Jon Joseph

Thanks Charles. Why not a Run For The Roses? Why continue to participate in a so-called playoff system that has greatly benefitted one conference over the rest? It's not just the final 4 teams making bank, it's the NY6 Bowl teams in total. The SEC always has more teams in the NY6 than any other conference. Larry should have gone ballistic when 3L LSU played in the Fiesta Bowl instead of 2L WA ST; we didn't hear a peep out of Larry. That's $4M that went to the SEC and not the Pac-12.

Great point. But he was playing for a coach at BC straight out of the 'Mario mold," Steve Addazio.

The true reason behind this decision is 2020 not counting against a year of being eligible. It is intended to protect teams that had a large number of guys transfer out. Teams will be able to sign more than 25 newbies in 2022. It gives teams with depleted rosters the chance to make up for players who have left. It allows teams without depleted rosters to go over the 85 scholarship limit. Of course, it likely means that Bama will sign the 7 best guys available in the transfer portal? After the Supreme Court stiff arm, the NCAA is not able to govern NIL and roster size. Come the NCAA summit in November, I expect the P5 conferences will be setting their own rules and regulations. I see changes coming to roster size, APR requirements and much more. I see CFB turning more and more into NFL Lite and the day coming when we may see a Super Conference of 32 to 40 something teams playing at highest level? OK and UT to the SEC is a step in this direction. Conversely, The Alliance may lead to a split between the 'academically oriented' P5 conferences and the SEC, B12? I am touting my own idea but I'd love to see the Pac-12, B1G, ACC and Notre Dame with their own Run For The Roses Championship? Bag the playoff. Let the SEC figure out its own post season scenario. The ACC is locked into ESPN until 2036. But there is nothing that would prevent the Run For The Roses Championship having CBS, NBC, TNT and FOX bidding for broadcast rights. IMO. it would be hard for the SEC or any other entity to frame an antitrust scenario against The Run For The Roses when 130 teams are supposedly eligible for the final 4 and the The Run For The Roses would involve less than 50% of the 130?

I agree Charles. But he is more or less playing at the same level he has played at his entire CFB career.

Have you watched Justin Herbert this season? Brown played well within the system to defeat Ohio State. Yet, he completed less then 50% of his throws in Columbus. The Coastal Carolina QB is completing over 80% of his throws. He is playing in a spread, hurry-up O. A QB who does not complete over 60% of his throws is not taking his team to the PO. Brown is completing passes at the same rate he brought with him from BC. Is it the system or the Oregon QBs that is at fault? I find it hard to believe that both Ty Thompson and Butterfield were overrated coming out of high school? Before being injured at Texas, Shough was completing over 60% of his throws. And his WRs at TX Tech, on paper, are no where near as good as the WRs on the Ducks roster. JH was coached down. Brown has not been coached up.

Do recruiting rankings matter? Heck yes. No team that did not have a Blue Chip roster, over 50% 5* and 4* recruits, has won a BCS or playoff title. But and as the recruiting ranking services admit, just totaling the top recruits is now passe. Alabama came into the the 2021 season at the top on The Blue Chip list with 83% of its roster being 4 and 5 star guys. I know, you're shocked, right? This ranking did not include 5* recruit Garrett Wilson from Ohio State, or 4/5* To'o To'o who transferred to Bama from the Vols. In two games this season Wilson has led the Tide in receiving yards. To'o To'o is now the guy calling the Tide's on-field adjustments on D. Blue Chip rosters, except for the folks setting the line, are not adjusted from game to game. Is Oregon really a Blue Chip team without KT and Flowe suiting up? Oregon along with the other D1 schools now has the luxury of adding 7 'CFB free agents' to the 2022 class. And there are over 1000 guys in the transfer portal. And no doubt that tampering will be going on. As TCU coach Gary Patterson recently noted, guys on the TCU roster have been contacted by 5 SEC teams. Mario not only has to keep on keeping on with HS recruits but also has to keep his eye on portal. Especially since there is a very good chance that a number of Oregon's quality recruits will enter the portal. It is not enough to recruit today. A program has to re-recruit while keeping a sharp eye on the portal. Could Oregon use ISM now? Heck yes. And if Brown continues to start and struggle there is little doubt IMO that a few Ducks highly touted recruits from the QB room and also the WR room will be headed elsewhere. The difficult task of recruiting has now been raped up by CFB 'free agency' and the ability to add 7 recruits from the portal.

