Mike West

They were that bad. Saw the whole game, eating massive crow!!!

It is so great to be humbled so emphatically!!! It's definitely Gut Check time for DeBoer. He looked a little dazed. Unlike Ryan Day last year during the Michigan game, DeBoer looks concerned. I watched an ESPN analyst put it all on QB Ty Simpson, and I laughed outright. Bama might have lost its soul when Saban retired, Or perhaps he saw they didn't have the fire in them anymore. Whatever it is, nobody fears Alabama anymore. I loved the QBs today. Wished Novo got more time. DL has a dilemma on his hands. Play Novo and burn a redshirt (or Moga for that matter), or race to 45 and get them both some ample experience against teams like Indiana and Iowa (which it looks like both are possible-no joke. I wasn't impressed by either on the LOS). There is still much to work on, but now we know this team is more focused and seems to have a chip on their shoulders.

I couldn't have said it better Solar! If you're going to get criticized anyway, you might as well do it your way! I do believe the best coaches are flexible however. Think of Nick Saban throwing a Freshman into the fire in the second half of the Natty. That takes guts!. Then imagine the next year, those two players switch again, and defeat the same team-again. In both cases, the playbook expanded according to each players' relative strengths. Against an extremely talented defense both times. In my eyes, that says to me Saban recognizes things happen that require junking your game plan. Of course, that's a tough pill to swallow if you believe in your philosophy (or game plan), Which of course means, how much do you trust yourself and your instincts? How much do you trust your staff? There are so many components to dealing with the intricacies of the game. Which means sometimes it really isn't ego, but just going with what you feel is the best move to make according to what you see and feel about what's happening. Which is why I believe your point is so valid.

Oh I believe we all feel this way. We really want that Natty!

I'm with you on this Drake. Sometimes it just boils down to mano y mano, and your philosophical take on the game won't necessarily work.

Very good observation about the secondary, and the fact the OOC teams (and West Coast Offense type teams) exploited those weaknesses.

I agree Microburst. If Lupoi struggles this year, I believe he will be on the hot seat. This year's unit is too talented to waste.

Thanks Jon for the compliment. As for above, I believe Ohio State's plan for the season was to script slugfests while in conference play. I am sure the players DID emphasize they wanted to exploit their talent advantages. But I am almost sure the team had been practicing plenty of plays designed for the playoffs. The way they executed reminded me of Michael Penix and his receivers the way they played us in Seattle-they were unconscious. The back shoulder throws were perfect, and in my eyes that was due to hundreds of passes in the summer were thrown to be that perfect. I believe Ohio State had done the same. In no way were they going to expose much of their "real" offense during the season (though I did see one play run twice against Penn State). I personally believe the elite teams should design game plans for the playoffs (against likely contenders) all year. I actually would be surprised if they didn't. They have a whole team of analysts that scout all year. In fact, I'd personally develop those analysts as if they were coaches. I'd have one set scout and design game plans for opponents, and the other design game plans against OBD. I would have them emphasize every players' weaknesses as well. But that's just me. Who knows what these elite coaches do.

Pretty much Smith, Lupoi did a very good job of shutting down Henderson and Judkins in Eugene. Chip came back and exploited Lupoi's tendencies in Pasadena so well it looked like it was a scrimmage.

The real tragedy is that 300-500 kids have ruined access to paid education for possibly a million others. I stopped being a fan of G5 visits to the P4 when the SEC kept heralding their vaunted conference schedule (while scheduling 4 automatic victories using the G5 as fodder). But it was a viable model for plenty of kids that were all state at home, but not quite good enough to land a P4 scholarship. I thought it was real cool that these kids got on TV too. Now, a bunch of no names as far as I'm concerned are getting paid millions, and the hundreds of thousands (male and female) that worked as hard in high school are faced with dwindling opportunities to earn a scholarship as a result of their efforts. As far as OSU/WSU/Cal and Stanford go, they made their bed in the 2010s. They ignored a full 10% of their respective Universities revenue base figuring times would never change. Cal and Stanford had a more nuanced situation given they are both heavy laden with pro sports as the prime source of entertainment, but this elitist (dare I say I am being a hypocrite here lol) mentality relegates them to exactly what they deserve-Ivy League status in their major sports. Heck, I actually hope they end up getting dropped by the ACC when the next round of conference realignment settles. They deserve to be little sisters of the poor. Pride cometh before the fall.

