HappyToBeADuck

Ducks win 31-3 3- Turnovers 3 sacks 212 yards passing Go Ducks

Charles, great analogy referencing the ancient Rocky movies, themes and life lessons. I support all your comments and strong view points. Especially how well DL and staff prepare themselves and the players after a loss. They do take care of business and beat the teams they should beat. The one exception is the let down loss to Beavus in DL's first season. There never is nor ever will be an excuse to lose to the rodents........ In the IU game I expected the Ducks to be Clubber Lang and demolish the Hoosiers. That game should be a wake up call for the Ducks. It would be great to have a rematch in the CFP. I feel, as you do that we win that rematch. Go Ducks.......

Alex, great thoughts in your article and a great question to ask...... Are the Ducks ready to go on a run the last 5 games of the regular season. 80% confident they are. Dante still lacks game experience against a strong defense like Iowa or even udub. Dont be fooled by the Rutgers game. DL and WS put Dante and the O in attack mode. On the road can Dante recognize the D alignment and audible out? Its a fair question......... As for the CFP games. The talent will be on the field. The depth will be on the sidelines, oozing with youthful energy and talent. My concern, is our young coaching staff! Do they have what it takes to make in game adjustments? Will they be out schemed or out coached? I am 50/50 on that! Because of the youth and lack of experience with on field leadership? Well the coaches have to fill that gap. Very excited to see what legacy this team leaves. Remember, OBD's cannot fall below #9 to make the playoffs. 10, 11 and 12 are ACC, BIG 12, Group of 5. Ducks must win out! Go Ducks!

Charles, i like where we are at now! We still get to play usuck and the leg lifters up north. Sharing first hand in their annual misery Add in tOSU, Michigan, PSU, Indiana (now) and Iowa in different years. Thats awesome.... Plus we are in a conference that the 3rd or 4th place team can make the CFP. That did not and would never happen is the PAC 12 was flying the colors. This year and many years OBD's will not have to win the conference or be in the title game to make the CFP For this old gray beard we are in the big time and right where we belong. Just my feelings. Go Ducks......give Whisky a reason to fire there coach and the stubborn AD who supports 20 points in 4 games, total.

David thank you for the article and placing some focus on the dominating play of OBD's defense....... Most national articles written just rave about the 750 yards of offense and all the long runs and TD passes. Deservably earned...... However, The D just kept giving the O the ball back time and time again. After the Duck turnover on the 3rd play of the game, the D gave up ZERO yards and set the tone for the rest of the game. When DL came to Oregon, this is the kind of D play that I hoped for. Chaos and havoc (just like my first wife) resulting in 3 picks, 3 sacks, multiple TFL's, tipped balls at LOS, tight coverage all day. Just wreck the opponent like my ex did! The only way to improve on this is to shut out Whisky and put some points on the board. Aren't we due for a scoop and score? Go Ducks....

The minute the Gator AD heard Franklin say he was gonna win a National Champioship somewhere, i think HR and legal started drafting the termination papers for Billy. Franklin has all the ingredients to return to the SEC......why not at Florida? He is a step up from Napier for sure. Billy will land on his feet, afterall he is a good coach. Go Ducks! Beat the whiskers off Whisky.

Very suprised that Stein used a few counters and misdirections in the running game. Those play calls froze the Rutgers linebackers and left them flatfooted. this took pressure off DM. IU linebackers were on their toes movIng and forcing pressure on DM. The biggest surprise was designed runs for Dante. All of this, coupled with strong blocking helped light up the scoreboard. It was exciting to see a massive Duck O lineman and Sadiq 40 yards downfield blocking for Dante when the turf monster got him. Go Ducks.....

Ducks win 44-24 2 turnovers 3 sacks 215 passing yards Go Ducks

Jordan, great article, thank you! You summed it up and left no stone unturned. Last night while out at dinner my youngest son echoed your opinion about never seeing Dante throw a screen pass or execute a check down again. He played corner in college 20 years ago. He said thosr are surrender plays when the. OC and QB have no plan. Naturally the QB takes most of the heat after a loss. But you are correct that this loss was a blend of Dante, the O line and play calling by WS. Get creative coach! Darn........ After 6 games it is evident to this Duck fan that Dante is no tbreat to run the ball. Both Bo and Dillion had designed run plays to keep the D off balance. Many times, when the pressure came both Bo and Dillion were running straight ahead, in a lane, for positive gains, first downs and some touchdowns. In the Ducks first 3 BIG games the offense has struggled. Scoring 34 on NW, 17 points in regulation against PSU in regulation and a pathetic 13 points, at home against IU. OBDF members I dont have the answers to what is causing the Duck O to stall out. In my coaching days we ran the ball until they could stop it. Or they packed their defense to plug the holes and then i would have a 2 back set, fake a dive to show run. The other back stays home to block and protect the QB. Then hit slants, post or flys and my check down was the TE dragging over the middle. Just old school, forgotten football from ancient lore. Rutgers can be a redemption game for OBD's. If the Ducks dont put up plus 40 on the Rutgers pourous D, then my frustration will turn to concern to worry. Like you Jordan, i trust the coaches. Go Ducks!

