HappyToBeADuck

IMHO, nothing will change until we win 1 maybe 2 Nattys and put the trophy on the mantle over the fireplace! The moniker of a blue bood is subjective and somewhat fluid. Time and distance from glory play a role. One upon a time Nebraska was a powerhouse blue blood. Now? PSU won titles to earn blueblood status. How about now? Fun topic for sure but I dont have a problem with OBD's not being considered a blueblood. Scoreboard talks and we came up short twice. Go Ducks!

Fun read Darren. Thank you and all the writers for your time and effort in preparIng and presenting your articles. This weekends matchup with the Hoosiers reminds me of our title game with the Buckeyes. Lots of talent on both side of the ball. However the Buckeyes were bigger, stronger and deeper in the trenches on both lines of scrimmage. The Buckeyes took a few punchrs to the face early but eventially pounded the Ducks, then took control of the game. The 2025 Ducks are bigger, stronger and deeper on both sides of the ball than the boys,from Indiana. Add in future NFL talent in the secondary and the uber talented skill position players on offense and we should see the Ducks take control of this game in the 3rd quarter. This game, as long as the Ducks play clean, mistake free ball should expose the Hoosiers weaknesses and lack of depth. It will be a good, hard fought game with the Ducks covering the spread! Throw in the Autzen crowd and Ducks win by 17 plus. This is a big stage for the Hoosiers and I am hoping the Ducks take them to the woodshed! We shall see...... Darren, Texas is a mess and Manning is just not playing well against equal or greater talent. PSU lost either its heart or soul or both to the Ducks and the Bruins then picked apart the carcass. PSU has a remaining schedule, if they win out, that can put them in CFP! I have my doubts..... Go Ducks.....

OBDF this is a great opportunity for Dillion to grow thru his rookie contract and prove himself. Hopefully, the Browns will put a few more pieces together for him to thrive. Like skill position players and continue to strengthen the O Line. Not many have thrived or survived as a Brown QB for a number of years. Dillion just needs to stay healthy and get to a 5th year deal($25 million) or the 2nd contract. (Generational money) Go Dillion........

Without a doubt, Cignetti is playing games with DL. He is smart to not add bulletin board material or pour fuel on the fire. I just doubt his true sincerity! In one article he said that Oregon is a great team and that his Hoosiers are a very good team. I doubt DL, staff and players are buying that! Last season the Hoosiers struggled against elite opponents. Especially in the trenches. Cignetti worked to fix that during the off season. Those fixes will be put to the test against the Ducks. The Hoosiers are well coached and will bring their best effort this Saturday. However, no sugar coated talk will help them in the rain on Saturday. This Duck squad is bigger, stronger, faster and deeper. Extremely talented players working together to become elite. Cinderella's fantasy ball should land with a thud in Autzen. While i think PSU will rebound and return to the rankings by seasons end, the Hoosiers may be the last top ranked team the Ducks face until the title game. That fact is not lost on DL and this team. As UCLA proved that upsets can happen in any game, I just dont see that happening this Saturday Go Ducks!

Alex, great article and so much to unpack out of it. Looking forward to reading the FORUM posts that should come in today. The elephant in the room, in your article, is whether Dante Moore heads to the NFL after this season. A great deal will unfold between now and the Natty. Other QB's will find their stride(Manning, Lagway, others?). Will Dante continue to improve? Leaving as a #1 overall pick can be alluring, however getting picked by the right bottom feeder team is just as important. Dante has a O line that protects and affords him the opportunity to make good decisions. That O line allows the time for the skill position players to run routes, etc. IMHO, the bottom 5 NFL teams have weaker O Lines and very few playmakers. My guess only but Bo Nix will enjoy his rookie contract much more than Dillion Gabriel. Is Moore experienced enough, at this point, to call audibles? Nix and Gabriel entered the NFL with 60 plus starts. At seasons end, if all goes well, Dante will be in the low twenty's. Big diffetence! This season many Ducks have stepped up their game to new levels resulting in 5 wins. Long ways to go for sure! I cant validate this but i read an article in the BIG 10 News that stated 6 true freshmen Ducks started against PSU. 3 on offense and 3 on defense! WOW! That's difficult, as an ancient gray beard, to wrap my head around. Sure is exciting! We have the best coach who is never satisfied with where the team is at. We have size, speed and skillsets on both sides of the ball. OBDF we have future NFL talent at every position! How is that possible? This Duck squad has a manageable but challenging schedule ahead to be in the BIG title game, again. The talent is on the field, they just have to continue their hard work and focus to make it happen! This fan is up for a tOSU vs Duck title game and a rematch somewhere in the playoffs. Are you? Go Ducks......

Great article to ponder David, thanks? If we played PSU evety year then it would be a rivalry, for certain. Playing them 4 or 5 times in 10 years doesnt work for this fan. They are a very good program and Franklin is a proven coach. However the BIG titles are going to Michigan, tOSU and OBD's! With Natties going to tOSU, Michigan and hopefully ODD's this year. As long as the 5☆ players go to tOSU, Michigan and the Ducks then PSU will put up a great battle but ultimately lose. Michigan is 7-3 in their last 10 games, tOSU since 2006 is 15-3 over the Nittany Lions. The Ducks are 2-0 since joining the BIG. Most of those games were close and hard fought. But scoreboard counts. PSU will get a chance soon to change the narrative when they play the Buckeyes. If they lose then no title game and their fan base will be upset. Time will tell. Go Ducks!