Very good summary and assessment David. Thanks for the article. Really made me think about this year's challenges the team will face. I believe we will be seeing key elements we haven't seen before in this year's defense: Lanning's first group that is overwhelmingly his as an entire unit, and the fact that most of that group has been in the system at least two years. I believe it also will be a true evaluation of Lanning's version of the Bear Defense. Which I myself am looking forward to evaluating over the course of this season. I am looking forward to scrutinizing the defense in both college and its iterations in the NFL as well. There are a good number of teams that are very close to each other in terms of talent and ability. It's going to be a fascinating year as I believe coaching is going to be a major factor in determining who wins this year's title.

Well, When you and I again are about as good as Michigan's QBs were last year, you're going to lose five games. It is ironic however, that they did beat Ohio State and Alabama again after losing five games. I believe we all know Michigan was just better than everyone they played in 2023. Way better. Besides, the controversy started the beginning of that season, so Michigan wasn't stealing signs. They were just beating people up. As in dismantling the thought they were cheaters. They lined up, kicked butt, and left no doubt. Not hard when they returned so much talent and experience. The time to have punished Michigan was in 2023. They deserved it immediately. I don't believe that would have changed results on the field though. I think they would have run up the score to prove a point. They were that good. It's time to honor their accomplishments in my opinion. They were pariahs, and they still took care of business. I respect a team that handles their business under such scrutiny.

When Taggart sealed his reputation as the dumbest coach to ever leave a program, OBD had the very best recruiting class EVER...until this upcoming class that is. One glaring misnomer (not attributed to you David-you brought a great summary to the entire season as Taggart basically left everyone feeling completely soiled, including the very solid staff he brought-which refused to join him at Florida State) is until Justin Herbert lunged for that fateful TD, Oregon's offense was running at an unprecedented clip to the degree that Taggart's Gulf Coast Offense would have obliterated Chip's legacy. And I do mean obliterate. It was scoring a staggering 50 plus points per game. The offense was unstoppable, and I do mean no SEC defense would have touched it unstoppable. It was on LSU's 2019 juggernaut pace, and more. And that was without the blazing speed he had recruited that fall, which would have made that offense better than LSU's a year in advance (that WR class was top shelf-as in better than the Dakorian Moore and Dallas Wilson combo). The only reason I don't dare declare we would have seen a Natty Trophy join Marcus Mariota's Heisman is Taggart flamed out so spectacularly. That's how much of an impact that class would have had. Taggart would have been better off if he had solicited a mentor. He literally had put OBD in elite category by simply putting a staff together that was recruiting at epic levels. But his immaturity was evident, and he clearly has character flaws. That brief stint however, launched OBD into contender status forever. The ironic aspect to all this is both Florida bound coaches ruined their best chances at earning a National Title as they had one of the very best Oregon QBs combined with close to the very best defenses we as fans have witnessed. U2 has this great line in one of my favorite songs of theirs: "It's no secret that a conscious can sometimes be a pest, it's no secret that ambition bites the nails of success". That and "it's no secret that a liar would believe no one else" sums up Willie Taggert for me. The guy was paying attention to everything but the present-and he was too foolish to grasp his goal of becoming the first Black coach to win a National Title was staring him in the face in Eugene.

The only way I’d accept at large births is if they turn CCG weekend into play in games between the remaining contenders from each conference. For instance, an Illinois versus South Carolina. SMU verses Bama, Indiana vs Ole Miss. Clemson versus USC (or Iowa). You get the picture. Then nobody can claim their SOS was better because of conference play. It would give the ACC and Big 12 a legit shot at proving they qualify any given year without hearing how they played lower competition. Something like the 9th rated team to the 20th rated team facing off the week before the playoffs start. No more arbitrary decisions, no more maybe getting the field right. That is a true definition of proving it on the field in my opinion. It would lend more credence to the regular season, it would match the teams politicking for those final spots. And yes, that would mean it’s 14 team field, and the teams would actually decide who qualifies ( the winners of that week would advance to the playoffs, and the Top 2 teams would earn a bye). You could also just take the top 24 instead of top 25. That would make it a 16 team playoff field with no bye week. Start the season week 0, and end the season New Year’s Day. Make college football better. Let the teams decide instead of a committee (no conference auto bids as a G5 team should qualify within the Top 24). I don’t want to hear "you aren’t what your record says you are," and the P2 have more difficult schedules. Heck, ASU would have defeated Texas if the refs weren’t told to make sure Texas advanced. And yes I’m calling it a conspiracy. Just like Cam Newton fumbled, threw an interception against OBD, and Thomas Dyer’s wrist hit the turf. We know TV execs want to see ratings juggernauts. I want to see a "why Ole Miss lost to 4-8 Kentucky" scenario in one of those play in games(and yes, I believe last year that would have happened). No more excuses.

