Charles Fischer

Hello My OBD FishDuck Forum Friends! What is your prediction of Oregon versus Indiana? 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. We Have Two New Rules: If two winning scores are tied, and tiebreakers tie? The first one who posted wins, automatically. TerryM9 gets 42-6 locked in every time as his. (I love this guy!) 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 30-20 1 2 281 Going to get a great game from Whittington!

OREGON ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | JANUARY 6, 2026 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL | @OregonWBB Frantic Finish Gives Ducks Win at No. 21 USC LOS ANGELES – Spurred on by the greatest player in program history, Oregon mounted one of its greatest comebacks in recent memory. After trailing by 17 at one point, the UO women's basketball team rallied back and upset No. 21 USC at the Galen Center on Tuesday, 71-66. The Ducks (14-3, 2-2 Big Ten) finished the game on a 14-0 run, taking the lead at 69-66 on the last of three straight three-pointers by junior guard Ari Long. Former star Sabrina Ionescu was sitting courtside with her husband, UO athletics Hall of Famer Hroniss Grasu. Ionescu addressed the Ducks at halftime when they were down 37-21, head coach Kelly Graves said. "We were a little intimidated; she talked about that, talked about just playing stronger," Graves said. "… The message was right on point. And they listened. Maybe I gotta hire her." Ehis Etute had a career-high 17 points with 13 rebounds to lead the Ducks, who outscored the Trojans by 21 points during her 29 minutes of action. Katie Fiso added 14 points with eight rebounds and six assists, while Mia Jacobs and Ari Long each hit a trio of three-pointers and scored 11 points. Long had two points through the first 37 minutes of action, but hit consecutive three-pointers with less than three minutes to play that tied it at 66-66, then the go-ahead three with 31 seconds left. "There's too many heroes to point out," Graves said. "I thought Katie was more like herself in that second half (after scoring two points in the first). But she didn't get down on herself at halftime; she came back out with a new commitment to just do better. And how about the threes from Ari Long? Holy criminy. And then Ehis was spectacular tonight." The Ducks outscored USC in the fourth quarter, 26-8. The Trojans missed their first eight shots of the period, which Oregon opened on a 12-0 run, and USC missed its last seven attempts of the game as the Ducks closed with another run, of 14-0. USC star Jazzy Davidson had 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting in the first half, but she was just 1-of-9 in the second as Oregon's Sofia Bell took the lead on her defensively. "We scored 50 points in that second half, but I think it was our defense that won the game," Graves said. "Late in the game we got stops, and then, most importantly, we got rebounds. … It was just a great win." How It Happened: After leading for much of the first quarter, the Ducks allowed a 16-0 run to end that period and then fell behind by as much as 17 late in the second quarter. They rallied within as little as eight late in the third, but ultimately entered the final period down 58-45. Fiso was the spark plug during the 12-0 run to open the fourth, hitting three buckets during that stretch. Etute and Sarah Rambus both scored in the post, and Etute capped the run with two free throws to make it 58-57 with 6:16 left. A quick 8-0 run over the next 90 seconds got USC back out in front 66-57. But those would end up being the only points of the final quarter for the Women of Troy. Etute hit another layin with 4:31 to go, kicking off Oregon's frantic finish. After her free throw made it 66-60 with 3:37 to go, Long hit consecutive three-pointers and suddenly the score was tied, 66-66. The teams then traded misses, with Jacobs blocking a shot for the Ducks. Then, each team had a turnover. Jacobs had a chance for a go-ahead three with 37 seconds and missed, but Etute secured the rebound and Oregon called timeout. Coming out of the huddle, Long ran to a corner mere feet from where Ionescu and Grasu were sitting, and made the three that gave the Ducks their first lead since it was 9-7. "Normally, she would curl that, but we told her, run straight to the three and she did it," Graves said. "And you know what, that's not an easy shot." At the other end, USC missed and the rebound was secured by none other than Long. Fiso then made two free throws with 17 seconds left, and the Ducks had secured the come-from-behind victory. "We seem to just play better when we're behind, and we play with a little desperation," Graves said. "But man, I could not be more proud of our team." Oregon's early 9-7 lead was forged by buckets from Etute, Fiso and Jacobs, and then a three-pointer from Jacobs with 3:26 left in the period. But USC scored 16 straight to lead 23-9 entering the second. Baskets from Etute and Long followed by a three-pointer from Astera Tuhina gave Oregon a 7-2 run to open the second, cutting the deficit to single digits at 25-16. The Trojans answered with a 10-2 run for their biggest lead of the night, 35-18, and had a 37-21 advantage when Ionescu raised her voice in Oregon's halftime locker room huddle. The UO deficit was 15 early in the third at 43-28 when the Ducks mounted a 9-3 run to get back within single digits at 46-37. Etute had four points and Avary Cain scored three during that spurt, and moments later Bell hit a three to get the deficit back to nine at 51-42. After two USC free throws, Jacobs made another three and the deficit was eight, 53-45, before the Trojans rallied back into a 13-point lead entering what would end up being an unforgettable fourth quarter for the Ducks. Up Next: The Ducks host Michigan State on Sunday (2 p.m., B1G+).

