UtahDuck

I am actually pretty confident going into the next three weeks of the season. COL is just bad, do i think we cover, no but i also don't think it'll be a one score game going into the final minute of the game. UW is really bad too. They have two wins this season an overtime affair against cal and AZ in a game i have finally watched and can claim is the worst pac 12 game of the season. WSU is probably the hardest of the three, but with half their coaching staff gone it is really hard for me to look to seriously at this game.(which means oregon wins on an int in the final minute of the game. It's the final two games that have me concerned, utah seems to be turning a corner offensively and oregon state has the most likeable head coach in the conference who also happens to be the best offensive play caller. I think oregon goes 1-1 in these games, I would rather lose to utah and pull a win against oregon state. if we go as predicted oregon still wins the north as we likely tie OSU but hold the head to head. and I think we end up playing Utah in the P12CG.

This really is the world though. I have a specific skill set, if i feel my current place of employment is not aligning with my goals, needs, wants or desires I can leave.(most states practice some sort of at will employment law). In the real world some people may leave their current job to find the other pasture isn't always greener, some people leave their job and never find a comparable replacement. He and every athlete is taking a bet on his skills and resume and that is okay. The transfer portal is closer to the real world than the previous system. Heck you could even consider places like linkedin akin to the transfer portal where you can reach out to companies(teams) and they can reach out to you.

I'm not here to speculate on a player and his reasons for leaving. This is the way of college football and to some extent it is good. They should get the option to go to any school they want other students have the same option to go to other schools and then add the fact that they are only guaranteed a spot on the team for one year they should be able to do what they want. as for the reasons 1. if he is actually homesick, why would you try and stop him from leaving 2. if he is upset that he isn't starting then he either needs to improve to the point where he can start or leave. cristobal has shown he will start freshman when ready on the oline. Both sewell and jackson powers-johnson have played as freshman.

Jon, did oregon actually run the ball well? I mean 121 yards isn't bad, especially on 24 carries. but 1/3 of the yards came on browns TD run. while Dye did set an NCAA record he only averaged like 2.5 yds a carry. personally I liked the play calling. We have seen cristobal be way to conservative at the ends of games in the past and it has cost us games(AUburn 2019, Stanford 2018, orst 2020, cal 2020). up by 17 points in the fourth oregon could make a game that is insurmountable with another TD. If you can't trust your QB to throw the ball when you are up he shouldn't be in the game(different conversation to be had). If oregon scores the game is over, no stress we can enjoy the rest of the game in peace. I don't know it seems a darned if you do, darned if you don't situation. people including myself have been very critical of coach and his end of game play calling for being to conservative and now we get upset when we throw the ball.

Thanks Charles! I just closed some big deals at work and then we had a conference to attend over the tail end of last week. I've missed football. I've had to record a bunch of games and have only had time to watch the ducks. I'm excited to go and watch the AZ-UW game and OSU-UT game hopefully soon.

One thing to consider about this defense is their ability to stop on 3rd down. Yes part of the reason this defense has defended so many plays is impart due to the offense sputtering way to much but this defense has been pretty abysmal when it comes to 3rd down conversion. currently they are ranked 109th in the nation with an opponent 3rd down conversion coming at 44%. Defenses ~top 30-35 teams are stopping opponents at a clip 10% lower or at 34ish %. Then pair this with our 127th ranked 2 opponent 4th down conversions allowed per game and oregon is now having to defend even more plays per game. finally the red zone defense is ranked at 72nd allowing scores in the red zone at 84% of the time. Look this defense has its bugs, new scheme, a million injuries along the middle/inside linebacker positions. our nickel is out and more that i am forgetting. The sad thing is our best defense was probably against stanford but the offense was so bad that they couldn't keep it up. Overall this defense isn't bad, but they are also part of their own problem. I'd bet if they were just average(especially on 3rd and 4th downs) this defense would be considered elite. I like rob Mossley, he has pretty accurate information but we also can't forget that he works the university as the editor of goducks and will likely have a very positive spin on the team. also I am glad to be back on FD. it's been a crazy 2-3 weeks at work.

