Haywarduck

He failed, you need a good back-up. I will agree he recruited well, but you have to develop and keep back-ups. The reason we lost the Alamo bowl was because,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,we didn't have a back-up,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,center. Helfrich had a guy who was going to redshirt take all the second string snaps at center. When our center went down he wouldn't burn the guys redshirt and put in a guy who had little or no experience as a center at the college level. The nightmare unfolded. MariØ and Lanning have been able to keep two highly touted back-ups at qb. I will agree with Marsh's take he left that management to others, and that is where we suffered. I am not saying Helfrich was all bad, but his management of many elements of a program was severely lacking. I will give you he recruited some good qb's, that isn't enough as we saw with the previous regime.

From Rich Brooks to Mike Bellotti, and then Chip Kelly they almost always had an elite qb. This didn't, actually seldom did it, come from recruiting 5* talent. It came from picking the right guy and developing him. Is the lack of picking the right guy and developing him the best indicator of a coaches ability? Helfrich was the guy who pushed the program to get Mariota so he had, has an eye for talent. He also failed repeatedly after that, and then had to bring in a transfer to try and keep the program going. Finally Helfrich didn't continue the picking and development of the qb position, and that may have been is real downfall? We don't know how good slick would have been with the qb, but indicators don't seem to be too good. MariØ definitely failed with his handling of every qb he touched, so maybe there is something to hiring a qb whisperer. So far we have to give Lanning a passing grade on the qb position, but that isn't a given. Maybe the qb position will continue to be a trouble spot after our superb run at the position. Or maybe Lanning will be able to pick right up where Chip left off. I suppose this weekend will be another indicator. Is the qb position the best indicator for how well a coach will do, at least at Oregon?

Dominating the schools in LA on the field will help greatly in keeping the smart talent coming up north. There isn't much one can do to turn those who are under the spell of the trojans, and or the bruins allure. Those who question staying in LA and want to get away from the many distractions are prime targets this weekend. It is amazing to see how much better Hufanga became once he got away from the University of Southern Compton. We need to keep helping student athletes not make mistakes like Talanoa did. He was first round talent, picked in the 5th, held down by that program.

Makes me wonder how much love this program can take before there is a let down? These are student athletes who have emotions and distractions. Lanning will truly be a magician if we don't see the players come out flat at some point. The next challenge is finding that inspiration when you are a bit too full of yourself. I tend to think it is when not if as the kudos begins to roll in thick.

Agree with much of what you question, but these bruins won't know what hit them when the step into Autzen. It won't be 70 degrees, quiet, with just mom and dad in the stands cheering for them when they screw up or play well.

The most important thing is the real fans are happy again!

Love it, welcome back Chip, watch the door on the way out. Our new guy is fun and lethal. We can't wait for you to meet him.

It isn't a new phenomena that Pac-12 refs get a calls wrong for the road team. This has been happening for a long time, anyone remember the Stanford game last year? We lost that game and the refs never should have been given a chance to help the smart guys. The problem is teams are letting the refs impact the outcome. You have to expect the worst, plan for the worst and can't be a whining pathetic spoiled brat program. Blame the refs or give the other team credit, it looks the same in the standings. It does sound a lot worse when a coach mentions the refs when talking about the outcome, man up, there are refs, and the ball isn't round, live with it.

Agree the answer to the posed question is if there are multiple turnovers, and a score by the defense, then the defense can help determine the outcome more directly. It is going to take a complete game, offense, defense, special teams firing on all cylinders. Oh and you too Oregon Faithful, loud and proud, and maybe some weather, but then again it never rains at Autzen.

Agree, change is difficult, I wouldn't change anything. I would add some twists in specific situations. I won't get into how that would work specifically, because I have no clue, but I am sure the coaches see tendencies and can take advantage of specific offensive tendencies. I think our previous staff seldom added twists, even when playing the same team they lost too. That was a big mistake. It is a mistake not to have some adjustments, but no need for full change. This may be why our offense is more successful as Nix has been in Dilly's offense before. Our defense top to bottom is learning expectations, language and basically everything new from this years staff on defense. Adding too much change in this scenario isn't wise, and we have a young, but wise staff.

I agree many may turn on him, but he has earned our respect as did AB last year. The story has been printed yet so there is plenty of chapters to be written. All I know is he has earned my respect and gratitude.

I am still puzzled when I watched our defenders try to take down WSU's Cameron Ward, as compared to the beavs. We just haven't to cracked the code on how to blitz, catch a qb and bring him down. I think this might be one of the keys this weekend, actually disrupt DTR with sacks, not just containment and pressure. Agree Flowe seems like the guy who can get there with speed and follow through. I look forward to the day when he has a complete game, that will be fun to watch, from the Ducks perspective at least. We need to see crazy plays, not just crazy eyes!

Good for you, Nix had to earn my praise, but he has proved a warrior for his team, and therefore the Oregon faithfull should embrace him. I always thought it was a shrewd move by Dilly and Lanning to bring Nix in the fold, but felt he had to earn the starting job, and he has. I do look forward for Oregon, too once again, bringing one of their own into the starting position. This season, however, is Bo Nix's to make something special happen, and it is happening so far.

