Jon Joseph

Great post. Mullens was lit up by Matt Hayes today on the Saturday Down South site. Hayes wonders why Coach O is gone yet Mullens, not as good a recruiter than O, is not in the same position as Coach O whose LSU team just hung 49 points on UF. BTW - Utah plays at UF in the opener in 2022 and UF comes to SLC the year after.

Interesting. As was Saban not bringing Feld back to Bama when the S+C Tide coach moved on to Georgia.

Great ask? Is Young at Bama a freshman? Says so on the roster? Anthony Brown should be listed as a Super Super Senior.

Kentucky is a basketball school, no doubt. But fans show up for every Kentucky home game; the stadium is sold out with 65,000+ fans in attendance. UCLA's attendance? I hope attendance at the Rose Bowl on Saturday will be at least respectable? The 6-1 Kentucky football team that I watched play vs Georgia on Saturday would likely drill UCLA? Mark Stoops has done an amazing job at Kentucky and has a very good chance of getting Kentucky into a NY6 bowl this season. Stoops teams are competitive with and often defeat teams with far better recruiting numbers. Such as LSU this season. IMO, Mark, not Bob, should be a contender for the USC job? If he would consider leaving the SEC for the Pac-12? Oregon should win the rest of its games and make or be serious contender for the final 4. GO DUCKS!

Thanks for the post Mr. FD and hats off to Noah!

Hayward, really respect your POV. Where is Mario going to run to? Where is he going to go to earn, with endorsement income, @$5M a year? What CFB program today is willing to pay a $9M buy out to acquire Mario's services? If Mario does not get the reason for the fan unrest, that's on Mario. As others have pointed out, Mario represented to carry on with an exciting brand of Ducks football. Based on what we have seen on the field that was a misrepresentation; actually, a gross misrepresentation. The man is as stubborn as a mule and determined come hell or high water to play O in a phone booth. How will this philosophy of offense lead to a national championship in this day and age of CFB? Mario is fortunate that he is not competing in the B1G or the SEC. And I can't see Oregon being able to score enough points to possibly outscore Oklahoma? The Pac-10 was a better, deeper league back when Pete Carroll was turning excellent recruiting into national titles. Perhaps the fans who were booing have higher expectations than what they see on the field? They see self inflicted wounds and clock mismanagement cost the Stanford game. They see Oregon struggle against an awful Arizona and a now 1-5 CAL. Struggle against a Mountain West opponent. Struggle against a little league opponent. And win at the home of the AP #5 team in the nation with the Ducks best player on the bench. THIS is a big time disconnect for most folks. Sorry, but when any team wins in Columbus its fans do not expect it to play down game after game to the level of inferior competition. We have this under Mario more often than not in the last 2 seasons. Seasons when he didn't have the NFL rookie of the year at QB. It's simple. The time has come to judge Mario strictly on Ws and Ls, because stellar recruiting that doesn't translate into wins and dominant wins against lesser opponents is a waste of talent. Mario has the talent on this roster to run the table in a conference where Oregon is the only top 25 ranked team. Will he do so? I hope so, I really do. But to do so he is going to have to get out of his own way.

Coaches are hired for 2 reasons. To recruit and to win big games. Mario has aced the 1st requirement. But the 2nd? Every game left on the 2021 Oregon schedule is a 'big game playoff-wise.' As of today, Oregon is favored in every one of the remaining regular season games. In 2019, Mario dropped a PO critical game to a mediocre ASU team. His big critical game win, if you consider the Rose Bowl when a non-semifinal PO site as a critical game, a 1 point win over 3L Wisconsin. In 2020 he was out-coached by Wilcox, Smith and the entire Iowa State coaching staff. As Charles points out, at this point in time no one should be calling for Mario to be fired. But if he can recruit and cannot win the critcal games he is the next Ed Orgeron and rightfully so.

A+M fans are crazy enough to pay $70M for the 2 Ws the Aggies now have against Saint Nick? One came under Sumlin with Manziel at QB. Jimbo is making a whole lot of $ to finish 2nd or worse in the SEC W. Probably overseen by moonshine guzzlers?

Nebraska academics? Nebraska was an AAU member school when it joined the B1G. No longer the case. Only B1G school that is not an AAU member. I was at a game in Lincoln where CU, ultimately beat down by the Ducks in the bowl game, destroyed a Nebraska team that played Miami for the BCS title. I assure you that on that day many the boo was heard from the Cornhusker fans. Pelini was often booed. Booed out of Lincoln. Frost is the fair haired child but he also is starting to hear it. Nebraska fired a 9+ win a season Frank Solich and has never been the same since. Solich did excellent work in the MAC at Ohio. Nebraska's AD and HC hires have been on par with those of USC; lousy.

