David Marsh

I feel this game will look more like the game Washington played against Utah in honesty. Close throughout, sure Washington shutout the Utes in the second half but they didn't secure a win until the very end of it all. The beavers are going to fight hard. Washington has little depth and it's been showing as the season progresses. Oregon really punched them in the mouth and they haven't recovered from it fully. November is so though to keep the team healthy. We saw Nix reduce his running against USC. Probably in part because he didn't need to run it and because it's probably about preserving his body as well.

This article can also apply to TAMU. It was mostly written by the time Jimbo Fisher was fired but I wasn't going back to make it bloated, especially when we don't have much of a relationship with TAMU as Duck fans. This will also probably be the case for Bama once Saban leaves. Georgia had this problem for decades until they hired Kirby Smart and most importantly stuck with him for a few bad years (by their standard) and let him work. I love watching Trojan fans squirm these days. They'll be a good program but probably not great until Riley figures our defense... Or more probable he leaves for the NFL and the start the process all over again.

In fairness ... We don't actually know how interested TAMU is in Lanning. It's all the media lists that Lanning is on that is creating the speculation.

Here's the other thing about stability that any coach taking that TAMU job should think about. They just fired Jumbo and are going to pay him his full contract of nearly 80 mil. It doesn't matter what they pay you if they don't think you're getting the job done you're gone. Granted... Because of Jimbo's contract I think they held onto him a season or two longer than they probably wanted. I don't think they are going to make that mistake in their next contract. If you go to TAMU there is a good chance you're leaving but not on your terms.

The alignment of that nose guard being right over JPJ was probably enough that there was not forward motion possible to drive the pile. I would say at the very least the player being offside was the factor that stopped that play. If it was any other player being offside I'd agree and say we were bailed out due to a penalty but in this case the location of the offside absolutely affected the outcome of the play. I do think that we were probably half a yard too far from that play being a safe go ahead though, it works well if its 1 yard or less and we needed 2 so it felt a little far. Then again... I've seen Nix get 3-4 on a QB sneak with the right push. Then we used the Jumbo formation against Cal twice at the goal line and both were successful touchdowns. However, we should absolutely start mixing it up a bit. Some variations we have seen before with the jumbo package can be seen in my article below. Oregon Football is The Embodiment of Modern Physicality FISHDUCK.COM As Oregon fans, we heard all about physicality from former HC Mario Cristobal over the last four years. Cristobal is gone now... We absolutely need to see more variation in this package because it is getting too predictable. However, that predictability opens up everything else that can come out of this package as well. I personally love it when a TE sneaks behind the defense and Nix just tosses him the ball for an easy TD/conversion.

Or the refs calling PI on a blatant case of PI on a husky defender holding so much jersey it's stretched out and should have been an easy flag for even a newbie ref. That gets called there is no pick 6 and ASU probably hangs on to win. Huskies are a lucky team. They're good... But they are undefeated through luck right now. I have a feeling that luck is about to wear out.

Ouch... But Avalos was a Petersen Boise guy. He went to BSU during the Petersen years so he was a legacy in that regard. He never strucj me as someone who was hired because of his MC connection.

Only reason we got Bo was because of Dillingham and their relationship. I don't think we would have gotten a shot at Nix otherwise. Stein was all about keeping the offense and molding it around Nix which is why Nix stayed... Along with a shot at bigger and better things. He's here and wanted to stay another year and is probably getting paid well for it as well.

I think if he doesn't shut it down if asked a direct question, which he'll probably get tomorrow during his weekly press conference, it could be a problem. At this point I'm sure he's already shut it down internally with his team during the Sunday meetings.

Miami was the ONLY program Mario was leaving Oregon for... I don't see TAMU at that status of dream job for Oregon. Also .. I'd like to note that Miami came up before in 2018 and MC turned it down at that point.

Is TAMU that much better of a job than Ole Miss? Considering Kiffin has again built something and it's still a work in progress but it's not certainly rebuild status. Whereas TAMU is a full rebuild for whoever takes over. Not entirely from a talent standpoint but certainly a culture standpoint.