That's not really accurate. against fresno state we didn't have a single int. three fumbles recoveries but some of those were by the effort of sewell et al standing up the ball carrier and stripping it. Also in the final three Fresno drive the defense allowed a total of 25 yds, one 3-and-out and one turnover on downs. against Ohio state oregon defense had 2 turnover on downs in the first half OSU only had one TD. They had another downs in the second half and while they did get the late int that doesn't discredit the fact that oregon could have easily gotten another downs turnover. Not to mention it was the sack by our all arounder that sealed the game. against stoneybrook oregon did have two major int's but even if SB scored the final still ends up 21-48 with oregon winning. lastly against AZ. First the qb threw 5 INT's so to claim that it is a timely int is not likely. Also of the last 4 drive for AZ they through two int's including a pick 6 and one 3-and-out and a missed FG. Did oregon look good in that game, no! especially offensively in the second half. but it's not like you get to take away 5 int's because the were all "timely".

I don't hate stanford, like most people I hate losing games to them especially those games those games from the early 2010's but I don't hate them. Teams I hate Washington(none of the rest of these are close to UW), FSU, Ohio state, and USC. Their are also teams in which I hate their head coach, Clemson, Ohio State, and Miss State. A number of teams in which I can't stand their fan base: Utah and BYU, Texas, ohio State, Miami and Oklahoma. Stanford does have the most annoying mascot though. It is hard to hate teams just because they are successful and at least in the early 2010's stanford was an elite team so while i knew we might drop the game against them it was still a good game. I also do think very highly of Shaw and stanford keeps putting up amazing qb performances against us so... The only team I can think I truly hate from top to bottom(outside of UW) is Ohio state. My inlaws lived in ohio for some time and I couldn't stand the fact that my father just jumped bandwagoning over to OSU(he is a utah graduate). Urban was annoying and the fact that day wanted to "embarrass" oregon this year really irked me. That and the fact that oregon lost the first CFP really bugs me.

Per Rob Moseley, CJ Verdell is out for the season.

Just some 2 cents here. First and foremost I am not here to "just defend" cristobal and oregon. This team has had moments of just downright bad playing. The passing scheme is about as bad as they get and I think the commonality of all duck forums that are exclaiming that brown needs to be benched stand as a whole. This team does have plenty of issues that stem from cristobal and the coaching staff. Lets also talk about some of the issues that you referenced. In my notes you specifically criticize 5 position groups and call out two players for performance. I'll discuss that in order of your article Oline: specifically mentioning the out matched performance against Fresno state. First i think we need to give Aaron Mosby at fresno the credit he deserves, he is an NFL caliber player and created more havoc than that of the ohio state dline. With that we need to recognize this also isn't the offensive line that fans are expecting. I've commented some time ago on fishduck that this offensive line has faced a significant amount of setbacks with 3 medical retirements including the highest rated oline outside of Penei(Tauanu'u). add in an early NFL draftee, one transfer, and one player serving an lds mission and this and this line is almost snake bitten. Should this line be better? absolutely! do they continually make way to many shuffles across the line preventing players from becoming in sync? Yes! but until the true freshman are able to play meaningful snaps this line isn't going to be the behemoth people expect. With all that said I do believe this line is better than every other line in the pac 12. Secondary: Specifically corner, I think a lot of the issues we are seeing across the board in our defense are not a lack of development but more or less scheme related. First every time I watch wright, it seems he is making the right play. I have seen him consistently in step with WR's and keeping his line. And honestly I haven't seen major issues at all in this DB core. Stephens, Mckinley, williams(now out), manning, james, hill and bridges. All of these guys are playing well, that doesn't mean they don't get beat. of course they do but that is the nature of football. You can play perfectly and the team will scheme a 6,6 TE/WR in the slot to brake out to the boundary and catch easy passes. Linebacker: You specifically mention sewell, so I will start their. Sewell is consistently in a mismatch scheme in this defense. Sewell is downfield plug filling linebacker. And probably shouldn't be schemed into coverage all that much. With that said we are down a ton at LB. at the inside/will positions, we have 4 scholarshipped linebackers not on injury. 3 of them are true freshman, and one of those is a converted safety. we currently have 3 walk ons that are getting consistent play time. sewell is being asked to do everything because he is the most developed and athletic player available but he is just not designed to cover seam routes to the level he is being asked. As a fan I feel for this LB core on defense they are stretched thin by massive amounts of injuries and are processing an entirely new scheme. Every defense is picking on them because this is the thinnest and greenest position group on the field. Quarterback: I think two things can be and are true. 1. That Brown is not a very good qb and 2. that he was singlehandedly won the Ohio state game. Brown is clearly deficient in a his overall arm strength. I don't think he is all that quick in the run game. and no one should even talk about his awful mechanics. With all that said he made excellent decision making against osu, he never turned the ball over in that game and kept oregon ahead of the chains. I also think a lot of that stems from ohio states consistent use of man coverage nearly that entire game. Ohio state probably wins if they actually force Brown to have to read the defense post snap. With that I don't think one of our freshman would have done any better. I also don't know if we get to criticize the development of them either. None of them have really played. That doesn't mean the coaches don't deserve criticism. After that ohio state game they should be playing the player that gives us the best chance moving forward. Wide receiver: I think the issues at wide receiver stem from the play book being catered to Brown. I would hate to see what browns longest down field completion was. My assumption is probably a pass to a RB(dye most likely). What I do agree with is the lack of height diversity in our starting lineup. we need to let guys with more height on the field and allow them to push the field vertically. Again I am not saying their aren't issues with this coaching, i think they are less development as you imply and more decision making and mixed in with new scheme and significant injuries it'll be harder and harder for this team to win close games unless the coaching staff makes some common sense decisions.

