Jon Joseph

Friends, help me please. Why is this weekend a particularly good weekend to host this kind of talent? I think this Conerly's 2nd visit? Don't know about the other guys. Isn't this a 'dead' sports weekend on campus? Make no mistake, I'm happy all these guys are tripping to Eugene but I'm confused as to why so many guys are coming this weekend when they cannot experience a football weekend. Thanks.

And if you play me, pay me.

Yes, based on the rookie salary agreement in the NFL, dropping a few spots does cost $. But I believe he will be a top 10 pick and will be making very good dough. The key then as you so note Darren, will be the quality of play in the NFL. The 1st free agency deal is the one that leads to the huge money. I for one think the injury in the opening game at Fresno tempered at least in part, KT's enthusiasm for the rest of the season? Although the stats he put up in some of the games, versus CAL for instance, were off the charts. Not being to exhibit the quality of his play in Oregon's most watched game versus Ohio State also had to be a downer. As to Utah? IMO, many of the guys on the team had checked out before the 1st game against the Utes. I think they stopped buying in to Mario's small-ball, physicality philosophy; those in the locker room were likely to be the first to note that Mario had his sights set on Miami. It had to be clear to those in the locker room that there was friction between Mario and Joe Moorhead. I am not excusing the young man taking his foot off the gas, just expressing my ideas as to why this was the case. He of course did not play against Oklahoma. The 2nd half versus Oklahoma was a revelation. Athletes were allowed to be athletes and guys on O, including AB, seemed to be freed up for the first time in 2021 to play ball and not worry about making mistakes. Personally, I never bought into the 'culture' Mario brought to Oregon. The recruiting numbers simply did not match the effort and results on the field of play. I don't think KT was the only guy who did not play to the level of his ability on the 2021 team. I put this down as much or more on the coaching as I do on the individual players. Football is hard. Football practice is hard. Made harder if there is not cogent leadership from the top down and you cannot have fun on game day. Looking over your shoulder on every play is not conducive to having fun. Thanks again for another terrific article.

With the game vs the Beavers being broadcast on the Pac-12 Network, the number of people watching the Ducks not-play tomorrow will be close to the numbers watching the Ducks play on Wednesday. P5 CBB. I LOVE THIS GAME! Right?

You cannot have too many good players if, in today's free agent world, you can keep them at 'home.' This young man is leaving a team that played significantly better last season and finished 8-4. He was foundational piece to this improvement. His DC has departed but his team's QB, DTR, is back. And UCLA with its cupcake OOC schedule will be 3-0 to the start the season. Regardless of the competition, after week 3, UCLA will be ranked in the AP top 25. If I'm the guy tasked with tracking and recruiting the portal, I would definitely want to know why this young man is leaving LA? Ditto for why any young man heads to what he believes will be 'greener pastures.' As we often see in the NFL, free agents who leave their team to sign for more money elsewhere quite often do not play as well or better, for their new team. If the coaches see Agude is a team player, sign him up.

The red flags are about to turn into lots of green backs. KT will be fine. Put that many microphones in front of my face at KT's age and I shudder at the comments that would have been uttered. Focusing on 'me' and not team seems to be the norm in today's society. An UGA starting WR left a champ team to get more throws from the Heisman Award winner. Our guy Dye? Off to LA for the $. QB Ewers graduates high school early, signs with Ohio State and without seeing the field makes big NIL bank before transferring to Texas. Why should the players differ from their coaches? SEE: Lincoln Riley, Brian Kelly and Mario Cristobal.

I apologize if too off topic. I just checked out all of the broadcast times for the Pac-12 CBB tournament. All games are on the Pac-12 Network except for 2 broadcast by FS1 and the champ game on FOX. How do you sell 'this stuff' to recruits? Would you rather play on the off the radar Pac-12 Network with its relatively few subscribers and lack of market reach; or play on the ACC, B1G or SEC Network? Fiddle while Rome burns? The 'leaders' of the Pac-12 have let the Pac-12 network drift for years now with, as far as I can tell, no cogent plan to make the network financially solvent; no plan to obtain more subscribers required to return the network to solvency and no plan to increase distribution. This 'strategy' included not expanding the conference's market size. As far as I can tell this is the plan: Merlin or Harry Potter will stop by, wave a magic wand and all will be well in the kingdom Larry built.

Hush puppy, hush y'all. Any collard greens sold in the local grocery stores? Black eyed peas? Hoppin' John? Probably doesn't matter; Eugene tells me that Sir Jack of Daniels is available.

