David Marsh

The number of official visits if going up to around 75 next year. The number of official visits so far is in the 50s. This is how from about ten years ago where the number was 36 I believe.

"►The Board also overseeing the exploration of eliminating sport-by-sport scholarship limits “to focus on the number of student-athletes participating” in team activities each season." That is one of the more interesting things that is being proposed. I haven't got a clue what this is going to look like but is this potentially a back door for coaches to push players off the team by not letting them participate in team activities? But this is what I intend on keeping an eye on because it will effect how the transfer portal works.

Same thing we had with Cristobal until he finally left. Granted that wasn't to the NFL but basically the same thing.

I'm sure they're coming... Harbaugh is older and a more proven entity. Jimmy did make the super bowl once... Couldn't seal the deal and win it but he made it. I wouldn't be at all surprised if his end goal is an NFL return in the end. No recruiting to deal with which is where the vast majority of the work is at at the college level.

Prowledge was co DC and safeties. Lorig is special teams and to be blunt we need to judge him more on next year's performance than this year's. Under Cristobal special teams were neglected and it will take more than a season to fix. Special teams need a lot of work still but they should be getting some added love and improvement over time. Under Cristobal kicking was awful... Kick off was underwhelming... Punting was actually ok with Tom Snee. Returning was hit or miss with Mykael Write we had a few good returns but overall it was non-existent. Then pint return there generally wasn't much there either. It's being prioritized now under Lanning but they are certainly not there yet. And I do think some of the return coverage problems will take some time to figure out along with an improving defense.

The Targeting Rule is Not About Player Safety FISHDUCK.COM The NCAA recently announced changes to the targeting rule. These changes are not yet in effect, but... My thoughts on the matter and with a potential solution. The targeting rule is about the NCAA trying to look like they care about player safety while not actually doing much about it. Sre the targeting rule has changed the way players tackle and that's good for their health but it's a rule that is out of date with the problem.

But like Bo, Hendon broke the big rule about the Heisman... You can't get injured. But let's get real here if you play 10-11 games in a season and get injured and have to sit out and you are that outstanding of a player you should be considered. I mean Nix's game against Utah wasn't flashy but it was super gritty and showed why he was worthy of consideration ... Or at least should be worthy.

I agree in that Duggan probably should have won the Heisman. But he didn't have what Williams had... a two year Heisman campaign. Williams went into this season as a favorite to win the Heisman. USC is "back" and with all the hype around USC, Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams, he was bound to get an invite to NYC at least. Then Williams put together a good season, I won't deny that, he had great numbers. And that was enough for USC and the heavy LA media market needed. If Williams and Riley stayed at Oklahoma he probably would have won it there as well. The hype train was all Williams this year and even a couple losses weren't going to start it. I think Stetson Bennett was also worthy of a strong Heisman look as well. He isn't flashy but he gets the job done for his team.

In a weird way I do think Cristobal helped prepare Herbert for the NFL. He was not developed to his full potential and did not get anywhere close to his ceiling at Oregon but oddly enough I think he was prepared for the NFL because he had to learn to play to his highest ability in an offense that didn't give him all the tools he needed. Whether that was scheme or receivers or play calling, Herbert had to make it work. He also had to learn three different systems in four years... Helfrich, Taggart and the Cristobal offenses. Fast forward through Herbert's NFL career and you have him in at least two different systems. In his first year he was playing for a head coach who didn't let him play to his full potential. But Herbert still won offensive rookie of the year. Just a random side note.

No one likes the Alamo Bowl... or at least Oregon fans. We shouldn't speak it's name!

We have an incredible defensive line class so far. I think if we can land Harbor by selling offense that's fine... Because there is always a chance you can sell him in defense later as well... If he is capable maybe a little bit of a two way player. I trust Lanning on this, he hasn't given me too many reasons not to trust him to date, so let's see what he can do.

That's failure to develop... Star ratings are really just a rating of athletic potential. There is a colation between star ratings and those players reaching the NFL. Five stars are far far more likely to make the NFL than a three star but not a guarantee. Cristobal failed to develop the vast majority of the talent brought in. I mean it took up to this point for Mase Funa a four star to really show his potential. I also think that is a huge reason why he has decided to come back for one more year. And the sad fact of the matter is that the teams with the most five stars are the ones who actually win national championships. Yes TCU has made the playoff... In a weak big-12 and with a whole lot of luck and they still didn't win their conference. Oregon is the only team to reach the national title game in the last 20-ish years that didn't have a favorable blue chip ratio where the roster is mostly composed of four and five stars. And Oregon didn't have the bodies to hang with Ohio State... Auburn was a different story.

