Soooooo,

S What have I ranked about for what seems like Centuries? Take away the QBs options by covering your man instead of looking at the QB.

WHAT'S THE RESULT?

INTERCEPTION.

Even in NW's big pass play, the safety was covering his man ( he bit on a good fake. I'll take that every play for the rest of time- that's what I want to see).

That strategy alone will make this defense a 14 points per game juggernaut.

11 hours ago, kirklandduck said:

UCLA crushed at home by New Freaking Mexico 35-10. Nico may have destroyed his career going there.

I actually think he destroyed his career this Winter. Looking like another fifth round draft pick. Won't go so far to say deserved, but this guy doesn't have the leadership skills to carry a team.

Pride cometh before the fall (I believe almost all of us have been there before-but not so publicly with a few million in the bank).

Looks like Stein was told to put a blanket on the offense. Circa usu2 2024.

He opened it up on that last drive just enough to show OBD can score anytime they want.

Nothing to be alarmed about. This is a slow roll strategy against a team incapable of doing any harm.

I like it. Sweet lullabies to put the audience to sleep. Keeping scouts wondering how lethal the playbook really is.

6 hours ago, Eric Boles said:

A lot of you have probably seen that Oregon has implemented a new — to them — defensive position this year. I’ve heard it called a Rover, and I’m sure Oregon has their own name for it, but it is a third safety playing as a deep middle linebacker.

Coach,

It's good to see you're still around! Hope all is well and thanks for the pointing it out. I didn't even notice it until you brought it up.

His injury derailed his ability to perform like he did in high school. He isn't the same player.

I do wish him the best. He comes from a very rough neighborhood, and it appears football is the route he chose to escape it. It always pays to have a backup plan. I absolutely hope Jurrion is planning for life after football. I have serious doubts he will play in the NFL.

6 hours ago, Jon Joseph said:

Thank you, David.

Another in-depth article from a writer most certainly not out of his depth.

Recruiting, from high school and the portal, is paying (right, Mike Gundy 😁) off. In today's CFB where you have to win three or four games on the way to a title, talent and depth are critical to winning it all.

There's no need to revisit 1/1/25 other than to note that we usually learn more from failure than we do success. This team is focused.

Well my entertaining friend, you bring up so many astute observations yourself. You're a key part of an ensemble of guys that really help me look at OBD from better perspectives.

I do hope 1/1/25 is on everyone's minds every hour on the hour. The time off (three weeks) really hurt, but that sting is ample motivation to make sure that never happens again. And I want some Buckeye blood. I already have a problem with Buckeye fans (I happen to really like Ryan Day, and that fan base is ridiculous about the guy-he's been nothing but stellar. And he is starting to look a lot like Kirby Smart in his own fashion-so their arrogance and distaste for Day miffs me quite a lot).

I think Lupoi has improved. I don't like the Mint defense, so that may be more my problem with the issues I see. But I do like that he is moving players more towards their strengths. He absolutely must get his linebackers to take away patterns in the middle of the field. They keep drifting out of coverage responsibilities. Coverage rules in my mind dictate the corners take the short routes outside. That leaves the LBs in seam, slant, digs and post pattern support. But that's just me. Let's see if Lupoi irons those things out.

Keep them coming Jon. You add so much to this forum!

Thanks for the article David. Another deep set of observations as usual. Not much to add to this one, as you really hit the nail on the quality performances coming out of so many players.

4 hours ago, Smith72 said:

It seems to me that Will Stein is showing upcoming defensive coordinators as many formations and plays as possible. This gives the defensive players lots of things to think about. Reading a formation pre-snap, continuing to recognize what is happening after snap, communicating what adjustments need to happen takes time.

All of this must happen to get players to react. This takes time. The more things that a college kid must be coached for creates more things to process. Making the process more difficult during the game. Advantage Offense!

Last year, I believe Chip kept his best plays close to the vest and waited to unleash his full set of plays in the playoffs. It explains the close games after losing in Eugene in my mind. Penn State, Nebraska, and Michigan had no business staying close in the regular season last year, and I believe Chip just let the defense do its thing, and baited the physical teams into believing they had a shot in the playoffs (Georgia and OBD come to mind).

