think he should have waited another year before jumping ship but Arizona doesn't have any money. Will Florida want him? They might want to interview him but I kinda doubt it at the moment... They want an instant fix and I don't think there is one so they'll probably make another bad hire. I think Fisch if given two years could turn Florida around but they won't want to wait that long.

Except the way ooc games work is that the home team plays the visiting team to travel. So in that regard ... The Beavs are paying us to come 40 mins up the road to punch them in the face collect our win and a (rather small) bag of money and leave. Though the payout isn't great it does add insult to injury which is nice at least.

According to all the media heading into this one 2023 didn't happen. Last we played was 2022 and the Ducks lost that one. So I don't think they're alone in forgetting 2023.

The Beavers have a very good head coach. I feel they did well in hiring Trent Bray. But this is year three of Dan Lanning and his roster. The Beavers were well coached and if they played us a week earlier it might have been close ... But Lanning and company put it all together and we're ready. The Beavs played a good half ... But they couldn't play a second one.

The announcers at one point during the game said that Stein simplified the playbook a bit for this week. If true it would be a smart move to get everyone doing the basics well before adding on layers. Last year with so many returning veterans they really could add a few extra layers early on to the playbook. But this year there are a lot of new faces, though veterans in their own right.

I would tend to agree with that... But perhaps it was also fear of Strother's recovery. It just seemed weird that they insisted on playing him at right guard when he's always been left. And I've been told many times that it's harder to flip linemen around than it seems. It just kinda feels they weren't putting him in the best place to succeed. When Harper seems flexible.

Unless the formula changes.... I'd rather have a consistent victory over the Beavs rather than risk a loss against the SEC. With an expanded play off we'll get plenty of shots at the SEC.

Strother was in position to secure a starting role at left guard LAST year before his injury. At that point Harper took over at left guard. I'm actually SHOCKED that they didn't slide Strother in as left guard and move Harper over to right from the get go. I think Harper has prior experience at right guard. I know Harper was taking reps at center (not this year) but the previous years. So he is probably our single most versatile lineman we have.

I saw Bedford in for a couple snaps with Dante Moore. There was one angle you could see his name on his jersey. But that was it. The coaches got some live snaps under him but weren't going to risk him for the game.