David Marsh

The West Coast teams just aren't going to kick off at 9am if they are highly ranked because those fan bases aren't ready for a game yet. The structure of how games are distributed is problematic for Fox who absolutely killed the Pac-12. Beyond that... I do think the SEC being in complete chaos this year has helped ESPN greatly. I know I've tuned into more SEC games this year than I have in previous years. Watching Alabama lose to Vanderbilt and Oklahoma are absolutely worth tuning in for... watching 2021 Georgia roll over every team they came across? Not so interesting.

These came out after I wrote the article. As I don't do this full time sadly some of my points become less prominent as there is a delay from writing and publishing. But still... lots of people aren't picking the Ducks to win it all. I think Lanning is using that as fuel for the players.

Three transfers in one day. One TE and 2 OL Big haul.

And fun. Don't forget FUN!

I seriously doubt there are 12 legitimate contenders for the national championship. Granted the expanded playoff isn't about expanding the playoff to allow for more contenders to compete. The reality is that I think there are probably 4 maybe 5 actual conteders this year. Certainly not 12. The expanded playoff is about the money. I think so much of the excitement this year about the playoff has been about making the playoffs. 24 spots kinda loses some of that drama.

I am a sucker for listening/watching to anyone talk about USC falling apart. Also some nice talk about our Man Dan in there as a what if USC hired Lanning instead of Riley. Which never would have happened in a million years! Because... Lincoln Riley is a Perfect Fit for USC and That’s Their Problem |... FISHDUCK.COM It has been absolutely delightful as Duck fans to watch USC’s problems, not only this year but over more than... Enjoy!

Is it even the scrap-8 yet, don't they need one more football school? They have enough for basketball I know..

Closing paragraph got a laugh out of me... "While the rivalry between Sanders and Lanning might have been born from Oregon’s dominant victory, it is Hunter’s Heisman Trophy that will leave the lasting mark. The silent response from Sanders and his team is undeniable. Colorado’s “hype” was no illusion. It was a vision realized, one defined by talent, perseverance, and a player who truly changed the game" I think the "rivalry" here is one sided. As Duck fans we don't see any rivalry between the Ducks/Lanning and Colorado/Sanders. Do we enjoy watching Colorado lose? Yep.. but that's not unique to Oregon that's ALL of college football. Also the Heisman is all about hype! It's about gaudy statistics and highlights. And if anything this year's Heisman made a statement that of the 4 finalists only Dillon Gabriel played in the B1G or SEC. The Heisman statement was that be a high quality athlete and play bad competition and put up big stats. Would Hunter put up the same stats in the B1G? Absolutely not! This is not to say he isn't a quality athlete but he was certainly several levels above his average competition in the Big 12. As for a lasting mark... Whose in the playoff? Lanning and Gabriel were honored to be invited to the Heisman ceremony but that wasn't the goal of the season. The goal is to make the playoff and WIN a National Championship. The Buffs don't even have a playoff invite. Hard to achieve a National Championship without one. Colorado is still playing for clicks. The Ducks are looking to win it ALL.

In a 12 team field there is far more wiggle room. SMU would not have gotten into the playoff at all in a 4 team field but were given the nod in a 12 team field. Last year's FSU team would have gotten in in a 12 team field. Also the automatic bid system would have given FSU a spot regardless. If we were to judge Georgia getting in on a technicality then so did ASU and Clemson as both were clearly outside of the playoff field in terms of rankings but got in via autobids. Georgia deserves a spot.

BOTH! Players and agents will absolutely tell other programs what is offered and on the table. Though as we have also seen with Division Street and Lanning is that they will NOT get into a bidding war early in the cycle but will hold back resources to put on the table if they need to close out with a recruit, flip a recruit and always the transfer portal. A program like Michigan this year just outright put everything on the table (10 mil for a QB) and wasn't hiding anything.

Is Dante Moore truly a portal quarterback? Technically yes... but the reality is that he came in to sit for a year, just like many prep recruits, and we recruited him as a prep recruit but he went to UCLA for his first year. I think our QB room has stabilized since the Herbert era. There should be enough talent there that we don't need to go to the portal to grab a new quarterback. But if we do, the Lanning will get it done. Quarterback is by far the HARDEST position to evaluate from a high school recruit. Ty Thompson is the case and point.

Good day so far for the Ducks.

