Haywarduck

Once again, great writing David. You make some great points about our offense, Nix and whoever lines up at qb for Oregon. The prevent offense is no more! Your last point about Utah changing their game plan was the most impactful. Last year we did no changing of the game plan, even after our first loss. This was just one more signal about how dull our previous coaching staff was. This year I look for both sides to have twists to take advantage of what the other side has brought in the past. The game planning might be the most important turn in the expected game many anticipate. We have seen the onside kick, what trick does Dan's team have for this game? Also the Utah staff is as shrewd as they come, what will their alteration be to their attack? This will be the game within the game I will be watching for.

No doubt we can say Justin > Ty, Justin > Bo, and on and on. My statement was on a start. These are completely different situations, Justin was brought in as the ship was taking on water, and expectations were low. Ty would be coming in to save a season, and playing the #10 ranked team. I just hope the expectations are realistic, if he gets the start. Asking Ty to lead us to a win is a big task first game. I would also say this is a big task for Lanning and his coaches. Whittingham and his D-coordinator, who has been there 15 years, have to be salivating at taking on a rookie qb, and a young coaching staff. Big task for the whole team, top to bottom.

A couple things, one Ty cares, I can guarantee you that. Many saw Marcus as having too little emotion. We have had quite a few qb's who weren't the more vocal leaders, but they won. I remember hearing about Marcus and Justin being the guy in practice. These guys came out and proved they had it when they started. I will bet Ty won't be Bo, and we need to be ok with that. If Ty wins this game it undoubtedly will be a rollercoaster ride of a game. Remember Justin's first start, he threw 2 td's and 1 pic, lost 70-21, but he looked the part, to most fans. Lastly if Ty does impress, there will be no qb controversy, at all. This is Bo's team and his year. He needs to continued Oregon support to win out so he can get to New York for the Heisman awards. I also want Bo to lead us to a bowl win, he deserves both of these outcome. I see no scenario where fans call for Ty starting over Bo. That said if Ty plays well it will give most fans a huge sense of relief when thinking about next year. I would love to see a qb battle between Ty and Dante knowing at least one qb has played well in a big game. Right now most are wondering about the transfer portal as a solution to the unease with the qb position next year. I do look at this being more of a game like Justin was thrown into for his first game. This will be a huge test for Ty and the team. I hope Bo comes out under center, but if it is Ty we need to be realistic about what we expect.

I have a hard not liking the Utes. Lived in Utah for a while and the people and the state are top notch. Best of luck to the Utes, after Saturday night that is. Go Ducks!

Great point players and fans can be fatalistic, or step up and support the next man up. O-line needs to give him an extra second in the pocket. Receivers need to run even crisper routes and catch balls that may look too tough. The RB's need to both block and run even harder. Agree the defense will need to step up and move toward their potential. Every player needs to make a choice to put up the extra effort it will take to help a back-up lead the team and get a win. They can also choose to lose and take the easy excuse. I doubt this team will take the easy way out. The fans also need to get loud for the defense, and stay supportive of the guy just doing his best.

Right now I want what is best for Bo and the Ducks. We need him to help us win, out and he goes to NYC for the trophy show. If it is Ty then all the best, but Bo deserves to finish it out!

Short term a very good idea. Longterm probably not such a great idea if your dream is to be a successful head football coach. The problem here is it is a brilliant idea if you just want to go pick up a winning lottery ticket. We live in a society where the American dream seems to be to win the lottery. Hard work and putting in the time to be successful isn't seen as often as the highly publicized lottery winner. Whether it is the elite school dropout who takes their unprofitable company public, or just the coach who put up some great statistics, the big money is a large lure. Can Dilly stay focused on building his resume and ability or will he follow our previous two head coaches into the chase for the big bucks. I will also say there is nothing wrong with knowing where your ceiling is. Helfrich probably would have become one of the most elite OC's in the country, but chased after something he wasn't able to succeed at. Either way tough choice.

Wow, David that was a dizzying display of scenario juggling, thanks. These are the games which count, onward Coach Lanning!

I would say Deboer is the one who is close to extraordinary. Penix stats were 4 td's and 5 int's last year. Coaches matter, and I am extremely happy with ours. I also realize he is a young, first year coach. Agree he could lose a few more this season.

It is also easier to be accurate when you can stand there and not worry about being sacked. Agree there is also some luck, but at #128 out of 131 teams in passing defense, it isn't just luck as far as Oregon's defense against the pass. As far as your golf game I haven't experienced that phenomena very often. It is nice when it happens!

There is causation, and association when looking at statistics and really anything to support a point of view. I would say the cause of being 128th out of 131 programs in 3rd down defense can directly be tied into our passing defense. The cause of being ranked 128th in 3rd down defense is the 127th ranked passing yds per game defense. Basically if Nix faced our passing defense every week he would be a shoo-in for the Heisman! We are back to making the ordinary qb look extraordinary. The WSU qb tossed 50% more yds. than his season average. I would imagine every qb has exceeded his average against us. I don't like seeing this trend again. Almost, I said almost, as bad as seeing the prevent offense rear it's ugly head.

Our passing defense and passing yds. allowed we are ranked in the 100's. Passing yds. allowed per games we rank 127 out of 131 teams. If I was coaching that element of the defense I would have my resume typed up, ready to go maybe making a few calls to colleagues. Our rushing defense is rated #17, that isn't too bad. Not sure it is coaches, but there definitely seems to be one guy who is on a hot seat, if you rate performance. Agree this is another test of how Lanning handles his coaches longterm.

Great perspective, I hope everyone reads this take. For some reason, much like the 4th down play, Ty isn't being given much of a shot at leading the team. Every qb plays differently after a sprint out to the side and a run down the field and maybe taking a hit. They also play differently when they get a shot at a fuller playbook. Ty was given a set of plays the dawgs knew all about. I don't put this failure on Ty or Noah. It was either Dilly or Dan who went full MariØ mode on our offense when Ty went in.