I believe Stein is serving notice he not only has the talent, but he also has multiple offenses that DCs will have to prepare for. It still hinges on a powerful running game, but one thing that stands out in my mind is Stein is getting Moore out of the pocket. That is going to wreck havoc on pressure oriented schemes. Not only does it mean Stein is looking to buy time, but it messes with coverage rules (because now Moore is also a running threat). Getting Moore out of the pocket also disrupts blitz strategy as Stein has already shown multiple ways he will get Moore rolling out (left, right, bootleg looks, and he hasn't had Moore simply roll left or right yet).

Stein is also designing plays for his talent. He now has three reliable WRs he can get the ball to in the 8-12 yard range. He is using the TEs more creatively, and he hasn't really shown what he is going to do with Sadiq yet. Moore is a slot receiver, but he can stack Moore behind a blocking WR, or like he has already shown, the WR screens are no longer a feature, they are a foundation for getting the ball downfield. I believe Stein is providing information overload, as now, he is showing looks that don't tip off what they are actually going to do (like they did last year).

The best aspect of it is I am not as concerned about WRs having cruise missile speed anymore. WR Moore is enough, because Sadiq is also lightening fast, so Stein can occupy Safeties using either Sadiq or Moore. And he is throwing formation looks that make it difficult to determine what he is up to. That he has simplified the packages to the degree he has with more formations is awesome. Not only am I impressed, I am not even sure what he has pocketed for future use.

15 hours ago, GatOrlando said:

Texas number two and Alabama number four? Is this Finebaum again? Notre Dame lost to Miami and they are nine spots higher. Texas is ahead of the team that beat them last week and Alabama got blown out vs a team not even in the top twenty yet they are fourth. Auburn and Missouri are ahead of Utah and LSU.

FPI is based on raw talent and past results. The SP+ rankings are more accurate. They include current year performance, and expectations based on the current composite of the team. FPI is what the Sports Books use to calculate point spreads, and they are probably more reliable as the season wears on.

Texas is high because they were more potent last year against the second tier level of schools (now that we have the Ohio State sample, we now know Texas struggles against elite defenses. Clemson is in the same category as the sample is out there as well -though I am not so sure about LSU yet). I haven't watched the Florida-South Florida game yet-or a number of others, so I don't have a complete feel on the group of teams outside of Ohio State that I feel are OBD's biggest challenges.

I will say this about OBD: effort and depth are outstanding. I still have some concerns about the secondary, but the talent and skill level is much better than any time in the Lanning era. I still see the LBs watch the QB too much, and I do believe coverage rules are a problem more than the talent-but the LBs not taking away options (instead of trying to determine where the QB will throw the ball) is a major weakness.

Lupoi absolutely needs to keep his edge defenders on the edge, somebody is going to crush it with counter runs if he keeps dragging the DEs to the middle of the box.

I believe Stein recognizes he will need to drop forty on everybody, as he is employing a much more aggressive approach to the game. Stein is using some elements of Taggart's Gulf Coast offense. And he is going under center. I love that. He is actually employing elements of other offenses into his scheme. Lanning even referred to it in an interview-they are scouting other CFB teams, and maybe even looking at the NFL. Whatever it is, Stein just signaled he is going to unleash more styles than he has been employing.

Somebody mentioned it, not sure who, but the WRs blocking downfield is much better. And the WR screens are now a set up for Sequential/Constraint plays downfield-the screens are a set up for fakes so Moore can throw downfield. So I believe the staff learned its lessons in January. You can't put up enough points against elite teams. You need to think its an NBA scoring fest. Like the Alabama/Clemson title games last decade.

Until I see the secondary shut down elite WRs, I will not crown this defense as elite. Georgia and Ohio State have the best pass defenses in the country until proven otherwise. That is the kind of defense OBD need. If we get those kinds of defenses, then we are looking at the rest of the decade as true top shelf, tough to defeat elite teams. Like Nick Saban/Kirby Smart kind of teams. Lanning has the team on the path. I just need to see the defense tighten up some loose ends

3 hours ago, Jon Joseph said:

I think boosters at Bama, as evidenced by DeBoer's recruiting, are willing to open the wallet and are not the problem.

