HappyToBeADuck

JJ, you go ahead and keep complaining about BIG scheduling......you being you is what's best for OBDF and its diverse group of members. You are correct the BIG scheduling woosies did a weak arse job. NO EXCUSES FOR THESE CLOWNS. The more I look at all the schedules there are some schools that are on the nice list and some being on the naughty list. Start the non con games one week earlier. There are no rules against and if there arw rules? Break em. Every school should have 2 bye weeks. This is best for the players health and affords better play. I was so excited to join the BIG. But the league officials seem petty in their actions. Please, someone, explain the polar opposites of PSU and Michigan's 2026 conference schedules? Same people in the room cranking out those conference schedules. GO Ducks....we got the short change on revenue splits, hec, might as well be one of the schools short changed on scheduling...

This is the 3rd time i have read this article and I don't see where the Ducks are BIG Winners in their 2026 schedule.... Where is the benefit of 8 straight games after the break? With 4k plus round trips to play, tOSU, Illinois and MSU? The schedule difficulty from school to school is too unbalanced, PSU and tOSU travel west just once. PSU schedule is so soft that they should be favored in all their games except Michigan, USC and the Huskies. They can go 1-2 in those games and hit 10-2. NO IU, tOSU or Oregon on their schedule? Michigan has PSU, IU, tOSU and Oregon on their schedule in 2026. And for a tune-up the Sooners come to Ann Arbor.....WTH? DL and the team will not complain and they will take that schedule one game at a time. Only good part of the schedule is OBD's have until November to gell before playing tOSU. Gonna be another nerve wracking season and I can't wait. 11-1 and a 3 way tie with IU and tOSU. Hope we lose the BIG tie breakers. Looking forward to a first round home game. GO DUCKS!

At this point, it might be a little early to look ahead to 2026! It sure is fun though. DL and staff have a few spots to fill at key positions. For example, linebacker, depth on defensive front 7 and O line. Filling those with portal players or will the 2026 recruits step up. Lots of top level players on the roster and 5 star recruits getting ready for spring ball. How those spots get filled and the team jells will determine 9-3 to 12-0. Also take the time to check out the weak-arsed schedules that PSU and Indiana have next year. A number of BIG teams could finish 11-1. 11-1 will get OBD's an invite as long as they are competitive in the shoe. Perception matters and 10-2 could be borderline for the CFP. The wild card is Dante and his protection. I dont know if Dante has depth perception problems or vision concerns. He misses seeing or throwing to wide open receivers for bird bombs. One miss could be costly. We all know Dante will work hard, grow and improve in 2026. He is still playing with a teenagers body. Dante can easily carry 15 to 20 more pounds as he developes his man body. And hone his skills. His talent and execution will land him in NY for the Heismen. Now all the Ducks need some passion. Bo and Tez had passion. Malik Benson had passion. And DL and his staff need to engrain the killer instinct into the culture. This is a Top 5 program and a top schedule. Who else plays, tosu, psu, michigan, iowa, illinois, usc and washington? Indiana and PSU don't....... Can't wait for the 2026 season because it has all the makings of a Natty.... GO DUCKS.........

Indiana has never won a Natty They must win this year to have an undefeated season.

FWIW and if so not much. Should Indiana win the Natty, then Indiana would join UCLA as the ONLY schools to have an undefeated Natty in football and an undefeated Natty in basketball . Hoosiers undefeated football and national title season came in 1954 if my info is correct. No small task! GO IU!

This on the surface looks like a solid portal signing for DL. If Dante foolishly heads to the NFL or the portal then Dylan R will have to navigate the Ducks learning curve in game day, real time! He has the talent and play maker skill set and unlike Nebraska, he will have talent all around him. If. Dante returns then Dylan will have a season to learn and prepare. Now DL needs to add some future NFL O linemen and a middle linebacker and the 2026 foundation will be strong. Go Ducks and welcome Dylan!

This along with TT and Bear returning should help all 3 improve their draft stock. Besides they all have unfinished business to handle! Hopefully some offensive players choose to return. Go Ducks......

