Haywarduck

Agree the players and coaches need to focus on themselves and the game ahead. We as fans can look ahead, and I am already way ahead of where we are. I am thinking about flipping the beginning of the Lanning era on its head. Come January 8th, Oregon under Lanning can flip the outcome from our first game against the bulldogs. Well maybe not the score, but the outcome. I like the grounding analysis we haven't beaten a lot of ranked teams, but why not dream!

Question, I blame the toejams for the downfall of the Pac-12, but how much did the media barons play in not bidding on the Pac-12 media rights in good faith? Seems to me, especially if you look at this season, the Pac-12, as is, is worth a lot in media rights. You have the dawgs, sc, and the crown jewel Oregon, along with the novelty act of Colorado. There have been a lot of Pac-12 games this year with some big viewer numbers. Maybe historically the Pac-12 just didn't add up to enough to make sense for a reasonable bid. We have to put this to bed, but what does Jon, resident expert, have to say about this, thanks in advance!

He has been one of the best, but as we saw against CAL if you key on him, we have other weapons. I am curious about how Bo and Franklin will do in the draft, and the NFL, but mostly how they will finish out the season. I am then curious about the next group of receivers, qb's, rb's and wether there is culture being fostered that will bring us to an even higher level of play and execution. Bo, Franklin, Bucky all deserve our respect and gratitude for coming to Oregon. They have elevated play and created a show that is, once again, worth staying in your seats for. To answer your question directly with statistics, he will be in the top ten if he leaves this season, and #1 if he comes back next season. Comparing him to Sammie Parker isn't something I want to do. Franklin is the best we have now, and for that I am grateful. He will be leaving a legacy that will be judged, and leave memories which will be priceless.

I just don't like the whole BIG move. You put it under the bright lights with the schedule it creates. Without some schedule adjustments we will at least be beat up in the playoffs. Teams in the SEC go into the playoffs relatively fresh as they schedule a pansy late in the season and don't travel much. With the new BIG schedule we don't get a pansy late, and travel a ton. We better win it all this year, or it will just get tougher relative to the SEC teams. I suppose nothing worth having is easy, but when teams can win it all with an easier schedule, why not us! Earn you money Rob!

Having the dawgs mention tendencies caused some concern after our loss. Seeing Stein shred through these recent teams with game plans give one hope and should make the dawgs SIT! and realize there won't be a treat next time. This team and OC are building momentum and executing more precisely as the season progresses. Few teams, other than a few at the top are doing what Oregon is doing. While I agree the refs had an impact, and the ball bounced the wrong way once, but Oregon didn't miss a beat. One thing no one mentioned was the one bounce dribble of the ball Bucky did during the Cal game. During the game Bucky fumbled, actually looked like he was showing off his football dribbling skills, and caught it on the bounce while not missing a stride. Maybe we are seeing both the team hitting it's stride, and that stride isn't being effected by anything being thrown at them. The season may be truly turning into a magical experience.

Mr. Marsh, then are you saying he isn't as good as the team is making him look? Is he more a Johnny Football who had NFL receivers he could throw it anywhere to and a team built around him? Or is he more a Justin Herbert who had the skills which developed and were mostly underrated? I shudder to think he compares to Johnny, and Justin is a tough comparison too, but the development this year is astounding. I would say he is his own person, and time will tell where he fits. In the Heisman hype I tend to think he is underrated. I think he is an excellent qb in college we are lucky to have, and maybe we shouldn't compare, just enjoy the ride! I am curious about what you are saying are the biggest factors in his success, or am I reading into your comment?

The question was the emotion anger, or sadness? Sadness he had lost another game as a trojan through little fault of his own. This is an emotion many trojan players have gone through over the last decade plus, sometimes it has been justified. The other would be anger at knowing he was sold a story by the head coach. The tears of anger when you realize a coach fooled you into believing he could put together a complete team. This is something many many are beginning to understand with Riley. Charles led the way to better understanding this pissed off emotion under MariØ! The other emotion which brings tears, and seldom in recent history as a trojan, is tears of joy. We are headed that way at a much quicker rate than the trojans, further evidence of that will come this weekend.

