Jon Joseph

Ducks/CAL follows Clemson at Syracuse game that kicks off at 7:30 EST. This game will likely cut deep into the 1st Q of the Ducks game.

Thanks Charles, the ranking seems right to me? I do not want to put the jinx on for Friday night's game, but what in the heck has happened to CAL athletics? Is the administration at CAL the least bit interested in sports? I guess I could ask the same about many programs in the conference.

Thanks Coach. Glad you mentioned Lincoln Riley along with Coach Swinney and others. Kennedy Brooks broke Texas back on counter plays in the 2nd half of the RR Shootout. The play was not working in the 1st half. Why, because Spencer Rattler is nowhere near the run threat that is Caleb Williams. Williams ability to effectively run the ball opened everything else up for the OK O to make a historic comeback. Brown has nowhere near the athleticism of Williams but Oregon runs AB like he was the 2nd coming of Lamar Jackson at Louisville. Good call on the Oregon play calling not getting proper angles for the OL. Oregon is playing in a phone booth. I thought that with Moorhead on board the O would get smarter? What I am seeing on the field is not the O JM ran at Penn St and at MS ST. Mario, bless him, has to get out of his own way and get the Oregon O into the 21st century.

The SC, AD, Mike Bohn hired Luke Fickell at Cincinnati. I believe he has a much better than average hiring record as the AD at other spots. He arrived at SC too late to pull the trigger on Helton before this season. I don't think he'll screw this hire up? Del Rio? Too much of the same old have to have SC ties to be hired? How about Reggie Bush's idea? Hire Deion Sanders? How about NO!

Very good article up on The Athletic today by Andy Staples regarding Oregon having to carry on despite the L at Stanford and the injuries. Staples, somewhat impliedly, calls out the refs for the 3 questionable calls on Stanford's game winning drive. Yes, David, let's hope we see a rested, pumped up Ducks team? Of course, with the wonderful 10:30 right coast kickoff time, will anyone east of Idaho be watching?

Ohio State? Reason enough to leave? Great point Charles, but Franklin is a limelight guy and would be a fit in LA. At SC he would not be looking at the gauntlet that is the B1GE year after year. But, like Leavitt, Franklin's record is tarnished by the incidents of rape that happened under his watch at Vanderbilt. I think SC Prez Carol Ford, who was hired in part to clean up the admissions mess at SC, will not hire anyone with a hint of scandal surrounding their name? BTW, up today on one of the SC boards is a take on Va Tech HC Justin Fuente coming to LA to be the Trojans OC? I expect that prior to SC actually making the new hire the speculation will include every half decent coach in the USA? So glad you posted this Charles. Lots of fun to speculate. Considering the upcoming media negotiations, this HC hire by SC will have an even greater conference wide impact.

Before Friday's results are in I think you are selling the Ducks short? I completely agree that had Sean Clifford not been hurt PSU defeats Cincy. The Committee takes note of injuries such as happened tp Clifford. And if Ohio State defeats Iowa in the B1G champ game? No reason whatsoever that the Ducks cannot win at UCLA and at Utah.

Indeed it can happen. A 12-1 conference champ Oregon will be in the PO over a 13-0 Cincinnati. A 13-0 UGA is in. An 11-2 Bama is not. Both at 12-1? I still like the Ducks chances considering that neither SEC team would have a big OOC win. The W at Ohio State is playoff gold.

Bama and UGA run the rest of the table and Bama wins in Atlanta? You'd have a 1L Bama + a 1L UGA but only 1 would be a conference champion. Bama would finish 12-1 as would UGA. But both teams would not have as good an OOC win as Oregon at putative B1G champ Ohio State. The B1G E is about to eat itself up. 5 B1G teams in the top 10 today. 4 from the B1G E. And if Ohio State wins out it will have a SOS that will really bump up the Ducks SOS. A 12-1 conference champ Oregon is in the playoff or all heck breaks loose. Keep on rooting for ASU to keep it keeping on. ASU finishes 11-1 and it will be a top 10+ team coming into the Pac-12 champ game.

AMEN!

Before the 2021 season kicked off my guess is that the majority of fans would have had the team after 5 games ticketed at 4-1? With a W against Stanford and an L at tOSU. As Puddles sat back and relaxed ASU cleared a path to the Pac-12 N title and into the champ game. The Ducks have played pretty darn well in the champ game, zero Ls to date. I have to remind myself of THIS! The Ducks has a roster that even with the dings, is equal or better than any team on the schedule. The Ducks won in Columbus, something that has not happened in many a moon. I also have to remind myself that Stanford is the Ducks nemesis. And the L at Stanford? Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. 1 hankie stays in pocket and the Ducks win the game. We can all and I cop to being guilty, bemoan close Ws against inferior opponents, but they are still Ws. Just win baby. It may not be stylish, it may not be exciting or pretty but at the end of the day it's all about scoreboard. 1 more point against the opponent like Ole Miss' 1 point win against Arkansas last week is still a win. Ducks run the table and the early games, except the W in Columbus, will be long forgotten come game 12 vs the Beavers. 'The evil that men do lives long after them, the good is entered with their bones.' BEAT CAL Friday night is as of now, all that matters. It may be ugly but a W is never ugly. Especially against a division for and any conference foe. Keep on winning. Unlike the Coaches and AP Polls, the Playoff Committee is not going to overlook that W in Columbus. Especially when Ohio State wins the B1G title. A 13-1 Ducks team is in the playoff.

Jon Gruden, long rumored to take the TN job is now CFB and media kryptonite. I don't think with his emails going public that he can be hired anywhere except as a consultant at Alabama? IMO, he would be a Pete Carroll like hire at SC.

