Haywarduck

I grew up going to games across the way, in section 11. Some amazing Duck fans in those rows!

Anyone else notice Gueye, of WSU, getting a couple of his passes while in high school. That kid is a force, but wow Dior can move the rock around, indeed. Love seeing an elite PG headed our way.

Oregon's history of coaches is unique and extremely important. Players come and go, but coaches continue to have an impact on lives for generations. We have been blessed to have had some of the greatest coaches develop here, move on from here, and continue to positively impact lives everyday. Thanks for sharing this about one of the greatest, Len Casanova, who coached and then stayed on at Oregon and had one of the largest positive impacts on the University. Interesting to read about Casanova, he had one of the longest punts in football history, 97 yds wow. Also as the coach of Santa Clara he beat a guy who served underneath him in the Navy in the Orange Bowl. He upset Paul Bryant at Kentucky after traveling all the way across the country. Bryant, as coaches use to do, made no excuses, said Casanova out coached him.

--the winner OREGON! --the score, and the tiebreaker information needed from each of you is... 33-12 --the amount of turnovers Oregon creates 2 --the number of sacks Oregon records on the opposing team 4 --the number of passing yards. 195 The cougs, as a nocturnal animal, scare me, but in the end, I agree, DeRuyter will be the DeRifference.

Interesting question, I have taught a Nobel Laureate and those who struggle tremendously to learn. They can all learn, and I can guarantee you they all struggle at times. Everyone just needs time and support while they work towards their goals. I choose to support, try not to judge, as each person wrestles with failures and successes. I also try to celebrate the successes more than dwell on the failures, although one must learn, sometimes slowly. I do also think it is interesting to see those with all the advantages struggle. Sometimes it takes a bit of a disadvantage to understand the struggles needed to succeed. On Cristobal, he has gone from being a loser in his first coaching job to taking a losing program to the cusp of being a playoff team. I think that is growth and worthy of support. Also the best example, comparison to Oregon and its benefactor is Oklahoma State, with T. Boone Pickens and his gift of hundreds of millions to the athletic department. It has bought them one top ten finish. We have had a much better return, and we never hit the top ten until the money started coming in.

I'll chime in, a smart program will pay their coach enough to keep him. They will also focus on supporting the systems and processes around him which helps him be successful. Make the coach know he has the support of the administration, and alumni who will ensure he is successful and the next guy too. This way you get the great assistants to stick around, and the other programs knowing Oregon is a great place to be a coach. I would say it is known throughout the country Oregon knows how to support a coach and their program enough to win on the big stage. If we keep this up, we will reach where we all want the program to get too. Right now we are in a virtuous circle, while most programs, not naming any names, are in a vicious circle. As long as we work hard, feel lucky and grateful we will continue on this path.

I would answer osu would have fired him minimum before his 7th season, probably sooner. They never would have even seen Bellotti as an OC, let alone allowed him to become head coach. They then would have brought in Avezzano, and the rest would be pretty much the same. I will give OSU kudos for figuring it out a bit better recently. Most programs have no idea of how to support and foster a head coach. They can pick a head coach, pat themselves on the back for the choice, and then start undercutting him soon after. That looks like, you can pick just about any program. Our magic back then was we stuck with a loser, who created one of the greatest winning machines around, and will always be a winner to me!

From what I hear about their other programs it is like that kind of character trait is expected, if not outright rewarded. Must be why we hate them so much, it is innate, I have little doubt.

And that was all the Oregon magic it took, right? It is interesting he gives his time at Oregon no credit for the success he had as a coach, great and ungrateful I suppose.

From Rich Brooks, who we turned from a beaver to a winner, to Mario Cristobal, who was a failed coach, Oregon has taken coaches who weren't great and made them winners. Is it the University of Oregon, and its' facilities, history, along with some magic, or are we just lucky. Many want to question Cristobal, and really the direction of the program. I would ask does the head coach matter, as much, at the University of Oregon? Chip Kelly won big, and thought he was a wizard, but has been repeatedly shown his magic at Oregon isn't easily repeated. Willie came, had success, but has been destroyed since. The one anomaly has been Helfrich, but he just wasn't a leader of men. If we hire somebody who knows how to lead, does it matter as much, who it is at Oregon? Is Oregon a coach creating machine? Maybe many are right, Cristobal isn't that good, it is just what Oregon does? Historically we have been, from Mckay, to Robinson, and many don't know the connection, but even John Madden has an Oregon connection, the place to find a great coach, or become a great coach. What is it, and are we pretty secure even without Cristobal? It might seem crazy, but how can Oregon keep winning, while sc and many other programs flounder? I want to qualify, I in no way want Cristobal gone. I think one magic element is how we support a coach, and up to recently, have understood the process of building a winning program.

We will be on the upset list, until the pundits are sure we will lose, and then what will happen Mr. Corso?

Last night OSU soccer defeated, well tied which in soccer can mean wins, and claimed the Pac-12 title. A story which I haven't seen reported was the Washington coach, big surprise, wouldn't shake hands with the OSU coach. The dawgs know how to lose, but don't know anything about class or grace. Congrats to the beavs, for finally winning at football, even if it was actually soccer.

LaMike was from another era of Oregon football prowess. There were many RB's and QB's of that era which defined Oregon, LaMike was, indeed, one of the best. What will be interesting to see is another era of great Oregon RB's and QB's. Will the number 21 again shine? Interesting to see another back take the number 21, but, so far, nobody wants anything to do with #8, or #10 as a qb?

My hope is this is a video of what the cougs will do to the dawgs. For now we need to realize how cute, but pesky and annoying cats can be.