Rain, snow, wind, night, day, afternoon, fox, ESPN, whatever, if sc shows up, they will see no mercy, and we will hear excuses. I would say Grinch is just an excuse for a soft program. The only coach who can be successful at sc is one who can inspire and require the spoiled, entitled children who go to sc to grow up. Riley isn't that guy.

I absolutely love Lanning's mentality and inner speech he has for his players, 'so what, now what.' I also think it is critical how Lanning has no tolerance for penalties where there is a lack of self discipline, that is weakness. I think Bo Nix epitomizes Lanning's so what now what mentality. There was the tipped interception, move on, defense isn't what he expected, adjust. This was a small element of Nix when he came here, and probably being broken at Auburn. Now it has grown and allowed Nix to thrive at Oregon. The mentality where you don't make discipline mistakes is also taking over the program and culture at Oregon. Self inflicted wounds are unacceptable, but we are still moving up the learning curve on that one. These two mindsets, ok with failure, just learn, and discipline of character, mind, are why I am so positive on the Ducks this season. We have the players, but the mental attitudes I am seeing overtake the program is the glue which I hope to see become the trademark of a Lanning led team, The Culture. Who knows how far this can take us, but I am excited to see the answer.

Two weaknesses of Lincoln Riley, defense and winning bowl games. Riley is much like the Dodo bird, the defenseless bird who became extinct. Actually he is more like the Passenger Pigeon, which also became extinct, because a Riley led team does take to the air, but I just like the name Dodo. While Riley won't become extinct because he will be protected by programs like sc, he is the defenseless Dodo who keeps on giving. Kudos to sc for forcing Riley to fire his dc. If only somebody had been more proactive with the Dodo bird maybe it could have been saved.

Tez showed his talent and resilience on Saturday, indeed. I feel sorry for the new DC down south who will have to figure out how to defend Tez and the multitude of weapons on offense. Actually I don't, I look forward to the beat down

He is going head to head with the reigning Heisman winner. He needs to keep growing and throwing to move up the ranks of Heisman hopefuls. I would love to see the contrast to Williams, head to head be stark and convincing. The one area I would like to see Bo step up is the long ball, and really torch the trojan D. Agree with all you points, Bo is doing extremely well, but there will probably be a rematch with Penix and he needs win this one and that may take another step up too.

I suppose it would be curious if a qb came to Oregon if he knew he would be sitting on the bench. The problem is any qb who comes here has to be ready to compete and win the job. I just think Oregon is a better school than sc and they have a stacked qb room, with a starting qb who already won the heisman. Those guys know they aren't going to beat out Williams, that is certain.

All I will weigh in with is I hope Ty wins out and has an amazing career as qb for Oregon. He deserves this, but to further confirm he should win the position he seems to be up to competing with whoever is brought in. I do find it interesting they didn't bring somebody in to be the back-up this season. They must see something in Ty and the guys who they have coming in, or they may have already pulled the trigger. As far as who I would accept, whoever Stein and Lanning see as the best candidate to make the position and culture at Oregon the best it can be. That may be somebody at another position, who knows.

I think it could be a trap game unless Bo really steps it up. There is no indication he can't, won't and it won't be a blowout. The scary thing is Williams is the Heisman winner, the team has talent, and they can regain their sc swagger with one win. That is where the Ducks have to continue to play their best game, and not worry about the other team, just take care of their business. What is particularly reassuring is where I saw a few times where players started to lose their cool, but repeatedly the other players reeled them back. These players seem to be playing for a greater cause than just one player, and there is no panic. It is amazing to watch and realize the potential of what might be happening.

I think you set up Tosh to either become what he is developing into, or for an exit with your analysis of the talent on defense he had to work with this season. Your excellent analysis of how Lanning had stacked the defense with guys who can play the defense he wanted this year, set up an expectation the defense should be what we are seeing now. If that had not happened Lanning would have had no other answer other than Tosh wasn't up to the task. Fortunately Tosh has risen to the task, as have the players. The discipline and development each position has shown is impressive. When you see highly talented players set the edge and not just go after the qb, db's play well on an island, safeties show a multitude of talent, and just the discipline of character, I am sold on Tosh. I suppose it is the culture on defense I am most impressed with. There is so much talent, but nobody is pouting because they aren't on the field. They are just showing up, doing their jobs, and looking like a team. I had some high expectations, and maybe was a bit impatient at times, but what we are seeing has been worth it.