I have a feeling the Ducks learned teams don't lay down for you when you are a top 10 team, just the opposite. Washington came out on a mission to win, and got a few bounces, situations go their way. Utah will want to keep their streak alive against us, and we need to start a new one. We need to go into to next year with a positive streak at home! I hope the ASU rumors aren't too solid. The last thing I want is another coach distracted over his next job. Also I hate night games, but as long as they sell out, nothing we can do.

You learn more from losses than you do from wins. I look forward to seeing what was learned by the coaches and players. I think this team wasn't necessarily aware of the target a top 10 ranking puts on one's back. The dawgs came out ready to hand a loss on our Ducks and the Utes will too. I think it will be more important for the players to learn from this. The coaches questionable decisions won't take too much to adjust. That will be interesting as well, but Lanning has stated he wants to go for it and take risks. It just might be the fans who need to be ready for what they have been wanting for a few years.

I will say it one more time, that play was dead way before Noah slipped. That was MariØ haunting us from afar. Without that slip that collision would have been a dawg highlight. Also I'm wondering if Lanning really has much to do with the play calling on the offense? That was a masterful drive with burning the clock and keeping the dawgs guessing all the way until Nix ran it. One mistake, but then the wheels came off the decision making process. It looked like, to me, Dan was just letting Dilly call all the plays, even when Nix was right next to him ready to go in. Without an OC on the sideline those kind of decisions get missed. Photo attached shows Noah trying to stop before being drilled by the guy who ended up tackling him, came in untouched, and number 5 came around the other side unblocked, no where to go. The slip only stopped a massive collision.

The question is how can Lanning believe in Ty so much and yet allow him to do so little? That defense was handing Ty a completed pass on a platter, and the guy on the headset seemed to be MariØ. I put the difficulties with Ty on Dilly. I didn't see Dan chime in on the play calling at all. Is it Dan's choice to have Ty and Dilly doesn't trust Ty to do anything, even if it is wide open? Bo was right next to Dan, but it was all coming down from Dilly. I love Dan and Dilly, but the whole back-up qb is a mess between the two of them. The whole qb management at the end of the game was Dan just standing by as Dilly ran the show. This is what makes Dan a great coach, but it cuts both ways when he doesn't take a more active role. Run a play the defense knew was coming or put Bo in and the whole stadium goes nuts? Missed that one, by a mile.

Deboer was at Fresno State last year and we beat them 34-21. Your right Deboer beat us with Lakes team, along with his transfers, and recruits, but that is the same for Oregon. I am not being fatalistic about Lanning as compared to MariØ, but it is food for thought. Lanning is a young coach who has plenty to grow into. We still have some growing pains to get through. I have thought for a while a Rose Bowl win would be huge for a first year coach. That isn't out of reach, but that would be a massive accomplishment. We still have a gauntlet to get through before that happens. I am extremely happy with Lanning, even with a couple more losses before the season ends. He is still my coach for as long as he will stay at Oregon!

Noah didn't merely fall down, that play was shredded by the opposing coaches, and players. He tried to stop and go another direction, but the defender was basically unblocked, not Noah's fault. I hate hearing Noah get any blame for that play. That was a coaching failure, and, I would state, sadly, an easy play to blow up by the opposing defense.

The defense Lanning was trying to replicate from 2012 was bend but don't break. Agree this was the bend and keep bending D. Reminded me too much about what I hated about the bend don't break defense. Giving up third downs, and making heroes out of good not great qb's is what we use to do. The receivers also came away thinking they were rock stars, kind of made me want to puke. We have a few more pretty good qb's coming up, time to figure out how not to give them legendary games. Has Oregon's weakness been figured out, and we have no answer? The offense could have won this game, but the defense shouldn't have let it get away. Deboer is a very good coach, but MariØ was able to beat him last year. Let that sink in for a moment.

I would say it looked like Lanning had faith in Ty, but Dilly can't seem to call a play which works for Ty? The reason our RB fell down on that last play was he was going to get crushed, the defender had the play read like cheap novel. That defense knew Ty wasn't going to throw and it was like MariØ was suddenly up in the booth. No qb sneak, or creativity at all. Maybe the players aren't fired up to play for Ty, Ty should have audibled, or some other factor, but Lanning seem to think Ty was going to get it done, and it wasn't.

I hope your right, at least their training facility is named after a Duck, The John Mackay Facility. Maybe another great Oregon back can help him along, I hope so. Just a reminder Mackay was part of that great Oregon team in 1948 denied the Rose Bowl bid by a vote by the dawgs. Even this story reminds me how much I hate the dawgs!

Hope he has a speedy, full recovery. I also hope the program down there doesn't just put him off to the side, and he has the full support of the team as he would have at Oregon. I know that is one of the elements which sells parents on the Oregon program. If a student athlete gets hurt there is no better place to rehab. I wouldn't be against Oregon stepping up to help him if the spoiled children fail him.

What defines my distaste for the dawgs is even when they were pathetic, wallowing in their 1-10, 0-12 records, I still relished every loss. Most things which annoy me, I can step back from when there is pain and suffering on the other side. For some reason, I wanted the dawgs to go 0-13 that amazing 2008 season. I can also say if we need the dawgs to win a game to benefit our team, get to a bowl game, somehow save our program, I want them to lose badly. I agree wholeheartedly there isn't a word, yet, in the dictionary which defines my aversion to anything to do with the dawgs.

Come on Charles, the dawgs compete in boxing at the club sport level and have won a few national titles. Boxing is a sport, a manly sport, right? Oh yea, the women won those titles too, my bad.