When Tez Johnson stated Dante Moore would win this year's Heisman, I was hyped. When I saw the tape of the Spring Game, I said to myself: "huh". One thing I am certain of, we have 3 QBs that can start just about anywhere. I think Moore gets the nod. I would like to see Moore play like Novo makes me feel: smooth. Moore has shown he can handle responsibility of the job. I just don't feel like he jumps off the page the way I feel about other QBs around the country this year. Novo doesn't necessarily execute flawlessly, but I just feel more comfortable with his play for some reason. I can't put a finger on it. Maybe its just my expectations for Moore. The only thing that makes me comfortable at all is Moore throws the ball so effortlessly. He doesn't strain when he throws the ball. I am not worried if DL doesn't decide right away. And I certainly hope Moga gets plenty of reps. Moga is a best kept secret. But he needs the reps too. We are in very good hands for the next 3-4 years. All four of the QBs make me feel confident in OBD's future.

Well, USC is a defense away from making some noise. Riley will always have an elite offense. They need a stellar defense. Riley always took that for granted because he didn't need one in the Big 12. You need one to take out an Oregon, Penn State, a Michigan. Because those defenses can slow Riley's system down. He also lacks the muscle in the trenches. But that defense is where he has his problem. He should have taken down Georgia. But his defense collapsed under the adjustments Kirby made. I'm telling ya, if he gets a defense, all of us that hate having to deal with their spoiled children will be crying in this forum. We will be mad. Because, they WILL start getting talent again, and we will have to fight with them all over the country for those recruits. Let's just be gentlemen, and praise that guy, until we take them down. We don't need some Boston College transfer "talking nonsense to Bama" type of locker room poster fodder. USC is heading the right direction, they took guys away from us after all. And they have a score to settle.

Allar Sayin Underwood Maiava Moore (Novo?). Sayin is the real deal. Don't let a few mistakes in his Spring Game fool ya. He is under his 3rd OC. Underwood is just a month away from doing damage. Maiava is under rated. Moore needs to be money. Can he win games like Gabriel did last year? I think Novo can. Moore needs what Novo has. Novo needs what Moore has. Muscle memory for Novo (deep passes), brain power and quicker decisions for Moore. The five above them have all those components-deep ball accuracy, reads defenses well, hits key passes (on second down so you don't have to face third and long frequently), and clutch when they have to be. As for that dude in Texas-he is going to burn plenty of barns in the South this year. If you get a chance-watch his trial by fire last October against Georgia,. He was constantly under duress, made the right decisions, and when he had enough time, he was making plays. The guy is going to dominate. And he has some competition. Ty Simpson is not one to sleep on. He is smooth, makes very good decisions, is accurate downfield all over the field, and is a playmaker in an offense designed for his skillset. People forget what DeBoer did for Michael Penix. Simpson is a smoother edition, that can also handle the duress he will face. The SEC isn't dead yet. So, here's to Moore giving Novo tips on timing deep balls, and Novo showing Moore how to unmask the middle of the field. Whoever it is, we need both skillsets. We have some pretty elite defenses to chew up.

If OBD are clicking on offense, that record will go away. Snow or no snow. They don't have any returning LBs this year. OBD are more physical, and our WRs aren't something Iowa can handle. This of course is predicated on Stein finally opening the offense up and letting his receivers get downfield (something they only did once in the Rose Bowl, which was a huge strategic error. With both Tez and Sadiq, you send the damn ball downfield. Whoever matches Tez's speed should get plenty of reps downfield this year. It is a requirement to winning the Natty). That said, USC and the Fuskies. Fisch is a damn good coach, he won't get smacked again this year, and USC has way more horses than IU. What is that measurement, the 4 star and 5 star percentage? Yeah, USC will be a tougher outing.

So let’s beat this dead horse some more. How is paying a kid $2M for his name, likeness and image, when less than a million people know his name, never see his image, or anything of his likeness? Everyone knows who Shedeur Sanders is. Even people who don’t follow football. How is some no name kid making more money than Sanders for NIL if he’s a no name ? I think this should all start with the proper definition ( legal?) definition of what NIL actually is. Perhaps the Supreme Court should decide. Whatever this is, I sure don’t see multi million dollar payouts as using a kid’s name, likeness or image.