I don't think their is a great answer to this. First, we need to recognize mario's ability in the recruiting trail. We all like to make light of frost's remarks about how it is difficult to recruit to oregon. But we need to realize their is truth to it. Mario is successful because he puts in a ton of effort and he seems to resonate with families and players. These are both incredibly important skills/traits for a school like oregon that has at most 5 FBS talented players in state a year. Oregon/Nike doesn't just recruit itself it still needs people to represent it and go out their and work hard. While to some this may not seem that important recruiting is by far the number one predictor of success in college football. Bama, georgia, clemson, ohio state are all successful because they have the players to be that way. Even thinking of the Chip kelly days, a high octane offense paired with some really good defenses still struggled against some of the most talented teams we played. I'd also say this is becoming more important than it was even a decade ago as the metrics and recruiting tools have allowed the best of the best to accumulate more and more talent ever growing the talent disparity. After recruiting/talent than I would consider scheme/ coordinator hiring ability. Maybe they aren't the best schemers but if they can hire/retain the best coordinator and allow them to remain in their position and accept full control I think that works best. I think Mario cristobal is right in his idea of mimicking Alabama the problem is his insistence on interfering in the offense, something that Saban just doesn't do. With all this said, and I think this may be a bit of a curveball for a lot of people but I would pick Marcus Freeman. He is the current DC at Notre Dame in his first year coaching there. Prior to that he was at cincinnati as the DC. He clearly has the recruiting jobs(currently the number 2 recruiter nationwide. He is advancing quickly and I think if he kept moorhead and allowed him to do his thing oregon would quickly be a top team in both defense and offense.