Better the holy grail, the PO, even if the semi-final L is a tough L. And you never know? Oregon is 1-9 vs the Buckeyes but the 1 came this year. PO appearances matter to recruits. Gives the 4 teams in the final 4 a month long recruiting informercial. And would help the Pac-12's national cred and help with upcoming media negotiations. The Rose Bowl is the best consolation game. But in 2021/22 it is still a consolation game. A potential 1L or 2L B1G opponent would not be a piece of cake. How about a chance of playing UGA back to back? In the Cotton Bowl and then in Atlanta? Oregon has flaws no doubt. Oregon is having tough injury luck this season. But the Oregon roster is still a very talented roster and on any given day? For now, Ducks fans need to cheer on Ohio State, ASU and the Beavers.

Good call. Whether ND is all that or not a W in South Bend carries a lot of weight. Look no further than ND dropping only to 14 with a close W at FSU and another close W vs Toledo. But I think ND is looking at 1 more L at least? SC's passing attack is potent and the ND O is not all that. The final score at Wisconsin is deceptive. WI gifted ND 3 4th Q TDs after ND was trailing in the 4th Q. Michigan's win in Madison on Saturday was more impressive than was ND's win in Chicago. And at Va Tech a team that already beat UNC at home will not be an easy out for the Domers. No matter what the Beavs do the rest of the way the L at Purdue is an albatross. I don't see it happening but in theory, the Beavs at 13-1 would at least have to be in the discussion?

I would hope that Moorhead has an equal or greater say in who starts at QB? If not, why pay a guy $1M a year to be the OC?

Reviewing last week's results, this week's AP Poll and the Ducks shot at the final 4. The L at Stanford speaks for itself. But how many P5 conference champions in 2021 will run the table? IMO, if the PO Committee had voted yesterday, taking into consideration no Joe Moorhead and Forsyth missing the game, the committee would have Oregon and not Ohio State ranked #7. After Bama and UGA, with the A+M loss to MS ST, Arkansas being trucked by UGA and UF taking its 2nd loss at Kentucky, the SEC is doing a nice job of picking one another off. If JT Daniels can't play Saturday, Auburn and what a great job 1st year coach Bryan Harsin is doing, will not be an easy win for old foe Georgia. UGA destroyed the Hogs but back up QB Stetson completed only 7 passes. And it is not easy to win On the Plains in front of War Eagle. And of course, if UGA and Bama run the table, they will play in Atlanta. Will a 1L non-conference champ beat out a 1L conference champ that tested itself in Columbus? Ducks fans should be big Buckeyes fans. Notre Dame was overrated. Cincinnati looked good but good enough not to lose an AAC game? The Bearcats W over Indiana is looking less and less impressive. Starting at Va Tech Saturday, this ND squad could lose 2 more games. And to date, the committee has not valued G5 schedules, even when UCF went undefeated. #3 Iowa plays #4 PSU Saturday. PSU still has to play at Ohio State, and has to play both Michigan and Michigan State. Oklahoma? To date in 2021 OK is doing it with mirrors. I think Texas has a great chance to take down OK this Saturday? OK still has to play OK ST in Stillwater in what will be a HOSTILE environment. ASU's win at UCLA hurt the Ducks SOS in the short run. But in the long run may help Oregon out? The Sun Devils loss at #10 BYU was a 'good loss.' Don't look now but ASU at Oregon State on 11/20 could have major PO impact? If the Beavs and ASU run the table, Oregon's final regular season game and champ game, assuming the Ducks win the north, would come against 2 teams ranked 20 or higher? As Yogi said: It ain't over till it's over. Still lots of football to be played in 2021.

BTW, as I should have noted earlier, I love your thought of ranking the refs #1! The cannibal conference on display. Take Ls against teams OOC and then eat our own! Refs #1? Think this observation was made by a Forum fan previously? If it was Bama playing at MS ST on Saturday, would that PI call have been made to extend the game? This is really fun stuff to debate and consider David. Arizona State plays at Oregon State on November 20. If both run the table until 11/20, this could be a game with national and PO consequences? The Beavers loss at Purdue was not a 'good loss.' Nevertheless, ASU, Oregon and Oregon State are still in the PO hunt. Like the Pac-12, the B1G teams will be putting the hurt on one another. Big drop in the SEC after Bama/UGA and I don't see Cincinnati running the table? And root for Sark and UT to take down OK Saturday.