We know the Ducks are tough at home, but we seem to be especially tough when playing at home against top 10 teams. Another test for Lanning, and one of the more compelling storylines in college football. Seeing what the two offenses do this Saturday will be interesting, no actually fascinating, actually riveting. Not sure if the rest of the nation sees what I see happening this weekend, but I won't miss this one.

I stick by my prediction, he will have to win the tight games. I would say this will be the second tight game he needs to win. I also think the season sets up pretty nice for him. He plays most tough games at home, and then the Pac-12 Championship game. The good news is the Pac-12 championship game would be the final item on his Heisman resume. The Heisman is awarded early December. The Oregon schedule sets up very nicely for Nix to make a strong run at a seat at the show. Bo should at least start thinking about what he would wear. He has done more than enough to be in the discussion and for that we should all be grateful!

I do think a big question is can Dan Lanning beat a top ten program, UCLA can fix that. I also think winning a conference championship is also unanswered. First he needs to beat our big rivals, the dawgs and the beavs. These are two important games for the program. Winning a bowl game is also a line he needs to cross. If he was to win the Rose Bowl he just might be given Duck Sainthood, I think many may have already given it to him. Putting together a top 10 recruiting class is also something he needs to do. He has a nice start, but the depth of the class needs to be deep. Lastly he needs to develop talent. A concept I have been thinking about is how coaches who can't develop qb's don't last too long. Going the transfer route doesn't count either. We need another coach who can both pick qb talent and develop it, again. Winning the recruiting battle is only the start.

Not sure at all, just an emotional response, as usual. I would just as soon see the LA schools lose the rest of their games, but that probably won't happen as my emotional radar skews everything. I am pretty sure Oregon will win out, that I know!

For the record Oregon is 15-11 when they are part of college game day. UCLA is 3-6 when on college game day, and predictably just can't handle the pressure. UCLA also hasn't won in Eugene since 2004 when we were under Helfrich. This will be another massive test for Lanning, win game day! I think it will be an even bigger test for UCLA, and they won't know what hit them, crowd, weather, and the Dan Lanning led Ducks. 'It was like there was 12 guys on the field every play, and I couldn't hear myself think!'

And like the article said, the Pac-12 will smile when Utah and Oregon play for the Pac-10 Championship, with the socal schools watching from home. I did listen to Lincoln Riley post game interview and the guy fits right in with the sc culture. He said, I'll paraphrase, they almost blew out Utah on several occasions and the refs blew it for us. I thought I didn't like sc and Riley before the interview. He couldn't just say Utah was a great team and it was a hard fought game, the definition of a putz. I will say the sc passing game is effective, the transfer machine worked for their passing attack. Their running game wasn't so effective against Utah. Utah is a good team and showed how hard it is to win on the road in the Pac-12, and I suppose in the SEC, right Alabama?

I won't answer directly, but you get the idea.

I think Belushi said it best when thinking about the socal fanbase. Socal fanbase on the left, Oregon fanbase on the right.

Name two ranked programs with as pathetic attendance as these two LA schools. I am sure they will sellout out for their Rutgers games in the future, good riddance!

It comes down to red zone performance, one position. Can the Ducks slam the door in the red zone, or only gives up field goals? Can the Ducks finish off drives with TD's and not settle for field goals. We will be looking at a top recruit from 2018 and 2019 from each program battling it out. They will be going at it for dominance in the Pac-12. DTR and Bo were both elite qb's coming out of high school, and were given plenty of chances to lead a program to the playoffs. This game will show which one, or maybe both will come of age on the football field, and show they are ready for the next level. DTR needs to keep being the passing leader. Bo will have to, again, lead with his feet when the opportunity is there. I think the difference will be can Bo lead with his arm more this game, and put on an arial show? Both qb's are experienced leaders, with plenty of game. I hope it doesn't come down to mistakes by the qb's, but that might be one of the answers. Which qb throws the pics, fumbles, or gets rattled by the opposing defense? It might just be one qb hits a defense he can't crack. Or he cracks under something he hasn't seen. I think what we will see is a qb performance we could only dream about since Justin willed his way to wins at the end of his senior year. Bo will put up a performance like Justin did, winning with his arm and legs. His passing will have to step up and there will have to be a few runs where the sideline isn't the goal, only the pylon. Whatever happens I think this will be a Pac-12 game the rest of the nation should pay attention to because offense will be back. We will have Chip leading an elite offense again at Autzen. The difference this time, he just might be overmatched by the Ducks new offensive leader, and our new head coach. Oh the drama, it will be everywhere!

Great idea, but what a support staff! That was a lot of work putting all that on, and it looked like it went off without a hitch. Good food, and great fun, well done! I also love seeing Lanning in jeans, and a t-shirt, nothing too fancy, just one of the guys.

Agree with Nix, but the Runningback room has been a pleasant surprise. I thought we would have a drop off after losing Verdell. Not sure if anyone else has flashbacks of LaMike when these new guys are running through the defenses. I have to check to see if it is 21 back on the field running for us sometimes.