Charles Fischer

Of the top six in this first ranking? Ohio State Georgia Michigan Florida State Washington Oregon Four of the six will be in the 2024 B1G... Whew! Tough conference!

My friends, for those who did not see the show--they were lavish again in praise of Our Beloved Ducks. Kirk stated what is in the title of this post, and twice they made reference to the "physical" team Dan Lanning has created in Eugene. And Kirk brought this up on his own when the question was posed to the group..."who do YOU think is the best team in the nation right now?" And that is when Kirk gave the quote...wowsa. Rece Davis and Joel Klatt have not been kind to the Ducks over the years, and to hear them in separate telecasts say so many great things about Oregon?

This is not anything official, but I'm simply connecting the dots. Perhaps it has been covered already, but for those who are not aware--safety Bryan Addison has not been playing due to "personal reasons." On a pay-site they have said that those words are code for, "not coming back." As I recall, he did not travel to Stanford, and has not played since Colorado....the fourth game. By not playing in any other games beyond the fourth game--he preserves his final year of eligibility. I am guessing, but I am thinking that he saw that through four games--he played a lot and was in the rotation, but he was not the starter. I believe he is sitting out and will transfer at the end of the season, and tons of teams would want an experienced safety such as he. (Like Oregon next year?) Again--speculation on my part, but it makes sense.

On another site they brought up these stats that are interesting... Total Sacks: 2014 - 37 (including postseason) 2023 - 27 and counting Sacks Allowed: 2014 - 31 2023 - 4 The 2023 offensive line might be built better for pass-protection, but that 2014 unit was built to move. They could block out in open space like crazy...

Fun article David, and your title reminded me of the song... "It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas..." And for an Oregon fan...it could!

I agree, sixth is right for this week.

A dog wants to play me pool for money? Count me in! Got snookered again!

Well, the margin is bigger than you may think. We have 18 of the 4/5-Stars, and Georgia has 19...and if it were that, then yes--it is razor thin. But the Bulldogs have three 5-Star players besides!

We got snookered by the Utah fans? I should rephrase that to stating that we on the OBD forum were getting the wrong impression of most Utah fans by the wonderful Ute fans who show up here to discuss college football. I have a friend who is a Utah fan, and he and I have great conversations, but he told me his son, "hates Oregon with a passion, as does most of his friends." That surprised me, but I brushed it off as a small sample. Did you hear the Utah fans in the background of the game? They were booing a good bit of the time when things did not go their way. There was a play where Evan Williams was coming up to tackle the Utah QB, who then slid low. Williams then jumped over the top of him to avoid collision/penalty. When I saw the play in real-time, I thought that maybe Evan was head-hunting? But when I saw the replay--it was apparent that Williams was trying to avoid hitting him. That is not what the Utah crowd thought. Did you hear them booing the officials 15 minutes later because a penalty was not called? I think the majority of Utah fans are not Oregon-friendly, but we are fortunate to have the exception here in the Our Beloved Ducks forum.

This team is hungry after that loss...they are on a mission, and you can feel it.

Your Gators are killing it as well!

“You get the right pieces and you can do anything, especially if you have the good coaches behind it,” Rushing said. “You’re getting the right people — they’re doing that and we’re doing that — it’s going to end up going to the right place." "Coach Lanning is a players’ coach. You could see it with everyone in the locker room and how the guys carry themselves. You see it when you’re (in Eugene). It’s a brotherhood.”

Oregon No. 6 Stanford No. 23 USC No. 25 Arizona No. 43 Arizona State No. 47 Washington No. 48 In the B1G, only Ohio State at No. 2 is ahead of us... 2024 all-teams football recruiting team rankings N.RIVALS.COM 2024 all-teams football recruiting team rankings by Rivals.com

This makes the 18th verbal of the 4/5-Star players on Rivals, and is the No. 2 all-time recruiting class ever at Oregon. The record is 19, and it can be beat! Come join Oregon!

