David Marsh

I feel Nix is a better leader. He knows when he needs to put the team on his shoulders. Against Stanford on Oregon's third possession he runs on 3rd and 5 and gets the first down. He did some similar things against Texas Tech as well. He knows when he needs to lead for the team to win.

The ESPN match predictor is funny at the Runningback position as it is comparing Bucky Irving to Washington's Dillion Johnson. It looks like the two are evening matched in stats but the reality is that Oregon has two other runningbacks behind Irving that have close to the same stats as Irving. There is no comparison between these two team's run games.

I basically said that Oregon wasn't going to get any press coverage for the next two weeks (this week and next week) in my last article. Ducks Continue to Surge in Silence FISHDUCK.COM Last spring Josh Pate at Late Kick Live did a segment about how the Oregon fanbase was feeling. He basically said that the Ducks... We were on the Pac-12 network which seems to have less viewership now than every before with the conference's imminent demise and we played Stanford... a team that no one cares about. Oregon is flying under the radar and best to embrace it at this point. In some ways it puts less of a target on our backs and may inflate those Huskies heads enough that they make a few mistakes.

If Zona has better athletes on the pass rush they would have gotten him a few times there. Also... to give the pass rush more time having solid man coverage on the back end will make those decisions slightly harder. This is a game of split seconds... don't need much to to change the outcome. I think Stanford may have a better offensive line than Washington or at least somewhat comparative. Only Stanford is very underwhelming at every other position. Get a little heat on Penix and this pass heavy offense will be behind the chains. Always able to break out because it's so pass heavy but 3rd and 10 is still a different beast than 3rd and 4.

Against PSU Oregon only had like 1 or 2 flags. Against TT (pac-12 refs) it was dreadful. Then still pretty bad against Hawaii. But a decent improvement against Colorado. Then yesterday against Stanford there was another significant improvement. It should be under control against Washington. The coaches aren't going to let up yet on flags. It needs constant reinforcement. Some flags are acceptable but the self inflicted penalties are not and those are the ones that have really diminished the past couple weeks. It will be interesting to see if the false starts come back at Washington though with the actual crowd noise for the Ducks offense. Stanford isn't exactly loud.

It was old school Stanford football. Burn clock and slowly march down the field. Only thing it was missing was touchdowns instead of field goals. The defense stood strong in the end there. On the Duck side of things... that first three and out series I was frustrated they went for a deep shot on 3rd and 4 instead of trying to convert. After Stanford burned like half the first quarter on their opening drive it would have been better to keep the offense on the field longer.

Even if our secondary doesn't blanket the huskies receivers perfectly we'll be ok. Because Penix isn't a big runner and Arizona is giving Penix some pressure, not enough to seal the deal with sacks but a more athletically gifted team, say like Oregon, will get through and get some hits. Add that with having man-defense on his receivers making those throws more difficult and it could be a long day in Seattle for the Huskies. Remember everyone... Oregon doesn't need to hold the Huskies to 6 points to win and they probably can't do that anyways. They just need to ensure that Washington doesn't score more points than Oregon. And right now Arizona has been running through that Washington defensive line and their secondary is also getting carved up by Arizona's back-up quarterback. Not enough to make that game truly close but enough that Arizona is still alive and kicking in the 4th. Just wait until it's Oregon that is punching through with big runs and big passes. It's going to be a BIG game in Seattle in two weeks that's for sure.

Meanwhile... Oregon's defense is averaging 11.8 points per game allowed...

The Oregon crowd is getting in it now... Hearing the "let's go Ducks" chant on the TV now. Fans at Stanford, make this game a home game now!

How has Stanford had the ball for effectively the entire quarter???

Yeah Georgia is not looking that great today... tie game in the 4th... that's dangerous.

Colorado only loses to USC by 7. And USC has to play at Autzen this year... I'm so excited.

Colorado has put more than 30 points up on USC. Sure USC scored more against Colorado than the Ducks last week but Oregon didn't need to score more either.

Two more USC takeaways. USC can't run the ball. And USC cannot defense against the run. Oregon has to be drooling.

I voted Syracuse not because I believe they have played anyone but they have been up and down all over the place in past years but overall not that good. So being undefeated by week 5 for them... even while not playing anyone is surprising.

Another line I've picked up on is the opponent... Every day and every week Oregon is playing Oregon. It goes to the standard but is definitively bent towards growth and self improvement. Sure everyone knows they are play Stanford today and they watched Stanford film. But they need to play against themselves and meet their standard. Kinda a new take on Chip's faceless opponent. The ducks know who the opponent is every day... it's themselves.

52-0 7 sacks 300 passing yards Yeah... I'm going for a shutout! Probably won't happen but I'm going there!

Colorado going against USC is making me feel good about Oregon v USC right now. Colorado's defense has had some big opportunities against USC's line but lack the athletes to seal the deal. Oregon has those athletes and Williams will be under a lot of pressure against the Ducks in November.

Again? You make it sound like this is an off uniform... If they're home they are either wearing black or these uniforms. That orange hurts the eyes that's for sure.

From a spectical stand point... 2015. Vernon Adams was just on fire! Stanford was gearing up for a playoff run and Oregon just squishes it. It felt very 2012 revenge. Everything on the line for the last play of the game where Stanford needs to convert for 2 points and Oregon gets it done. 2009 and 2010 were also brilliant.

Well... our OC shouldn't be in he hospital this time and we can hope that the refs don't have it in for the Ducks this time. Granted... Oregon needs to get the penalties in line fast. Seen a gradual improvement the last couple weeks it feels like but still too many.

