Charles Fischer

At halftime of the MW Conference Championship last night...Urban Meyer was singing his praises of Oregon's speed....on DEFENSE!

That was a terrible PI...and it wasn't called?

Penn State is a good team, and will be a tough-out. Yet, I believe Oregon would win four out of every five encounters with them. I think there are other teams in the Playoff that will test Oregon further, with Georgia being an obvious example. But what about Indiana? Now that they are coming storming back from being beaten....would they be better than the 'Lions right now? We played Ohio State when they were healthy, confident and No. 2 in the nation. Now we play the No. 3 team in the nation....and the Playoffs haven't even begun yet?

Go Arizona State!

Yes, I know the B1G has a couple of tough teams at the top each year, but it seems that in the Pac-12 we faced a killers-row of quarterbacks. Each week was a tough defensive assignment, while the B1G QBs are....meh. One of the "best" wins on the schedule, Illinois who finished No. 21 had a very pedestrian QB compared to what we faced in the Pac, from even the bottom third of the league. It just feels like the B1G is top-heavy, but the middle and bottom third are not as good as the Pac was in the same segments. Now don't get me wrong; I don't want to go back to being unseen by the majority of the country, and I want our AD to have the double the media revenues in the first year compared to what the Pac/Apple offered us. I love the exposure and being part of a Super-Conference, but I believe that label was supported by their bluster that was simply the time zone, and the number of eyes watching. We will do just fine in this conference, IMHO. Now that we've gone through the conference...what are your thoughts?

I wasn't going to go there, because the analysis was long enough, but I am quite sure there are sequential plays off this original new play. Penn State counters, and we counter-the-counter. I love your thought of an RPO, especially a pass off this because the linebackers are going to be busy as it is. The tight end could peel off his block to catch an eight yard pass?

USD, not SDST.

Talk about withdrawal symptoms... ...the offseason is going to be rough!

Wow....we are NOT popular in B1G Country!

Click-bait title, as a more accurate one is…Why Oregon Deserves to NOT Play in the B1G Championship, but he got me to click!

Oregon is “annoying” news that most would prefer to ignore. Keep winning and they can’t!

If we do not get Olesh at noon...this guy below might be a TE Portal Target for Oregon...

There is a counter that we have actually run into this year, the "Scrape Exchange" that goes back also to the Chip Kelly days. Defense began to figure how to counter the Zone-Read, and this was one of the solutions. But, there are counters-to-the-counters, and then comes the timing; if you do a Scrape-Exchange on defense when they are not running a Zone Read? You have defenders out of position, and big running lanes can be created inadvertently. I had a video made about this concept, but the creator who contributed it to us, then decided to make it private. Nice....I share all my stuff, but others do not have the same attitude.

Hello My OBD FishDuck Forum Friends! What is your prediction versus Penn State? Take your shot and let's have fun with it... Let's get these predictions started, and remember I look for the differential between your predicted points with both teams from the actual points. I will use the tiebreaker information when needed, so provide all the data below! Entries without ALL the information are invalid, and predictions on other threads don't count. And please check the other posts in this thread to prevent putting up the a score that has already been predicted. We had one week where four entries were the same score! Please follow directions, as I need all that is below for tiebreakers: --the winner --the score --the amount of turnovers Oregon creates --the number of sacks Oregon records on the opposing team --the number of passing yards by the Ducks. My prediction is: Oregon 34-17 2 3 321 Let's Go 13-0, Ducks!

Oregon put the most points on both teams whose defenses had not allowed that much prior to playing the Ducks!

Four-star offensive lineman Alai Kalaniuvalu flips back from BYU to sign with Oregon Ducks WWW.OREGONLIVE.COM The old double flip.

Alai Kalaniuvalu verbaled to Oregon, then changed to BYU, and then changed back! This is a position of great need, and quite a development. Besides Oregon and BYU, he had offers from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Utah, Washington, USC and more! Alai Kalaniuvalu | DuckSportsAuthority N.RIVALS.COM Alai Kalaniuvalu - 4 Star Offensive guard for Oregon on DuckSportsAuthority

Suddenly the objective has changed to "make the Playoff," as opposed to making sure that every team that has a legit chance of winning the 'Natty is in the Playoff. Any team beaten 24-3 by an unranked team late in the season is NOT a serious option to win the NC, IMHO.

