David Marsh

And linebackers that look to be flexible and able to defend the run and cover in space! The secondary should give the front seven the time they need to get consistent pressure. Especially with some beasts on the dline.

If Oregon's defense looks like it did during the spring game I feel pretty good. The coverage was pretty tight and there was consistent pass rush. Granted I want to see it taken up a level because it would be Oregon's starters all playing with a full fall camp under their belts. But after the spring game I do feel the Oregon defense has taken some much needed steps towards improvement. Has Lanning Fixed the Duck Defense's Soft Underbelly? FISHDUCK.COM The Oregon Ducks' defense has maintained one major problem for the last three years. Simply put, it has a... Ensuring the defense can get off the field will be of the utmost importance against Texas Tech.

Sanders has certainly brought attention to the conference. It's a lot of hype and a lot of drama. He does draw a lot of reactions from his interviews, agree with him or not everyone seems to have an opinion on what he says. Not a bad thing for the conference right now to gather some extra eyeballs with that. I love what Lanning is doing at Oregon and I'm glad our drama level is super low. But until the season rolls around no one is really going to talk about us too much.

I will refrain from yet again ranting on how much I hate empty sets. Well I won't rant .. but I did mention it.

Oregon can be like Clemson in the ACC ... Don't need a strong conference to win a national championship. I think the PAC on the whole needs to win the bulk of its non-conference slate every year because that would make the conference relevant.

What made Nix successful last year was that he didn't need to play hero ball all the time. He had some heroic moments, yes. But his main job is get the ball to a playmaker and they'll make a big play. That's having a well rounded offense and a key to a successful team.

I can live with Oregon being ignored. DJU had all the tools at his disposal at Clemson and it never really clicked. Smith might be able to coach him up a bit but he isn't going to have the talent around him like he had at Clemson. Penix is good and he has some good receivers. But does Washington have the depth? Probably not and they have lost talent again this year and it doesn't look like it is being refilled. Nix has a complete offense around him and all the tools to make it big this year. If Oregon's defense can take a significant leap forward, like they should, then this Oregon team is going to be unstoppable. So we'll just let them sleep in the Ducks for now.

I'm not fully sold on him but I also know none of us know the full extent of the mess that Larry left behind. I imagine it was a whole lot worse than what it known publicly. Jon you will probably have quite a bit to say and add to my article coming out on Tuesday next week. I do agree that the notion that the PAC are just remnants is very insulting. I do feel though that those in any time zone other than PST (media people and those who haven't been to the Pacific time zone) do believe all that is out here is Hollywood and LA. I think if we get a decent media deal Oregon is going to pull this conference up a notch.

Canzano said in his article yesterday that SMU has enough wealthy backers that they'll cover an exit fee without even blinking. SDSU can probably get their fee reduced or get a payment time table olto make it doable. They also probably have some backers that are happy to help out. It's just posturing at the moment but it'd be nice if it was all over.

If they want to... Mentioned on another thread today is that many of the higher ups in the B1G don't like the prospect of regularly traveling to the west coast. Ohio State cancelled their ooc with Washington to avoid the expense. Traveling to southern California once every couple years is one thing... It's nice there and is in the middle of a recruiting hot bed. But what about the perspect of traveling to the PNW in October? Sure it's warmer than the midwest ... But it's rainy and from a recruiting stand point it isn't worth their while. I could see resistance to adding more west coast schools. The current B1G members probably don't care about the LA schools' burden of travel but they'll care about their own and simply put... More west coast schools will mean more frequent trips.

Long game vs short game. I do feel there is a chance for things to work out for the PAC in some significant ways. It will require some luck but everything in life feels like it takes just a little bit of luck. What's certain right now is that we are still squarely in phase 1... Survival.

This is my 100th article with FishDuck. A quick shout out to Charles for giving me the opportunity to write and be read by you all. And then a bigger shout-out to the editors who have helped make my articles so good, Natalie Liebhaber and Andy Mueller have done the bulk of the editing for me so big thank you to both of them. Looking forward to the next 100!

I think that is likely... But I think it has a few more factors at play. One, if Oregon and Washington feel they have enough access to the CFP they may not feel the need to move to the B1G if they are feeling good in their financial situation. Two, UCLA may make more in the B1G but will it fix their financial problems? That has yet to be seen. Sure more money but also a greater cost in travel. I was thinking of trying to dive into a few of these questions in my next article.. we'll see if I have the time on that front. I may be on summer break but I still have a one year old walking around the house.