Bama is the No. 2-ranked team in 247 Sports Composite Roster Rankings. There is no lack of talent in Tuscaloosa, but a lack of desire?

A major lack of desire. They didn't look like they were interested in defending their legacy, much less put a foot up FSU's behind for talking smack before the season started. They expected to walk in and dominate, and when FSU was taking it to them, they didn't respond. It took a late fumble for them to get back in the game, and when their defense started putting in effort, it didn't last when FSU responded (FSU wanted that win way more-it was totally evident the entire game).

36 minutes ago, Solar said:

Watching the condensed game on you tube, Noles were balling and playing really hard, that impressed me the most. They are for real if they play that kind of inspired ball all season.

Almost seemed like Alabama's O line was bad, but not enough footage to see for sure

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

2 hours ago, Dave23 said:

O so sweet! Overrated Bamma looked like the number 45th team in the nation not number 8. Let the whining, crying and excuses fly.

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.

2 hours ago, Solar said:

I think in general coaches are risk adverse and prefer not to play with their food and risk it running away from them. You can lose any given Saturday, so you'd better be willing to put your best foot forward to win.

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.

8 minutes ago, WTD25 said:

The spoiled fan is coming out in me, that I want perfection against . . . the best teams in college football. Ha, that's not fair

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

4 hours ago, Drake said:

While they recruit bigger DL, and faster players on defense, it does seem that our defensive progression is slow. Tosh seems a little like Cristobal, except on defense. Meaning that the defense seems to be underperforming to their capabilities.

Not sure what the missing ingredient seems to be, but isn’t the MINT defense designed to make it difficult on a QB to determine where pressure may be coming from? Good defensive set for spread offenses, but adjustments need to be made based on personnel matchups.

Perhaps the best is yet to come.

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.

11 minutes ago, JabbaNoBargain said:

Our secondary personnel wasn’t all that relatively great IMO. We had 10 guys drafted, but not one from the secondary, that’s very general but telling.

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

2 hours ago, MicroBurst61 said:

Defense being D.Lannings "cup o tea" and the fact that he himself seems to have a lot of confidence in Tosh as his DC since bringing him in four years ago, gives me hope that they are both on the same page, defensively, and are creating one of the more dominantly consistent defenses in all of NFL-lite football.

However if future games arise that Tosh seems to be a "day late and a step behind" the game plan of the opposing offense, with no clear in-game adjustments to counter, then it would not surprise me to see some interest in taking our DC in a different direction. D. Lanning will NOT wait forever for his vision of dominating defense, year in and year out, to become reality.

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.

16 minutes ago, Jon Joseph said:

The players had a meeting, including Ryan Day and no other coaches, to air things out. As Tennessee and, sigh, OBD can attest, it looked like the message sent to Ryan and Chip was, Get the Playmakers the Damn Ball in Space! Open it up! No more 'typical Big Ten, Nebraska, and Michigan-like games.'

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.

3 hours ago, Smith72 said:

Thanks Mike West! Excellent thoughts to look to during this season.

The resurrection of Chip Kelly at the Rose Bowl is exactly what you are telling us.

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.

On 8/16/2025 at 12:30 PM, GatOrlando said:

let's not overlook the fact that despite their wins over Ohio State and Alabama to end the season. They went back to losing five games.

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.

On 8/8/2025 at 12:01 AM, GatOrlando said:

What's ironic is many Gator boosters were willing to pay the Napier buyout and go after Lane. I think Lane is just a more loud mouth version of Dan Mullen. Dan couldn't or wouldn't put in the effort to recruit, and Lane would prefer to recruit out of the transfer portal because he doesn't really want to put in the time to get high school kids and mold them. It would be a massive mistake to give that guy 10 million a year.

I want an offensive guy that will bring back the fun and gun system Steve made famous. I would like a guy like Dillingham if that were possible. But I think it's only fair that Billy get a full year to show what he can do. Lane Kiffin can play his little games in Oxford, let Auburn or LSU hire him. I don't think Lane will pull a Malzahn, Fisher, or Orgeron and win a random title with one freaky QB run. I think he's a 7-10 win guy at best.