Shamefully, this old Duck fan picked PSU to win in a close game. Mostly because i am a bad picker and OBD's do the opposite of my pick. They did not fail me.! Last nights dominant defensive performance gives me hope to dream of a Natty victory this year. Can they stay focused and continue to improve? I am confident they will. PSU's DC took the long pass play away from Oregon. They kept everything in front of them, however the Duck running game kept the chains moving. Eventually a very composed Moore found the short and intermediate passing routes for 3 TD passes. The in game adjustments that were sometimes missing in previous seasons were not missing in this game. The Duck O performed and excelled on the big stage! As a fan, i am confident they will improve even more. Especially with Moore, Moore and the baby freshmen. Go Ducks! Some of the Duck running backs may be at the redshirt threshhold and decisions will be made. However, as others have posted, Hill and Davison have earned their playing time. But we have 11 or 12 games to go before we can raise the trophy we all dream of, so I think DL will spread those carries around to keep players fresh. I hope that the Ducks take care of business in the first half so our backup QB's get meaningful game snaps. Go Ducks! Another top 10 team is coming to town in 2 weeks.

Even my lifelong (from the 1950's) husky fans raved about what a great game this was. They were disappointed at how PSU let thrm down! In my 45 plus years as a Duck fan the first 3 quarters may have been the most dominant any Duck defense has ever been. So many players on both sides of the ball stepped it up. Great game that took 10 years off of my life. Ducks should be ranked #2 behind the dreaded Buckeyes.... .

You certainly laid out what the Ducks need to do for a victory in Happy Valley. Composure and mistake free execution in all 3 phases are a must. To me it boils down to how the uber talented freshmen and RS Fresham handle the big stage. And this is a big stage....... Go Ducks, prove me wrong and bring home the win.

PSU wins 35-31 1 - TO 0 - Sacks 315 passing yards I think its the first time i have picked against the Ducks! Leaves a bad taste in my mouth. GO DUCKS! Prove me wrong, please

Darren, thank you for the article! This Duck fan agrees that the Duck D needs to play much better (as a unit) than they did in the BIG Title Game and the Rose Bowl. Of course that was last years unit! This White Out game affords this years D unit their opportunity to make a big statement! This may be an unfair statement and OBDF members please don't take this wrong because I think DL is great and we are fortunate to have him. However, I am still waiting for that real statement game by a DL defense on the biggest stage! This could be the game? PSU does not have a vaunted passing attack and the secondary has the pieces to force PSU offense to be one dimensional. Put 8 in the box, mix up your sets and schemes and get PSU in 3rd and long. The Ducks have 2 fire eating EDGE rushers that should be sack happy by games end. If the D does not dominate then the game may very well be a shootout. Thus it falls to the O Line and Dante Moore. Give Dante protection and I expect the Ducks highly talented skill players to overwhelm the PSU Defense. Dante has spent his football life preparing for big games on the biggest stage! This is a big game....... Special teams may help decide this game. No mistakes are a must. However, the Ducks must play clean, crisp and aggressive in all 3 phases to stamp out the white out. I feel confident the Ducks can win this game. Go Ducks......

Great game plan Alex! More of Moore to Moore definitely needs to be in the recipe for the stew that leads OBD's to victory. In tbe BIG Title game the PSU linebackers could not contain the Ducks tight ends. If i remember correctly Sadiq had 2 touchdowns as PSU tried to double up or zone the fast wide outs and paod the price. DL and Stein will relentlessly attack the weakness they discover on the PSU defense. And the 2025 Duck O has the weapons and depth to exploit it...... But for this old Duck fan the Duck D has to rise up to be the star of the game! Stop the run, force Allar into 3rd and long. PSU's QB is their weakness..... Forcing PSU to punt on the first 3 PSU pissessions coupled with 17-21 points by the Duck O will take PSU out of their game plan. This will create the opportunities for sacks and interceptions. Or at least I can dream! Go Ducks! You are on the big stage again. This is one of those games that Bryce B. came bsck for this season....

David good article, thank you! Many components will go into and towards a victory against PSU and patience on offense is one of them. Deep throws are a must to stretch the defense so as to open up the playbook for the offense. However, Dante could make it easier by completing those wide open potential TD passes. A little air under a couple of those passes and a number of Duck receivers are dancing in the end zone. Consider this as an uneducated thoight from an ancient gray beard: All of the Ducks skilled position 1's and 2's have Sunday football potential. Does PSU have enough talent to defend against that? We will find out..... Composure will be important! Minimize mistakes, execute the game plan and take the crowd out of it. tOSU and Michigan have gone into the Nittany Lions den and been victorious. This may be the most talented and deep Duck team ever. This Saturday they will get there chance! Go Ducks........

Thanks Jordan for a fun read! As a long time, grey beard Duck fan I am not sure this is a different Team than past aquads. Then I ask myself as a fan why do I feel diffetently about this 2025 team? Even during the great seasons since and during the Joey Harrington era, i have had concerns, worries and anxiety before, during and after every game. Case in point, the 2024 games with Idaho, BSU and all the remaining games up and thru the Rose Bowl. A constant roller coaster ride season after season. It took Dante Moore and the offense just a few plays and the defense a few series and the rollet coaster ride stopped. This team is different! Seeing is believing. Seeing this squad execute and perform has eased my anxiety. Of course it is way to early for Natty talk! The path to the title game will and has some nasty, NFL talented teams face off with our OBD's. Cannot wait for this group to prove that the current hype is real. We will have a better picture after the white out game. Is this not fun? GO DUCKS.......

The 10,000 foot view of the 2025 Ducks football team has certainly changed in 2 plus weeks. On the field from their performance, many of the questions or preseason doubts are being answered. The sample size is pretty small, for sure! The on field execution and performance have been large. Scoreboard speaks volumes. Let's hope this continues against Northwestern and Oregon State. And then the perception is cemented after the PSU Whiteout game! GO DUCKS!