But will the Ducks be up? Like UGA, BYU will be a physical game. I hope the team does not overlook WAZZU that will be 2-1 and with an outside chance at 3-0 when the Ducks visit the Palouse. One thing for certain, the Cougars fans will be geeked and the Ducks DBs and LBs are going to get a work out. Likely to be a 7:30 KO so in addition to being geeked the fans are likely to be well lubricated.

Maybe? But Ward did win the 'little Heisman Award,' the Walter Peyton Award for being the best player in FCS in 2021. Different competition as you so correctly note, but throwing for close to 5000 yards in a given season at any level is darn impressive. And kirklandduck, spot on in noting that Ward's HC at Immaculate Word is also coming to WAZZU as the OC. The system will not be new for Ward. HC Diekert is a D guy who is not likely to insert himself into the O. Wisconsin does not have a prolific O. The returning Badgers QB is mediocre at best. WSU gets the Badgers in a shoot out and ? I am impressed that WSU was able to schedule a H+H series with Wisconsin.

NEMESIS?

Isn't Jerry Glaucoma the front man for The Grateful Dead (Refs?)

And to get these Cougars on the road right after playing the BYU Cougars?

But now distant from MMMS (Mario Micro-Managing Syndrome,) think about how much he is saving in Doctor bills?

Between Axel's takes and cat GIFS, my cardiologist is on speed dial. 'Do you have a license for that monkee? What! Are you blind!' Axel, you are the man! I understand that your application to join Pac-12 HQ has been declined? Shocking!

Thanks Alex. I agree, 'much ado about nothing.' Edge rushers are a much needed commodity in today's NFL. If KT had issues, I believe said issues were with the HC and not KT taking plays off. In both Utah games he was most often double teamed and sometimes, triple teamed. Popo and Dorlus are good DL guys but did not help out with any kind of push up the middle vs the Utes. It could be argued that by the Utah game all Ducks knew that Mario was bolting and for this and perhaps a number of other reasons, were not inspired to ball out? Of course KT did not play vs OK. But what did we see vs the Sooners after being down 3-30 at halftime. In the 2nd half of the Alamo Bowl the entire team for some reason was unleashed and played a terrific half of football. Athletes were allowed to be athletic. Mario's 'small ball' not only wore down the fans, IMO it wore down the players.

The fall out at the QB position, with you I agree. Exacerbated perhaps by Nix having two seasons of eligibility left. Coming into 2022, Ty Thompson has 4 seasons remaining. We, including most definitely moi, tend to forget that 2020 was a no-loss-of-eligibility season. And RS seasons in addition to no-count 2020 are available. I do not necessarily disagree, but I think that if Nix gets the gig one of Thompson or Butterfield will stick around? And there are some big time QBs on the Ducks recruiting radar. The portal for better or worse has changed the QB recruiting calculus. Last season's presumptive Heisman winner from Oklahoma, will be starting in 2022 at South Carolina.

