Jon Joseph

WOW! Harsh! Yeah the D gave up a lot of points but the D, for once, did not have its back to the wall in the 4th Q. As to DeRuyter, he is doing his best but he was never all that as a HC and no better than slightly above average as a DC. Look, today we could be Michigan fans? Michigan and its coaching staff kicked that game to the curb. Without anything going nuts later tonight I see the Committee coming with 1 UGA, 2 Michigan State (SOS really helped by Miami's win at Pitt today,) 3 Alabama (just because it's sweet home Alabama,), 4 Oklahoma, 5 Cincinnati, 6 Oregon and 7 Ohio State?

Wasn't 2021 supposed to be the year if the Pac-12 South? WAZZU, hats off for coming through at ASU. As I have suggested before, an 11-1 Oregon could be facing a 3L team in the 'Champ Game?' Divisions must go!

Hopefully today the end game will be irrelevant?

Great comeback by Michigan State! But in the 4th Q you substitute in our true frosh QB who turns it over 2 snaps in a row? Harbaugh is going to be lit up by Michigan fans. How about Wake transfer MSU RB Walker. 5 TDs and lots of critical yards on the ground. THAT was Heisman like effort.

Oregon needs to go 12-1 and hope that Ohio State does the same. A 2nd L by tOSU will not help Oregon's SOS that needs all the help it can get. One of the 2 teams bracketing the Ducks in the AP Poll, 6 Michigan, 8 Michigan State, will lose today. This will help the Ducks. Best sign on Gameday? Fade the Bear. The Bear is 12-13 for the season, soon there will be a run on Bear's Bank. Try JJ's Bank, 12-8 on the season with 1 +210 straight up win. Upset of the day that will help the Ducks the most? Pick 1 of Florida over Georgia or more realistically, Texas Tech and interim coach Sonny Cumbie, taking down Oklahoma. I now bid you adieu. Being on the Right Coast, I tape the games and watch beginning at 3 eastern. I'll watch the late games tomorrow; I have zero interest in NFL ball before the playoffs start. I do not want to see 'spoiler' scores. But go for it folks. It's fun to check out the other games. Go Ducks!

Love the meme. "I don't think that was my fault?'

Great take Charles, thank you. I'm not thrilled to learn that Mario is that involved with the in-game play calling. I do not understand this in the least. Certainly he should participate in developing the game plan but then, get out of your $1M a year OC's way. I do not believe Mario recognizes his own weakness when it comes to clock management? I hope Mario is in Eugene for decades and brings football titles to UO but as a leader you have to know your own strengths and weaknesses and accordingly, delegate to the quality people you have hired. You have to know your personnel. AB worked hard and played well to get you a lead. He played within himself. For the 3rd time this season he ran for what turned out to be the winning TD. But he is not a guy to turn the game over to when, I am going back to 1st late in the game pick, you have a 2 score lead in the 4th quarter. And in this game your D is playing great and has basically shut down the powerful Bruin run game. You so perfectly nailed it Charles. When you have the lead late in the game 1st downs are often the equal of touchdowns. Coaches and players, how about making it easier today on us fans; blow out these Buffs all the way back to Boulder!

As to the 1st Amendment. I think the founders wanted truth but based on their collective experience they had never seen the same. In Ben Franklin's time there were as many liars per capita as there are today. However, there were 'constants' then that we do not have today. Not everything was 'relative' and subject to revision by later generations. Also Charles and I spot on agree, gentlemen then were expected to tell the truth. Not as they saw it but as the facts so revealed. The facts could be interpreted differently but people did not stray from the facts or make facts up, or ignore same, when rendering an opinion. One thing that was also different back when the Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights and certain amendments were added to the Constitution, although there were duels fought, most folks could disagree without being disagreeable. Today? It's back to kindergarten: I'm right so anything you have to say otherwise is wrong. And anyone with access to a key board can, no matter how senseless or insipid, go public with his or her beliefs. You pay your $ to see the show and you have the right to applaud or to boo. IMO, anyone who sees it differently is sitting on a fabricated high horse. When in the modern history of CFB has a QB not performing to the expectations of the fans not been booed? Fans, short of course for 'fanatics,' are not allowed to vent because it might hurt the feelings of a multi-million dollar a year salaried coach and the players in the bully pulpit's, feelings? My advice for what it is worth, tune out and tune into a site like FD where decorum matters. Where free expression and not denegation is allowed. Where criticism is allowed unless unduly directed at a fellow poster. As many have noted above. The negative slant on things brings click-bait and $. I'm reasonably certain that once a month the talking heads at CNN and FOX go somewhere incognito and raise a glass to one another.

