Charles Fischer

Or...we have some incredible defensive back recruits coming in and coming up, and he felt the footsteps behind him?

Great stuff David, and before I stick my neck out again...I need to see what we get from the portal. It was stated in the Ohio State bowl game that Ryan Day is not going to go to the portal for a quarterback! If that remains, true, then Oregon's chances at Autzen just went way up, IMHO with the Buckeye visit. Are we going to hang onto some key players on offense, such as Marcus Harper or Terrance Ferguson...or the three receivers of Bryant, Johnson and Holden? Will we get more help from the portal? Those answers will determine if we go 0-3, or 3-0 with that group. And don't overlook Wisconsin in the middle of November, as that one shouts TRAP game to me.

Jon, you bring up a point that I have been pondering as well. So much of the upcoming B1G games will be incredibly compelling, so much more interesting to watch...especially if Oregon and Washington stir things up with quite a bit more offense than they are used to. I know I will be all tied up trying to keep track of all the interesting games on fall Saturdays in my new conference. To me...I think the points made about Michigan are absolutely true, and normally I would agree with them concerning a normal great team. But I am certain that bastard, Kalen DeBoer, will pull something new out of the hat and throw off Michigan enough to pull out the win. Michigan will emphasize their toughness difference, and Washington will pull all the stops out to score. He is a damn good coach...

The final score of 45-6 was certainly one I did not see coming, but TerryM9 was feeling it, as his 42-6 prediction was only a total of three points off? Wow. If I am not mistaken...I believe this is the second time you have won? Now you are in rare territory here, and I wish I had a special prize for you. I gotta give love to WaterPoloDuck who was only five total points off with a 49-7 prediction, of which is also amazing to me. Serious congrats to TerryM9, and thanks to all who played over the course of the season. Maybe if some sponsors come forward--we could have some prizes next year and make it even more fun. Regardless, this was a great year, and I had great fun with this. Thanks to everyone!

And...while I appear to be a Will Stein apologist--no, I call it as I see it. I did not let up on Taggart running Herbert between the tackles and getting hurt, (stupid-as-hell) nor did I about the Cristobal offense. (Won't take us to the promised land) Nor to Lanning and Stein for not taking the points in the first game vs Washington. But I believe Stein has done an incredible job in his first year as OC, and utilized the tremendous weapons he had. He will get better, but I thought the Fiesta Bowl was pretty-darn-good.

Not bad! Only two off...but wait, we were No. 6 in the nation. Second in the conference to a national finalist? It shouldn't suck, but since it is Washington... Below? I knew that for years...

We got GREAT yardage off the Jet Sweeps, as that play is an example of unveiling a new play that Liberty had not prepared for, and yet took advantage of the superb blocking by Terrance Ferguson on the Force defenders. It adds to the variety of attack, keeps them off-balance, and kept drives alive. This was a throwback to when Chip Kelly did it in the 2007 Sun Bowl. Of course if Chip did it, the play was brilliant, but not now! This was also a play from Taggart’s Gulf Coast Offense that worked well in 2017. I LOVE the strategy of popping new plays on a defense…but others can call it “nickel-and-dime” and still be unsatisfied. No sweat.

Oregon is the only team in the nation that has scored 30 points a game in every single game. At some point, everyone has to ask themselves if “isn’t scoring 30 points is enough to win?” At what point do you ask the defense…”hold them under 30 points please?” I just don’t see the same questions being asked when it comes to the Washington games as 31 and 33 points were enough to win on offense.

He used a combo of the pistol and the shotgun as the new short yardage formation, and completely caught Liberty offguard. I will dive into it later in the off-season…

""He did amazing," said Jackson Powers-Johnson postgame. "Not just as a freshman but as a center. He did an amazing job leading his group. Great snaps, great everything. I'm really proud of him... I just told him that it's his time and he's on his way to greatness. And this is the night to start it off, and he did great." (Greatness and Weakness Emerge Early) Thanks so much to Pennsylvania Duck for posting that article above and ALL that she and NJDuck give us every day.

And the majority thought it was Alabama all-the-way! Now, can the bastard Huskies make it two 2024 B1G teams?

I am so fascinated with this game! Well, I've known that for years...

I understand. It isn’t good enough that Oregon is No. 2 in the nation in scoring, and averaging 44 points a game, and what did we put up today? I don’t think people appreciate what we have, as opposed to expecting perfection. (IMHO) As I am going through the game, I see we attacked them with some new tactics I had not seen before that I will cover in the off-season. People will disagree with me, and that’s fine. Goodness knows I have been wrong my share of the time too!

Michigan's defense looks pretty stout; offensive line pass protection is going to be paramount when we play them...

Disagree. He correctly identified poor pass defense as I did in my preview article, and he attacked it. Bo threw a low ball, and the receiver missed it on the first series--of which the WR was wide open.. The play was wide open also on the third down before the field goal. My gosh Tez was so open, but the pass was blocked at the LOS. Good play-call, not Stein's fault on either...

With six minutes and 22 seconds left in the first quarter, Oregon ran an overload blitz that made the Liberty quarterback throw the ball away. Dorlus was in on that play…

I thought OC Will Stein called not only a great game, but really identified weaknesses in the Liberty defense. I certainly like some of the innovation, and there was one offensive formation that Liberty was not prepared for. That is something to break down in the off-season!

I’m going to check it when I go back through the game later, but I do not recall a single bad snap by Poncho, and considering how well we ran the ball, it was impressive. I did not notice any glaring deficiencies from our freshman replacement at center. Anybody else notice anything?

I could swear I saw No. 3 out there...but I did not hear his name!

I would usually root against an SEC team, but now have added incentive for a future B1G fellow conference member in the Wolverines. Thoughts about this game?

The difference of a QB in all the little things, and the knowledge of the offense and the defense you are going up against? A newbie QB certainly would have scored, but not to that degree. The difference of an experienced QB cannot be overstated, as it can offset other weaknesses of a team, and catapult a team that is good into great. I am not real surprised at how much Oregon scored; I thought we would move the ball easily enough, and frankly was so surprised at how well an ol Chip Kelly Outside Zone Read did throughout the game. They were weaker at perimeter defense than I saw coming and I salute the defensive staff for identifying it. I certainly thought that Liberty would not make the drops and mistakes they did on offense and would score more. But I am quite happy with the result. I was hoping we would rise to the occasion on defense, and we did.

Let's move to new threads on the front page. Start one!

Let’s Go Ducks!