Charles Fischer

What I like about the formation, (Shades of Stanford and David Shaw) is that it is balanced. Thus we can overload blockers to either side, and while the defense has to line up balanced--we can overwhelm them on one side. It is a very successful formation for inside the five, IMHO.

College football has become surprising more balanced at the top, as the portal and now NIL are evening things out. While it is a fun conversation, my gut tells me that Oregon...like another nine teams, could win it in a given year, and challenge for many ensuing years, but not do it again for some time. The way Georgia dominated for a while? It is hard to believe that they have not won one since, and their slight decline has been puzzling to me. But GatOrlando...you are very kind, and most of us crazy, die-hard Oregon fans would be incredibly grateful to win ONE 'Natty right now... Gary Bryant Jr. Gosh I love this new uniform!

Great to see you back, and hope you will continue to offer feedback about B1G foes. I treat ESPN with the same disdain I do when I hear over-the-top political commentary. "Ignore it because it is dumb." I was extremely impressed with how your Buckeyes reloaded on defense, and it seems that your team is in the same boat as mine; however our QBs go...so do we.

Great fun, and great observations David. So many surprises contained in what you noted, especially the rotation of the running backs. Thanks!

I think Benson is what they described him as, "a possession receiver," meaning that he is good getting open for first downs, but is not a game breaker. I like how Stein is using running backs to get the pass in open field, make someone miss and get an explosion play as Jay Harris did during this game. BTW...didn't he get a TD that way in the Spring Game? He is a good receiver out of the backfield... Jay Harris

He is not going to "Out-Physical" Notre Dame...

Before Jordan James became the starter and was the backup to Bucky....they used him as the power-back inside the five yard line. It sure looks like Jordan Davison is filling that role this year!

Yes, the new Cal QB was the most impressive I ever seen a freshman in his first game. But Oregon State is absent, seriously absent, of talent. O-Line blocking was poor, receivers cannot get open, (When a Walk-On White guy is best WR? Yikes) run defense was poor...geez. By contrast, I was astounded at the depth of talent at Oregon yesterday, as Beavis would love to start some of our third-stringers. I believe an inter-squad scrimmage would be tougher than both Montana State, and Oregon State. For those who watched the game--agree?

Yeah...I am less than amused with some of the kidding, because nobody knows the crap I have to deal with in the background, all the damn egos. Most men LOVE the rules...until they apply to them. Remember Haywarduck? He posted every day and often, and was a founding member of the forum. Twice he broke our rules, and instead of owning up to it, moving forward, and we forget about it? No, he fought me, and blamed his writing ON ME. With the ensuing emails--he would not ever admit he made a mistake--even when presented with the rules and what he wrote. I removed Moderator status from him since...you have to know the rules? I did NOT ban him, but he left last December...never to return. So I have to put up with everyone's "mistakes," deal with their ego, and now put up with the "jesting" when I am trying to find a solution that allows little boys...to be unfettered little boys.

That freshmen were playing ahead of the No. 1 JC transfer two years ago, (Sione Laulea) and ahead of Dakoda Fields, and veteran Jahlil Florence in the secondary? Wowsa.

This. Many of our usual plays--were not used, (yet) and we heard the announcers say a ton of times how Stein told them that, "we are keeping things simpler this year in the first game." So, smaller playbook, and frankly--I felt going into this game that Oregon would overwhelm in the trenches...and they did. But instead of ball-controlling and scoring 24 points as a former HC here did, Lanning/Stein let it loose. Way too soon for a judgment yet on the offense, but boy--what a great start! I also thought it was notable that the first play from scrimmage was an outside zone left, snapped from behind center, with a DEEP "I" formation. I was looking at how far Whittington was positioned...and was surprised. A new wrinkle... Beast!

No worries. He'll be a great portal target in the future....

247 reports that two freshmen started, (Dak Moore & Brandon Finney) and 12 played, which is more than the one of last year!

I recognize that some were probably held out due to nagging injuries, but the freshmen did not play very much like freshmen, IMHO. The speed and size of so many is incredibly impressive, and it is apparent that the last two recruiting classes had players that are going to jump players on the depth chart that have been here longer. I was very surprised to see a true freshman, (Dak Moore) AND a RS freshman in Jeremiah McClellan start at receiver. They jumped a ton of players such as transfer Malik Benson, and veterans such as Justius Lowe and Kyler Kasper. I was blown over seeing RS freshman DT Tionne Gray starting over Bear Alexander, and LB Jerry Mixon starting over Devon Jackson. (Held out because of injuries?) In the secondary--you could have knocked me over with a Duck Feather when true freshman Brandon Finney started at corner, joined by RS Freshmen Aaron Flowers and Ify Obidegwu in the secondary along with senior transfer from Ole Miss, Jadon Canady and Purdue transfer Dillon Thieneman. We saw true freshman Na'eem Offord play a ton, along with RS freshman Kingston Lopa. I did not expect to see this many, especially in the first half, and was impressed with how talented they are. I've never witnessed this much talent assembled at Oregon before...whew! That's not even counting the freshmen running backs...like Jordan Davison!

Finebaum is probably in the fetal position under the kitchen table...

That was a little tongue-in-cheek, as I thought the quarterbacking was superb. So far, Dante Moore is as good as we hoped...

With a final score of 59-13, I see that CRL Ducks was only five points off with his/her prediction of 55-14 to win our first prediction contest of the year. I do not recall CRL Duck being a winner before, so my hearty congratulations. And my Duck-Buddies...it was so nice to see so many enter, and now that football season is here--to see so many familiar handle names back. The Gang's-All-Here! All Hail, "The Beast!"

Let's take this discussion back out to the main forum again...

Now we get to hear what the B1G announcers were hearing over the past week about Dante Moore's upside. I felt that in the Spring Game...he did not have the protection that he had for this game! Thoughts about the QBs?

Fantastic blocks by WR Dak Moore in the running game that sprung Whittington for the big opening play, and Limar for the TD. I am pretty surprised to NOT see Makhi Hughes in the first series? We started a true freshman at WR, (Dak) and a RS Freshman WR in McClellan? Whew!

Good gosh, I love our helmets! What a winner…

A perfect day for football!

Precisely right, and Ohio State almost blew it being to conservative, IMHO on their second to last drive. You gotta work as hard to finish the game as the other team is...

Here we are my Duck-Buddies, the thread for pondering the actual game as it happens. Let's discuss before, and during the game! I have made a major change in how we will moderate our GameDay threads. Bottom line, is that you will be allowed to spew your frustration, to vent, as you wish. But Note the Parameters: --This is for GameDay threads only; you have to behave in the regular forum threads as in the past. --You cannot take shots at those who disagree with you, just like in the forum during the week. Remember how we discussed this upfront in this thread. Let's Have Fun Posting During the Game!

I am really curious to see how good the Ohio State trenches are this year, after the major reloading from last year.