Good for Cignetti, double good for Indiana and there fans. I respect Cignetti for being loyal and for the AD stepping up to keep him. The AD got out front of his coach being poached. . Now that Indiana settled this issue, can we now get back to the real task at hand? Getting the Duck O Ferrari back on the track? LOL Go Ducks.....

Mike fun tboughts and thanks for sharing. For many reasons the Duck offense needa to get a whole a lot louder NOW! Right now starting in NJ...... OBD's have 6 steps on their ladder to reach 11-1 and a berth in the CFP. They control their own narrative. So the offense needs to step up NOW against BIG 10 defenses. There may not be any soft defenses in the CFP? Any loss to Rutgers or Whisky would be viewed as a bad loss. A loss to either team would knock OBD's out of the top 11. They may fall to far to climb back in! Iowa is the place that offenses go to die, including their own. The Duck D needa to bring its A+ plus game because it could be a low scoring game. If OBD's offense doesnt get right a win will be hard fought. Wins over Minnesota, Usuck and the leglifters will require the Duck O to get right and stay right I believe that the Ducks can and will run the table and the offense will get very, very loud. If not we as fans will be crushed and disappointed. First step on the ladder, Rutgers. It all starts there. Go Ducks, get a whole lot louder NOW!

I have a great deal of respect for Dante after reading articles on his comments about the game. The young man felt that the offense was off its normal energy and tempo and that he made a number of pre-snap mistakes. He missed numerous pre-snap simple reads on the defense. Because of that he didnt make audibles to change the O's formation to block the pressure. IU played a simple pressure defense with a front 7 talented enough to bring it all day to the Ducks. Experience has taught us all that points are scored when the QB steps up in the box with his head up looking for the open man. Dante simply put himself and the team in a situation where his head was down, running to escape. Bo and Dillion had eyes downfield and their scrambles downfield not only put pressure on the defense but many times generated first downs. Dante will get there in time. Dante felt key penalties stalled the Ducks in key moments. He was right and we all saw it in real time. Couple all this that IU played their best big time game ever! While the Ducks couldnt find their stride. Credit IU for that fact and props to them. Cant wait for the Rutgers game..... GO DUCKS!

Jon, as you pointed out, both IU and tOSU have fairly easy roads to the title game. And for this Duck fan i hope both win out and go 12-0. After the title game the BIG should have tOSU at 13-0 and a fierce pitbullish IU at 12-1. Both will be in the CFP. As for the Ducks their road to 11-1 has 5 winning teams in its way. If they handle business they will be in the CFP. On the road to play an SEC team in the first round. They dont need to concern themselves about a repeat BIG title...do they? As David and geo pointed out JUST WIN OUT! With the massive SEC support i am not sure a 10-2 Duck team reaches the CFP. It is all in the Ducks hands now! Go Ducks

David, this article is right on the money reflecting on the performance of our Ducks on Saturday. The O line had very little fight in them for the most part. They got smacked in the mouth, out hustled and out schemed. Worst part, as you stated, Stein was not patient offensively! The runs up the middle coupled with uptempo kept IU just a little off balance. Who cares if we go 15 plays and chew up 7 minutes off the clock. Other than the 44 yard TD pass, very little worked in the passing game. As you mentioned and we all saw, the Duck O line could not protect Dante. For some reason DL and Stein either couldn't see it. If they did they had no answer. In just his 13th start, Dante lacked the game time experience to audible out, so he hit check downs to avoid sacks. Cosches offered very little help, imho! Overall the loss doesnt bother me as much as the lack of performsnce, effort and coaching adjustments. Especially coming out of a bye week. Every team has these types of games, unfortuneately OBD's had it on Saturdays biggest stage. Against a CFP caliber team no less. IU played a great game. They out played and out coached the Ducks. Yet the Ducks could have won this game! Playing as poorly as they did the Ducks had a chance to pull this game out. Coaches simply had no in game answers...... IU has a great chance to finish undeafeated. The teams they face are a combined 16-20. The bottom half of the BIG. Let their reward be in the title game against the Buckeyes..... Five of the 6 remaining opponents the Ducks face have winning records. All 6 will see this game film and try to duplicate what they saw. I am confident OBD's will grow from this and prove this was a one off game. This is the point in the season where DL, the staff and plauers decide to do what it takes to finish the season 11-1 or finish their season like Penn State I am betting we go 11-1. Won't be easy but i belirve in our team.... GO DUCKS......

Charles, i am so grateful that The Ducks became a team that could have a bandwagon to get off of in the first place. When I moved to Portland in 1984 I became a Duck Fan immediately. And they were bad to mediocre at best until Coach Brooks took them to the Rose Bowl. The influx of money, continued movement and improvement right up to the 2010 Natty. Fair weather fans and parents come with the sport, hec all sports! The Ducks WILL grow and build from this difficult loss. GO DUCKS!