David Marsh

There were some bad coaching calls on the defensive side of the ball, the mass sub on 3rd and 2 was a bad call that resulted ina botched play and a penalty. But I'd actually say most of Oregon's defensive woes last night didn't have anything to do with the play calling. Oregon missed a TON of tackles. I mean Shough had several big runs where he was actually hit behind the line of scrimmage but the tackle was sloppy and didn't bring him down. Same goes for the TT run game where many of their longer runs actually started with the runner getting hit but not going down. Tackling against Portland State was fundamentally more sound, and yes they were a lesser opponent but squaring up to tackle a runner and being fundamentally sound doesn't care about if the opponent is FBS or FCS, the defender still needs to use the proper technique. Granted against lesser opponents they can get away with sloppy tackling. Right now the coaching does need to work on reinforcing the fundamentals and also work on dealing with running quarterbacks... two weeks in a row now where a running QB picks up too many yards. Oregon has Hawaii this week to fix some of these issues before conference plays begins.

TT was making the red zone tough enough to punch through... a two point chance at that point probably would have failed. Up by 7 is a whole lot scarier than up by 8.

Yep... The first foot that was on the ground didn't count because he didn't have control of the ball... his second foot was definitely out of bounds. It was a close call and honestly probably could have gone either way.

The end of this one felt EXACTLY like the WSU game from last year. It arguably might have been better if Bassa took a knee in bounds at the 2 yard line to burn clock and kill the game that way.... But being up by 8 is pretty comfy all things considered. TT had to drive the entire field and score a touchdown and then convert for 2 points to tie the game. I will say this game felt like Jekkyl and Hyde on both sides of the ball at times. There were times that the defense just looked absolutely dominant and same goes for the offense... then there were times when they just looked inept. I feel the last offensive play with the toss to James was a mistake... either power it up the gut or have Nix do a keeper and either run it in himself or find a quick pass. That play felt too easy for TT to stop.

Uh oh... Mario has almost scored his quota of points. So things will get more interesting soon.

It looked like Baylor just gave up on that play entirely. I initially thought there was something called to stop the play but it was still live.

Also... Colorado has at least 2 unsportsmanlike penalties that I've seen, haven't been watching the whole game. That's pretty sloppy and avoidable.

Let them get ranked higher.... All the better for when they come to Autzen. Nebraska's defense is now playing sloppy with the penalties. Lots of off sides penalties. One of the things we could really take away from last week for the Ducks is that they played clean and didn't get any truly dumb penalties.

But it'd be close in the 4th!

This looks fine... when they said trailers I think everyone pictured a bunch of used campers. This won't be the most comfortable away locker room but its big enough and clean.

It's going to be a long rebuild ... this Nebraska team looks completely lost out there. Defense has some bright spots but that offense is one of the worst things I've seen in quite awhile.

And Bucky is going to run free. Also I think our defensive line will maul their offensive line. Nebraska is pretty awful looking and they're still getting some pressure.

But Nebraska's offense is a special kinda of awful.

Not sure if that was even an option. I want to say USC and UCLA wanted to see if that was possible but it was shut down because well the rest of the conference was angry at them for betraying the conference and then wanting the best of both worlds. I also doubt OSU and WSU would tolerate that as an option as they have been left out of the conference realignment and are stuck trying to find their own way.

I've never been good at spelling personally. But I'll say spell check and more importantly auto correct has made at least my high school students really really awful at spelling.

If the athletes like I'm for it. In the end this is something that isn't about us.

I have thought about this as well ... The conclusion I've come up with is that I think Lanning went "easy" on PSU. Not that 81 points is going easy on any team. But Lanning didn't want to risk his starters so his starters didn't actually play that much. I think he also wanted to reward those who have worked hard in camp and give some starting spots to players who have earned them. I'd be a bit surprised not to see our typical starters start against Texas Tech. There was never any doubt Oregon was going to be PSU so they put some players on the field at least definitely at first to get them some live and good snaps. Probably won't see this to the same extreme going forward.

I do like the shinny helmets. Grants I tend to like them in shinny green more... But the chrome is good. I do like those uniforms in white though. They are very clean.

Ducks 52-17 2 2 257

Clemson just seems to have lost its it factor. They had so many good quarterbacks and then all of the sudden it feels like the QB coaching disappeared. DJU seems to have found a solid fit at Oregon State and is getting the coaching and system he needs. Not unlike what happened with Nix coming to Oregon. And... Oregon hiring two OCs that seem to actually coach QBs up. Clemson has the talent but it really feels like it is being under coached. I wouldn't be surprised if Dabo guts his staff for next season if this season doesn't turn around in a hurry.

Keeping Irving fresh and injury free is always a must and a bonus. But sometimes it really feels like last year the coaching staff pulled him far too early when he was still running with success. When he's the hot hand they really need to let him continue to roll out there. Now against PSU I think he did plenty of work and keeping him healthy is far more important. The game wasn't on the line and he already had over a hundred yards rushing. But later in the year he'll be needed more so best to keep him healthy right now but when he needs him, he needs to be out there.

Two things... 1. Thompson looked comfortable out there. He knew what he was doing and how to operate the offense. He didna fine job in running the offense for the snaps he got as well. But again, the most important thing was that he didn't look lost out there, he was in control. That doesn't matter who he plays against because that is confidence that he knew the playbook. He may look uncomfortable for other reasons but last year he stepped onto the field and just looked like a deer in the headlights. 2. I remember reading somewhere that Stein has given Thompson a tweaked playbook that is designed for him and his skills. It's probably a bit smaller as he doesn't have the experience that Nix does and there are probably plays that give him fewer reads. There was one play that was a screen pass that was blown up, which was poor receiver blocking, and Thompson out the ball on his receiver just fine and though the play was for a loss, it feels like that pass was designed to go there no matter what. That sort of thing has probably helped Thompson play with more confidence and better.

That's where the backups come in... Oregon looks pretty deep in terms of their back ups and getting them on the field with little drop off will allow Oregon to weardown TT.

Defensively TT may still be gassed against the Ducks because they'll have to deal with that offensive line and run game. That is power on power on speed. And Lanning seems to have a typical flow through a game. 1. Get a feel for the opponent and get comfortable with solid drives. 2. Go fast and score boat loads of points. 3. Lean on the run and drive the whole thing home while burning clock. Dan Lanning is Embracing the Middle Eight Theory FISHDUCK.COM Football is a sport of bizarre statistics that mostly seem irrelevant, but if you dive into them, they tell a greater... TT will need to survive that middle game to stand a chance at the end. But even if they do... Are they going to have enough energy in the tank to hang with a power run down the stretch? Especially if Oregon rotates in backup linemen and those back up runners who would be starting at almost any other program in the country?

Ohio State should have a high flying offense as that has been their thing for the past decade-ish. But I'm not an Ohio State fan. I'm and Oregon fan first and a pac-13 fan second... But this is the last year of the PAC and it should otherwise be a special year but the fact that it's the last year seems to diminish all those relationships.