Jon Joseph

Darren, I also am dazed and confused. This Ducks team is a riddle with the cypher made more puzzling by the Columbus enigma? But we have seen this before have we not? Play like a chess master against the tough competition and play checkers against the also-rans. I am holding out hope until the witching hour on Friday night; actually, more like 2 AM Saturday on the Right Coast. Perhaps (a slightly tarnished) Saint Nick will have paid a visit to Mario in the off week and a revelation will be revealed on Friday night in Autzen? Perhaps the Columbus Crew will have been idle-week resuscitated? Perhaps a now available Jon Gruden will have stopped by and presented a tutorial on quarter-backing and email composition? I am not giving up the Good Ship Puddles. But in fairness to you Sir, and to David Marsh, while hoping that Mario can properly rearrange the deck chairs, I am looking for my life jacket.

I'm shocked!

I agree Charles and it is so sad. I think The Pistol shot the brand in the foot? From hurry up to rein it in? It took time, money, superior marketing and execution to build the brand. It is far harder to build a brand than it is to tear a brand down. Mullens is between the proverbial rock and a hard place. What makes it sadder is that LSU fans appear to want O to fail while most of us Ducks fans want Mario to get out of his own way and succeed.

Great take. Oklahoma, YES. Texas, in recent years, all hat and no cattle.

I'm biased but I'd have the semi-finals rotate among 5 of the NY6 Bowls and the champ game played in the Rose Bowl on 1/1.

Let's see, 2 years ago 15-0 and a Natty for coach O. After last Saturday's sound defeat at Kentucky, many LSU fans are calling for Ed Orgeron's scalp. Fair or not, many of the comments are comparing O to Mario. Guys who can recruit but can't coach. Guys who do not have the right assistant coaches behind them. 2021 has seen the reputations of Matt Campbell at Iowa St, O at LSU and Mario, take a big hit. Jimbo was resurrected last Saturday. Lots of LSU fans asking for Kiffin to replace O. I think it is 50/50 that this could happen? And these odds may be low?

I don't think so. The SEC will always have 3 or more top drawer teams. I doubt there will be many seasons when the SEC Champ finishes with more than 1L? Unless the SEC goes to 9 conference match ups, and even with 9, many teams will not play one another in a 6 season period, UT and OK will not match up against the SEC 'big boys' on a regular basis. The calculus would change somewhat with Bama and Auburn in the east and OK and UT in the west. But my guess is that the SEC will drop the traditional cross division match up, drop divisions and go to pods? This will assure that the SEC champ game has the #1 ranked SEC team playing #2 in the champ game. With the upcoming Alliance OOC games. I think the Pac-12 should drop divisions, play 8 regularly scheduled conference games, drop the CA scheduling agreement, keep the rivalry games, OR vs OR ST for example, and play a 9th conference game on championship week. 1 vs 2 at a neutral site. 3 vs 12, etc. on the home field of the higher ranked teams. Divisions do not make for equal play. Iowa in the B1G W on paper, now has a stroll to the B1G champ game. In the B1G E, #6, 7, 8 and 10 have to play one another. I will not be at all surprised if the B1G drops divisions and goes to pods? And I can see the same happening in the ACC?

Looking at CFB to date and over the last 4 seasons for the Pac-12, did the ACC, Pac-12 and especially the B1G, overreact to OK/UT joining the SEC? I get the financial situation with ESPN having the broadcast exclusive rights through 2025, but IMO the Pac-12 needs expansion sooner than later. 12 too many? Go with 8. P5 champs and with the additions to the B12 I'd keep the conference in the P5. Cincy now #3 and BYU now ranked #19 are coming on board to join #12 OK ST and a Baylor team that should be #25 instead of Texas. One spot goes to the top G5 team and 2 AL completes the field. Under today's conference structure, this would produce a field of 1UGA, 2 Iowa, 3 Cincinnati, 4. Oklahoma, 5. Bama, 6.Ohio State, 7 Oregon and 8 Wake Forest. No byes. Play the quarter finals at the top 4 ranked schools; Oregon at Iowa. Turn week zero into week 1 for everyone and the champ game could be played on January1.

GREAT. A kick off time That allows an old timer on the right coast to watch start to finish. Beth Mowins? Too bad I can't get the Ducks radio feed.

Joshua, would in make any sense to put Sewell at DE? And/or, with Verdell out give NS carries at RB? He reminds me of a Bama LB back in the old days of Bama playing behemoth LBs.

Oregon has covered the spread one time in 2021. Remember the game in Columbus ? SIGH Oregon and CAL have combined this season for 60 points on average. With the Oregon D dinged up I am taking the Over. Now 9-5 on the season. Almost had the 63.5 over TX/OK at half time. UF 42 vs Vandy 0 covered the 38.5 over. But Va Tech could not hang on vs ND.