I'll argue two things. 1. I completely understand why the coaches played him to start the season. As bad as some of his reads were against stanford, he has only thrown one INT all season and that is what oregon needed to beat Ohio state. 2. With that said we absolutely need a qb change, I can handle Freshman making the mistakes that brown is making but seeing a 6th year senior making the mistakes that he is atrocious. As a slightly off point but still relevant, I really don't think OC's should be the QB coach as well. I just think there's too much fineese needed in the position to adequately coach QB's and direct an offense. I often think of the high points of the kelly and helfrich era. Because while technically Helfrich was the OC for Oregon he wasn't the play caller and probably had way more time than the average OC to coach his QB's. The same could be said as Helfrich moved over to HC, He became the play caller while frost was the QB coach/OC. As a final point of Dakota Prukop played significantly better through his 4.5 games before getting pulled against washington state. He had a much better completion percentage and a better passer rating. while his TD/INT ratio wasn't amazing it was passable and oregon wasn't losing games due to his capabilities(the defense couldn't stop anything). I have know idea if the freshman are better than brown but at this point they deserve the shot because I will always be willing to lose a game because of a rookie qb vs an old one.

I have no doubt that oregon could probably pass all over this stanford Defense but... this is a cristobal lead team and he will run the ball especially when sees the weakness that is the run defense of stanford's front 6. I just think cristobal will want to limit possessions in this game, especially When your own QB can't complete 50% of his passes that is way to many stopped clocks. Also when you pass the ball 2 of the 3 possible outcomes are bad...(i need to state I don't actually believe this but I do understand this mindset) I think the UCLA game is likely the key to beating stanford vs the USC game. First both teams ran very very well against Stan. USC put up 185 yds on 33 carries where UCLA put up 204yds on 51 carries. On an actual per carry basis, USC was much better. This passing offense from USC led to a significantly worse 3rd down percentage than UCLA and one more turnover. Also oregon's Defense should be better in not letting the two big plays that UCLA allowed and will force stanford to march the ball the field length.

OSU is the better team and will win.

Oregon @ Stanford 12:30 PM PT ABC Oregon is an 8 point favorite Record: 2020 4-2 2021 2-2 Notable losses: Walker Little OT Pick 45 Davis Mills QB 67 Paulson Adebo CB 76 Drew Dalman C 114 Simi fehoko WR 179 Foster Sarell UDFA Injuries: Branson Bragg RG out Ethan Bonner CB Out EJ Smith RB out Austin Jones RB Questionable Casey Filkins RB questionable Zahran Manley CB Doubtful Recruiting and Transfers(247): Stanford has been falling behind in recruiting over the last ~5 years. They were once a guaranteed look for a top 25 class with the occasional year putting them in the top 20/15. In the last 4 years they have recruited 2 top 25 classes and the other 2 were outside of the top 40. A significant drop off considering what they averaged for over a decade. The other issue I am seeing with Stanford is that their bread and butter used to be recruiting 5 star Oline and then rushing behind a very smart and physical oline(that was well coached). Well Stanford hasn’t recruiting a 5 star lineman since 2017 and It is becoming more apparent in the level of talent they have. Offense: Right now this Stanford has the 101st overall offense. At 347 YPG and 14 offensive touchdowns. This is supported by the 112th Rushing offense(112YPG) and 63rd Passing offense(234YPG). They started the first game of the season using a 2 QB system with West and McKee but after west through 2 INT’s they have opted to use McKee the rest of the way out. McKee clearly has all the physical tools to move the ball down field and with a smart head he currently has an ESPN passer rating of 164. With that said the offensive line gives little to like in both the run and pass game and Mckee usually has to throw to his first or second read and is relying on power forward sized WR’s to box out defenders and make catches. Defense: Stanford’s defense is bad at 85th in the nation. They have allowed 14 TD’s this year and over 401YPG. This is mostly due to their rushing defense allowing 209YPG and over 5YPRush. This is mostly due to an in ability to contain the perimeter and bad defensive play calling. On top of this the opposing QB’s have plenty of time to pass the ball. Allowing even young QB’s enough time to sit in the pocket and pick the Stanford defense apart. Game Expectations: Oregon will probably do what Stanford did in the Harbaugh and early Shaw period of Stanford. Clock management and run the ball. That’s it offensively for Oregon. Obviously we will sprinkle in some passes into the game but I expect most of that to come off play action to keep the Stanford defense more honest in the run game. Defense is honestly going to be more or less of the same. Zone coverage forcing Stanford to drive the length of the field. The issue I see in this is that we will absolutely need to get pressure on McKee, the easiest way to stop him from completing to his Power Forwards is to hit him as he throws or force him to throw away. I hope Thibs is back and is able to actually play as Ithink he will be crucial in helping our defense.