NEWS. Negative Events With Spin. Oklahoma almost defeated by Tulsa, Texas and Kansas. Nothing to see here, move right along. Bama takes an L versus a 2L team that beat CU by TD? No problem because A+M is 14 and a 2L team A+M lost to, Auburn, is at 16. Go 12-1 and shut all of these people up. Show up in the Orange or Cotton Bowl and fight to the finish. NO PO expansion without every P5 champ in. I hope the Alliance won't back down.

Spinning like a spinning top. Herbie on ESPN Tuesday night on the preview show of the this Tuesday's night PO Committee first reveal completely dismissed the Ducks W in Columbus in favor of his personal eye test. Since the Ducks L the Buckeyes have played better than Oregon so it is 'logical' to rank OH ST ahead of the Ducks. Right? Herbie mentioned that he was not going to be bound by what happened in the 2nd game of the season. But every game counts, right? THIS notwithstanding his employer has Oregon with a better strength of schedule and a better strength of record than Ohio State. THIS notwithstanding that KT did not dress for the Ohio State game. On the other hand on the weekly CBS, CFB show, all 5 folks said that if head to head does not count then why play the games? Why indeed? These people simply make it up as it goes along to fit their particular narrative.

Great take! And DJ Johnson has been one heck of a pinch hitter.

1. Georgia -14 vs NR Florida in the World's Largest Gathering Of Folks Imbibing Adult Beverages Game - 3:30 CBS Florida despite the debate over the starting QB, can put up points. But against this D? How about NO! 5. Ohio State -18.5 vs 20 Penn St. - 7:30 ABC With PSU's 2nd L in a row vs Illinois in a 9 OT game, this contest has lost a lot of its luster. PSU is only the 2nd top 25 team the Buckeyes will have played this season. Don't tell the AP voters but the 1st top 25 match up did not go well for the Buckeyes. I think a desperate PSU team keeps the final score within the spread? If both tOSU and the Ducks win, will the PO Committee have the Bucks ranked ahead of the Ducks. And where will the Committee rank Cincinnati? 6. Michigan -4 at 8. Michigan State - Noon - FOX The B1G E with this game and the OH ST/PSU game starts to sort itself out. In the long PO run an L by either team should help the Ducks? First time these 2 have played as top 10 opponents in over 5 decades. If Harbaugh wins will he ask for his former pay to be restored? If Tucker wins the Tucker to LSU talk will heat up. 10. Ole Miss +2.5 at 18 Auburn - 7 ESPN Matt Corral has taken the lead in the Heisman race. (If Mr. T keeps it up and isn't in NYC, something is very wrong.) Can Corral outduel Bo Nix on the road at a tough place to play? Can Kiffin continue the impressive year 2 turn around? 11. Notre Dame -3.5 vs NR UNC - 7:30 NBC Only because of Clemson's poor season, UNC, with all due respect to Washington, is the most disappointing team in 2021. Will the Domers 'steal' another Final 4 spot? CLOSER TO HOME 7. Oregon -24 vs NR Colorado - 3:30 FOX It's too bad this game is opposite UGA vs UF. The Ducks need style points and lots of folks watching Puddles put them up. I expect this game will not show up on big FOX until well into the 1st quarter? Although the style of offense played by both MI and MI ST should help run the clock in East Lansing? UCLA +3.5 at Utah - 10 ESPN UCLA is very much in the hunt for the Pac-12 S. Will DTR be able to play? Will Bruins FG tries be reviewed? Did you know? The HC of Troy also goes by the name the name of Chip Kelly? Oregon State -2.5 at CAL - 7 Pac-12 Network The Ducks need the Beavs to keep on rolling. Strawberry Canyon has not been a fruitful place for the Beavers to play. OR ST is 1-2 on the road in 2021. Once again the Beavers light is hidden under the bushel that is Larry's Lost Network. After the loss in Corvallis, Utah HC Whittingham expressed his belief that the Beavers have the best O in the conference. Keep an eye on: NR Texas at 16 Baylor - 2.5 - Noon ABC; 9 Iowa +3 at NR Wisconsin - Noon ESPN; 17. Pitt -9 vs Miami - Noon ACC Network. The Canes defeated ranked NC State last Saturday but a win here would help get Manny Diaz off the hot seat. Did you know? The Fighting Flecks a/k/a Minnesota, are tied for the lead in the B1G W? GO DUCKS! Make the Buffs ralph!