I do think Brown and Bassa are looking to take those middle linebacker spots next year. Granted Justin Jacobs will be interesting to see where he fits in. He is taller and bigger so does he play one of those edge positions that still need to go into coverage from time to time? But I do feel like we saw the best overall performance from our linebackers this year during the game. Far from perfect but linebacker has been a liability all year.

I just wish we had Chase for more than one year. Granted I don't think he would have been too happy in the Cristobal offense but we also didn't have any receivers for years it felt like... Also in part due to the Cristobal offense. But still ... It did feel like a very fitting moment for the Cota family with the game winning touchdown. Maybe we'll see another C. Cota in 20-30 years.

Oregon has a facemasking penalty. But otherwise a pretty clean game.

That field at the holiday bowl was deteriorating fast. If you just look at the uniforms over the course of the game they were real muddy by the end. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some added slickness to it.

Great article... A couple thoughts that I'm really excited about. 1. The pistol plays on display in the article were VASTLY different from what we saw under Cristobal. Under Cristobal if it was a pistol play it was going to be a run into the A-gap 99% of the time and I'm really not exaggerating here. If you were to go back and look you would see the pistol used exclusively for running or almost exclusively for a large portion of it's use... The shot-gun would mostly be a pass play where the runningback would be used for blocking. 2. I could see Whittington and Irving being on the field at the same time with Stein as both can catch the ball and slide into the slot position and then slide into a 20 or 21 personell. That would be super deadly and really bring back some DAT or Charles Nelson vibes to the offense. 3. The tempo would be amazing to see brought back. Doesn't need to be all the time but more would be nice. We saw what happened in the Holiday Bowl when the Ducks played with Tempo... The ripped apart the opposing defense and scored points and when we slowed down we got into trouble. However, the game has changed and pure tempo doesn't work like it used to. Also the best teams in college football are the ones who have a power run game they can lean on to control the clock. The Oregon of the Kelly-Helfrich era really struggled to bleed the clock because the Ducks couldn't play slow, in part because they used tempo as a strategy to give them the edge over those slower and bigger defensive linemen. Oregon has the bigger linemen now and can play slower. But tempo is still super super important and I would love to see more of it. Thanks coach for the article and I am fealling super excited for next season!

I ask this question all the time. So I'm rooting for giant sinkhole opening up underneath all of them.

Obviously not a Pac-12 ref or else it would have been a flag on Oregon for targeting.

Yep... We beat USC in the championship game but lost the Fiesta Bowl quite badly with some of the worst special teams play we have ever seen as Oregon fans.

I wouldn't be opposed to this idea... But how do you prove a flagrant PI? In both cases that you mention the DBs didn't even try and get their heads around and they just ran through Franklin. Is that incompetence or intentional? For UNC both plays were certainly better than the alternative which was Oregon scoring or getting major yardage but still difficult to prove on the flagrant side of things.

He had a couple of fantastic break ups. One early in the end zone where he just knocked the ball clean away from the reciever. The second he almost had an interception but the reciever got a hand in there and kept him from catching the ball. I also think it was TB who knocked the ball down at the end of the game on the hail Mary attempt. He needed the development this year but he has looked good down the stretch. I think it also helped out big time that the pass rush finally existed and put pressure on the quarterback! By no means a flawless defensive game... But a brilliant second half that's for sure.

I think Oregon needs three things from their new safeties coach. 1. Proven development... Prowledge had some nice hits in the past and in truth the secondary did look better as the year went on for the most part. But still need to develop that group. 2. Recruiting... Not much to say there. 3. Some DC expirence ... This I feel is the most important right now. Prowledge was in the box this last year and Lupoi was on the field Lupoi caught most of the criticism fairly or unfairly so as he was the bigger name. But this is a chance for Lanning to get someone in the box with more expirence and can hopefully help right this defensive ship. Perhaps a play caller even because this defense had some major issues.

Maybe line it up the next time we play a bowl game in California. I would be tempted to place a bet on a final score of 28-27 next time Oregon plays a bowl in southern California.

This came to me while I was asleep... Or trying to sleep. Before 2018 the last bowl game Oregon won was 2014 and that was a Rose Bowl win over FSU... Again another California game. So to go to the last bowl game the Ducks won that was not in California was in 2013 and that was an Alamo Bowl win over Mack Brown's Texas team.