Dr Hilarius

Exactly this. At least now there are direct flights from Burbank to Eugene, so family and friends can realistically get to Autzen in 4 hrs door-to-door.

“…tthe Ducks actually end up playing Ohio State more over the next three years than they do USC or UCLA. “The Ducks get games against USC in 2025 and 2026, but they miss them in both 2024 and 2027. Similarly, Oregon plays UCLA in 2024 and 2026, but not in 2025 or 2028.” I am livid. Gonna need an IPA…

Wow—as an Angeleno Duck, I am Extremely disappointed with this schedule. USC and UCLA should play the Ducks every year with one home and one away. wth?

With the small sample size, Novastad looks more comfortable than TT. It kills me to say that bc watching TT’s highlight reels from HS are absolutely dazzling.

💯 Hahahaha! True dat!! (I might steal that expression.) If the USC game were played before the OBD game, CU would have been ranked 11th when we played them (possibly even higher bc USC wouldn’t have had the benefit of seeing the Ducks’ game plan.) That brings me to my original question, have you seen any teams besides OBD operating in “elite” fashion? I surely haven’t. The SEC is having an offensive “rebuilding” year. Ohio State looks mundane. The B12 is ho-hum in scoring. I have the ncaa stats site bookmarked bc i am a total nerd, and OBD are about to face the BEST offenses in the country with the best UO defense in living memory, possibly ever. (Yes, I am using my own memory to measure “living memory.”) I will just say that I was a frosh in the Gang Green year, and I camped out to get tix to the Rose Bowl, so I remember when OBD played D. I can’t wait!!

I respectfully disagree. The ONLY B12 1-loss team that skips the Pac is Texas. And that 1 loss has to be a super close loss to OK, whom Texas then dismantles in the title game. I’m not even sure that a 1-loss FSU champ skips OBD after all the games are played. The Pac is finally getting some respect, and it’s not lost on me that it’s bc most of the Pac is _really_ in the B1G, ACC, and B12. All that said, it assumes a non-Pac2 team wins the championship. I could definitely see the CFP committee snubbing the Pac2 despite the Pac being so strong.

I am curious, have you seen an “elite” offense (other than OBD) this year? All top-5 scoring offenses besides the Ducks (USC, OK, UW, WSU) are paas-heavy and have questionable O-line play. Without the OR game, the Buffs are averaging 46+ points per game, which would rank 11th. (I never played football, so I just boil everything down to scoring.) Holding the 11th best scoring offense to 6 points is kind of mind-blowing. And I could see CU breaking into the top 10 before the season is over.

Good point! Correction, the Buffs have an elite QB. Shedeur Sanders is #2 per PFF. Also, I just learned that Hawaii’s QB is #4 per PFF. The Ducks dominated on passing defense against both these QBs.

Some might argue that had Colorado not been boat-raced by the Ducks, the Buffs would be considered an elite offense. They are putting up gaudy numbers other than that game.

Great post! I guess being in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive scoring will do that. As a Duck fan, it’s been a looooooooong time since we’ve seen numbers like this. When was the last time we had a top-10 D?

So true! Because there are no other better offenses in FBS. Including the Ducks at #2, the Pac has 4 of the top 5 scoring offenses, and we play the other 3: USC, UW, WSU. We have shut down all the pass-heavy teams we’ve played this year. We are a top 10 D, and our passing D is better than our rushing D. I would much rather be us than them.

Passing D was our kryptonite last year, but this year we’re actually a better passing D than rushing D. We’re 8th in FBS in passing D (153 ypg) and 26th in rushing D (102 ypg), which translates to 10th in total D. Another reason to trust DL.

It’s the only move that makes sense. But it will never happen.

Wow—Bryce Boetcher is a captain this game. Give that man a scholarship already!

I have been thinking about this, and I am sure DL and crew don’t look at betting lines, but I bet they think about the games with the same analytics. What should the score be based on trends. That becomes “the standard” to beat. It’s not the opposition we’re beating, but our own performance against the oppo. And so far this year, OBD are 4-0 ATS.

The clear winner of this game is Kyle Whittingham’s hair.

This. I was listening to a podcast about politics this week, and they spent 10 mins chatting about Coach Prime, what he’s done at UC, how he’s done it, and how it’s been received. And of course, OBD got a shout-out for the beatdown.

💯 The only reason I know anything about UW is bc they get mentioned in the same articles.

Great point!! We know from last week that DL gets the importance of style points and surprises.

💯 If everyone stays healthy, we’re going to see head-to-head matchups btwn all of these QBs. I think those performances will go a long way in influencing Heisman voters. Williams, Ward, and Penix are surely going to attempt to put up bigger numbers, but Nix _should_ perform better for the wins. Also, the Duck D _should_ make them all look bad. Shedeur was in the Heisman running, but no one watching him last weekend would say he was the best player on the field, let alone the country. I can’t wait!

Is it a coincidence that FBS is reaching parity almost immediately after these improvements? I think the portal is a bigger influence, but when paired with NIL, student-athletes are empowered to serve themselves. They can make decisions that are right for themselves and achieve more. Wyoming better than Bama?? It’s not a whackadoodle question this year. EIGHT Pac teams in the top 25? Not a joke. Maybe talent is going where it _wants_ to go instead of where it _has_ to go and, therefore, performing better? (Or on a more conspiratorial note, maybe some of the blue bloods were offering NIL-equivalent deals on the D-L.) Anyway, correlation is not causation, but coincidence becomes pattern, which becomes reason. And the parity is way more fun to watch!

I totally agree. And I will add the Vernon Adams year was pretty dang fun to watch. I hope the Ducks beat USC this year in the same fashion that VA did!

Penalties will be a big story. While the HI game had too many penalties, there were fewer and for different infractions than the TT game. That is a big improvement IMHO. So if we continue the trend, we should be clean in a game or two.

I remember the first few games for Joe Walker, Troy Dye, and Kiko Alonso, and BB’s debut at LB is very similar. They are all ballhawks w a ton of energy and technique. Add on the story of the hometown center-field walk-on, and you have a Hollywood picture.

At some point coincidence can become a pattern. Is the O line bad? Is the strength and conditioning coach bad? Are there issues with communication and teamwork?