Ed O

Ty Thompson, for those who don't want to click through to another site and then scroll way down.

I'm optimistic about this year, but I don't think we have the team to beat OSU just yet. We don't know who our starting QB is going to be, and the top two options are a mediocre veteran or a guy right out of high school. It possible we'll be just fine there, but it's the most important position in football and our biggest weakness at the moment. I also am not sure that our offensive line will be good enough just yet. I expect them to take a step up from last year, but the Buckeyes are probably going to be too much for them for our OL to push around very easily. On the other side of the ball... it's going to be a big challenge at every level. I like our chances against every team OTHER than OSU, and I don't like our chances there much at all.

I almost started a thread on this, too. I don't follow college basketball THAT closely this year, but it's weird that USC and Colorado are both ahead of them. I suppose it's because they haven't played many ranked teams, and it doesn't really matter, but it strikes me as just plain silly. Why have the polls at ALL if they don't matter?

Last year was a total throw-away, in my opinion. Moorhead is a good offensive mind, and he'll have had over a year with the program. We have increased our talent from last year (and, other than QB and OL, from two years ago) and have objectively (based on recruiting grades) good talent across the board. I'm quite confident that we'll have one of the top offenses in the Pac-12 this season.

As long as there's no bias towards one team or the other, it seems fine to me. It's easier for a team that's used to playing hard to deal with officials who call a tight game than for teams that are used to lots of calls when refs let the teams be more physical, so I don't think there's a disadvantage for Pac-12 teams if refs don't call games as tightly.

How women do in sports has nothing to do with college football recruiting. How well Oregon has done in cross country means nothing in college football recrutiing. I know you're taking shots at Washington (and it's fun to do!) but I've never seen any evidence that football recruits are choosing Oregon over UW or USC or wherever because of championships in other sports. Track and basketball might have some influence for a small number of guys, but that's barely a blip.

Him sliding to 13 would be ridiculous... too low for how good he is at a key position (arguably the second- or third-most important spot on the field). Chargers fans should be delighted if that happens. Also, I've seen Slater from Northwestern going ahead of him in at least one mock draft, so it's not a slam dunk he's the first OL selected.

A member of the media complaining that parents can't see their kids swim online is such a weird thing. A non-revenue sport in the middle of a pandemic where schools are struggling financially is supposed to spend MORE money on streaming the event? Things aren't free, and if almost no one cares, then it seems natural that the schools and network wouldn't prioritize it. I guess a similar argument could be made on softball... if ratings aren't there, but productions costs ARE, then... why lose the money? The Pac-12 Network isn't a charity.

Texas is unique in having its own sports network. If they want to outspend schools, they're going to be able to outspend schools, especially when you factor in no state sales tax.

Defensive scheme is so important for linemen, and I haven't watched enough film of his year to have a strong opinion on whether he was worse or better than before. It's entirely possible that he struggled but he'll still stick in the NFL. We'll see if any team believes in him enough to use a draft pick on him.

So how does that happen? A guy is ready for the NFL in spite of the lack of coaching in college? It makes no sense to me, especially at a position like QB. It's possible that the work the coaches did prepared him and held him back from the number one pick (since his production wasn't as good as it might have been), but (as stated above) that's a failure of scouting and the NFL, not his coaches.

Going to a bad major program that plays against less-bad programs... I guess it's a move. If he goes there, even assuming he wins the job he's going to do a lot of losing. I am not sure that players like him aren't better off being one injury away from a major role on a good team. I guess we'll see...

I have nothing to add about Yates, but as much as we'd all love to add a guy who is a great recruiter, I can't think for a second that Mario would sacrifice that aspect of being on the staff for other things. He knows recruiting is critical, and I trust that is a key component of every hire in aid of winning games and championships in the bigger picture.

Given that they're basically different sports, it's not really an oversight. Sabrina wouldn't get any points, assists, or rebounds with the men's team. Why would they bring her up when talking about men?

I wonder where he's going to go where he is going to be more likely to start. A lower level of football, I guess. And I HOPE it's just about the depth at the position, rather than a coaching thing or whatever. QB is such a nutty position to manage in college football.