Some great quotes here. Sorry guys, I’m going to write an article without pictures, so bear with me. I’m better at it freestyle, so here it goes… I happened to watch the CCG last week. I came away disturbed to say the least. I really, really wish I had time to break down what I saw, but I don’t. I have lost confidence in Tosh Lupoi, and I hate saying that. I caught a trend that Chip Kelly completely exploited, and I happen to believe James Franklin also caught it. Thus, I’m not as suspicious about Franklin as most of the nation is-especially his fan base. To be fair to PSU fans, they have title trophies in their display case, so they have reasonable expectations. Not many people admit this glaring fact in the CCG-the refs bailed us out a couple of keys times in the game. I believe it tilted the game in OBD’s favor, both times. My first impression, initially after the game was that Stein took his foot off the petal. He didn’t. Penn State’s defense stepped up. But they didn’t recover from the poor calls. One of the reasons I believe we got robbed of a competitive Rose Bowl is OBD OL destroyed Penn State’s ferocious DL. That time off was like ending the season until the Spring imho, because we looked like we did against Idaho and Boise State the entire game-poor timing to play that horribly. After watching Texas handle Ohio State at the LOS much better than they handled Georgia (both games), I am convinced we would have given Ohio State all they could handle. Back to Lupoi: he ran a defense I absolutely would not have against Penn State. And they manhandled our DL as if they didn’t exist-actually the entire Front Seven in my opinion. Not to mention , Penn State’s average WRs played way too good. And Lupoi played an entirely different front in the Rose Bowl, that he didn’t feature in Eugene against the Buckeyes. Now part of this to me is I believe Ohio State didn’t want to play us three times, so they played possum the entire year after they lost in Eugene. They had way more talent than they featured against Michigan, and I believe they did that on purpose. I’m not sure they wanted to lose, and they missed two FGs, but they definitely masked what they had intended for OBD, and I’m not sure they wanted to show it in more than once. Match that with the fact OBD really shouldn’t have gone undefeated. In fact losing to Penn State would have been the perfect wake up call because neither Lupoi or Stein pulled out new versions of their playbook in the Rose Bowl. Stein keyed completely on getting Tez the ball with room to run( and DC Knowles took the entire middle of the field away from our offense) and Lupoi relied on his backside DE/LB to cover counter plays back to the 0 hole ( and Chip just annihilated that strategy). Lupoi though, he schemes directly into our weaknesses, and elite teams’ strengths. Until further notice, I don’t want to see man to man coverage against elite teams (and I happen to believe this year’s secondary can actually play strong man to man coverage). The reason I say that is Lupoi designs horrible coverage rules. I’ve never seen such out of position play over a three year stretch-even when OBD were horrible in the Seventies. I think Lanning gives Lupoi too much autonomy. Same with Stein for that matter. Dan Lanning is a football guy. As in "Gentleman, this is a football " type of coach. His vision is excellent. He proved that to me in Seattle, and again in Eugene last October 12th. In the Ducks versus Them series, he called out exactly what needed to be done-on offense and defense. They shut down Ohio State’s ability to run the ball, and despite terrible 1 on 1 coverage, Ohio State had to score on long drives. On offense, he correctly assessed Ohio State couldn’t handle deep fades and seam routes. Ohio State also has a tendency to look at the QB, and they practiced for that, and Gabriel had his best deep passing game all season. That’s what I’m talking about. I believe DL must take on more direct supervision of both coordinators. Especially Lupoi, because I don’t think Lupoi understands what it takes to shut down elite talent. Lanning does. Stein is much better at it, but he’s too cautious. Gabriel doesn’t have a long ball arm, but when he trains for it-he’s money. That’s all about precision in coaching. I have some worries about Dante Moore, but some of that to me is timing, and I’m hoping he is working with his receivers twice a day right now, and for that matter I hope it’s against that good set of DBs. Both units need the work. Now I have a completely unconventional method of looking at football. I think coaches get stuck on their schemes, instead of learning how to wing it when the situations call for it. For me, I would never want a coach to understand what the he’ll I’m doing. So my schemes would be every damn football strategy known to mankind. Hence my players would know the game much more than they would know strategy. There are only so many things you can do based on where your team is located on the field. So game theory matters to me more than style. And culture matters more than everything. Dan Lanning has shown me he is that type of guy, but I’m not sure he’s learned how to teach his coordinators that philosophy. You can’t coach against a ghost, because you can’t see when he’s coming. So,when you hit me with anything, I want my crew to have an answer in 60 seconds ( that’s about two plays btw). I got this philosophy from Don Shula. He made Dan Marino look at formations, and call a play on the spot based on formations. Imagine if you had every play known to mankind to choose from. Now try to defend that. Same on defense. Call your audible and watch me audible to your new formation. Will coaches ever do that. Ask none other than Mary Cristobal. He junked the most lethal offense Oregon EVER had, just to prove he was a mastermind himself. So no. It’s very difficult to do, but I think Nick Saban came the closest. That’s why he’s the GOAT. I think if Lanning learns how to teach his vision, to his staff, he’s going to be pretty damn good. I’m not sure he’s there yet, but Lanning knows football. Now it’s about drilling the game itself to his staff. I’m crossing my fingers. Thanks for indulging me friends.

