HappyToBeADuck

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!

As a forum member i take great joy in reading the comments and perspectives on the different threads. From the deeply analytical, the heart broken and the combo sky is falling/end of the world posts. Love them all! This one of a kind, safe haven forum that Sir Charles created allows the freedom for all to express. Here's my perspective. Even though its been over 25 years since i coached, the sophistication of the game may have changed but not the laws of execution, experience and the resulting performances. The Duck D played a solid game and gave the Duck O ample opportunities, with great field position. They even put points on the board! The Duck O, well thats a different story. As a unit they collectively left points off the board. Give credit to Indiana coaching staff! They challenged Moore to beat them and he couldn't. Not because the O line was terrible or skilled position players lost their abilities. Indiana prepared a Defensive scheme that Moore(in his 13th start) could not recognize and audible out of. Duck fans have been spoiled for 3 seasons with 2 NFL caliber QB's with a combined 120 plus starts. Moore has NFL potential but lacks that game time experience. He gained a seasons worth of experience yesterday against a experienced CFP team. This fan will not support a position that blames Moore or the O line. DL and Stein did not help the matters because they kept moving away from the only scheme that worked. The fast tempo and power runs that moved the ball. Moore had no time to even see the wide open, breaking free receivers! IU sent multiple players at him. With the Duck TE's running routes and backs in the slot, OBDF members, 5 lineman cannot block 6 or 7 D players. Moore was on the move, scrambling when those routes broke open. The fast tempo power running plays set up the long TD pass. IU disguised their scheme very well. This Duck team will continue to learn, grow and improve. 11-1 is in their grasp but 10-2 may not make the CFP. We shall see against Rutgers! Go Ducks

Ducks for the win 35-24 2 turnovers 3 sacks 272 passing yards Go Ducks!

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.