Wish I could find the article... But Oklahoma's defensive players were feeling so validated and valued with the coaching change to Venables. You know because he actually cares about that side of the ball and gives it some of his personal attention. I know Lanning spends time in each position meeting. I don't get the sense that Riley does.

I think most Duck fans are with you in wanting a chance to play Miami. But for that to happen it would sadly mean the Ducks are going to a crap bowl game. So I'm good with NOT playing them. But how about Mario loses to Cal and Stanford in the next few years?

Some great highlight reel stuff is the biggest win from this one. And Oregon did hold USC to their second lowest scoring of the season. Oregon's defense needs to confirm to find ways to getting pressure on the QB and lock down those receivers a bit more for our rematch with Washington.

So early on this season there was a lot of discussion about USC's schedule. They played in week 0 and we're able to get a second bye week in the season. That bye week in the final week of the season. USC did their part to design their season this way so that they could rest up before the conference title game. I know it annoyed many of our fellow forum members that they were allowed to build their schedule this way. Now it is one of the most hilarious misfires of their scheduling. This team is on the verge of collapse. UCLA isn't a great team and I'd say USC is probably favored to win but an angry UCLA team looking to bounce back could be a dangerous game. This USC team could just completely collapse down the stretch here, especially if their team is sitting around that last week of the year with many going home for thanksgiving and not having to prep for a game. What might have been an advantage might turn into a culture building nightmare for the Trojans and it's delightful.

I'm sure Texas could have found a way to get the money Saban wanted if he was a real option for them when they were doing any of their coaching searches this last decade. Saban doesn't have any interest in leaving the program he created and he is getting paid enough that he's not interested in leaving. I'm sure Lanning will get a pay bump at the end of this season if it turns out as we all hope with at least a conference championship.

And I'm sure he has already done so in his locker room... Or he will be doing so at the next team meeting. Coaches may pretend not to read media coverage but they all do.

Beyond that isn't it really strange to be talking about a Chip Kelly team that has a good defense but absolutely zero offense???? ASU is better than their record but UCLA should have been able to handle them you'd think. I think Chip is going quarterback shopping in the portal again this year. He inherited a solid QB in DTR but he clearly doesn't have a QB this year.

I believe so .. don't know who but I know we have more than one. I believe in practice that Lewis is the best kicker we have but that isn't translating into the game right now. That 41 yarder that was missed should have been a fairly easy hit. The position wasn't straight on but it wasn't that much to either side and he had plenty of leg on it... Just no accuracy. Lewis also had a kick go out of bounds in kick off. I think that series Oregon got a nice stop but that sort of thing can't happen.

But I do feel OSU has a better offense when it comes to QB play. Washington made some half time changes that were pretty good and Utah's offense just ran out of steam. Utah is pretty one dimensional right now without a dynamic quarterback. Oregon State has two better options at QB... So we'll have to see. Right now I feel it is too close to call. It's also an away game for Washington against a team that probably hates them just a shade less than they hate Oregon.

Or a great folly... Following Saban at Bama will be a trap when that job opens up that only someone foolhardy enough would take. They'll have a good roster but be expected to win big right out the gate, they'll have a ticking clock on them as soon as they take that job. They'll also have to coach under the shadow of Saban and be constantly compared to Saban which is a losing scenario. The TAMU job would also be a nightmare. Sure they have good players.... In theory. But they are a full on culture rebuild and therefore a roster rebuild. Easier to do today with the transfer portal. But to make that job even worse, they'll not be recruiting against Texas, which is pretty good again, in the same conference.

Going to be this way for years... This time every year is going to have Lanning as a top candidate for such and such job.... Until he is embedded so much at Oregon that it becomes a why bother. No one is saying Smart are Saban are on the market because they are so settled in their jobs that they aren't moving for anything.

And then if they some how manage to convince Lanning it would be another 20ish mil for his buy out ... And then the actual sallery on top of that. They probably could do it if they really wanted to but I don't think Lanning is going to bite. He is building his own loyalty as Oregon by building his own program. I also don't think his family would be too keen to move again when he has already said multiple times that he feels bad about moving them as much as he has.

But I'd say Oregon State has a better defense than most of their recent boat races.

We burned a LOT of clock because the defense kept them in check. We didn't need to play a shootout so we didn't.