I completely agree Haywarduck, as a whole I love the complexity of basketball and the fine details of the sport but frankly nobody cares anymore. to many players are flopping, I mean how many times have I seen James Harden take a shot and land funny or put his hip out just to get the contact. the game has at the NBA level lost the majority of its strategic value. Golf is an interesting sport that I don't have the patience for watching but outside of sponsorships the only money they earn is in how they perform. unfortunately I just don't think this would work for team sports. I mean 'Super teams' are already an issue it would be worse if payment was based on performance. If the NBA is interested in actually making the sport worthwhile, they need to improve reffing along with incentivize defense by removing the 'freedom' of movement' rules implemented 2-3 seasons ago. They need to limit tampering with in the league so players aren't encouraged to jump ship(talking about AD and Harden being babies). They need to structure rules so players can't contour their body to get contact on shots. and honestly something needs done to rework player contracts in the league. I have no problem with the money most players make but teams shouldn't be able to be 60million+ over the salary cap.( Example: cap is 109.14M and GSW is at 174.2M, BN at 167.3M and P76's at 145M) what is the point of caps if teams can go 40 million over and be within the rules? Like I think Steph is worth 43M and Klay is worth 35M but if you get those two players you should only have 31M to fill in the rest of your roster and probably won't have green or wiggins.

I don't think this article accurately portrays were oregon's weaknesses are. what position does Oregon need to have players show up in first in foremost. my list would be safety, QB, OL, TE, and LB. I would look at this and order these players in these position groups on importance of showing up. 1. Bennett Williams - saf 2. McKinley/Happle/Stephens or a freshman - saf 3. brown/thompson - QB 4. Jones/moore/tauanu'u - OL 5. Aumavae-Laulu/freshman - OL 6. Bass/Walk - OL 7. Johnson/Webb - TE 8. Funa - LB 9. Sewell/Flowe - LB 10. anyone from above I know I listed a more than 10 people above but just pick one in every listing and you will have be fine and number 10 is a wildcard. at this point I don't expect a lot more from Verdell, Redd, or jj3. as long as they continue to perform the offense should trudge along and hopefully we get a show from an underclassmen or two at the respective positions.

I'm a bit confused by this, Kuzma plays for LAL not the GSW. LA was up 10 when he shot the tech. as for being so bad you can't even hit the rim or backboard I wouldn't say it is a particularly new thing. the 90's and 00's had a player so notible for missing Free Throws the term to defend him was called Hack-a-Shaq. The biggest issue with the NBA is you consistently have a team or two that is below .500 that makes the playoffs. you have a number of players that can negotiate and destroy a team whenever they want out and you have inconsistent reffing that makes the pac12 look good.

Trying to be blunt and earnest I don't think we currently have the team. At least not for 2021. Overall oregon has made significant strides in the recruiting trail. in the pac a lone i'd say we have the deepest QB, RB, OL, TE, DL, and LB core. But I don't think we beat the perennial powerhouses of tOSU, Bama, or Clemson. I also won't give Oregon the deepest WR or DB in the pac as I think USC has those but that is slowly changing. As for the depth player personnel, I know a lot of people throw doubt at QB but personally I just don't know if we have enough to even throw doubt or excitement. It's possible any player could come in and excite but if it is a rookie we need to expect rookie mistakes and just hope they clean up as the year progresses. My concerns at the personnel are based in two positions. 1: Safety, this has been our weakest recruited position by far. We have some really good talent their but by needing the 5th DB(Nickel) it has been spread thin. I think McKinley, Williams and Hill are all quality but we need to see if they can improve. hopefully David or bassa can contribute because I am also not fond of Happle of the bench... 2: Tight End, We have recruited well here the last few seasons, Herbert, Webb, and now Matavao and Ferguson. Yet despite this fact the development seems stalled. 2018 the TE's were rarely used outside of run blocking, 2019 Breeland was a powerhouse before injury and then no one could replace him and then 2020. Now 2020 is interesting due to the injuries at the position and that it seemed like Johnson could really take the position forward but it at least to me seemed stalled. I mean I ask myself what happened to Webb, he had a great catch against Auburn seemed primed to move as TE1 and then nothing. I remember Justin Herbert saying his brother was the better Athlete yet Herbert hasn't seen the field(I don't take this as fact but I also don't discredit that I think patrick probably is a good Athlete). Shouldn't we be questioning that once the depth was healthy that Kampmoyer was TE1 and why the other players haven't developed? as for coaches my biggest question right now is about bobby williams, He is incharge of TE's and special teams. at this point both appear to be failing and I'd argue that it is now due to the coaching and not just the available talent.