Great take. Thanks. I'd have ASU at 1. They L at BYU only happened because of undisciplined Sun Devil play. ASU outplayed BYU in every respect. ASU's last drive in Provo resembled that Oregon's Keystone Kops last drive on The Farm. On Saturday, ASU looked both bigger and faster than UCLA. I was expecting a close game but ASU controlled the 2nd half for an 'easy' win. Stanford comes to Tempe Friday night and I think ASU will make the Ducks L on The Farm look even worse? USC plays at ASU. And ASU's trip to Salt Lake City looks far less daunting than in the preseason. ASU plays at both UW and at OR ST down the road and on the road. Chance to see the Herms going against your week's #1 Oregon State. Will weather be a factor? ASU takes care of Stanford on Friday and it, not the Ducks, will likely have the best odds to make the Final 4? With BYU ranked 10, the loss at BYU was a 'good' loss. Far better than the Ducks loss last Saturday. ASU is 22 in the AP. But if it runs the table, ASU will be ranked far higher than this by the PO committee on 11/2.

Mario is fine with a pace on O that leads to 1 score games. No team wins every 1 score game. It is a failure not to have a hurry up, change of pace scheme on O. It is a philosophy on O that is outmoded. After 3 years I do not believe that it is in Mario's DNA to change his approach to playing offense. I don't believe that like Nick Saban, he can hire a Lane Kiffin, and get out of the way? What really baffles me? Why the emphasis on bringing in top WR recruits and TE recruits and not having them involved in the O? I respect Mario. But I can't help but wonder with this roster how many points, if they had free rein, would a Kiffin or Sark coached O be putting up? To date, Moorhead's O looks far more like the O he ran at MS ST and not Penn State. Maybe McSorley and Barkley made JM at PSU and not the other way around?

The Ducks outgained Stanford on Saturday; had success running the ball. Ran for over 200 yards. If anything the pinch-hitting OC did not call enough runs. Stanford's last drive? The DL put great pressure on McKee and were rewarded with a ticky tack targeting call and a ticky tack roughing the passer call. 1 of these suspect calls goes the other way and the Ducks win. And the targeting call on Stanford that was reversed should have stood as an unnecessary roughness penalty. Oregon should have had the ball well within scoring territory. Stanford is the Ducks nemesis. It often defeats Oregon when it shouldn't and it always seems to get the benefit of questionable calls. It is extremely rare for any P5 team to go 13-0. The Ducks have to get up off the deck and make a playoff run. I certainly agree with you that the line play on both LOS could be sharper, no doubt. Yet, with the line play you described Oregon is 4-1 and easily could be 5-0. This is an observation and not an excuse. Many key D guys are dinged. The most important OL guy, starting center Forsyth, did not play on Saturday. Hopefully, the idle week with help the Ducks get healthy?

Brown is a gamer and hats off to him for battling through a number of injuries and winning his first game as a starter vs a top 25 team in Columbus. He is a 50%+ plus passer. Not a passer that will complete 65% to 70% of his passes; the rate the best CFB QBs throw at today. He is not lacking in receiving targets at WR, TE and RB. His footwork is not good. His launch angle is not good. He runs before he has finished all of his progressions. And he simply is not accurate. On deep balls he is not allowing talented WRs to make a play on the ball. From what we heard the QB competition was extremely close in summer practice. Mario went with the conservative, safe choice. He had a chance to run the clock and get the victory last Saturday and failed. He missed a read in the first half that cost 7 points. Appreciate your take Better Duck. But Brown is getting ample time to throw the ball. And, Ohio State is not a bad football team. Ohio State is still odds on to win the B1G. This season, the B1G E could well be the toughest division in CFB. It's not like the Oregon D shut down the Bucks O. Joe Moorhead did an excellent job of attacking a weakness in the back of the Ohio State D. Ohio State has made changes. It demoted its DC and changed up the starting personnel. In other words, Ryan Day seeing a weakness did not stand pat, he made necessary changes. Brown has hit his ceiling. The ceiling he had coming into 2021. Ty Thompson has a far greater upside than Brown. Thompson will make rookie mistakes. But he should have the opportunity to make mistakes this season and be prepared to start for 2 more seasons. If there is a problem with execution in any endeavor leaders, in this case coaches, have to address the problem and do what they can to fix the problem. And it could be that part of the below average play on OL is the fault of the leader on the field, the QB?