No mourning with this old grey beard. Disappointed at the performance put forth in the Peach Bowl but not the actual loss. In the preseason many on this Forum, including me, felt 10-2 and a CFP spot would be good for a rebuild year. 10-2 may not have gotten OBD a spot. But the team didn't risk it. They won 6 in a row to finish the regular season. It was a wild and exciting ride. The Ducks demolished JMU and TT. Then in the 15th game of the season ( let that sink in) they lost to a team filled with 3rd, 4th and 5th year players. Average age 23. Their is a big difference between 18 and 19 year olds and 23 year olds. Talent took this Duck team to 15 games in 2025. Much of that young talent will be back in 2026. Seasoned veterans. For the 2nd year in a row, DL and his staff did not have the team prepared for the "biggest game"! We all know DL will learn and adjust. Main point is that DL teams beat the teams they should beat. And get the Ducks in the CFP....... Did the huskies get back to the CFP? Did PSU or Michigan? Did ND, ASU or BSU? NOPE. Just tOSU, IU and the Ducks. Darn good company! The future is solid for the Ducks. Maybe next year we don't have our OC and DC pulling double duty! Or see your room mates, great friends entering the TP. Or the running back room talent get decimated with injuries and departures. I cannot believe these situations were not distractions? Go Ducks!

My son is at the game and just sent me a picture of NW in uniform and warming up. Let's hope he is a go! He said it is a sea of red in the stands. Petfect night for OBD's to pull the upset. Go Ducks

Ducks for the win 19-13 2 3 281 Go Ducks!

For what it's worth: OBD' are not the same team as they were in October. They played below their standard and made mistakes at the end that cost them the game. Still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. OBD's offense made many mistakes against TT and kept points off the board in the first half. If they do that against IU they may lose. If they execute in all three phases the Ducks win by 13 to 21 points. IU is not a juggernaut. They just don't make too many critical mistakes. Since the 1st quarter of the Whisky game OBD's have scored points in every quarter of every game. Thats pretty darn consistent. Those points came from all 3 phases of the Ducks unit. I don't see IU breaking that streak. Every team and coach in college football knows OBD's can stop any run game. Force IU into 3rd and long and start picking off some desperate throws. MU and TT must hold the edges and contain Mendoza. Dirty up the pocket. Honestly, the Ducks showed IU nothing in October. . ..nothing This is the Duck team that can win the Natty. It is in their hands..... GO DUCKS.....

Mike, this Duck fan appreciates your optimism about the Ducks beating the Hoosiers. OBD's can win this game. I felt the Ducks could have beaten IU back in October. With 6 plus minutes left in that game, the win was there for the taking. However, OBD's did not play clean mistake free football and handed the victory to IU. That will not be the case Friday night in Atlanta. IU is the very same team as they were in October. More seasoned as they navigated thru their schedule to emerge 14-0 and earn their spot in the semifinals. Well done Hoosiers. OBD's were a group of seasoned portal transfers, uber talented younsters and a returning group of butt hurt, emberrassed players from the Rose Bowl debacle. They had not begun to gel as a team. That is not the case now. Plus, IMHO, the Ducks were sky high from the white out victory and did not take IU seriously. I have been in Texas this week and have listened to different sports talk shows. One show was interviewing Gary Danielson and he said that in their interviews the Ducks were more focused on talking about how great their PSU win was. They had very little interest or respect for IU. Another show had the IU play by play announcer on and he felt the same way. The IU team respected the Ducks and worked hard to pull the win out in Eugene. He knows the Ducks are focused and respect IU, now. They best be! The current version of OBD's will win this game as long as they plsy mistake free and execute. Same narrative as always. Go Ducks.......

All the components are in place for OBD"s to win this game, return to Miami and play for the Natty! IU did not outplay or intimidate the Ducks in the first game. They played consistent for ALL 60 minutes. The Ducks played good for about 52 minutes. Then as you mentioned WS moved away from the run game. We all know what happened then...... Iowa, PSU and tOSU defenses played tough football and kept IU's offense in check. Without a improbable last minute TD drive against PSU, IU would have their first loss of the season. Well this Friday in Atlanta, January's version of OBD's is capable of handing IU their first loss of the season. Why not the Ducks? GO DUCKS............

As a big OBDF fan the comments and analysis on this specific thread are as good as it gets. First class, well thought out and flow with ponder points. The best part of all this is that Dante can make this happen! If he reads pre-snap and audibles this young man can make it happen Dante doesn't throw 50/50 balls. We have watched him throw precision strikes, 40 to 50 yards downfield, 8 feet off the turf! Commentators have praised his play. This game is Dantes to take. His potential in October is now moving toward experienced talent, coupled with execution. Add in the future NFL talent around him and this Friday this old grey beard gives OBD's a better than even chance to win. Go Ducks.....