Agree, but they also want exposure, and the Pac-12, what time does our game start, doesn't get the exposure, yet. George needs to get a more favorable tv contract and make sure our programs are seen. These top recruits want to win and be seen. Oregon has shown they will highlight players, but the conference needs to do it's part too!

Awesome, Miami hasn't always been the friendliest place for an Oregon player to land, but it is a place where Joey had a nice little run. A couple of those moments made you wonder what could have been if he hadn't been drafted by the worst franchise in all of professional football.

Rocky is a compelling story, one you want to think is possible in this country. An immigrant's son getting a chance and against all odds becomes somebody. Like Rocky, Cristobal is just trying to go the distance, but he also thinks he can win it all. There are many doubters, rightly so, but he is a fighter, actually trained in MMA, and will go the distance, whatever that is. The inglorious O-lineman who, like Rocky, many don't think has the smarts to win it all, will prove them all wrong, just wait. I can't wait, actually I can, and am enjoying every minute.

So far you are correct, winning the Rose Bowl is our ceiling. Not a bad ceiling after the cluster he inherited. I have a hard time predicting the Ducks losing, or a coach, player having a ceiling, just isn't in my DNA. I respectfully disagree, and enjoy, happily looking forward to being right! I kind of think Mario is like Rocky Balboa, just a working class guy who ends up winning it all. Nobody really respect the guy, has a lot of critics, but he just keeps going to work.

The problem isn't just Mario stealing all the talent. Without another power in the Pac-12 Najee Harris left for Alabama, recently DJ left for Clemson and of course JTT decided to go to tosu. We also saw Alabama get the elite transfers as the Pac-12 isn't looked upon as competitive. We need Mario to do his thing, but we need some life support with the other programs. The whole Pac-12 is at risk after what Larry did to the conference. The conference is potentially going to become irrelevant, much like many of the teams already are. In the future Oregon can be, like Cincinnati, a program who is fighting to be relevant, or the whole conference and programs can wake up to the real battle going on, we are all losing. Each program needs to step up and probably more importantly George Kliavkoff needs to provide strong leadership.

It is a get out of jail, Lake as Coach, free card. With what he did they can fire and be under no obligation. Consider him a dead man gone! Agree Wilcox to a team which wants to win makes sense. The dawgs may think they are better than Wilcox, but that is just the delusional dawg speaking.

We all know WSU will coug it before they ever reach the Rose Bowl or even the Pac-12 championship game. Lets take care of them Saturday night so they don't have to coug it later, come of guys! They also need to beat the dawgs. The dawgs and cougs season is made or lost on that game. Focus on the big game cougs, you deserve to win at Mountlake this year! We all know how the cougs roll, a few upsets, save it cougs, and take care of it Ducks! The scary thing about the cougs is they are so unpredictable. Lose their coach they win, play at home they lose, play a tough team they win, play away and they win, there is no real rhyme or reason for how they play when you try and analyze it. Maybe John can break down the coug tendencies, but they do scare me a bit. Seen it too many times.

Silver and Black, with the obligatory yellow! I'm thinking the silver though because a cat can't concentrate with something shiny moves, right?

Wow great stuff, well thought out information my little brain never could have come up with! I wonder if that middle of the road academic power up north has the same problem?

Ohio State was ahead of Oregon when they last played. If we play another time they will, undoubtedly, be ahead of us again. Playing the brown nuts when they are rated higher than us is just where we want them, not worried. It is all going to work itself out, and my distaste for tosu won't lesson if they are ahead, or behind us in the polls. I just hope we can win the next 4 games, because this is a unique opportunity. What happens otherwise is out of our control, just hold on!

What is so difficult is we fans only see limited play from our back-ups and bench players. We then prognosticate about what is going on, what should go on, and why! On the other hand we know Cristobal and the coaches see way more data. They see who comes to practice early, stays late, which one really shows flashes of brilliance more often than not. They then have to deal with all the emotions from the players as they struggle and grow. This is especially difficult with all these players who have been told, for their whole lives, they are the man. I look at it, from my experience, like winemaking. I hear about the weather and the grapes from a year, and ponder about how an amazing pinot noir may develop. I then wait and wonder, while the vintner sees the grapes, squeezes all the juice, has the smells and sees the real potential for the grapes. He then has an impact on the wine by choosing the timing, caskets and so many other things I have no clue about. Like our players we are then left with a star rating to understand the value of the wine. There are descriptors about the wine, but really all we can go by is the star rating, and that often puts a value on the wine. That is the same with the players, we are left with a star rating, and then we wait to savor the finished product. With that said, I agree Cardwell is showing he is our next guy. His ability to see the hole develop, cut with excelleration, and use his stiff arm could become legendary. He is from another year of potentially amazing talent we don't have right now. We have had a sip of his potential and it is enticing. The same can be said with the qb room, these guys are going to be better than what we see on the field right now. It is like we have been invited to have a barrel tasting of the next great wine. We still don't know all we need to know, but, for many of us, we want to bottle them up and drink it all. This is where the difficult part comes into play. Do you appreciate the wine, the players you have now, or do you just jump into the players you are certain will be better. As anyone who knows their wine, you should wait, and let it grow in depth and really ability. Players are the same we need to enjoy the glimpses of the amazing future, but let it grow, and develop. What is so hard is seeing bits and pieces of that potential and then being left to wonder. Fortunately the team is behind Dye and he is carrying it. The team is also behind AB, and willing to make up for his obvious weaknesses. We have a brilliant team dynamic, when you think about it. The only difficult thing is pondering about the possibilities, of the next great vintage of Oregon Football Players, but we must wait.