oregon123

First of all, Washington looks like a complete and well coached team tonight, although UCLA looked like a clown show. Second, too many Oregon players are banged up and need the rest and rehab. Third, Oregon does not need a rematch with Indiana - that would be brutal and more injuries could result. Fourth, with a 12 team playoff, and no longer conf champs getting 1st round byes, winning the conf champ game is good for another trophy, but bad for business down the road. That is the logical part. Now the entertainment part: the conf champ games are great and no other real college football that weekend. It is better to determine a conf champ by playing a game than to just go by records. And, a conf championship is still something of an accomplishment that doesn't happen to any team each and every year. The conf champions should always get a higher seed for playing and winning that game, unless they are in a sucky conference and play a mediocre team. I don't like the bye week in the playoffs. I'd rather go to 16 and let the conf champions host a first round home game. That would give teams an incentive to get there and win it (the conf champ game). Michigan might play OSU pretty tough for a while? Beating them would be their superbowl.

"I'm a Duck fan living smack dab in the middle of SEC country, and I can tell you with an absolute certainty, this game was not big enough. Lol, unfortunately, southern fan bases will NEVER take OBD seriously until they win a national championship." This is the week that I think most of the SEC plays cupcakes to pad their win column and rest up a little for post season play... so I don't really care what SEC fans think of Oregon. Today, USC would have beaten half the teams in the SEC, maybe more. Most Duck fans get excited when the beavs, Huskies or USC lose... I get fired up when the top SEC teams lose. If Alabama loses next week, it will be party time.

"Which is better?" What is best is a solid Oregon win over a USC team that came to play with some future NFL talent. Second best is the SEC going down.

How bout those backup O linemen? They filled in nicely. And how about USC? They did well to come up to Eugene and put up a fight. Even up by 15 late, I didn't feel secure until time actually ran out for good. I want a strong B1G conference. The SEC has been on top for too long.

I expected a tough game. Ducks did good to stay in front with the lead they built by half time - and that was not an easy task. They need to coach some new techniques, since some of those PI calls looked like not much interference at times. This was one those games where the refs had far too much influence on the game. But it went both ways. On to the next one.

Pressure is also my comment: it has been missing against good (or pretty good) teams all season. Run D is very good though. They might as well experiment with some blitz packages. Matayo is not Kayvon Thib. And Tuioti is not much of a threat either, although both are very good at run defense. Maybe sub in other pass rushers? Maybe take out the nickel (or nose tackle) and add another pass rusher?

Let the backups play until the playoffs. Ducks shouldn't need the injured starters to play to win.

I didn't know they still had fans... I thought they were all into Taylor Swift? USC becomes more and more irrelevant every year.

Ducks 24 - 21 1 1 185

The next two games for everybody will sort a lot of things out. I am hoping for a first round home game and not a bye. Let Ohio St and Indiana beat the snot out of each other. Ducks need to take the next step and win a playoff game. After that first one, I don't care who or where they play. They will be ready if they make it to the next level.

"I see Franklin as very similar to Cristobal." Interesting point. Certainly as far as results are concerned. Both will mess it up when it counts. But Franklin is very mediocre - will beat down lesser teams but NEVER beat a better team. Cristobal can make a team look like it has a title shot - and then lose to inferior competition. As a fan, I really cannot decide which would be more frustrating. Here is another comparison for ya: Willie the Snake as very similar to Prime Time!

Fav all time: This is my fav for 2025 so far:

This season, Oregon has played it close to good teams. So this game should be no different. The main question is: How good is USC? They have skills players, but do they have the linemen? Has Lincoln Riley come around and started to mold his team into a contender? How hard will they fight? Ducks don't have a dominant pass rush this year. They also give up some rushing yards from time to time. Dante does not look good under pressure. Sometimes the Oregon receivers don't get open. USC has a good chance to keep it close. If Ducks win by 10 or 13, I consider that fairly close. If Ducks dominate the line, then they could blow them out. But I don't see USC being like Ok St, the beavs, or Rutgers.

Final thought: Still not nearly as bad as those orange socks look (match the mascot). Second worst was the eggshell. Maybe the old 'antifreeze' helmets would go with the all black look? And antifreeze pants? I would dig that. And antifreeze numbers on the black jerseys. Black wings on the antifreeze helmets and a black stripe (or huge swoosh) on the antifreeze pants. Or an antifreeze swoosh on the black pants? I would love to see that combo.

Oops, my bad - it's nightmare green

In a word, no. I loved the old 'midnight green' look. But this is not good. An all dark green theme would have been great. Or if the jersey and pants matched the helmet - green with black trim, that would have worked as well. Or if they insist on the black look, then take the green off the helmet and make it silver. OK, black jersey, silver helmet and silver pants - at least that would look coordinated, even if no where near team colors. But I could be totally wrong -what matters is what it looks like on the field.

I didn't think the helmets meshed well with the green and yellow jerseys. Replace the white with yellow (on the helmet) and keep the green and that would be a great combo with those jerseys. Or take the yellow out of the jerseys and make them just green and white. The solid white pants need a green stripe down the side. And yes, the cartoonish extra large buck tooth stuffed animal look does not fit in with college football - but would be perfect for a co-ed kickball team.