When I set up the TV to tape the Orange Bowl game I was tempted to not watch it live. That way I could fast forward thru the mindless and endless commercials. For some reason I decided to watch the game, live! That first half was torture as the offense worked hard against that great TT defense. OBD's, as you all know, moved that ball and continually self-destructed at critical times, keeping points off the board. Completely dominating the first half and only leading 6-0. The offense kept TT in the game. 2nd half was better. Way better....... My youngest son, Michael was at the game, sitting about 15 rows up in the endzone. You could see all the Duck colors thruout the game in the endzone. His view point was endzone to endzone. He was in the endzone with a first hand view of the MU strip sack. Our TV view is from one sideline across the field to the other sideline. Many times replay shows the endzone to endzone viewpoint. Not often enough. Thru out the game, Michael would text me that Sadiq was wide open, Johnson was wide open and that Dante simply didn't see them. (Roll outs would help with that vision. Of course, we as fans didn't see that. Later in the day I watched the game again. By some miracle, the first half recording was endzone to endzone and no announcers. Just the PA announcer. On each play the announcer would tell who ran or caught the bsll and who made the tackle. It was nice...... As I watched the first half play you could see all 22 players and see what Ducks were wide open. TT had no answers to covering ALL the Duck receivers. From that view I could see what Michael was seeing. IU will have no answers either. WS needs to call timely plays to exploit this. And help Dante recognize this. As we watched the game, Dante was hitting wide open recievers. On those same plays the TE's and other receivers were open for big gains or TD's. WOW! At the start of the 2nd half my recording format went back to normal. Darn! Point is, Mike West is correct in his assessment. One of the best defenses could not cover all the Ducks receivers. IU won't either. GO DUCKS......

Spot on again! Strong analysis, breakdown and explanation. Mike, Thank you! In the first game the Duck TE's caught 3 passes. If WS uses them on 1st and 2nd downs that catch total combined should be double digits. Dante needs to read the IU defensive set and make them pay everytime they blitz. There will be an open area to throw to. 2nd and 2 opens the entire playbook for WS and Dante to exploit the Hoosiers defense. Their front seven will wear down, if WS spreads the field. Let them chase after the play, not at Dante. I hope the coaches do a better job of calling plays that work to the Ducks favor. In October, it may just be me, but at times DL and staff had no answers to what Cignetti adjusted to. Especially the ingame adjustments. Cignetti is an outstanding coach! Mike, as I read and reread your article my takeaway was to keep the Hoosiers D off balance, guessing and on their heels not their toes. It is the recipe for a win...... Another outstanding effort by the Ducks D will be needed. Keep IU under 20 points and OBD's will have a chance to advance. As always OBD's must play smart, aggressive and clean. Don't give IU anything easy. GO DUCKS!

Whether its Will Stein or not someone has helped Dante since the IU game. With Dante's hard work and someones teaching he has improved considerably. He has been looking over the defense, calling audibles, reading his progressions and for the most part throwing to the open man. The pressure IU put on Dante was brutal and quick. He was not prepared. Against TT tech the pressure was constant yet Dante stayed calm and made good decisions. Only bad snaps and untimely holding penalties kept Oregon from running up the score. More reps and Dante will just sharpen his skills. I just don't see Oregon having a QB development problem. Bo Nix came to Oregon broken from the SEC and Auburn fan base. WS adjusted some of his sets to accomodate Bo's skill set. You don't go 48-7 over 4 seasons with a QB development problem. TT has a QB development problem? Go Ducks. Let's make DL's record 49-7.

Both teams are now better versions of themselves when compared to the October version. In common opponents (PSU, Iowa and Whisky) the outcomes were hard fought wins. IU beat PSU on an amazing game winning drive and OBD's last minute game winning drive against Iowa was amazing. Both Defense are outstanding and can be dominant. IU's offense is more consistent than OBD's. However, strong Defenses (Iowa and tOSU) held IU 's offense in check. Both teams had a chance to win against IU The Duck D is for real and capable of holding IU's offense under 20 points. The question remains; can the Duck O stop shooting themselves in the foot with penalties and mistakes. OBD's offense kept TT in this game thru 3 quarters. Ducks should have scored 35-42 points against TT. At times the best defense on the field was the Duck offense. This will not work against IU. They have an offense that will make you pay for your mistakes. Keep IU offense off the field. Sustain long time consuming drives that end in TOUCHDOWNS! This should be a great game that OBD's can and should win. All 3 phases show up and play clean and Ducks win 27-24. Go Ducks!

