Charles Fischer

Yep, we have been discussing that all season here on the Our Beloved Ducks forum. The majority will most likely agree with you... And welcome--do post your thoughts often. I appreciate your thoughts, your writing, and adding paragraph spacing for easier reading! There were so many receivers open in the first half before the game got away...

Those furry little creatures will blindside you every time....

"Just when I thought it was safe to go back in the water with Mario, THIS happens?"

(Press Release from Oregon Athletics) SALT LAKE CITY — Oregon's chances for a College Football Playoff berth took a potentially critical hit Saturday when the No. 3 Ducks fell behind early and never gained any traction in a 38-7 loss to Utah before a record crowd of 52,724 fans in Rice-Eccles Stadium. While the Utes clinched the Pac-12 South with the win, the Ducks (9-2, 6-2 Pac-12) still needed some help to clinch their own spot in the Pac-12 title game — either an Oregon State loss later Saturday, or a UO win over the Beavers next week. That would set up a rematch between Oregon and Utah on Dec. 3 in Las Vegas, with a Rose Bowl berth the likely prize. As in 2019, when the Ducks lost their penultimate game of the regular season on the road — in that case at Arizona State — this year's team will also look to regroup against the Beavers, take on the Utes in the Pac-12 championship game and move on to a likely Rose Bowl berth. "Obviously a disappointing night for us, in many ways," UO coach Mario Cristobal said. "… There's a lot to play for; and lot of our goals are still ahead of us, and we've got to get ready for them quickly by going back to work. Because they ain't going to fix themselves." After rushing for at least 250 yards in each of the previous three games, Oregon managed just 63 against the Utes on Saturday. The UO defense struggled to get off the field, allowing Utah to convert 11-of-14 third-down chances, while the Ducks' own offense was 6-of-14 on third down and was flagged for some untimely penalties that spoiled drives. Oregon also was unable to convert two field-goal attempts, one of which was blocked, and the Ducks allowed a punt return for a touchdown on the final play of the first half, putting them in a 28-0 hole. Oregon saw its litany of injury issues continue Saturday, with senior receivers Johnny Johnson III and Jaylon Redd both unavailable for the game with injuries Cristobal said postgame have ended their seasons. The Ducks also were without defensive lineman Keyon Ware-Hudson, and within the course of the game, safety and defensive leader Verone McKinley III also was sidelined. Anthony Brown completed 17-of-35 passes against the Utes, for 231 yards and a touchdown — the scoring pass a 36-yard completion to Devon Williams on the opening possession of the second half. But the Ducks weren't able to take momentum from that, as Utah used a methodical ground attack and timely plays in the passing game to keep moving the chains and maintain possession for more than 10 minutes longer than Oregon. "We've been really good at responding; tonight as an organization we didn't respond," Cristobal said. "We let it snowball." Travis Dye, who came into the night leading the Pac-12 in yards from scrimmage, was held to 29 yards on six rushes, and a single reception for six yards. Williams led the Ducks offensively in the absence of Johnson and Redd, catching five balls for 81 yards, and Byron Cardwell ran for 35 yards. Noah Sewell had 10 tackles with a sack to lead the UO defense, with his family on hand to watch him face off against his brother, Utah defender Nephi Sewell. Defensive tackle Popo Aumavae had a career-high eight tackles, while Utah native Jeffrey Bassa, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Mykael Wright had seven tackles each. The usual extensive number of quotes....were not available tonight.

CJ by a touch! Point Spread Turnovers Sacks Created Passing Yardage Actual: 31 0 1 231 CJ 35-31 4 1 2 230 *** SW Duck 31-27, 4 1 3 205 That is as close as it gets. Thanks for being a part of it and being a good sport my friends. That is close!

Receivers were open....they were not the problem primarily tonight, IMHO.

I will post the quotes from the MC press conference late tonight, but only the ones of relevance. So much coach-speak that is useless and the Oregon media will not ask the tough questions because they are complete suck-ups. Why don't I attend and ask the tough questions? Because I would lose my credentials within a week.

WaterPolo...I am not checking through 150 posts, but this was a reminder to everyone is all.