Because it has no media right affiliations with any conference I am using the Week 7 rankings from The Athletic (TA) to schedule hypothetical match ups. Cincinnati - #3 vs Oregon - #7 I appreciate TA keeping the Ducks ranked above Ohio State until such time as tOSU defeats a decent opponent and/or Ducks take a 2nd L. Oklahoma State - #5 vs Utah - #26 - I think 26 is a fair ranking for the Utes; although, at 4-2 Utah could take 4-2 Purdue's place at #25 in the AP Poll? Baylor - #24 vs ASU - #29 - yet again a ranked ASU team playing for Herm loses to an unranked opponent. Meanwhile, Aranda in his 2nd year in Waco takes down BYU to go 6-1. BYU - #25 vs UCLA - #32 - This could be a heck of a battle. Too bad Utah didn't start Rising at QB at the beginning of the year? My bad regarding Brewer. Iowa State - #42 vs Oregon State - #43 - It's been a positive season for the Beavs to date, not so much for the Cyclones. But IA ST gets AP #8 OK ST at home this Saturday and could turn things around? Texas Tech - #45 vs Washington State - #64 - TT is now 5-2 in a very good bounce back season to date. Oregon plays at TT in 2023. TCU - #47 vs Stanford - #65 - TCU defeated CAL by 2 points at home. CAL has lost all of its 1 score difference games in 2021. Kansas State - #49 vs USC - #71 - K ST easily handled Stanford in the opening game. Does SC have a 'puncher's chance' at Notre Dame Saturday night? Houston - #54 vs Washington - #86 - Phil Steele's 2021 Surprise Team, UW, has been surprisingly bad. UCF - #55 vs CU - #89 -Things have not gone as hoped for Gus Malzahn in Orlando. CU should have raised the money to pay Mel Tucker. West Virginia - #66 vs CAL - #101 - This was the season W VA's HC Brown was supposed to turn it around. Hasn't happened. Kansas - #114 vs Arizona - #130 - The Wildcats hold the distinction of being ranked as the worst team in the P5 and the G5. Per TA's rankings, the B12 would be favored to go 12-0 in these games. Of course much of the results would depend on where the games were played? Was the Pac-12 smart not adding a number of teams from the B 12? The Alliance is a handshake deal that will deliver an extra OOC game every season vs the B1G or the ACC but long term will not impact the bottom line all that much. It may not have been immediately financially beneficial but IMO the Pac-12 should have added OK ST, TX TECH, TCU and HOUSTON? 2 huge markets in Texas. OK ST last season averaged a better number of viewers than did Oregon. All 4 of these teams have quality basketball programs. The Pac-12 Network could certainly use the additional subscriptions. Adding these 4 may have gotten the network up on DirecTV? With the B12 expanding back to 12, and possibly more, where can the Pac-12 now go if it wants to expand? I can't believe that adding 2 schools in huge markets in Texas would have hurt the Pac-12's upcoming media negotiations? Down the road finance-wise, would UW, Oregon, AZ, ASU, USC and CU be better off in the B1G 18? Will GK score a big enough media deal to convince all Pac-12 member schools to stay put and continue to pledge their respective media rights to the Pac-12? To continue with an even split of the pie?

You pay your money to see the show, you get to boo if you so choose. Far better than TN fans littering the field with garbage, a lot of it aimed at Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin. When I watch the Ducks this season on the tube I don't boo. But I do from time to time scream at my TV asking the O to run, 'The Other Play.' I watch CFB coast to coast every weekend. Oregon's O is the most predictable, plodding, pedestrian, boring O out there. The O is led by a guy who has been a gutsy but mediocre player his entire CFB career. A guy with no NFL upside; maybe, a chance to play in the CFL? You nailed it Charles. When intelligent people pay good money to watch dreck they are going to, rightfully, let their feelings be known. If Mullens doesn't see the brand disappearing he's as blind as a bat, without a bat's radar to compensate. I cannot believe the big boosters are not letting Mullens have it? Why pay $1M a year to Moorhead and then not let Moorhead run the O? Why play a 6th year QB with no upside instead of getting experience for one of the young QBs? Will Ty Thompson's 1st CFB start occur in 2022 in Atlanta vs Georgia? Good luck. Why in 2021 are you running, thank you 30 Duck, a 'prevent offense?' Finally, why recruit all of the WR talent if you are not going to throw the ball to these guys? And my Ducks brothers and sisters, Mario is not going 'to learn' and play other than smash mouth football. Smash mouth is ingrained in the man's DNA. Mario has well over 70 games a s a HC. His game preparation and game management is not going to improve. However, Go Ducks. Beat UCLA. You are the conference's best and only playoff hope. We will continue to watch many the 1 score difference game. What I hope we don't see is a whole bunch of talented Ducks flocking to the portal at the end of this season?

