Jon Joseph

I have to say that I am honestly surprised by a number of the excellent comments above. A top 5 coach? Saban, Swinney, Day, Riley, Smart, Brian Kelly, Mark Stoops, Jimbo Fisher, Matt Campbell, James Franklin, Kirk Ferentz, Whittingham and a number of other coaches are ranked ahead of Mario in the CBS, ESPN, Athlon and other ranking of HCs. Mario's biggest W to date is a 1 point win over a 3L team in the Rose Bowl. And I must note that he is falling off many the ADs radar. He is fantastic recruiter. However, he has a losing record as a HC. And let's be honest, Oregon is not competing against SEC or B1G E competition. WE watched Oregon struggle at home vs, among others, Arizona. Yesterday CU defeated Arizona 34-0. Now Mario, please shut me up. Run the table all the way to the 2021 Final 4.

Yesterday, 10/16, 7 Top 25 teams were idle. 11 ranked teams won. 7 ranked teams lost. 5 lost to unranked opponents. For the 9th time in its football history NR Purdue beat a ranked team. This time taking down #2 Iowa in Iowa City. Tied for 2nd on NR defeating ranked is Arizona with but 4 such victories. Herm Edwards is now 4-6 as a ranked vs NR, HC. In Salt Lake City, Utah shut out ASU in the 2nd half. UCLA pulled out the win at UW. Jimmy Lake is now 5-5 at the Husky head coach. Georgia's D is as advertised: Devastating. Bama rebounded big time. Ole Miss hung on in Lane's return to Tennessee although Lane was hit in the head with a golf ball; game was delayed when Vols were denied a 1st down on a 4th down attempt and fans littered the field with bottles, cups and yes, golf balls. Ed Orgeron likely saved his job with a 49-42 victory over Florida. Oklahoma started Caleb Williams at QB and blew out TCU. Oklahoma State came back in Texas to whip the Horns. Both team are undefeated setting up what could be an epic Bedlam game in Stillwater Mel Tucker, with a W at Indiana has Michigan State at 7-0 Dave Aranda has Baylor at 6-1. Remarkable 2nd year turn arounds by these two head coaches. Cincinnati after its destruction of UCF and with ranked P5 teams falling left and right has a most legit shot at the Final 4. My Week 7 Final 4 Guess? 1. Georgia 2. Oklahoma 3. Cincinnati 4 Ohio State Bury the Bruins!

Is it possible to play 8, 1 score conference games in a row and go 11-1? Today - CU 34 Arizona 0. As I recall, AZ give Oregon a struggle in Autzen?

And how many Ducks post 2021 will head to the portal?

Mario Cristobal. No better CFB HC on Signing Days.

In what Verse in the Multi-Verse did this happen? It obviously didn't happen here. A Duck QB is going to take his first snap in Atlanta vs Georgia? GULP!

That's 4 NR teams winning over ranked teams. Crazy year. Hats off to Dave Aranda for a terrific year 2 turn around. Ditto Mel Tucker whose Michigan St team stayed undefeated with a close win at Indiana. Both plucked the portal perfectly. And OK ST will be a big challenge for OK. I am not selling the G5 short for this year's final 4. Cincinnati pounded fellow off to the B12 brother, UCF. Frankly, I don't think the Ducks would have a chance against this Cincy team? Is everyone fired up for next year's opener 'at' UGA? The UGA D toyed with a very good Kentucky team. UGA should cruise all the way to the SEC champ game. How about the game UGA TE Bowers had? Bowers is from (sigh) Napa, CA.

That's a $9M exit fee. Miami doesn't have the money. Would SC pay this buy out having watched the team struggle in 2020 and 2021? If any school should know SC should know that you have to do more than recruit.

Pinnochio? Was Mario's nose growing? Great take and reminder Mr. FD.

Steven A, you beat me to it! Watching Oregon vs CAL was almost a mirror image of last night's Clemson at Syracuse game.

Next year? Ducks get to open the season 'at' Georgia with a QB starting his first game? GULP!

What many of us have long hoped for has finally come to fruition. OREGON is the CLEMSON of the Pac-12! Boo the Kids? How about NO! Boo the Coaches? Fair game.

Very good question to ask with the team at 5-1. But does anyone enjoy watching paint dry?

FIVE AND ONE; CINCO AND UNO; 5 - 1. - POSITIVE! BETTING THE OVER? - NEGATIVE. BOOING THE HOME TEAM? - NATIVES ARE RESTLESS. How long before the fans start voting with their pocketbooks?

Did not know this? On CBS pregame tonight for the CBSSN games and the coming Saturday games, it was mentioned that the Ducks D is last in the Pac-12? Is this correct?

LEAVE NO CRUMBS! TAKE NO PRISONERS! To borrow a phrase - GIVE 'EM THE AXE! WHERE? RIGHT IN THE NECK!