While watching the game I couldn't help but thinking of the old line about Michael Jordan and Dean Smith.

Stanford is now 5-1 vs #3 and higher ranked teams since its 2007 upset of USC as a 41 point underdog.

Sans the Ohio State game where he executed a great game plan, but still completed less than 50% of his passes, Brown has played the way his history said he would play. And not to demean his effort in Columbus, but who were those guys on the OL? Has anyone seen them since? At OH ST was the 1st time Brown has started against and defeated a top 25 opponent. He had chances to do so in the ACC and failed. He is doing his best but his best is not good enough to lead to a title and to elevate the talent around him. Of course I am not there at practice, thank goodness, eh Ducks fans, but I can't believe that one of the younger, more talented on paper QBs cannot beat out Brown? In general, I am concerned about QB development under Mario. Justin Herbert's talent was never allowed to show. Shough retrogressed as the 2020 season went on. Brown also seems to be retrogressing? And Thompson, Butterfield, Ashford are not capable of being coached up? As you so correctly noted, the team has talent at WR and TE that is being wasted.

Love the GIF! But if it's Michigan coming the penguins should be wearing khakis, no?

Great article. Nick Saban. Love the irony of seeing Nick in commercials with a duck! AFFLACK! Nick did learn. He wasn't all that at Michigan State. He arrived at the happy recruiting grounds in the south and prospered at LSU and is on a historic run at Bama. Nick evolved with the game. He changed his D from all-behemoth guys to guys who can run sideline to sideline. After whining, he brought in Lane Kiffin, opened up the O and emphasized recruiting skill players as much as smash mouth OL guys. He has had consistent assistant coach turn over and always seems to hire excellent replacements. It's hackneyed, but Nick has a PROCESS that works. A process that has NFL bound talent ready to go against opponents strong and weak. Because of Mario's recruiting prowess and because of the state of the Pac-12 conference, Mario will win a lot of games. But something is missing. The team can show up and play excellent ball in champ games vs Utah and USC and on the road against a team ranked #3 on nation, a team that 'never' takes an L at home. But the team also struggles against the likes of Arizona, the worst team in the conference. IBM almost failed. The new CEO of IBM looked in the mirror and made dramatic changes that IBM had not seen in 50 years. One of the IBM's of CFB, Alabama, was failing and floundering before the right leader was hired. It took Nick Saban one year to right the ship in Tuscaloosa. And like all great leaders, Saban adopted to changes brought on by the competition. He did not stand pat. I do not know of a single Ducks fan who wants Mario to fail. But Mario is at a cross roads. The road he is on is not producing results commensurate with the talent of his organization's 'employees,' the players. Mario by all accounts is a workaholic. But working yourself to death does not equal success unless you have a plan that will translate the work effort into positive results. I hope he will take this brief respite in the season and ask: do I have the right assistants; am I micro-managing my assistants; is our strength and conditioning program preventing injury or causing injury; are our practice habits working: and are on-field leaders being encouraged and developed? Sorry to go all Tony Robbins, but if Mario doesn't change we will see the same results season after season. Big wins against big opponents and a lack of cohesive effort against mediocre opponents. In any business you can recruit the best employees, but can you get the employees to function as a cohesive unit? If you can't do that you will never be a great leader.

I'm staying positive. In all of life you play the hand you are dealt. Mario is holding a very good hand. He has to play his cards right. Hopefully, the next two weeks will be 'tell the truth time' between the players and the coaches. A chance to heal physically and psychologically. As frustrated as us fans have been since Ohio State I would think and hope, that the coaches and players are equally frustrated. This bye comes at a perfect time. A chance to regroup, refocus and get ready to play winning ball down the stretch.

Just Win Baby!

