Jon Joseph

62-60 is Mario Cristobal.

Thanks for the post. Lanning and Dillingham signing Nix was a heads up move. I hope they continue to pay attention to the portal. In 2021 Michigan State and Baylor turned things around with finding guys in the portal. And Baylor hiring the BYU OC was also a great move.

HOW ABOUT - Drop Divisions, go to 8 conference games, BK the network or find a media partner that will get the network up on all major cable carriers,, do not schedule 1 off games as does the likes of New Mexico State, get out of the Alamo Bowl and make Vegas the site of where to Pac-12 runner-up plays, adjust conference revenue distribution according to the amount a given school invests in football, play games in the daylight and stream the games for the rest of the day. As for the Ducks in particular. Consider moving to the "new B12.' Why stay 'as-is' with partners who spend no where near what you do in recruiting and general football operations.

Great take. The Forbes list I cite below is as of 2019.

Few Pac-12 schools have the money and/or the will to compete at the highest level of P5 football. WAZZU made no effort to retain Leach. Ditto CU and Mel Tucker. USC, Oregon and UW are the 3 Pac-12 schools in Forbes list of the top 25 CFB teams by all-in revenue. The vast majority on the list are SEC and B1G schools. OK and TX, both on the list are of course headed to the SEC. I see no way that GK will pull a media deal rabbit out of his hat. The conference is getting left behind the B1G and the SEC; much farther behind. No way is CAL going to pay Wilcox' buy out. Wilcox not taking the job does not give CAL a reason to fire him with cause. Oregon, USC, UW and Utah where fans care and CU where fans kind of care, are in a bad, bad spot. What is going to incent CAL, Stanford, Arizona fans, etc. to turn out for home games?

Very good point. Discussed earlier in the season Verdell went down; perfect timing to ask the question again. In the champ game Sewell looked to be one of the few guys who didn't quit. He balled out from start to finish.

Very good take Darren, thank you. BTW, I resemble those old guys chugging them down on the 19th hole. Looks like Portal QBs are trending up in the Pac-12? Slovis is out. Will Caleb Williams follow Riley to USC? I hope not. UW - QB Michael Penix coming from Indiana to play for DeBoer. DeBoer was Indiana's OC and Penix' position coach when he had his best season. Pittman should be a big upgrade at QB for UW? QB Dillon Gabriel to UCLA - This says to me that DTR is not coming back for another season? If Chip brings in other guys from the portal to replace a lot of departing starters the 2021 schedule sets up well for the Bruins to have another good season. Only 4 conference road games and UCLA gets Utah in LA. QB Jack Plummer from Purdue to CAL. A spotty career at Purdue. Some great games. Some terrible games. QB Bo NIx from Auburn to Oregon - well discussed on this board. Nix is an example of how recruiting rankings do not tell the entire story in the day and age of the portal. Nix was a 5* recruit and on occasion, played like it at Auburn. Will not count as any kind of * on the Oregon roster. So, experienced players don't count but kids straight out of HS do count? Oregon as mentioned by others above, is likely to have growing pains next season in the face of an extremely difficult schedule. Playing UGA in Atlanta (possibly the defending national champ?) and BYU, 5-0 vs the conference in 2021, OOC is far from strategic playoff scheduling. Then, Oregon has 5 conference road games. Look at the ACC and SEC schedules. 8 conference games and almost all member schools play at least 7 and often 8, home games. And if WAZZU can get a H+H with Wisconsin, Utah with Florida, Arizona with Miss St and Alabama, CAL with Auburn, what in the heck is the Ducks doing playing a one off game in Atlanta vs Georgia. BTW, this game was scheduled by Rob Mullens in 2019. Mullens? SMH. The 1 Pac-12 team favored in its bowl game, Oregon State, lost to a MW team and looked BAD in the process. The conference is 5-6 vs the MW in 2021. Any conference bowl win from here on out will be an upset. Thanks again Darren. Always enjoy your takes. Hopefully the new, young Oregon coaching staff will be up for the job.

But, again, I remind everyone of the Blue Chip ratio. No team without a majority of 4 + 5* on its roster won the BCS or won a Playoff title. Miss on some ? Of course. But for the most part recruiting rankings get it right. The quibble I have today is that 4 and 5* guys coming out of the portal are not included in recruiting calculations. Bama's top tackler and top receiver this season came from the portal. Came from Tennessee and Ohio State. Oregon with Nix, just signed a 5* recruit and will get no recruiting bump for Nix and his rating. You are not going to recruit a bunch of 3 star guys and coach them up to be champions. I know WR Metchie is missing from the roster and 2 Cincy guys are All American. Anyone think that Saban will take an L vs Cincy?