Clue - Zip - Less - Nothing? KIDDING! (I think?) 38 Ducks - 24 CAL, 2, 2, 190

Great article Charles. A little puzzling is it not that a 1-4 team is coming to Eugene to play the 8th ranked team in the country and many of us fans are nervous regarding the outcome; see this as a 'crossroads' game? Cheering for the #8 team in the country, Ducks fans should have the expectations of Buckeyes fans prior to this season's 1-4 Northwestern visiting the Horseshoe. Instead, it's pins and needles. Go Ducks!

From Chad's mouth to Mario's ears; please.

Sweet. Now, finish in the black.

You're a Snark today swimming in a school of Snarks But Oregon may yet become a school of Orcas? Or, god forbid, a school of minnows?

With the 'system' being run on O, does it matter? If he was to start, would TY be allowed to show his superior athleticism? Would the young stud WRs he practices with be on the field? Would the playbook open up? If the play calls are 3 RPOs and a cloud of dust, I'm not certain who starts at QB will make a difference? It will be grind it out ball on O that hopefully will grind down the CAL D? Running a conservative O, TCU did put up 34 points on CAL. And the WAZZU D shut the CAL O down. On paper, this game should not be close. But, that's on paper.

What do I think? 1st, it doesn't really matter what I think? But I have bet the over 55.5 so, and not trying to jump the gun on the guess the final score question, I see Ducks 38, CAL 24.

OK Nik, but SC did frequently make the Rose Bowl, but was often with 1L left out of the champ game. At least SC showed up in these Rose Bowl games and didn't whine and lay down like the SEC runner up that often lost the Sugar Bowl. The only reason the SEC team lost of course was because it had no interest in playing an inferior opponent. One season SC lost at an Oregon State team that finished in the top 25 and won its bowl game vs Pitt. Florida lost at home to Ole Miss. Florida played an Oklahoma team in the BCS champ game that SC would have wiped out. Clearly the BCS favored a 1L champ with the L coming at home over a 1L USC that lost on the road. OK frequently went to the BCS title game and lost to SEC teams. The Trojans would have defeated both teams. How about 2001 when a deserving Ducks team was left out of the BCS champ game in favor of a Nebraska team that in its last game was destroyed in Lincoln by CU. A CU team that Oregon mauled in its bowl game. The Pac-10 never got the benefit of the doubt in the BCS era. It was SC and the 9 dwarfs. 11 dwarfs when the conference expanded. Ever hear the media referring to a Clemson dominated ACC as a bunch of dwarfs? Late night games suck and are ignored by folks on the east coast. Among other things these start times cost Luck, Gerhart and McCaffery, Heisman Trophies. No bias? Why is a 1L Ducks team ranked behind a 1L Ohio State that the Ducks beat in Columbus? TOSU has yet to defeat a ranked opponent. The Ducks played Stony Brook; OH ST played Akron. Good call on Oregon losing a game it shouldn't lose. Good call on many Pac-12 teams being unable and/or spending the money needed to compete on the highest level. But when a Bama loses to a 2L team after a close loss against 2L Florida and stays at 5? Don't tell me there is no bias. Don't tell me that the SEC's 'partner, CFB media cartel ESPN is not biased. It is. Follow the money. And don't tell me that the NCAA went completely over the top when it sanctioned USC. The guy leading this lynching was the AD at Miami whose own house was on fire. And Chip called out for using a recruiting runner. Talk about selective enforcement. And CAM was cleared because he didn't know his old man was shopping him, right? Play for pay Ole Miss got a slap on the wrist compared to SC. However, much of the fault does lie with the conference. A conference that allowed Larry Scott to start a network that never had a chance. A conference whose board of directors waited at least 5 years too long to fire Larry. BTW, thanks for not pointing out that no BCS/Playoff champ to date played 9 scheduled conference games. Thanks for the post Charles. But as of today this guy's takes are an insight into the obvious.

A 12-1 Pac-12 champ Oregon is in the PO. Especially, over any 2 L non-conference champ team including Alabama. A 12-1 Oregon with a win at Ohio State if Ohio State continues to ball out, is in over a 13-0 Cincinnati. And also in over a 12-1 Wake Forest. Oregon has a far better OOC win at Columbus that does OK that struggled at home to beat Nebraska. With its D I do not see OK going 13-0. The B1G E is about to beat itself up. Iowa with a suspect O is likely to take an L before taking an L in the B1G champ game. Make no mistake. The PO is the holy grail of CFB. Far better to make the final 4 and take a beating in the semi-final game than to play in the Rose Bowl exhibition game. Far better! And far better when it comes to the upcoming media negotiations. The team to cheer on today? ASU. If Oregon and ASU are 11-1 entering the champ game in Las Vegas, both will be highly ranked and if it is these 2, Allegiant Stadium will have some fans in the seats instead of just empty seats. A 12-1 Pac-12 champion with the W at Ohio State is in. Whether the team wins ugly or not. The polls mean nothing. The only poll that matters is the PO Committee poll that will be reveled on 11/2 and likely change significantly before the final poll is revealed. Win ugly? Fine. Just win baby and the Ducks is in.