Not probable, but possible, anything is possible with a MariØ run team. It does make me even more grateful for the stability, and continued growth Lanning is providing. While some may want Lanning to throttle his gunslinger tendencies, I am just enjoying what he is building. I will take his questionable calls and all, especially when considering the multiple bullets we missed which would have continued our programs degradation, if not destruction. When MariØ didn't stay, Wilcox didn't become our coach, and Lanning became our leader the Oregon brand was again put into high gear. During this month, I view as a month of gratitude, I can put this as something to be truly grateful for.

That was an interesting game, but, as you mentioned, the refs were in rare form. From the hitting a player on the ground call, to the missing an inbound td catch right in front of them, to the Bo 1st down, and I could go on, the refs went above and beyond the usual Pac-12 performance. My only fear was the Ducks would let the refs and the bears keep the game close, and then they would combine for a finish like no other. That was not going to happen with Bo slinging it all over and showing amazing pocket presence, awareness. What I hope we are seeing is Bo rising to another level where he will dismantle the trojan horse coming into town this Saturday. Although I don't think the trojans are hiding anything, and our defense is going to more than show up to throttle Williams, while Bo continues to make his Heisman case. I do think the next two weeks will be a platform for Bo to make his case with wins and stats that will gain the needed attention to get to New York. My hope is the team makes it a mission to make sure the voters notice just how special Bo is playing right now. Yesterday we continued to see our nemesis do just enough to maybe get to the championship game. What I find interesting is they have two tough games coming up and just might lose both. If they are a two loss team the beavs just might be creating a massive game post Thanksgiving. I hope we play the undefeated dawgs for the final game of the Pac-12 as we know it, but I also wonder just how they will be able to win the next two games the way they are playing.

If anyone was hard to follow it was Justin, but that was more a coaching situation. Oregon tends to reload at QB, but I will agree the bar is high. My bet is we will reload, as Stein seems to know what he is doing in development and play calling for the QB's. What I saw was play calling for Ty was atrocious under previous coaches. Yesterday was a perfect example of giving Ty a fair chance to lead, throw and score. I think there will also be a competition through the fall. There just might be another Justin waiting to sling it for four years. Wouldn't that be fun to see again.

If he is playing with first team guys, full playbook he wins, against ASU. I don't want him having to win anything until next year. He did look good! I will say he has had loyalty to our program, and I am rooting for him.

Ok, I'll bite. Here is the way Cal can win a game, so we don't want it close.

Some are afraid of taking responsibility, others know it can empower all of those around you to be ok with failure and grow from it. One of the killers of innovation is denial of failure and the repeated mistakes often seen with that mentality. Failure is feedback and data to improve upon. If everyone looks at how they can improve in both failure and success you then have a potent formula. If an organization just revels in success and blames others for failure you can have success, but seldom achieve the greatness which can only come from incredible growth. What Lanning, Stein and others in the organization are doing is indicating the core values of this dynamic program and that is pretty cool to see.

I wonder if the next stadium upgrade will include an Autzen complex, and a renaming of the stadium after a coach who brings a national title to the program. This might seem extreme, but Oregon has always led the way with how they do things. Can you imagine a Dan Lanning stadium, probably better than a raise in pay, and undoubtedly would anchor a coach to a program a little more solidly? This is a longer term idea, but not out of the realm of things possible, if.......

I thought it was my favorite Lanning quote, 'so what now what!'

Don't forget Nix was benched at Auburn. His replacement is now at Texas State. Auburn is 4-4 and a hot mess. I think what this shows is Lanning knows how to pick talent and develop talent. This is the kind of progress many players will be paying attention to. You might be struggling at your dream school, but if Lanning wants you, has recruited you before, you might want to transfer over, and see how good you can become. You just might get into the running for the Heisman if you apply yourself at Oregon, under Lanning and his coaching staff. Nix is an amazing talent who like many players, struggled at this last school, and will be looking at what school can take dormant talent, and make it come alive. The Nix story will have legs for years to come!