Charles, i did hear that comment but there wasn't much information offered, other than the comment. We, as Duck fans are in a special place, for sure! Who would have foreseen that OBD's only loss last year was to the eventual NC. And our only loss this season is to the current #1 team. With a clear shot at redemption. Over the years, Duck coaches have lost games to teams they should have beaten. In some cases, those losses kept Oregon out of title games or a shot at the Natty. DL seems to have that resolved. Now the only challenge left is to win the Natty. Wonderful time to be a Duck and to be a OBDF member. Thanks Charles for this unique forum.

At this point when IU and OBD's face off next week, they will both be facing the best team they have played against all season. Again! I give the Hoosiers a slight edge because of their consistency all season in all 3 phases. However, if IU plays like they did against PSU then they will lose to the Ducks. As long as OBD's plays crisp, clean and brutal! Follow the coaches game plan and move onto the Natty...... This will be a great game! If they reranked the teams then IU would still be #1 and the Ducks #2. This is gonna be special. Go Ducks!

Alex, solid article about the 3 things we learned about OBD's from the TT game. IMHO, the Ducks are underestimated because they have shown this season thru 14 games that you don't know what they will bring each game. Some games, good defenses slowed down or confused the Duck O. Other games the Duck D would go stretches where they couldn't get off the field. An outside onlooker might ask; how could a great team need a last second field goal to beat Iowa, or how could the Ducks only score 21 points against Whisky.? Or play so poorly, at home against Indiana? Remember, only the SEC teams were allowed close wins or even losses to rise in the rankings...... To this Duck fan, a homer fan, I never saw OBD's take a good or great team to the woodshed for a thrashing. Except yesterday! The Defense was so dominant and the Offense fought thru a great front 7 and their own self-inflicted wounds to win. That was as big a win as any Duck team has ever had. Indiana will not be so forgiving of the careless and sloppy play from OBD's offense. It may take 40 or more points to beat IU even with another spectacular effort from the Duck D. TT was a very good team but IU is a great team. Proof, they carry the Duck scalp on their belt. Both teams have improved since the first game. However, the Ducks must play clean, mistake free football in all 3 phases to win. Or OBD's D can just pitch another shutout...... This Duck fan is proud of the staff and players for overcoming that loss, winning 8 games in a row and getting their shot at redemption. Go Ducks! It is all out their for the taking.

Mike, you spoke the silent part out loud! This game has the makings of a rout. The rout will happen if 2 critical components are executed by OBD's: First, the Duck offensive line must keep Dante upright and give him time to flow thru his reads. Mike you recognized the glaring speed advantage the Ducks skill position players have over the TT secondary. Dante needs protection and he will deliver! Second, the Duck defense must hold the edges. MU and TT must force the Red Raiders run game into the strength of the defense. Play clean and disciplined, win the battle on first and second down. TT is not strong or efficient in 3rd down and long. Force TT to be one dimensional on offense and OBD's win! GO DUCKS......

Ducks for the win 31-28 2 TO's 3 Sacks 279 passing yards

I shouldnt never type again without my contacts and glasses..... Thanks DR. for spotting that. Go Ducks

So many factors come into play before OBD"s and TT put the ball on that tee and start what shoild be a nerve racking game for the fans. No more questions or doubts, SOS won't matter, the talking heads view points carry little weight. It comes down to the players and the execution of their assignments within the game plan. The Duck D holds the key to this game. The Red Raiders offense thrived on 2nd down and short. This opened up their full playbook. TT struggled in 3rd and long. Hold the edges, bottle up the run game and force them to throw the ball. A heavy dose of Chaos is needed. Make them earn every yard for all 4 quarters. OBD's offense must be patient. 14 play, 7 minutes SCORING drives limit the amount of plays the TT offense will get. No self-inflicted mistakes that give TT a short field. TT has not felt the pressure mount on either side of the ball this year. OBD's can make that happen in all 3 phases of the game plan. Going to be a battle that OBD's can and should win. Go Ducks......