I kind of liked your offense last year. I believe the OL was a bit of a hinderance to its effectiveness. Both QBs looked good at times, and would have performed better if they weren't under constant pressure. I'm also hoping Lagaway stays healthy. The guy really makes the team better. They play with much more intensity. They are a darkhorse SEC Title contender in my opinion. And of course, now that Saban is gone, everyone is sleeping on Alabama. Alabama scares me. They have a coach that elevates his QBs, and they have a QB that fits that system in Simpson.

Lane Kiffin ruined it for me last year. They blew games they shouldn't have, which dulled my enthusiasm for him (still like him, but I'm suspicious of him big time).

On 8/8/2025 at 10:32 AM, David Marsh said:

I had to go back and look at the schedule.

The Ducks dropped 77 on Southern Utah out the gate. This was the highest amount of points scored until the Lanning Ducks dropped 81 on PSU. So that 77 is going to inflate numbers a bit.

42 points against a 4 win Nebraska team.

49 against a 7-5 Wyoming team.

35 against 7-5 ASU (this game was a Duck loss)

45 against 5-7 Cal

Which makes about 48 points per game. Though I'd say the competition doesn't put up a great measure to what the a healthy Herbert lead team could do.

Where the meat of the schedule landed with the best teams in the conference that year, Washington, Stanford and Washington State all came when Herbert was injured. Burmeiser was certainly not up to the task of leading this team as a true freshman.

The other big team in the Pac-12 that year was USC and Oregon didn't have them on the schedule.

I'm not saying the Taggart offense was bad but looking at who it played against gives me pause. It would have been better with a healthy Herbert against heavy hitters in the schedule but we'll never know how well.

Herbert was also just an amazing quarterback who made every coach he played for look good offensively.

As always I value your comments and view point Mike.

On 8/8/2025 at 10:32 AM, David Marsh said:

On 8/8/2025 at 10:32 AM, David Marsh said:

I had to go back and look at the schedule.

The Ducks dropped 77 on Southern Utah out the gate. This was the highest amount of points scored until the Lanning Ducks dropped 81 on PSU. So that 77 is going to inflate numbers a bit.

42 points against a 4 win Nebraska team.

49 against a 7-5 Wyoming team.

35 against 7-5 ASU (this game was a Duck loss)

45 against 5-7 Cal

Which makes about 48 points per game. Though I'd say the competition doesn't put up a great measure to what the a healthy Herbert lead team could do.

Where the meat of the schedule landed with the best teams in the conference that year, Washington, Stanford and Washington State all came when Herbert was injured. Burmeiser was certainly not up to the task of leading this team as a true freshman.

The other big team in the Pac-12 that year was USC and Oregon didn't have them on the schedule.

I'm not saying the Taggart offense was bad but looking at who it played against gives me pause. It would have been better with a healthy Herbert against heavy hitters in the schedule but we'll never know how well.

Herbert was also just an amazing quarterback who made every coach he played for look good offensively.

As always I value your comments and view point Mike.

Everything you mentioned is a sign of an excellent offense. Since when does scoring 77 on anyone a sign of an average offense? Thirty five on the road against a 7-5 ASU when you played poorly. OBD played poorly in Pasadena 7 months ago. They didn't drop 35(in fact that offense averaged just over 35 all year-another sign a poor performance yielding 35 points is a sign of an elite offense, and none of Cristobal's teams ever averaged 35 ppg). Thirty five was the lowest the offense scored when Herbert started. Think about that a moment-that is as good as any elite team in conference play. OBD dropped 69 on 1-11 little brother.

On 8/8/2025 at 10:32 AM, David Marsh said:

We all have our perspective. Mine is the Gulf Coast Offense was the only time Justin Herbert matched his NFL stats, and performance. Plenty of NFL experts dismissed that year because he looked so "horrible in Cristobal's offense. To the degree they even questioned his ability to even last the rigors of the NFL. The other perspective of dropping the majority in the first half? I don't really mind. If the game is over at halftime, what does it matter?

Thirty five on ASU, 42 on Cal, 48 on Arizona, 69 on OSU. Outrageous numbers in conference play-no matter the competition. Exactly what an elite offense does against below average competition.