The CFB Playoff Powers That Be will soon be revisiting the issue of an expanded Playoff field. The G5, undergoing massive change since OK/UT to the SEC started conference realignment rolling again, want a 12 team field. Ditto the SEC and Notre Dame. It appears that the ACC, B1G and Pac-12 (so-called Alliance) favor an 8 team field with all P5 champs guaranteed a spot in the field. Also, these 3 appear to want Notre Dame in a conference or playing 13 regular season games as an independent. And these 3 do not want ESPN to have any kind of exclusive when it comes to broadcasting the Playoff. I do not believe there is enough consensus for the field to expand before 2026, if then? I still believe there is a chance for the ACC, B1G and the Pac-12 to take 'the academic high road' and abandon the existing PO in favor of the 3 conferences competing for a title of some kind in the post season. There are zero antitrust problems now with the B1G and the Pac-12 contracted to play in the RB 2 out of 3 years and I do not see any antitrust issues if 3 conferences were to agree to compete for the 2 RB spots? HOWEVER and it is a big $ however, the Alliance going it alone in the post season will be profitable but nowhere near as profitable without the SEC in the mix.

Scoreboard, Chipper, scoreboard. And Charles, great take on that lousy Stem call.

Ducks 41-17, 2, 2, 250. Love these contests.

Great points Charles. With all due respect, we have seen AB make a number of very bad passes this season. Why put him in a position to screw up and keep UCLA in the game? With the score what it was and the time left in the game I don't see the risk of these 2 play calls justifying the potential reward? But that's just me. If the calls had worked, it further cements JM's great play calling in this game. Really looking forward to tomorrow's article. The end game is so critical in this sport and has been critical in seemingly every Ducks game this season.

I'm not sure that the B12 will end up with a TV contract less than that of the Ducks? BYU has a nationwide following. Houston is a huge media market. Cincinnati is a decent sized market as is Orlando and UCF and Cincinnati will be bringing in additional eye balls from the eastern time zone. I agree the Pac-12 will come nowhere close to the B1G and the SEC in the new media deal. But I believe expansion could have closed the gap more than will the Pac-12 negotiating as-is? I also believe that with expansion the Network could have been brought to solvency and made a decent target for a buy out with the conference splitting the proceeds. You are fine with standing pat? I get it. I hope it works out in the long run but I don't see it? Recruiting #s for Oregon are fine. For the rest of the conference? They stink. Mario is the best recruiter in CFB. In the long run, what happens to recruiting once Mario departs? I reiterate, I think the conference made the easy decision to stand pat which looks good in a number of ways today. But IMO this decision will not help the conference and the Ducks in the long run.

PUDDLES - "They call me Mellow Yellow, quite rightly!'

Interesting take. Thank you. I note that 1 of AB's 200 yard passing games came against UCLA's awful pass D. I think this is more the product of what UCLA had on the field vs Joe's play calling. I think JM made two crummy play calls late in the game that led to picks. I don't think we have enough data in 2021 to compare Joe-In-The-Box to Joe-On-The-Field? I am certain that if JM is on the field an assistant is watching from above and communicating with the sideline. Joe was on the field when Penn St played SC in a classic Rose Bowl game; the PSU O put up close to 50 points on the Trojans D. I do not understand why CFB has yet to emulate the NFL and put headsets in the QB's helmet? I guess they like the sideline card shows?

Thanks jrw. Far more guys than there are openings. Today, portal management is not as important as recruiting but it is coming closer all the time. Turn arounds at Michigan State and Baylor have been fueled by savvy portal moves (and Baylor hiring a new OC from BYU.)

Thanks for the heads up.

Only in my dreams but there are some top drawer guys in the portal.

Great take. But 1 of the only certain things in life is change. Going to 8 games but playing 2 P5 teams OOC is playing with Playoff as currently structured, fire.

Lose Divisions? Not just 'yes' but 'heck yes!' I know this to a certainty. And I am neither the Egg Man; nor, The Walrus. But when on Abbey Road in London I do know not to go barefoot.

Thank you Mr. FD. Not to expand 'at this time,' IMO, was tragic mistake for Oregon. When will there be a better time to expand than now? After the SEC did 'the dirty work' for you? Go after B12 teams now and you are a skunk; just like SEC Commissioner Sankey. Strike before Bob Bowlsby strikes and you are a 'hero' for saving a bunch of B12 leftovers. THIS was the logical move if you have any intention of saving and growing the Pac-12 Network. Compare the eyeballs watching TX TECH and OK ST for example, to those watching OR ST and WAZZU? It's not just the media market per se. It is the size of the number of folks watching your product. And the Dallas market and Houston market, if you added Houston and money bags supporter Fertitta, are huge and full of rabid CFB fans.? Lots of TX and AM fans live in Houston. But Houston, not Rice, is the 'it' Houston market team. And Houston is a tier 1 research school with many the graduate including a Heisman Trophy winner, Jim Nance and Freddy Couples. It was a chance to move into the Central time zone, grow the network and get better kick off times. And get directly into the rich Texas recruiting area. The Alliance may be a savior for GK's job but for the Pac-12 conference?