But we don't want their one commit ... He doesn't even have an Oregon offer! You could actually argue that UW is probably his BEST offer. Arizona I think is an up and coming program and Colorado has hype with Prime. And well Michigan State... But those were all the power 5 offers. Maybe Central Florida counts as they are joining the Big-12 but I think we're in the midst of redefining power conferences. But I do know that Portland State is certainly NOT in a power conference or even a power school.

And sure.. Bama is off to a slow start this cycle... But they have more than 1 recruit and Bamas current class will probably out rank the UW class this year.

It works with recruits from the deep south where religion is a larger part of the culture. Might not resonate in the PNW where in the whole we are less religiously minded and the same could be true in the North East. But I am also absolutely sure that Lanning tailors his pitches to each recruit which is the hallmark of a great recruiter it's about finding what resonates with each individual. It's about recruiting the person more than just the player. You're obviously shouldn't recruit a quarterback and a defensive lineman the same way and the same applies to people. As a public employee Lanning can't lead the team in prayer but the athletes absolutely can organize prayer themselves and Lanning and any of the coaches are allowed to join student led prayer. Hopefully I walked the FishDuck rules line fine enough there.

Especially if they need to enter the conference at a reduced rate. I think the uneven post season payouts can keep the conference together for the next 5 years (which is how long until the B1Gs media rights are being renegotiated).

I'd rather that be the Beavers instead...

G5 teams don't work in the current 4 team play off. A 12 team playoff will probably only see 1 G5 team get a token invite. Cincinnati basically had a two year campaign with a covid season in order to earn themselves an invite to the playoff. They needed their players for an extra year and two years of publicity to get there. SMU might not have national championship ambitions but they will be earning more money and their program will be elevated. Especially if they are playing some good teams that are nationally relevant..

Precieved value. I don't entirely get how they assign all this value besides location = geographic viewership... Which isn't wrong but it's lacking in neuance. I mean part of the reason why Oregon isn't seen as valuable a program is because the state of Oregon isn't that big. But we all know Oregon's fan base outstipps it's geographic confines. Also... UCLA can't fill the rose bowl... That stadium is empty on a weekly basis. But UCLA is located in LA so they represent the whole market. Nevermind the fact that southern California has two NFL teams that grab the football fans. And sure USC has a decent fan base and makes more sense. SDSU also feels like a bit of a stretch to claim the San Diego market because of the previously mentioned NFL teams. I do feel that SDSU will grow their fan base pretty rapidly when they join the PAC.

and some Duck fans annoying angry that this is happening because some see the death of the Pac-12 as something to celebrate because they think we get an automatic invite to the B1G. We would probably go to the B1G at some point if the Pac dies but some fans on other boards are driving me crazy with this "anything to kill the Pac faster" routine.

It is lined up right now so that SDSU would join the Pac for 2024. 2024 the Pac will lose the LA schools and we should ideally fill that void with SDSU and SMU at that time.

Seattle and UW have the same problem as the bay area and to a larger extent California college sports teams have... They have a very strong pro scene. Granted Seattle doesn't have am NBA team STILL considering it's been well over a decade since they lost the sonics. However, they do have the Seahawks which attracts a very strong fan base around football season. As a Portland resident I don't have an NFL team... I mean geographically I am nearest the Seahawks (blech!) And the 49ers (not feeling a connection) or Vegas (I wasn't a raiders fan to begin with).... I guess if I had to pick an NFL team I'm a chargers fan ONLY because of Herbert but I really couldn't be called a fan by a long shot. I'm an Oregon duck fan and a college football fan. Not all that interested in pro sports in larfe part because I don't have a team based close to me. The Huskies have to compete against the Seahawks and they are losing that fight.

I'm glad that you mentioned this... Because a couple years ago I wrote an article about how the state of Washington was a no y zone for Ducks recruiting. Oregon Has Failed to Recruit the State of Washington FISHDUCK.COM When J.T. Tuimoloau, a five-star recruit out of the state of Washington, announced Oregon as one of his... Yeah I wrote it after JTT went to Ohio State instead of Oregon so that was before the 2021 season. But a bunch of other Oregon communities started to bring up the point that Oregon couldn't seem to land recruits out of Washington after I wrote the article. Lanning has done a supurb job in breaking into the state and really making it an extension of Oregon's backyard. On another note... One of the football coaches at the school I work was recently at a camp where there were some Duck coaches and I believe Trent Furguson was there too and he looked like a monster. I wouldn't be surprised to see him get the bump at some point as well.

Washington did well with the portal last year. But I don't think a program entirely built off the portal is sustainable. Sure, get key pieces to fix areas of need. Washington fans should be nervous... Need to still build a program with some high school recruits.