In my estimation, we will never see 7 games in which a QB averages over 50 points a game, on any competition. Not only is that a high bar to achieve, it is a high bar to overcome. Records are meant to be broken. Let's see if any Oregon offense ever achieves those marks with an NFL bound QB.

On 8/8/2025 at 10:32 AM, David Marsh said:

I had to go back and look at the schedule.

The Ducks dropped 77 on Southern Utah out the gate. This was the highest amount of points scored until the Lanning Ducks dropped 81 on PSU. So that 77 is going to inflate numbers a bit.

42 points against a 4 win Nebraska team.

49 against a 7-5 Wyoming team.

35 against 7-5 ASU (this game was a Duck loss)

45 against 5-7 Cal

Which makes about 48 points per game. Though I'd say the competition doesn't put up a great measure to what the a healthy Herbert lead team could do.

Where the meat of the schedule landed with the best teams in the conference that year, Washington, Stanford and Washington State all came when Herbert was injured. Burmeiser was certainly not up to the task of leading this team as a true freshman.

The other big team in the Pac-12 that year was USC and Oregon didn't have them on the schedule.

I'm not saying the Taggart offense was bad but looking at who it played against gives me pause. It would have been better with a healthy Herbert against heavy hitters in the schedule but we'll never know how well.

Herbert was also just an amazing quarterback who made every coach he played for look good offensively.

As always I value your comments and view point Mike.

Let me try to put this into perspective (my perspective lol): Justin Herbert threw two very bad INTs in Tempe. Both times he locked right onto his target, and once he looked a CB in the eye and threw it to him. It was one of his worst performances. Despite that they scored 35 points in that losing effort. Last year's team averaged 35 ppg. The year OBD went 13-0 in Big Ten play, they average 35 points per game. Justin Herbert scored that in one of his worst performances ever. That to me is a sign of an awesome offense. Not an awesome QB, an awesome QB in an awesome offense.

That also was the lowest scoring output by Herbert all year. Another sign of how awesome that offense was. To even bolster my perspective, NFL experts judged Herbert would be a wash-because of the way he played in Cristobal's offenses. If you go back to the Gulf Coast Offense, and apply the eye test with his NFL performances, they look pretty damn similar. As in you can't even tell if he's playing against NFL defenses or college defenses.

When NFL experts were describing their opinions I had to laugh, because they either forgot the Gulf Coast Offense performances, or they were looking at Herbert delay often because of the offense he was placed in under Cristobal. I surely didn't forget those Taggart performances. They were unforgettable in my eyes. It looked way better than Chip's offenses to me (and I'm sure I'm quite alone in that opinion). Herbert looked like a monster. Like Fouts at San Diego monster. Like Joe Burrow at LSU monster. Kinda like nothing we've ever seen at Oregon, and probably never will see. And yes, I am saying Herbert looked better than Mariota in that offense. Because as we have seen, it carried into the NFL, unlike Mariota outside of Chip's offenses. And for me, that is a much more objective measure. Had he stayed healthy, he clearly wins the Heisman. Not to mention at least a 10 win if not undefeated season. That's what that offense was. Unleashing a Heisman performance.

I realize many, if not legions of people do not respect Willie Taggart. Film doesn't lie, and the film was revealing a ridiculous performance out of Justin Herbert every week. Check them out on YouTube. They're still there. Don't judge the guy you dislike, look at what his offense actually did. Look at what it made defenses look like. Watch the incredible decision making, and laser accurate throws with a set of WRs that weren't considered elite by any measure.

I realize I am quite alone in this discussion. I'm ok with that. I live in Vegas. Where you lose money if you're wrong. I'd put money on this one. Win or lose. That's how strong I feel about it based on what I've seen over the years. Of course, I wouldn't ask anyone to join me, and only bet the money you can afford to lose. And you all know the one time I bet the farm-and won (against Herbert the year before ironically-and on those damn Fuskies).

On 8/6/2025 at 10:45 AM, David Marsh said:

A change in the recruiting mindset was needed and Taggart could do it but Cristobal actually did it at Oregon before Lanning arrived who elevated to a whole new level.

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.