Parity or parody? The Pac-12's OOC record makes the case for parody.

Charles, this great take of yours brings me to today's article up on the forum regarding what QB would play for Oregon coaches in the past? Mario's offense is a DC-3 in a world of jet propulsion offenses. Both the play calling and the execution on O, as well as the QB coaching, are all bad. Saturday, watching Sark, Riley, Kiffin and Day call QB friendly plays in QB friendly systems was beyond frustrating. The WR talent that Mario has recruited is totally going to waste. Are Ty Thompson, Butterfield and Robby Ashford all busts? Not one of these guys has more upside than a QB who will be lucky to play in the CFL? I do not want to and haven't given up on the Ducks in 2021. But I am 'this close' to saying farewell to Mario. Farewell before the OREGON BRAND is completely destroyed. Before Autzen Stadium on gameday looks like Stanford stadium. How can Mario and Moorhead, if Moorhead is listened to, be this incompetent?

Very interesting article, thank you. For the most part you have, correctly I believe, determined that all or almost all of the former HCs mentioned went with and would go with the conservative choice. Last Saturday was a great example of what a change in QB can and cannot do for a team. Penn State was in control of the game at Iowa. Then the starting PSU QB, Sean Clifford, went down with an injury. The true frosh QB who replaced Clifford was simply over his head and not ready for prime time. Iowa came back to win. Texas vs Oklahoma. OK QB Spencer Rattler was shaky from the start. Lincoln Riley replaced Rattler with true frosh Caleb Williams. Due to COVID, Williams did not play a down of football his senior season in high school. Yet, Williams was more than ready to play and to lead his time to an all time comeback vs Texas. Someone at Oklahoma obviously was coaching Williams up. Are QBs in the Oregon QB room being coached up? Shough started 2020 playing very good ball. He retrogressed as the season progressed. At Texas Tech under OC Sonnie Cumbie he won the job and was leading the B12 in a number of stats before being injured vs Texas. And Burgmeister is playing well after transferring to Va Tech. We have all seen what Justin Herbert has done since progressing to the NFL. JH's talents were not properly used at Oregon. Of course he has better WRs in the NFL but it appeared to me that Mario's system on O not only inhibited JH's growth but also the growth of the WRs? It was FCS, but Vernon Adams was a big time winner at E Washington before grad transferring to Oregon. Before transferring to Oregon, Anthony Brown was average. AB came to Oregon after 2 knee surgeries. AB is playing the same way he has played his entire career. AB has no NFL upside. Recruits in the Oregon QB room that on paper have NFL upside, either were vastly overrated by the recruiting services, are not being coached up and/or playing in a system that stifles QB growth. A system designed to keep the score close and let the D win the game. The other thing to consider under Mario is whether the system is QB friendly? Is the system designed to lead to the greatest success with the least amount of on field, in game stress? Last Saturday, Sark, Riley and Lane Kiffin called plays designed to help out the QB. Creative plays to help get receivers in space and pressure the opponents DBs and LBs in coverage. What other Oregon coaches would have done? I don't know. But I do know that AB has hit his ceiling. And if one of the guys in the Ducks QB room doesn't have more upside than something is wrong with the coaching, the recruiting, or both.

Win out + win the champ game? That = Final 4.

Of the 4 you mentioned, which of the teams played good defense? Kentucky? I'll wait to see how KY looks at UGA Saturday. Penn State, without Sean Clifford? Why would the Ducks not be competitive? The Oregon team that played at Ohio State without it best player on the field, can compete against any team in the country.

Do not discount head to head results. The Stanford loss on the road is a far less injurious loss than the Bucks home loss to the Ducks. Come the Committee's final vote in late November, Ohio State will not have 5 Ws against 'top teams.' Believe me, come November Georgia's W over Clemson will not be considered by the Committee to be a win against the 2nd best team in the country. If Oregon and Ohio State both go 12-1, both are in the final 4.

1. Georgia - SEC vs 9 Oregon Pac-12 at 8 Michigan AL 2. Iowa - B1G vs 10 Michigan State AL at 7 Penn State AL 3. Cincinnati AAC vs 11 Kentucky AL at 6 Ohio State AL 4. Oklahoma B12 vs 12 Coastal Carolina Sun Belt at 5 Alabama AL 3 1st round home games for the B1G - 5 B1G teams in the field. This will be far different once MI, MI ST, OH ST + Penn State play one another. If the Committee was voting today, Cincinnati would not be in the top 4.

Would this be a good time to play Noah Sewell at RB?