Yes... but no. Opposing fan bases that hate us have always said that we buy players and that we don't play by the rules. The reality is that NIL the cost to recruiting top end recruits. Sure, we have some schools, like Michigan this cycle, who dropped 10 mil on a quarterback but that is an outlier. Most NIL collectives know what a recruit is worth and pretty much a players top X are all schools what have put out an NIL offer in the same ballpark. Dakorian Moore was down to Oregon and Texas really and from what I have heard Texas had the bigger offer but Oregon was close enough that it didn't matter. It came down to the old standards of recruiting, relationships. NIL is just the cost of recruiting, closing is still often down to the coaches.

Is the quarter system that rare? Personally, I loved the quarter system while at UO and just in general. The quarter system always meant that every quarter was a bit of sprint and with only 10 weeks it was difficult to get too complacent with classes and fall behind. Semesters just drag on forever.

Lanning is doing it again... Though this year it feels different in that it doesn't feel like Lanning is going for a ton of players but being very precise in his choices. Looking forward to see how next year's roster pulls together.

I wouldn't be surprised if Samples wanted to do a Lanning. Still coach for his current (old) team in the playoff and make a national championship run while moonlighting with the new program as the HC. What Lanning did was incredible as he salvaged.a recruiting class, navigated the portal, hired his staff; all while continuing his current duties. This is Lanning's program and culture and I wouldn't be shocked if other coaches around him are wired the same way. Oregon has a ton of faith in Lanning out the gate as they let him do that. I doubt most other programs would have that patience. Just conjecture and no evidence this is the case on my part.

The Heisman highlights the problem with football and stats. We love stats and that's fine but stats are not created equal for all positions. Offensive stats for skill positions are easy to evaluate. Jeanty has a billion rushing yards and touchdowns and compare that to another runningback. Simple. Quarterbacks get more stat inflation because Gabriel did get credit for a lot of passing yards even though most of his passes were relatively short. Tez just does Tez things and does the rest. Recievers only get yards when they get the ball... But quarterbacks may not throw them the ball. Stewart had a very quiet game against Penn State, doesn't mean he wasn't doing his job and isn't a good receiver. Just no stats. Offensive lineman are super critical for the success of a team. But they get very very very few stats and even then they really only get stats when they mess up. Defense gets basically nothing, especially the best defenders. Jubbar Muhammad might be a better DB than Hunter... But he doesn't have as many stats. But how often do quarterbacks throw his way for him to record a stat? Not that often. Not saying JM is better as that's another discussion... But it's worth considering that some of the best defenders don't get much in the way of stats because the ball never comes to them. So as a result a CB being up for the Heisman is rare. If Hunter only played CB he wouldn't be a Heisman candidate. Period. There are also much better receives than him out there. Just no one else doing both. Which is impressive. But Heisman worthy? Best player in all of football this year? Certainly a gifted athlete but not sure if he is the best.

Pretty sure we haven't paid 10 mil for a QB.

And yet... Colorado didn't win the Big 12.

Have some hope! We all have PTSD! Stay tuned for tomorrow's article!

Probably about as much as Herm Edwards. Ask ASU how that turned out. Well... Pretty good after they fired him and got Dilly.

Pretty sure USC is going to lose their minds. They play at Autzen next season. The last game they played us at Autzen as well. However, I consider this payback for when we played them back to back at their place in 2019 and 2020.

If true... That says a lot about these Ducks and their floor. Great teams find a way to win that's for sure. Also... It looks like Penn State picked their poison. They have one DB who has the speed to really cover our receivers. They choose to put him on Stewart, who was sick as well, so a decoy running at lower power. So they didn't have anyone to defend Tez... Which was super obvious by how often he was running free.

This makes sense and would be a good way for most players to portal for bowl season. Stay with the team and finish out the season. Unless the team environment is toxic it should be the way things are done. Many players, especially top tier players, leave their teams to go compete at a higher level. Staying and competing shows loyalty to their team while also doing what is best for them. The portal opening when it does creates a lot of chaos for many teams.

Cristobal is 0-1 against Iowa State. That Fiesta Bowl the Ducks went to against Iowa State was an outright embarrassment. Sure, it was the 2020 season that was a mess in so many ways. But I have never seen an Oregon team so woefully under prepared than that Fiesta Bowl team. Miscommunication, players being in the outright wrong place and just dropping the football and making bad decisions. Most of us have forgotten about that game for good reason.