However, and BDF and your point is well made, welcome to QB recruiting in this day and age of CFB 'free agency.' Many the HS QB coaching guru is complaining about CFB coaches ignoring HS recruits in favor of 'portal guys.' After one miss-fire in 2021, the portal for the QB position worked out just fine for Utah, with Rising, a transfer from TX, taking over for Brewer, a transfer from Baylor. The portal also worked well for Utah at RB just like it worked well for Chip at UCLA. And Chip just signed QB Dillon Gabriel out of the portal and DeBoer at UW signed QB Michael Penix out of the portal. A coach has seen many the 'portal' QB play against college competition. And the free transfer in CFB is a 1 time deal. You sign a guy out of the portal and he is not, if he plays 4 or more games, leaving your QB room without sitting out a year. It's a new day in CFB. Guys signed out of the portal are likely to give you more productivity than a guy signed out of HS.

OK, I'm unapologetically dumping on Mullens. OK, I am upset with the manner in which Mullens is 'managing' the Oregon football program in a day and age when 4 teams make the CFB Playoff. This 'neutral site game' vs UGA is using the Oregon football team to help fund the athletic department and non-revenue sports. This is giving away a home game, say vs San Jose State, when the team is already playing 5 conference road games. IMO, 'this' is an in-your-face to Ducks fans. Can't make it to Atlanta, can't afford to trip to Atlanta? Tough spit! The Mercedes Benz Stadium is less than an hour's drive from the Georgia campus in Athens. How many Ducks graduates live in Atlanta versus Dawgs fans? This is a 'neutral site' game? Compared to this game, Oregon vs Auburn in Dallas was a 'home' game for Oregon. Again, I am not 'afraid' of UGA. Unlike Ohio State, UGA is unwilling to play a H+H with Oregon. Many the SEC teams have scheduled H+H games with Pac-12 teams, including A+M, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Mississippi, Mississippi State, LSU and Vandy. The idea that SEC teams will not come west to play OOC vs the Pac-12 is simply bogus. On the same day Oregon plays UGA in Atlanta, Utah is playing at Florida. But in 2023 Florida is playing at Utah. How in any way is Florida's recruiting improved by playing in Salt Lake City? This game is treating Oregon like a New Mexico State team when it plays back-to-back games at Alabama and then Tennessee, for a pay check. But 'this' is right in Rob's wheelhouse. After all, he has a future Miami Hurricanes coach, coaching Oregon vs Oklahoma.

I'd like to make 1 thing clear. In 2019 Rob Mullens scheduled the game vs Georgia to be played 9/3 in Atlanta. This was not a game that had been scheduled 'for a long time' before Mullens arrived. This game was scheduled knowing that BYU was already on the 2022 schedule. This game was scheduled for the Chik-A-Fil money. You do not play 9 conference games and schedule a game like this. If a team is not willing to give Oregon a H+H, a 1 off in said team's territory should never be agreed to. Want to play UGA 1 time? Play the Dawgs in the Playoff.

This game was scheduled in 2019 by Rob Mullens.

General attitude in the conference 'where it just means more.' However, playoff 2 for 8. 1-2 record in the playoff. 0-1 so far in 2021 bowl games with a legit shot to go 0-6? What has the Pac-12 done to make the conference matter? W over OH ST was flushed by the L at Stanford. W over LSU was flushed by an L to Fresno and LSU going 6-6. W over Vandy by Stanford? 9/3/22 - Oregon plays UGA and Utah plays at Florida. Later, AZ plays Miss St. The conference has to win these games and not melt down thereafter. (And GK has to get off his ass and tell Hanks to go with an 8 game conference schedule.)

A punt that with better clock management (I think we have all seen this movie?) never should have occurred because the half would have been over.

It is very simple - Mario's record is 62-60. Mario is a recruiting champ and coaching chump. The Miami kids played hard for Manny. Do not expect the same with Mario whose team often shows up completely unprepared for the game. Bowl wins? Include a 1 point win over a multi loss MI ST team, a 1 point win over 3L Wisconsin and a complete no show L vs Iowa State in the Fiesta Bowl.