With the games to be played in October, today's AP ranking will look quite a bit difference than the 1st PO Committee Poll on 11/2. Even if Cincy runs the table up to 11/2 it will not be ranked #3 by the Committee.

A 1L Pac-12 champion that defeated a 12-1 B1G champion on the road is certainly getting in over a 1L ACC Champ Wake Forest. A 12-1 Pac-12 champion with a head to head win over Ohio State is not necessarily going to be ranked behind a 12-1 Ohio State. Cincinnati's SOS will dip as the season progresses. The W over 14 ND still looks good but the W vs Indiana does not. 12-1 Oregon would have a very good case even against a 13-0 Cincinnati. Oklahoma's big OOC win came against Nebraska at home. I do not think OK goes 13-0? OK has to play in Stillwater and the OK ST D is far better than the TX D. To date in CFB we have seen 2 elite Ds. Georgia and Iowa. But if Penn State starting QB Sean Clifford isn't hurt I doubt that Iowa wins Saturday's game? Before the B1G champ game, Iowa's remaining SOS is bad. UGA has looked great. But the win over Clemson is a mirage. And UGA by SEC standards has played an easy SEC schedule to date. The B1G E is going to eat a lot of its own. Ducks run the table as does ASU and Oregon will play a top 15+ ranked team in the conference champ game.

Mike, he has had 6 years to correct this deficiency. He is going to 'get it' now? He is playing the same way he did at BC. He is not elevating the play of guys around him and better athletes than those he played with at BC have not elevated his game. If you want to play risk-adverse ball, play not to take a loss, Brown is your guy. But if you want to play with verve, energy, tempo? Play to win? Brown is not the guy. I think many programs in the country without the depth of the Ducks QB room would already have benched Brown? I love Brown's guts but Brown has hit his ceiling. He is not going to magically up his game.

Never a discouraging word against refs no matter how bad they may be. Although twice this season the SEC has owned up to blow calls. Simple to me? Targeting with intent to injure, disqualification. Incidental targeting, no disqualification and no ipso facto unnecessary roughness penalty. Every targeting call is reviewed. Make this part of the review process. Far too draconian to kick a guy out of a game for contact that results as a normal consequence of playing the game of football.

Love the thought Charles. Portal Parity has Michigan State with 12 starters from the portal, undefeated. 10 starters for Arkansas are portal guys, 9 for Baylor. Dipping into the portal has materially benefited coaches Tucker, Pittman and Aranda in their 2nd year. The Portal has somewhat altered the old, stand alone recruiting efforts and recruiting rankings. Better to take a 4* straight out of HS or a 3* with a year or 2 of CFB playing experience? I think the portal will prove to be the better provider of players than guys coming from the JC ranks? BTW, a starting LB at UCF with less than 5 games played in 2021 just entered the portal. Mario?

David, yesterday was a darn good day for idle Oregon to sit back and watch. ASU as many of us believed would happen handed Stanford its 2nd conference loss. The Ducks Pac-12 N destiny is back in Oregon's hands. Win out and Oregon is the North champ. Missing ASU on the regular season schedule is a good break. 40 top 25 ranked teams have lost in the first 6 weeks of this season. Last time this happened was 1936. Kentucky is 6-0 for the first time in 71 years, back when Bear Bryant was coaching the Wildcats. Wake Forest is 6-0 for the first time in 77 years. Even Mr. FishDuck and I are too young to have seen that Wake team play. Wake is WOKE. Preseason top 10 UNC is 3-3 and Mack Brown is now 0-8 against his alma mater FSU. For all disgruntled Ducks fans, you could be Tar Heels fans. As noted above, Lincoln Riley had the minerals to pull 'Heisman' Spencer Rattler in favor of a true frosh QB whose senior year of HS ball was COVID cancelled. The young man brought OK back from a 21 point deficit for the biggest comeback in Red Rival Shootout history. The 103 points in OK/TX game mirrored the 103 in the Ole Miss/Arkansas game. Looks like the Horns and Sooners Ds are well prepared for the SEC? Iowa won when Penn St QB Clifford exited the game. Iowa has no ranked teams left on its remaining schedule. In the B1G E, Penn St, Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State all have to play one another. Divisions matter. And speaking of Ohio State, the Buckeyes obliteration of Maryland yesterday helps the Ducks cause. I still believe that with its offense, Ohio State will win the B1G title. DO NOT GIVE UP THE GOOD SHIP PUDDLES. All of the remaining teams on the Ducks schedule are beatable. And all depending on how Oregon plays can beat the Ducks. But the coaches do have to wake up like Wake. Perhaps change the starting QB as did Lincoln Riley and perhaps start calling some of great O plays and playing with the tempo we saw out of Riley, Sark and Kiffin.