There is a rumor that Oregon may use the JUCO transfer, the new corner who is an athletic freak. He is 6'4" and can jump through the roof. He had a pick already this year against Illinois in limited reps, and he might have the bulk, length and speed to help shut down Warren. He's in front, with a safety bracketed behind? Sione Laulea No. 13

This is a fantastic observation, as those fans are impossible to please, and I'm sure he was stunned about the game as well as not wanting to deal with the fans. Not to mention...if they had to use Pepper Spray to break things up, his own safety could have been jeopardized. I'm raising my hand, as I did! As I wrote back then...."this is what you live for as a major college kicker." And I don't think Urban is touching that osu2 job with a ten-foot pole. He is wealthy, and does not need the aggravation of ungrateful, irrational Buckeye fans. What? I am Completely Rational!

Most analysts feel that Oregon is the more complete team, but Penn State could still pull off the win if Oregon, 1) gets stopped in the Red Zone as has happened a few inopportune times this year. A second element that has to go the ‘Lions way is ball-controlling the LOS, and preventing Oregon from very many possessions. Throw in some turnovers as the PSU defense is prone to creating, and a win for the men in white could happen. Their pass rush is the fastest in America getting to the quarterbacks in just a tick over two seconds according to Pro Football Focus. (PFF) The matchup of Oregon’s heralded offensive tackles versus their edge rushers is fascinating in itself, as Abdul Carter, No. 11, is considered the No. 1 Edge Rusher in the nation and a top-5 pick in the NFL Draft. He and defensive end Dennis Sutton disrupt passing games, as the Penn State defense likes to go with “man” pass defense in the secondary. This allows the ‘Lions to crowd the box to stuff the run game, and with their elite athletes…it works. Historically, when the PSU offense plays a tough opposing defense, they don’t score as much. Against Ohio State, they only scored two field goals on offense, although that is because the Buckeyes had two goal line stands that prevented touchdowns. Their offense is more predictable than most teams, and should allow for a better defensive game-plan by DC Tosh Lupoi. Penn State’s superlative tight end, Tyler Warren has twice the catches of any other receiver on their team, thus it will be interesting to see who is matched up with him. I’m thinking that in obvious passing situations, we will see bracket coverage with a linebacker like Devon Jackson, and a safety over-the-top. Stopping Warren is a must, and if done will shut down the PSU offense. Penn State has an injury at offensive tackle, and the replacement is adequate, but holding off Burch and Uiagalelei will be difficult. The real weakness of the entire PSU team is at Wide Receiver, as they simply do not get much separation and cannot be counted upon. Thus, I could see Oregon going with man-free, with man coverage on the WRs, and an extra safety on Warren? The running game for Penn State is not going to go as well against Oregon’s interior defensive line, as stopping the run is the Ducks primary goal. With an Oregon lead, the PSU offense is not built for massive catchup unless they turn to some new trick plays, as we saw in the USC game. As long as Warren is kept to a reasonable number of receptions, I do not see Penn State scoring more than 20 points against this Duck defense. Interesting fact: only Texas and Oregon defenses are in the top ten in the nation for grades by PFF for both defensive line grades, and linebacker grades. The nation is about to become acquainted with the Lanning/Lupoi defense that, due to Oregon’s long-term reputation for offense, is about to be discovered. PFF also gives the PSU offensive line a ranking of only 57th in the nation, and that makes going up against Burch, Harmon, Caldwell and Uiagalelei that much more difficult. In my view, there are two major components that will lead Oregon to victory, and the first one is the playing surface. If they were playing on grass outside in the cold winter temperatures, then it would favor Penn State. But Lucas Oil Field is indoor, on fast turf like our indoor Practice facility next to Autzen. I do not see ‘Lion defenders keeping up with Oregon’s speed, especially at receiver. The second component is how PSU likes to play “man” pass defense, and with one starting corner out….Tez, Evan, and Traeshon will thrive against a “man” defense as shown against Ohio State. However, an even bigger advantage comes with how Stein likes to throw to our running backs who catch extremely well. I believe that both Jordan James and Noah Whittington will burn the ‘Lion linebackers badly, especially considering this is a base element of Oregon’s passing attack. This is a GREAT matchup in our passing game, IMHO, if our offensive tackles can win against the PSU pass rush the majority of the time. The biggest difference is going to be at wide receiver, and I expect to see Oregon begin to take the lid off the passing offense. Sure, we scored a couple against Washington and others, but Stewart can do double-moves and get open all day. Throw in Tez for third-down conversions, along with a rested team? Oregon is poised to take off! My score prediction will appear in our OBD Prediction contest, although most say it will be a six or seven point Oregon victory. Even a number of PSU media pundits admitted that Oregon has a few more weapons, but our young men need to play their best, and get a lead as soon as possible. What can you add?