And one of the 'BYU 5' was Utah. Yet, BYU just lost to a 4L Sun Belt team?

AMEN! Comparing the stats Brown put up in the ACC with those Nix put up in the SEC is sour apples vs perfectly ripe oranges.

Great post. Bo has 2 years of eligibility remaining. Ty Thompson or any of the young QBs can transfer if they like and regardless, after 2 years if they are good enough they can go pro. And I dislike saying it but if Ty or any other young QB was 'a thoroughbred' good one of them certainly should have been able to beat out Brown. In his freshman season Nix went 9-4 and defeated Oregon and Alabama among others. BTW, when I see Nix' career stats compared to Brown's I have to LOL. Compare the competition Nix played against in the SEC with that Brown played against in the ACC? Nix was constantly playing against better guys on D than was Brown. Unlike Brown, Nix has started and won more than a single game vs a top 25 team. Get used to the idea that QB recruiting today is going to be focused as much as or more so on the portal than on HS players. In the portal, you have seen a guy play in college and once he transfers to your program he cannot transfer again without sitting out a year.

Thanks Charles. But I am depressed with CFB in general. Let's face it, NIL is play for pay and is clearly being used a recruiting inducement. Free agency is controlled in the NFL, not in CFB. Not to pick on one team but Brian Kelly quit on Notre Dame when Notre Dame was still in contention for a Final 4 spot. BTW, the best Notre Dame RB and the best Notre Dame player on D, have opted out of the Fiesta Bowl. Back in the day if your brothers were playing in one of the biggest bowl games of the year and you quit on the team? You not only would have been roundly criticized, you would have been ostracized. You could see this coming with the BCS. When the SEC commissioner convinced his fellows that CFB needed 1 unified champion. The game went national. The game was top to bottom monetized. The game became almost completely controlled by a single media cartel. The SEC went form being just a conference to being king. The Rose Bowl went from the IT bowl game to mattering once every three seasons. Today, Money clearly trumps any idea of loyalty and team brotherhood. There is no 'me' in team? How about there is no such thing as "team.?' It is all about "me." Fans? The fanatics who show up and pay the bills? If you have a problem, call my agent. As for me? I plead guilty. The team went 11-2 and is playing Oklahoma in a bowl game. And I'm unhappy?

A rookie who besides beating Oregon beat Bama in the Iron Bowl and was the SEC rookie of the year.

Shough didn't defeat both Oregon and Alabama his freshman season as did Bo Nix. As a true frosh Nix went 9-4 in the SEC. Nix has 3 games under his belt vs Georgia. Lanning has plenty of familiarity with Nix and apparently likes what he has seen. We'll see how it works out but Nix has 2 seasons of eligibility left. Fentress comparing Nix to Brown? Nix faced far better competition in the SEC than Brown did in the ACC and unlike Brown, he has started and won more than 1 game vs a top 25 ranked opponent. Do not sell this guy and his big game experience short. Nothing he will see on the field in the Pac-12 will come close to the athletes he has played against for 3 seasons in the SEC. Nothing he will hear from the fans at conference away games will come close to the stadiums where he has played in the SEC He's the only guy on the roster who has played Georgia. Not once but thrice. IMO, he is a better pick up than Gabriel at UCLA and Penix at UW.

Nix has 2 years of eligibility left. He could start in 2022 and 2023. Recall the 2020 season did not count against any player's eligibility. In 2020 Nix started 10 games, all against SEC competition. At that time he was playing for Gus Malzahn. Nix held onto the job in 2021 competing against a highly ranked frosh QB.

Nix was having a very good season at Auburn under Harsin before he was hurt. He was having his best season and his completion numbers were way up. He has played big time ball against the best schools in the SEC. UGA is on Auburn's schedule every season. He is far more athletic than Brown. I'm happy to see this. Not one of the younger QBs could beat out journeyman Brown. Dillingham knows him. Dillingham Has watched film, I'm certain, of the 3 young QBs in the room. If nothing else, if a youngster steps up this is great insurance and having used the one free transfer Nix will not be moving on.

Lions and Tiger and Bears, oh my!

Great stuff. I honestly wonder how Mullens stays employed. Especially when he went after both the UGA and A+M AD jobs. The bowl game 'strategy?' How hard are players going to put out for a coach that they know is gone after the bowl game? 3 Stooges is perfect. Mullens should be there as the 4th stooge.