Thanks again for everyone who follows our rules, and is patient with me.

So Oregon has made 14 MILLION for the conference?! Shouldn't we be treated a little better?

Mike...that was a great article bringing up a crucial point that NONE of the other hundred media outlets have covered. Frankly--I had forgot about this, and I hope your article gets passed along to Coach Lanning.

Isn't your point above THE major point with them? Oregon has added enormously to the conference, and should be treated at least equally compared to the old powers. But then, we DID win the most conference championships in our first year last year...didn't we? So how they will treat Oregon?

Davison's loss is immeasurable in terms of hard running, pass protection, and perimeter blocking. Damn.

I did not include the video, but in each case--Dante could have thrown to the space before the receiver gets there as he has done tons of times, and those plays were without defensive pressure. I can't show everything, but I have to show where the receivers were and how they could have been "thrown open" as Mike referred to above. Or we will disagree about what we see.

And pertaining to the article? Agreed...limit the sacks! Thanks Alex.

This thread is not the official prediction contest that we have each week. It will not be up as a Pinned Post until Thursday, and all predictions on this thread do not count because I am not looking them up later. Got enough to do!

Cignetti reminded me of a coach....and it took me the longest time to pull it out of memory; former Oregon State basketball coach Ralph Miller. On the sidelines during a game....Ralph always looked like he was sucking lemons...

Yep. I saw them, wrote about them here in the forum as well. But I had hoped he has improved since then....

In the first screenshot above...note that it is 3rd and 14, and Dante had already thrown to the check-off receiver, but downfield we had Benson (green arrow) and Sadiq (yellow arrow) breaking open for the first down. Earlier in the play--you would see that Dante was not pressured at all, and could have easily stepped up in the pocket and delivered to either open receiver. In the second screenshot above, it was 3rd and 11, and Dante already threw to Benson on a short slant that got six yards is all. Moore was not pressured, and you can see that Sadiq (yellow arrow) is breaking open. Throw it hard, and you beat the free safety instead of checking down for an eventual punt. In the final example...everyone has seen or heard about this, but look at the above screenshot as it is 4th and 2, and Sadiq (yellow arrow) is breaking open long and Dante has time to throw! So the questions are....is this Dante not progressing, and simply deciding in advance he's throwing to the check-off man, or was this the game-plan....to throw quickly no matter what? Something to watch for against Indiana, because at least when we played the Hoosiers in October--Dante was under pressure and folded, while what you see above is either hesitation, or game-plan. Which is it? (Screenshots taken from the Skycast view offered by ESPN that we rarely have access to)

We broke that streak, so time to bust another!