good to know! Still it appears the Apple Cup is on Friday as well as the utah/col shindig. I like to watch these games, especially if they are relevant to conference standings conference championship(Like the year WSU went 11-2).

A few other points of relevance: 1. Oregon is the only team in the Pac that doesn't have back to back away games. 2. We get a weak(in my opinion) Colorado at home before playing UW. 3. the WSU game following UW is interesting mostly due to how this post season has shaken up.(Both De Laura-QB, and Hector-DB) are currently suspended. 4. because of the Friday game we get an extra day to prepare for UCLA who I think is our biggest cross divisional competition this year. Finally, I know some people like the Friday after thanksgiving games but honestly I am usually hosting family or visiting family and these games as a conference are more of a pest than actually providing viewership, Can we just schedule them all on Saturday?

I already UW fans on twitter complaining that they have to play Oregon at home after back2back away games. Honestly they will complain about anything... As for the schedule I don't think it is to bad although I really could care less about all the friday games. WSU has two back2back friday night games in late november. I feel bad for any fan that has to been in pullman at 7:00 at night in november... These games should be saturday afternoon... Utah ended up with three friday games, and While I know some oregon fans like watching the oregon-osu conflict on friday after thanksgiving those friday games make it tough when people have family intown. In general I think the pack is probably one of the worst at scheduling games but outside of tOSU I think oregon has a very favorable schedule. we have the our bye to prepare for cal, the cal game is a friday giving us an extra night before UCLA. We get an easy COL before going up to UW. Lastly we are the only team in conference without back2back away games. I'm just interested in if OSU can improve by the civil conflict and what WSU does throughout the season and if their players can stop getting suspended.

I'd argue third(QB, Pass Rushing DE), but it is mostly semantics. With that QB is the biggest gamble if you pull a franchise QB who stays healthy your team will continue to project well for the long term but you can also flop(Haskins, Rosen, Darnold, Manzel, Trubisky,). I'd argue elite Dline are the easiest to project in the draft and more teams should consider drafting them early than what currently happens. AS OT's I have a hard time believing someone as talented as Sewell drops to 13th, my guess is Cincinnati picks him up. As for the Chargers I think Slater is still a steal if they can get him at 13th. He is really good. I think trading up for LAC is probably not going to be worth what they will have to give to get above Cincinnati, now if cincinnati decides to pick Slater or (heaven forbid) pick at another position outside of OL than I wouldn't be surprised to see them trade up for sewell

Not even been a day and he has decommitted from UW...

When it comes to your coaching hires(Specifically coordinator) you have to trains of action, You can replicate what Alabama has done or you have the Clemson route. I don't know if one is arguable better than the other but at Clemson they have paid outlandish amounts of money to keep both Elliot and venables as their coordinators. It obviously is working for them but It is hard to argue that it is a sustainable route. Honestly the same can probably be said for Bama though, I'd argue a system in which you cycle a new(likely elite) coordinator almost every season is probably not ideal either. Oregon needs to find a balance where we can keep coordinators long enough that they can maintain and develop because unless oregon gets to that next level of recruiting(Bama, OSU, Clemson, Maybe georgia level) I just don't know if Oregon has coaching to succeed in the current playoff system.