I totally agree. Both those offenses were lights out. The most dominant in the modern era, and nobody is close to that kind of talent. I happen to think our scheme on defense, combined with what really has been subpar talent in the secondary, makes teams in that image, look like and score like those teams on the past three defenses DL has had at his disposal. Heck, I'm worried Indiana is going to drop 35 on our defense. And they don't have an elite OL, or three elite WRs. I watched the B1G title game last week. We made Penn State, who performed awfully against Ohio State, look like Ohio State looked against us. Penn State did not have a WR that could make our team last year. I'm beginning to wonder if Lupoi and Stein go full blown timid in big games. That Ohio State win is the only time I've seen DL actually be aggressive (well he actually did the same thing in Seattle, but Nix just happened to whiff three times in that game). He actually called out exactly what to do against Ohio State in the Ducks v Them video (which they promptly dropped as a strategy in the Rose Bowl). Which brings me back to this year. We don't throw enough explosive routes. I expect five explosive pass catches a game. Two for TDs. Teams need to fear us like they did when Chip was HC. This time, it needs to be an explosive passing attack. My opinion of course.

I actuality believe Texas will beat Ohio State in Columbus. I happen to think Arch is better than Ewers, with a returning WR that did well against OSU in the playoff, and Ohio State is replacing their entire defensive line. I think the game looks a lot like last year's Texas/Michigan game. Not as big a winning margin, but Texas was the one team that schemed well to stop Johnathan Smith. With Ebuke gone, Ohio State is short one lethal WR. And that unit didn't dominate Texas last year. Let's also remember Ohio State pulled a 14 point turnaround to win that game- it should have gone to OT. Texas knows they have the athletes to handle osu2, and osu2 is replacing both coordinators. I'm putting my money on Texas. More than $100 to be exact. That's how confident I am about that game. Ole PAWL though...that's plain SEC bias.

If anything, I hope Will Stein learned he needs to score at least five touchdowns a game. Until further notice, we don't have a defense that can hold an elite offense below 30 points. So every team we play that has an elite offense must face the pressure of scoring on every single one of their drive to win, because OBD will have to score on every single drive in order to win. That's my take. I don't trust the defense to win games against elite teams. It happened once, and that was because DL exploited an unconventional rule, and Ohio State played right into that decision. We have to assume every single title contender is as good as the 2019 LSU Tigers. We have to assume we must outscore that lethal of an offense. So, I'm hoping Will Stein is taking lessons on dismantling the best defense ever created for college football. We know OBD weakness. Our Achilles Heel is our defense.

Wow, The thought hadn’t occurred to me. Pull scholarships and just hold intramural tryouts for positions! Field a brigade of Joes for a year! I wonder if fans would go for that. Just to stick it to lawyers and players. It would be comical to watch a bunch of kids G5 caliber playing for Blue Bloods. If fans had the patience to let that play out, man. Who cares what Fox, CBS, ESPN and NBC think. Too bad that won’t happen. It’s getting to the point I might only watch games I put money on. Which I wouldn’t really do. I’d just want the results of the game in that case. Since it’s all about money, who cares who the players are, I just want my money.

I agree. Oregon is threatening the status quo. Now it's time to perform. I sincerely hope we not only win the title this year, but totally dominate. Leave no room for discussion. I want OBD to do some baaaaaad things to some reputable blue bloods. No mercy. Pure ruthlessness. I want fan bases to hate us for decades. We don't have talent stacked like Kirby and Nick have had. Dominating in this environment would make winning ever the sweeter. We were abused for decades. I want redemption.