My many Duck-Buddies...I have shared with you about the Spammers who try to register, about the AI bots who try to penetrate our forum, and now I have had to fight off TROLLS who try to register and trash-talk us. When people register...I ask for their "Oregon Story" and I have learned how to distinguish between AI, Spammer, a real Oregon fan....and now the Trolls. I will call the phone number of the registrant to confirm they are legit, and three times recently--either I got a false phone number or after receiving a voicemail and text to call me...they refuse. Busted! This takes a lot of time upfront, but it relieves a ton of problems later for the moderators and I--and most of all for YOU. I do not want my Duck-Buddies subjected to some of things I get in emails sent to me. (Although some are pretty clever insults) Geez. The trouble we have to go through to keep a clean forum! What Trolls Want to Leave Behind...

Agreed. The new helmet I like better with a more pronounced yellow wings...it is different enough!

I'm so surprised! They are not cheering for a fellow NW Big-10 team? (From a Husky pay site) "Anyone but the Ucks." "I can honestly say I detest Oregon so much that at this point I am a huge Cignetti fan. I don’t need to like him to root against Oregon!" "I’m in the anybody’s but Oregon camp." "I’m ok with any final the doesn’t include Phil Knight." "Don’t even want to see a remote chance that Nike gets their Natty." "Miami beating Oregon in the championship does two things. 1) It shows Oregon they had the guy that could get them there, and they couldn't keep him. 2) It cements their place as the Buffalo Bills of college football. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. But I'm a sick twist. I hope for things like this." "Chris Peterson was the antithesis of Oregon and Mario who openly cheated for many years while Pete was all about educating and winning according to the rules at the time." "Indiana better win vs UO, because I don’t have a lot of confidence anyone left if going to beat them. OSU was the insurance policy…" "Oregon is currently as close as I want them to a NC."

I was shouting at the TV when it happened, and when I played it back--was furious. Then I get these photos from FishDuck.com photographer at the game Tom Corno...and can't believe it. In a close game--these non-calls can determine a championship, and it is WRONG.

In the photo above, the ball is in the air and coming to Benson, while the TT DB already has hands on Malik, and is impeding his ability to catch the ball. In the next photo above...it is even more obvious that the DB never looked back and impeded Benson. How is that NOT pass interference?

Mike...your analysis going into the Texas Tech game was not 100% accurate....because nobody is. But your take was so much closer to what we saw than any other analyst out there! (How about THAT for a curse for the next game?) You bring up so many great points, but the one I missed that you nailed is the use of the shorter pass patterns on the early downs, and ditto for the check-down throws. In the first drive--we had so many great completed pass plays to TEs Sadiq and Johnson on first down that moved the drive nicely. This is what I love about the two FishDuck websites; we can publish our own articles without the censorship of a higher authority....because we are independent. Thus our writers can write their true thoughts, and know that even if I disagree--I have their back. These genuine opinions from our writers create great discussion, and get us all pondering about Our Beloved Ducks. Then with the two websites connected--we can have these full discussions about the article, and learn from each other. We have some terrific takes in just this thread alone....such a blessing.

Thanks, as that was very kind of you to look that up. We have a couple of people like HDuck who bring in great information for the benefit of us all, and I certainly want to encourage you and everyone to chip in like this; thanks again.

At the end of the game when the outcome was not in doubt....they announced that Dan Lanning has the highest winning percentage of any current FBS coach. Now that is pretty incredible, but I assume they attached some requirements such as coaching for four years? Otherwise Cignetti would have the highest percentage, I believe. Regardless, it is pretty amazing and I have to appreciate what we have. No matter how good it gets--things change, and you can point to a bunch of programs currently as proof. So we have to savor it while we can, and what a wonderful moment we bask in now. Practicing gratitude will make you happier, and live longer. For example...I am grateful for all of you!

Great article Alex, and you made a superb observation of how this team can win different type games. A shoot-out, or a defensive rock-fight, and that team strength is one I did not see coming on. That defensive performance is something NOBODY saw coming, and the confidence it builds going forward is huge.

As always, you are an honest and great sportsman. So glad you are here....

Pretty darn good for a super-conference, and I'm not talking about the SEC! All that Alabama-Oklahoma-SEC hype was just hot-air...