Make it happen Captain! Let's get more hurry up on O and far more aggressive on D. I feel that sans Columbus, the Ducks O and D is waiting for it to happen and not making it happen.

You're a sunshine pumper and I love it! 4-1 and an open path to the Pac-12N and the champ game and then"? Nothing to sneeze about. Let's go Ducks!

Browns vs Chargers - Browns 1st team in NFL history to score 40 points, commit no turnovers and lose.

My thoughts on Gruden resigning border on or cross the political line so for once I'll shut up. Except, if Mario is the best guy on the practice field and not injured he will start. NO favorites are played in the business that is the NFL.

Charles my friend, I think you have nailed the ultimate ponder point? FWIW. I just got back in from the driving range. When I first got there my mind was filled with swing mechanics. I wanted to make the 'perfect swing.' What was the third thing? The ball was going nowhere and definitely not in the intended direction. After 10 minutes of garbage, I took a deep breath and said to self, 'Self have fun! Eye on the ball, relax and finish your swing.' All of a sudden the ball was going where I aimed it and at, for me, good and proper distances. I took another deep breath asked self, 'Self, is Mario having fun? Are the players having fun? Are the fans especially the future financial lifeblood of the program, the students, having fun? It's supposed to be FUN for players and fans, no? I know Mario works from dawn to dusk and beyond. He seems to be attempting through this regimen, perfection on the field of play? If this is the case, is this what is being translated to the coaches and the players? And to the fans watching the product on the field? Like golf, perfection in football is unattainable. In golf, analysis leads to paralysis. On the golf course you just have to be an athlete, do your best and live with the consequences. Not swinging well on a given day? 1 billion Chinese could care less so grip it, rip it and smile. In CFB, young men are not going to 'get it right' on every play. If you constrain their athleticism in order to obtain perfection, if they can't have fun, robotic football will be the result. You will be teaching them to paint by numbers, instead of allowing their artistry to flow on the field of play. With all due respect, in the immortal words of Sergeant Hulka, 'Lighten up Mario!' Enjoy the process and let the kids and the fans have fun! FWIW, that's 2 cents from an armchair shrink. Now, if I can only make this putt?????

Thanks Charles. Spot on regarding the lack of pass rush. Ducks is 105th in sacks and 81st in QB hurries. Hard for any DBs to hold up in the face of these kind of numbers.

I wish ISM hadn't joined the Pony Party? With the dust up Leavitt had at USF I don't know if he will pass SC president Carol Ford's smell test? I don't think Leavitt lit it up while recruiting for the Ducks? Taking back recruiting from the Ducks is a must for the new SC coach. Leavitt would be a big PR drop from the likes of Penn State's James Franklin. If SC ends up hiring a guy who has never been a P5 or NFL HC, it will say a lot about SC and likely the entire conference?

Sorry, So Car, not So Cal. BTW, with a change at QB, Heupel has it happening at Tennessee.

I didn't see a whole lot of great D in the SEC this weekend? I saw the same # of points 103, put up in the Ole Miss/Ark game that was put up in the TX/OK game. TN ran all over So Cal. The D in the A+M/Bama game wasn't all that great. LSU's D vs Kentucky was awful. As was MIZZOU's against a lower level opponent. When the scoreboard is lit up in the B12 it's because of a no D conference. When the scoreboard is lit up in the SEC it's due to terrific play calling that gets athletes seen no where else in space. The idea of the SEC being a low scoring, grind it out league lingers on in the mind of many and in the south-oriented media, but it no longer plays out this way on the field of play. Something I dearly wish Mario would recognize and appreciate?

Love the GIF! Perhaps it has to do with injuries but the Ducks D is 105th in sacks per drop back and 81st in QB pressure rate. The time being afforded the opposition's QBs is one reason the pass D has not looked good. DeRuyter came in with a reputation for putting aggressive, blitzing Ds on the field. I haven't seen this to date. It seems like the absence of cohesion we saw in the 2020 COVID season has carried over into 2021 on both sides of the ball? In this day and age the absence of hurry up O is close to being incomprehensible. I don't get it? Mario has been an HC for 70+ games. Both Moorhead and DeRuyter have very good coaching reputations. The roster has been dinged by injury but is still a Blue Chip roster. There seems to be a systemic problem with the entire operation? It seems that there is no communication between the coaches and a lack of communication between the coaches and the players? What is this team's identity on O and on D? It seems to me to be, "Don't screw up?' A completely risk adverse philosophy that is not allowing athletes to perform to their level of athleticism? That has the players playing scared and not with effort, desire and freedom. The freedom to go all out with the understanding that mistakes will be made in commission, which should be understandable and acceptable. Even so, the Ducks can run the table and can make the final 4? But it seems to me that a change in attitude is needed from the top on down. Focus on going all out and forget about making mistakes. As you so correctly note Hayward, there is an absence of innovation.

Great take on Ohio State. Post-Oregon, Day demoted his DC. stopped playing with a deep, deep safety, blitzed far more often and changed the starting personnel on D. On O he gave his true frosh stud RB far more touches. In other words, Ryan Day responded like a capable, successful, head coach.

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Brady was taken so late in part because the coaches at Michigan were clueless as to the guy to start at QB. Brady only got the the starting gig with the Patriots when Drew Bledsoe was injured. How's Belichick looking without Brady? In 2021, Sark started the wrong QB in the opener and in the 1st half of the Arkansas game. Riley did not start the right guy at QB vs Texas. BUT BOTH WERE WILLING TO MAKE CHANGES. And both back ups were coached up and ready to play.