Oregon / USC used to be for the champs (or first place) in the pac10/12 many a times. Now it's going to be for making the playoffs and/or positioning in the playoffs. Game Day is nice to draw attention to west coast football. I think the 2025 Ducks have a much higher ceiling than last year's team, and also a lower floor. This team has better athletes and last year's team had more experience, hence fewer errors. As the season wears on, the team is getting that needed experience. We are seeing leadership all over the field and also on special teams too. How the Ducks play will determine how well they are portrayed heading into the playoffs. This would be a great time for a breakout game against a good opponent.

I expected the Oregon players to be better, especially the linemen. But I was surprised at how good the Duck skills players are. Amazing throws and catches. That is the kind of stuff we need to beat competitive teams. Very positive look from the backup receivers and TEs. The pass coverage could have been better for the Ducks. Benson looks good returning punts - he wants to take it somewhere, not just settle for the catch. Benson looks way better than Dak in my opinion both returning punts and at WR. Run defense was really solid. Matayo was active. LBs and DBs did a good job of flying to ball carrier and bringing him down without much YAC. Oregon looked like a well coached team. Lanning and the assistants always have a body language of 'focus' and 'what comes next'. PJ was throwing hissy fits. Not a good look - it says: my team sucks so I need the refs totally on my side to even have a chance. This is the kind of mediocre team (Minnesota), late season game, that Mario Cristobal would have played down to their level. Ducks are set up nicely for the USC game. Just need to get some of those receivers back. As the season winds down, the contenders will be separated from the pretenders - what are USC, Michigan, Texas, Georgia, Iowa, Mississippi, Oklahoma, etc. going to be doing?

"The four Pac-12 schools were brought into the B1G because the media wanted them. Not so much the conference. Many schools in the conference were resentful about having to travel to the west coast last year and I can't imagine their feels have changed too much this year." The 4 west coast teams bring west coast football to the midwest stone age. The SEC added Texas and Oklahoma. Have to keep up with the Joneses. Without the west coast teams, B1G would have turned into Ohio St and a bunch of stiffs. The Big 12 just added 'more of the same'. I'd like to see the B1G add North Carolina and Clemson. Question of the Day: Why can't the traditional Big10 teams have good quarterbacks and skills players? (other than Ohio St) Indiana's transfer QB doesn't count.

Physical enough? Mostly yes. I'm not sure if running a 4 -2 defensive front with edge players will work out? Especially calling plays that put them in pass coverage. Maybe that kind of thing is getting too cute? I think they will need players at those positions who can handle offensive tackles. What would this D be like if Kayvon Thib. and Deforest Buckner were on the edges??? I can't wait to see Tank start playing. I'd also like to them get more athletic at LB. But other than that, they have the physical tools for the Big 10. Are they big enough at TE? Kendre Harrison is coming. Last year, Derrick Harmon and Jordan Burch were monsters. Right about now, I am wondering if the Ducks are smart enough? They have three more games to get it together before the playoffs. I don't expect them to lose any more the regular season due to their defense and ability to run the ball. As a side note, Penn St lost their TE and a really good pass rusher DE from last year. I thought that they would take them a step back. Gotta keep replenishing if you want to stay on top in the Big 10.

I really like this O line when all starters are in. They are beasts at run blocking. At RB, Noah, Hill and Davison are above in ability than the rest on the roster. And all that running success sets up play action passes too. "The problems for the defense have often come when the offense has failed to set them up for success." The problems for the defense are that they don't have it together on every play. With all the option based offenses, the opposing offenses are looking for a weak spot. Ducks need 3 good defensive plays in a row and they get off the field on 4th down. Consistency is not always there for them. "The Iowa offensive line averaged only .8 yards per rush before contact, and 2.7 yards after contact." Yes. On many plays, the Iowa runner was pushed back. But on other plays, he would plow for extra yards. Those extra yards shorten their 3rd down plays. Gang tackling is how they can shut down the YAC. Indiana's RBs are good at pushing for extra yards also. I loved that great play by Noah Sewell vs Ohio St on that 4th down play where he stood up the RB and got the turnover on downs. Those kinds of plays shut down drives.

"Hearing announcers question our "toughness" every week is like hearing the comments "catch by Tez Johnson, he's Bo's brother" each and every time, it's annoying. or or or... did you you know... Bryce Boettcher plays baseball?????" And of course, talking about Oregon is used to the rain. Like as if it doesn't rain anywhere else.

"I recognize that the offense is not in sync or riring on all cylinders" (I think you meant to say firing) I don't have a problem with the offense. Teams have seen film of what Will Stein calls and the Ducks need to adjust. Who would any of you want to replace as offensive starters for the Ducks? All I got is I wish Evan Stewart did not get hurt. (and of course, today's players who were hurt) Big 10 teams have better defensive linemen than Pac12 teams. That makes it much harder to sustain and especially finish drives. Oregon runs a lot of offensive plays that just don't work out. I think they will get it figured out, in time. If I could make a change, it would be to bring in Chip Kelly as OC to call the offense.

This is the second year for Oregon in the Big 10. Playing against bigger, better linemen is helping the Ducks become a better team. It is still a work in progress. How many top college teams would have gone into Iowa today and won??? I have Ohio St winning. Maybe the Aggies too. Oregon, Indiana, Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame - toss ups. Everybody else loses. Maybe Texas is also a tossup. Oregon should get a lot credit for pulling it out, but I think the 'committees' will knock down the Ducks for such a close call. I am not surprised that Penn St almost knocked off Indiana. They still have good players. The Big 10 is a tough league to run the table. Iowa would 'own' the Big 12 or the ACC.