In today's numerous articles regarding the next LSU coach Cristobal did not make many lists and was down the line on the lists he made. He isn't that big a name but I agree with 30 Duck that Mel Tucker is a big time candidate. Mel played CFB at Wisconsin but had assistant coaching and recruiting success in the SEC before he left for the CU job. MSU in 2021 has gone from scoring 16 points a game in 2020 to 38 a game and looking at the stats the MI ST D is playing twice as well as it played in 2020. Sparty is idle this week but has a huge upcoming game in E Lansing vs Michigan on 10/30. Still, I think Jimbo is the #1 candidate in AD Scott Woodward's mind? Woodward hired Jimbo away from FSU to A+M. Jimbo has a huge salary but a $0 buyout.

That's nice but in Week 8 there are not a lot of games to choose from. One of those CFB 'lost weekends' with no top 25 match ups. This usually results in a big upset or two. In fairness, 4-2 UCLA could just as easily be ranked 25 as 4-2 Purdue,

UCLA has outrushed its opponent in its last 13 games. UCLA has 200+ rush yards in its last 4 games and in 6 of its last 7 games.

SPOT ON! Younger fans on the Forum are asking: Who are these guys?

Is Mario a big enough name hire for Scott Woodward? Mario has won a Rose Bowl. Other than that , Mario can recruit. Mario has a $9M buyout. Hard to believe but Jimbo Fisher has a $0 buy out at A+M. I guess when Woodward hired him he figured that no one would top Jimbo's off-the-wall and since bumped, annual salary? I see Jimbo as being very much in play? Guy can recruit his tail off and the win against Bama did not hurt Jimbo's cause. To get Jimbo, Scott would have to make him the highest paid coach in CFB. He will go after big names, including perhaps, Dabo, Lincoln Riley and Ryan Day? $ is not an issue at LSU.

Because you are young + intelligent? What if Haden had kept O and not gone Sark? Haden was the only guy in the building who did not know that Sark, and God bless his recovery, did not have a drinking problem. And then kept Helton on? And then Swann gave Helton a pay raise? It's as if SC internally destroyed itself?

Sorry, the pay out is 17 not 14M. Peanuts, right?

$14M in addition to what he's been paid to go away? I think he stays on the Bayou? Like Gene Chizak (RATS!) Coach O caught lightning in a bottle.

Don't forget Coach Mangino taking KS to the Orange Bowl and winning. Mangino was fired because he was a big meanie. And when Glen Mason was the Jayhawks coach, KS was respectable. Sayers running the ball reminded me of a great hockey player carrying the puck up ice. Fluid, smooth and tough as nails.

A 49-42 defeat of Florida Saturday did not save Ed O's job. Ed will walk at the end of 2021 with a $14M buy out. THAT will buy a whole lot of gumbo. With USC looking for a new HC, that's 2 big jobs that have to be filled. The LSU AD likes to hire big names. He's the guy who convinced Coach Pete to leave Boise for UW and the guy who hired Jimbo at A+M.

YES! And NO? The AP poll voters sure appreciate the CC effort to date. CC's big OOC win? Kansas?

1. Georgia - SEC - vs 9 Michigan State AL at 8 Oklahoma State AL 2. Cincinnati - AAC - vs 10 Oregon Pac-12 at 7 Penn State AL 3. Oklahoma - B12 - vs 11 Iowa AL at 6 Michigan AL 4. Ohio State - Big 10 vs 12 Coastal Carolina Sun Belt at 5 Alabama AL 5 B1G teams/ 2 SEC Teams! And the B1G wants to put the breaks on THIS? Heck of a sales job by Pac-12 Commish, George K, no? Of course, this will change significantly once the B1G E starts beating itself up. Will change significantly before the 1st PO Committee vote on 11/2. Swap 1L Bama for 1L Ohio State in the AP Poll and the Final 4 would be the same as this putative 12 team playoff. Bama's loss on the road to a 2L team is less hurtful than Ohio State's home L to a 1L team.

And Bama's L on the road to a 2L team has Bama ranked at 4, right? Ahead of undefeated Michigan, OK ST and Michigan State. Highest ranked 2L team? #17 A+M, of course.! The team Bama lost to. Next highest ranked 2L team? #19 Auburn. In other words, this poll would perfectly set the SEC up for 2 final 4 teams if UGA + Bama both win out and Bama wins the SEC champ game. Loooooooooong way to go. But if somehow, someway, the Ducks finish 12-1, Oregon could be the first undisputed P5 champ with a 12-1 record to be left out of the final 4? Ohio State has #6, #7 and #9 left to play and will play a top 25 team in the B1G champ game.

According to Niels, aren't the past, present and future all occurring at the same time?