There are teams that are nemesis for other teams. Yesterday for the 5th time since 2000 the Cardinal defeated the Ducks. But this was a Ducks team without its OC. This was a Ducks team missing the 2nd most important guy on O, the starting center. Alex Forsyth who Mel Kiper has ranked as the 4th best center prospect in the nation. And the officiating? Can we agree that a number of calls in the game were suspect? Yet, how many good things have we seen in 2021? A W at now #7 Ohio State when Oregon was a 2 TD dog and playing without the best guy on the team. How about untested young guys stepping up on D? How about a resurgent kicker who worked his butt off to improve? How about a solid punter who has helped greatly in giving the Ducks good field position? Oregon has 1L. Oregon is ranked behind a 1L team it defeated. And this Ohio State team has to play Penn St, Michigan and Michigan State. #4 Penn St plays at #3 Iowa this Saturday. The Ducks can move up in the AP while sitting at home and mending injuries. Cincinnati was helped out by SMU being ranked. But was most definitely not helped out with Navy defeating UCF. And will the win at Notre Dame turn out to be all that? ND at Va Tech Saturday will not be a gimme. And ND is not a lock vs an up and down SC team. And not a lock at Stanford. The Beavers is brewing up some secret sauce and the Beavers get ASU at home. Oregon could be facing a top 25 team at home in the final regular season game. The ACC? How about NO. Oklahoma? Will anyone be surprised if the Sooners are defeated by Texas on Saturday or in the Bedlam Game at OK ST. I think a 2021 Playoff spot for these Ducks is still very much in play. The Ducks are better than the rest of the teams on the schedule and the voodoo that is Stanford has already happened. Only 5 games into the season I am not ready to don a life jacket let alone abandon ship. Clemson a few years back was upset at Syracuse. That Clemson team won a title. Clemson a few years back lost a home game to Pitt. That Clemson team played for a title. How many of us believed this team would go 13-0? The Ducks used up the floating mulligan it captured in Columbus; something that was more likely to happen than not. 12-1 is more than doable and I believe it can and will be done.

Why would the B1G be adverse to this? 1. Alabama - SEC vs 9 Michigan AL at 8 Oregon Pac-12 2 Iowa - B1G vs 10 BYU AL at 7 OH ST AL 3 Cincinnati AAC vs 11 Michigan St AL at 6 Penn St AL 4 Oklahoma - B12 vs 12 Coastal Carolina Sun Belt at 5 UGA AL That would be 5 B1G teams in the field. That would mean B1G dinero. SEC with but 2 teams. How about a more likely to happen 8 team field with a G5 team guaranteed a spot? 8. Oregon at 1 Alabama 7 Ohio State at 2 Georgia 6 Oklahoma at 3 Iowa 5 Cincinnati at 4 Penn State That would be 3 B1G teams in the money. SEC with 2 teams. And with the Ducks and the Bruins defeats yesterday and Fresno taken an L at Hawaii and dropping out of the top 25, does GK want to wait until 2026 for the field to expand? There are still 7 SEC teams in the week 5 AP poll. But Ls do seem to count in the SEC. The ranked SEC teams dropped as they should have after in conference Ls. Kentucky at 5-0 deserves to be ranked. But 2L Florida at 20 is giving the Gators a lot of credit for a close home loss to Bama. No top 25 teams left on the Ducks regular season schedule. Best hope is for the Beavs to keep on winning and ASU winning out before the Pac-12 champ game. SMU is #24. I still think it might behoove the Pac-12 in the long run to invite Houston, SMU, #12 OK ST and TX TECH into the fold? 2 huge markets and many the dedicated OK ST and TX Tech fans. Hats off to Brady Hoke for getting SDS in at #25. Yesterday's loss to old nemesis Stanford is a downer. But there is still a lot of football to be played. Penn State at Iowa will obviously have a big influence on the week 6 rankings. Oregon may well move up a spot without playing on 10/9? UGA at Auburn will not be a gimme. And Oklahoma is by no means guaranteed a victory vs Texas. In 2021, the PO is still a very realistic goal for the Ducks.

Mike West - 'structural flaw' nails it. We see highly touted recruits not coming together to play team ball. 2 false starts on what should have been a game sealing drive. If that's not on coaching then who or what is it on? That is simply undisciplined play. Undisciplined play that cannot be excused by the age of the roster.