Not a question to begin with, but a statement - the CFB off-season is interminable. Especially, after the way a depleted team did not surrender in the Alamo Bowl after trailing 30-3 at the half. Oregon showed guts and gumption, playing one of the best halves of the season in the 2nd half in San Antonio. On to what I see as 5 key questions heading into the 2022 season. 1. Will The Coaching Staff Jell And Sell? We all have high hopes for Dan Lanning. But Dan has never been 'the Man.' On paper, Dan has brought in many the fine assistant coaches, all with terrific recruiting bona fides. But will these 'newbies' jell under the leadership of a head coach in his mid-30s? And will this group be able to sell a new system on both O and D to a still young Ducks squad? Will they be able to communicate the new systems to the players? One spring and one fall practice provides little time to do so before opening against the defending national champion. 2. Will the Team Be Able to Overcome The Loss Of Production On O? According to the Action Network's Returning Production Data, the Ducks O comes into the 2022 season having lost 80% of the 2021 production on O. This puts Oregon at No. 80 out of the 131 G5/P5 teams ranked by Action Network. With Brown, Dye (sigh) and Verdell moving on, Oregon is losing 80% of its 2021 rushing attempts. The good news, RB Cardwell returns having rushed for 8.6 YPC in 2021. And flipping RB James from UGA was a very good 'get.' But the RB room in 2022, if not already painted green, should be. Probably the best news on the O side of the ball is the OL returning 4 of the 5 guys who started in the Alamo Bowl, guys who played 85.2% of 2021 OL snaps. In this category Oregon comes in at comfortable No. 8 ranking. And the 2022 OL will be aided and abated by a very good and deep, group of TEs. At least in theory the offense will not be micro-managed by Dan Lanning, will be more up-tempo under OC Dillingham and will not play 'small-ball.' 3. Will The Team Be Able To Overcome The Loss Of Production On D? Action Network shows Oregon losing 53% of its 2021 production on D, No. 55 in the nation. In 2021, the Oregon D ranked a dismal 109 in Havoc Rate. However, the D needed a MASH Unit to look after all the guys who were injured. Foundational players like LB Noah Sewell (114 tackles, 8.5 TFL and 5 pass breakups,) DL Popo Amuvae and DL Brandon Dorlus return. But a player the quality of LB Justin Flowe has to be and stay healthy. To date, Flowe has appeared in 2 of the 21 games played since his arrival. The DBs have lost a couple of young CBs to the portal but there is talent returning and CB Gonzalez comes in from Colorado. Most importantly, Dan Lanning knows what he is doing when it comes to D and on paper, so do all of the assistant coaches on the D side of the ball. I have high hopes for the D playing together as a unit in a far better system on D. In Pac-12 conference play, the talent on the D side should be as good or better than any team and will not be dwarfed by an OL that the D plays against. 4. Will The Ducks Be Able To Overcome A Witch Of A Schedule? The Ducks open on the road 'at' Georgia. The defending champion will come into this game returning its championship QB and ranked a most likely No. 2 or 3 in the AP Preseason Poll. E. Washington is not an FCS lay-up; especially when playing E WA after what will undoubtedly be a very physical game versus Georgia. Then, Oregon gets BYU, a team that went 5-0 versus the Pac-12 in 2021 and a team that will be preseason ranked in the top 20. And 2022 is a year in which Oregon has to play 5 conference road games. This includes teeing it up against a very dangerous Washington State Cougars the Saturday after facing the BYU Cougars. It will be a home game, but Oregon also crosses-over against defending Pac-12 champ, Utah. 5. Who Starts At QB? Auburn transfer Bo Nix, Ty Thompson and Jay Butterfield give Oregon a deep and talented QB room. But only 1 guy can start. Nix is reuniting with OC Dillingham, Nix position coach the season Nix was Freshman of the Year on O in the SEC. Nix has wins over Alabama and Oregon on his resume. I expect the competition for the starting QB position will continue through fall camp. In this day and age of college football 'free agency,' via the transfer portal, why give any team an early shot at QB 'roster-tampering?' Oregon will have the highest ranked roster in the Pac-12. But the schedule in particular presents a very difficult challenge for a new head coach, one with no head coaching experience. Can't hardly wait for the Spring Game on April 23rd and the opener on September 3rd. Go Ducks!

David, great response regarding ties and conference tie breakers. I'm certain that once upon a time back in the day that conference ties happened and the title was judged on agreed upon criteria. But it happened infrequently prior to having to play OT after a game finishing in a tie. THE GAME, Notre Dame vs Michigan State back in the day, 1966 as I recall, ended in a tie. That MI ST team ended up losing to UCLA in an amazing Rose Bowl game, the game where UCLA's Stiles was knocked out twice and came back to make a game saving tackle for the Bruins. Fortunately, no guy dinged once let alone twice today, is allowed to return to the field of play. Notre Dame declined to play in a bowl game that season and yet, finished No. 1 in the AP/UPI poll.

After the game on the Palouse, How About NO! As of now now I'm wondering if the Ducks could defeat my D3 alma mammy Bowdoin?

SIGH. Where in the hay is the effort?

And 2 martini adult beverages were not enough to keep me in this game. This looks like Ducks football in 3 of its last 4 games. Has Dana lost this team?

Yes. Unfortunately, I see no G5 team or Michigan, or sigh, a Pac-12 team, beating out these 2 out in 2022. ACC? Pitt lost its QB. Slovis is perhaps a replacement at QB, but not enough, IMO, to keep Clemson out of the playoff. Slovis was beaten out by Dart who will playing at Ole Miss. And I think that NC State along with A+M is preseason too highly ranked? Clemson still has, by far, the best roster in the ACC. I know Dabo lost both his DC to OK and his OC to UVA but I still think Clemson is better than any team in the ACC and I also think that the Tigers will win at Notre Dame. I am not sold on Freeman as the new Domers HC. A defense oriented guy who got schooled by Gundy's half time adjustments in the Fiesta Bowl. And opening at Ohio State? South Carolina could have been mentioned as a team on the rise with Rattler coming over to QB, but I think that USC east Gamecocks winning at Clemson is a big ask?

Where is the R rated version? Sorry, I forgot, wrong board.

Stanford vs SC in week 2, after SC has eaten Rice for lunch and Stanford has brushed off Colgate, should be a very interesting game. The Pac-12 'newbie' coach vs the Pac-12 'veteran coach.'