Jon Joseph

Love the GIF! Perhaps it has to do with injuries but the Ducks D is 105th in sacks per drop back and 81st in QB pressure rate. The time being afforded the opposition's QBs is one reason the pass D has not looked good. DeRuyter came in with a reputation for putting aggressive, blitzing Ds on the field. I haven't seen this to date. It seems like the absence of cohesion we saw in the 2020 COVID season has carried over into 2021 on both sides of the ball? In this day and age the absence of hurry up O is close to being incomprehensible. I don't get it? Mario has been an HC for 70+ games. Both Moorhead and DeRuyter have very good coaching reputations. The roster has been dinged by injury but is still a Blue Chip roster. There seems to be a systemic problem with the entire operation? It seems that there is no communication between the coaches and a lack of communication between the coaches and the players? What is this team's identity on O and on D? It seems to me to be, "Don't screw up?' A completely risk adverse philosophy that is not allowing athletes to perform to their level of athleticism? That has the players playing scared and not with effort, desire and freedom. The freedom to go all out with the understanding that mistakes will be made in commission, which should be understandable and acceptable. Even so, the Ducks can run the table and can make the final 4? But it seems to me that a change in attitude is needed from the top on down. Focus on going all out and forget about making mistakes. As you so correctly note Hayward, there is an absence of innovation.

Great take on Ohio State. Post-Oregon, Day demoted his DC. stopped playing with a deep, deep safety, blitzed far more often and changed the starting personnel on D. On O he gave his true frosh stud RB far more touches. In other words, Ryan Day responded like a capable, successful, head coach.

Dear Mr. Marsh, thank you for hiring our consulting firm to take a complete and detailed view of your Week 6 Pac-12 Conference rankings. We are happy to inform you that the rankings are perfect; that will be $100,000.00 please. payable in cash or bearer bonds.

Brady was taken so late in part because the coaches at Michigan were clueless as to the guy to start at QB. Brady only got the the starting gig with the Patriots when Drew Bledsoe was injured. How's Belichick looking without Brady? In 2021, Sark started the wrong QB in the opener and in the 1st half of the Arkansas game. Riley did not start the right guy at QB vs Texas. BUT BOTH WERE WILLING TO MAKE CHANGES. And both back ups were coached up and ready to play.

I was just kittens around. LOL back at you, love the flying fur balls.

Great take. O/Us (UO?) are often the best bets on the board? Especially in this day and age of hyped up offenses. I usually play 1 O/U every week and such is the case this week with playing the CAL/OR over 55.5. But make no mistake, your take on the game could be spot on? I agree that the game could be close in the 4th quarter and could go right down to the wire. Which CAL teams show? The team that could not score at home against WAZZU? Or the team that put up 32 points at TCU? Which Ducks team shows? I have no idea. (BTW, WSU is looking kind of scary? WSU has had the lead in the 4th Q of every game it has played this season.) I am also taking 2 SEC teams and laying the points. I like #1 Georgia -22.5 to prove to #11 Kentucky, 'Tween the Hedges, that there is a big difference between SEC heavyweights and SEC middleweights. Later in the day in Starkville, Mississippi, I expect a ticked off Saint Nick and his #5 Alabama crew -17.5, will board the NR Mississippi State Bulldogs ship and put a cowbell upside the head of The Pirate. I'm having a pretty good year at 9-5 with 1 SU win when Va Tech defeated UNC (should have been 2 VT SU if the Hokies had not surrendered the lead last Saturday to the Domers) but fortune is fickle. Why I do this for fun; I never bet a ton.

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?