Look I know it sucks, but frankly when you are writing the most negative stuff in Duck-dom....nobody likes to read it. Negative discussion about coaching and player performance is what we do, but we do not get personal toward our team. Think about the labels you are attaching.... This IS a different site because of all of you, and we need to maintain our decorum while asserting our displeasure. Sometimes you get stuck and can't get going...

Great post, great video--SO entertaining for an Oregon fan! Jen says, "I got this all figured out!"

You know...I've always thought this was 10 point-kinda-game for Oregon, and when I saw the three point edge to Utah? Kinda blew me away.

With a 7:30 start--I agree. But I've changed my mind on the 4:30 start and here is why; throughout the day--CFB fans in the east are watching their favorite team and those of their conference. Then--there is nothing in the east on TV at 7:30 EST or 4:30 PST, thus we CAN be seen by millions in the 4:30 slot. And Triphibius? You have the single greatest posting name anywhere--so cool.

In the OregonLive article where the journalist for Utah is interviewed...he pointed out how the original corner starter was lost early in the season for the year. His replacement for seven games is now out as well, and this leaves a second year freshman, the original 3rd-teamer starting at corner. When we played against a freshman corner at Ohio State--we did not do much with it. Against UCLA--we made massive yardage and I would suggest that it was the difference in the game. Utah will pack-the-box. This leaves the defensive backs for the Utes one-one-one with our receivers, and thus this is the opportunity for Brown and the receivers to show everyone what they can do. You do not get man coverage very often and thus it is put-up or shut-up time. Force Utah to switch to zone to help the freshman corner and/or move some safeties back and THEN we run the ball for big yardage. Plausible? I hope we see a ton of Redd...

Gosh that would be sweet. The 'Dissed Surprises Everyone!

Now that....is great writing! Thank you for the time and research to share with us.

Great article with a surprising conclusion!

Hello My OBD Forum Friends! Lets get these predictions started and remember I look for the spread with then the closest score that has the spread correct. The data I need from you is: (entries without all the information are invalid, and predictions on other threads don't count as I am not going to hunt them all down) --the winner --the score, and the tiebreaker information needed from each of you is... --the amount of turnovers Oregon creates --the number of sacks Oregon records on the opposing team --the number of passing yards. My guess is: Oregon 31-21, 2, 3, 220 Note to all: GameDay threads seem to remove the filters we have within us during the week. Writing negative about the Ducks on GameDay is fine, (as we write about negative every day here) but let's not be venting on fellow Duck fans. There is a difference and I think most of you know when it is.

Sometimes you just want a little payback to the talking heads.....

Nope. The only predictions that count are the ones in the actual prediction contest thread. I am not chasing down every prediction in umpteen threads over the last couple of days....

Well, we were able to screen them to death in Pasadena because the Bruins were blitzing all the time. I do not know that Utah will do that, thus a true downfield passing attack will be needed to offset all the defenders in the box...IMHO.

Man it fries me listening to the pundits talk about Our Beloved Ducks. I am driving back to the office and have "Tiki and Tierney" on the radio and they are laughing, laughing at the line of Oregon/Utah, and saying that it confirms what many think of the Ducks..."they are 'suspect." "How is it that the No. 3 team in the nation is a 'dog at a decent, but not great team like Utah?" Their guffaws snorted into more laughter... If it was just the words, the content, you can shrug it off as a different opinion, but the 'dis in their voice, their laughter and another derisive comment that I cannot remember just torqued me off. Gosh I wish the Ducks could lay the wood on them--by a massive margin. A point spread that makes everyone look again at the score, and go "huh!" Kinda like what BYU did to Dana a few days ago... So....this didn't actually happen?

Feels like we get PLAYED?

Now, this guy is biased, but so are we. What to make of his analysis? Here is Why Utes Will Sink the No. 3 Ranked Ducks by Dick Harmon of Deseret News

The video is short, and one thing I like about Yogi Roth, is how he knows the Oregon players and the team really well. And he really has a passion for the conference that comes out in his discussion of all the teams. And I like his "Number ONE Thing."

We have had some HUGE moments in this series, and this article has a couple of dandies. Reliving Oregon's Comical and Dominant History vs. the Utah Utes by Zachary Neel of Ducks Wire