Incredible victory for the Lanning staff, as he was offered by ...Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Florida State, Georgia, USC and Washington! Elijah Rushing | DuckSportsAuthority N.RIVALS.COM Elijah Rushing - 2024 4 Star Weakside defensive end for Salpointe (Tucson, AZ) on Rivals.com

I thought the defense was a three or four year rebuild, but I did not catch on to: 1) How good the portal transfers at defensive back were, and how they would allow great help by moving two safeties to ILB, and... 2) We had a blockbuster group return for a senior year that made all the difference this year. (Bo Nix, Steven Jones, Taki Taimani, Popo, Dorlus, Casey Rogers, etc.) Next year is a massive rebuild, thus it will take another two years, and then with all the recruiting classes stacked up--we will then be a consistent elite team, IMHO. So savor it all this year, as it could be the best since 2014!

Today's article is a classic example of what I tell the FD writers what NOT to do. You have a topic you are excited about covering, (beating the blitzes) but want to add so many other things, (four-pass opening drive, weak contain defense, Conerly vs. Ellis) that I ended up making too big an article. I should have split it in half for easier reading of both. But I was pumped about the subjects, and once I finished...."I'm leaving it!"

Who should lose?

Upon second thought....this discussion will not end well. It cannot but help but get into the political realm because some will construe my post above as supporting one side or the other, when it is just my years of frustration dealing with politics becoming enmeshed with sports. So I am locking the thread. No politics on this board. Thanks Dan.

I am not comfortable with this at all. Be a football coach, and stay away from topics that could turn people (on both sides) against you. This is like celebrities, or actors telling us how to vote. If there are a lot of smart people out there Dan, then let the smart people figure it out. There aren't because you tell them to... Another rookie coach mistake, as I of all people have learned to STICK TO SPORTS and not let politics, or topics surrounded by politics ensnarl you. Like taking the points...

Now who I'm worried about, as Florida State can skip through a weak ACC and go undefeated. They're in. Ohio State is the analyst's darling, while Michigan is the media favorite. Both can/will get in with one loss over Oregon. And then we have Alabama and Georgia....

I am not liking the looks of this....there will be more undefeated and one-loss teams at the end than I care for the Ducks to compete with for getting into the Playoff. Feels another way to screw Oregon again--even if we were to win out.

Hey Spartan, The short answer to your question is yes, we are blitzing the corners and safeties a ton more than last year. I've written extensively about how Oregon blitzed like crazy in the Eastern Washington game last year--and was not getting to the QB. Thus if you cannot against the Eagles--the risk is not worth the reward of explosion plays against you. It took me a few games last year to figure out that Lanning went into a conservative mode on defense, because we did not have the skill at blitzing or pass rush, and our secondary was not as good as this year's group. So, to mix it up you would see an occasional corner or safety blitz last year--but it was infrequent. We did a ton of simulated blitzes last year where we would blitz four on one side to overwhelm the blockers, and yet be able to drop seven in coverage. This year I am seeing a TON more five and six man blitzes, and tons more corner and safety blitzes, and I love it. I do think a reason we are seeing this is because Lanning is adjusting to the personnel; our corners and safeties are getting to the QB faster than blitzing LBs would, thus it makes sense. Khyree Jackson and in particular, Evan Williams have a flair for it, but it does have risk. One big 20 yard pass play by Utah before the half came when the blitzing safety did not get to the QB, and he threw to an open RB out of backfield before our other field safety could slide over and cover for the blitzing safety. Conventional coaching wisdom is blitzing from the short side, the boundary side of the field, yet I saw some gutty corner blitzes from the wide side that forced the Utah QB to throw the ball away. "The Anatomy of a Blitz" At our get-together in two weeks at a local motel meeting room...I will have a short film session going over a number of items I find fascinating, and one of them is how Oregon designs its blitz package. I want to look at pass-rush moves, and of course--some items on offense that are fun to see develop in slow-motion. I am no expert, and your typical high school coach knows a lot more than I, thus I welcome feedback from others at this film session and we can all learn together. It is great fun...

This whole thread made me laugh, but the fact is, he is different from the other analysts, and half the audience likes him whether we do or not. But it is great fun when he is so wrong so often.,,