Offenses are compatible to last year and Oregons offense was doing good until Nix got hurt. I feel Washington's defense is about the same as it was last year while Oregon's has made leaps and bounds in the improvement category. As long as the Ducks continue to improve we're in a good place.

It's good... nothing more to say really. Green and white and I like the green helmets.

I feel like Oregons balanced offense is hurting Nix so far... he isn't asked to throw it as much because Oregon has a good run game so he doesn't put up the same stats.

Week Four is over, so now I will dip my toe into Pac-12 Power Rankings. Until week 4 they are really irrelevant and too difficult to try get any sort of grasp on. My goal with these rankings is to try and take into consideration how good the teams stack up against each other where they are right now. Things will change and it will be interesting to see how this season develops. Tier 1 1. Oregon (4-0) - Dare I put Oregon at No. 1? I feel the Ducks have the potential to be the most complete team in the Pac-12 with a strong offense and defense both of which currently rank within the top 20! But who have the Ducks played? PSU and Hawaii are not that good and Colorado was held to fewer points than both of those teams, though I do feel Colorado is Oregon’s most complete game to date and Colorado was at least ranked as a top 25 team deservedly or not. And then Oregon escaped Lubbock Texas with a win but only just. Tyler Shough at Texas Tech is out for the season with a broken leg but before this happened I had Texas Tech pinned as a Top 25 team by the end of the season, I feel that is probably a long shot now. In the three blow out wins it is clear that Oregon's back-ups are strong and give Oregon by far the most depth in this conference. 2. Washington (4-0) - Does Washington deserve No.1 over Oregon? I'm not sure, I originally placed them there but I'll be honest I don't think they have played any quality opponents in Boise State, Tulsa, Michigan State and Cal. And of that lot Boise State is by far the best team of them all as they did give Washington a bit of a scare in the first half. The Huskies are dangerous that’s for sure but I also feel they are over-hyped and have some glaring weaknesses like their offensive line has yet to be truly tested and their defense may be a bit suspect. I’m not really buying the hype but I do think Washington is probably the biggest threat to the Ducks right now but they certainly don't have the depth Oregon has and any injuries may derail them entirely. 3.USC (4-0) - Trojan fans would think this is disrespectful but let’s get real, USC’s defense let ASU score 28 points on them and also let San Jose State score 28 points on them. Their defense will be a liability. It’s not a matter of if but when. Tier 2 4. Washington State (4-0) - The Cougars are doing what they typically do at the start of the year, start out strong. This team is doing exactly what you’d expect them to do with a pass heavy offense that is making life more difficult for opposing defenses and they have taken care of business. They narrowly survived an Oregon State comeback this last weekend and get to enjoy a bye week before playing UCLA. 5.Oregon State (3-1) - Oregon State lost a close one of the Cougars in Pullman. But they are still a very good team. They get Utah next and will probably be looking for revenge. Right now I give the Beavers the edge to knock Utah out of this one. 6.Utah (4-0) - Am I disrespecting Utah by putting them at No. 6? Probably. The Utes have managed to go undefeated so far this season and doing it without starting quarterback Cam Rising. But they are mortal and their defense is carrying this team so far and that has allowed their offense to stay in it but unless they get Rising back soon they may see a few significant losses come their way and one may be coming at them this weekend as Utah travels to Corvallis to take on the Beavers. 7. UCLA (3-1) - Is No.7 too high? Probably not, UCLA has shown a strong defense so far this year but they haven’t played any explosive offenses. Then on the offensive side of the ball they were stopped by Utah this last weekend as the offense only managed to score 7 points and also gave up 7 in a pick six. Dante Moore will be a future star but right now UCLA has some quarterback problems. Tier 3 8. Colorado (3-1) - I don’t think Colorado could beat anyone above them on this list right now. Maybe in a few weeks that would change. Colorado is a good team but not in the top tiers of the Pac-12 that’s for sure. Do they belong in Tier 3? We’ll have to wait and find out but their wins are looking less impressive after that Oregon beat down. For Colorado to truly move up they need to prove themselves by at least being competitive against a tier 1 team and potentially even beat a tier 2. 9. Arizona (3-1) - Arizona is a team that I have loved their progression through the past three years. Jedd Fisch has done an amazing job with that program so far as it was really in a place worse than Colorado. At this time I’m not sure who is better, Colorado or Arizona but I think Colorado has the better quarterback so that gives Colorado the edge. 10. Cal (2-2) - Lost to Auburn and Washington and looked rather unimpressive. Justin Wilcox may be leaving Cal at the end of the year and in truth that might be a blessing for him. Cal is not a program that has a lot of upside to it especially next year when they get to travel to the east coast for half their games. 11. Arizona State (1-3) - Kenny Dillingham has his team improving that’s for sure. They were shut out a week ago against Fresno State and turned around and put up 28 on USC, is that an indictment on USC? But let’s get real this ASU team is at least a year or two behind Arizona in the rebuild process and though Dillingham is making the best of what he has they aren’t going to win many more games. They might steal one from someone along the way. 12. Stanford (1-3) - Stanford is bad. How bad? Bad enough that they dragged Oregon, a top 10 team, onto the Pac-12 network to play them, bad. Stanford has major problems and Troy Taylor has been putting new life into the program but the fact remains that Stanford will only ever lose to the transfer portal and never gain from it. The rebuild for Stanford is going to take years if it ever truly happens. These are institutional problems that will probably never be fixed and Stanford has always recruited with one hand tied behind their backs and now they might as well tie a second as well.