DuckIt

Good riddance. The jet sweep hasn't worked all season and yet he calls two of them within the same set of downs. The first one got blown up, so two plays later on 3rd and long, he tries it in the opposite direction. In the first half, I was hollering at the offense to throw a screen. When he finally does and Cota makes big run to pick up first down, Dilly started going back to the well one too many times. It's obvious that Nix's ability to successfully run the ball and convert on 4th down, masked a lot of DL's and KD's shortcomings as play callers and coaches. Without a true dual threat QB, you can't trust these coaches to win the game.

DL, KD, Lupoi and most of this staff deserves to be booed out of Eugene. This is 3 straight games where the coaching has SABOTAGED the team. The Ducks were only able to escape 1 out of 3 with a W. This has been the most careless and WORST stretch of coaching that I have ever seen. None of their jobs should be safe after this epic collapse. If Dilly were smart, he would jump at that ASU job. After what I witnessed, he won't succeed though. As for Lanning, he is NOT the answer. Time to start looking for a REAL head coach. Demote him to DC, if he wishes to remain a Duck with his dignity intact. Right now, he is the laughing stock of the coaching world. UW and OSU may not recruit at the same level that the Ducks do, but their coaches are head and shoulders above ours. They take 3-star recruits, coach them up, and get them to play to their potential. You can argue that all three of these games, Lanning tries to manage the clock rather than the scoreboard. Just keep playing your game when your offense is rolling and everything else should take care of itself. Instead, he tries to slow things down and chew clock. And of course, our offense starts sputtering, more dreaded MariØ flashbacks.

There's a lot of truth to what you wrote Charles. I however cannot rationalize DL's decision for the onside kick and his decision to go for it on 4th down with your backup QB, who has failed to move the sticks practically the entire season. If you pull off one onside kick in a season, consider your team damn lucky. Attempting 2 within a 3 or 4 game span, especially when your opponents are watching and ready for it, is not a good decision, IMHO. It's like betting against the house. The more you bet and the longer that you gamble, the less favorable the odds that you walk away with anything, let alone your pants. I want Lanning to be smart and take calculated risks, when the odds are in Oregon's favor. QB sneak with Nix at the helm has been working all season, even on 4th down in Duck Territory. So I don't have a problem with that call. However, when you add TT to the equation, it makes zero sense. Lanning should have realized the gravity of the situation and burned a timeout to insert Nix.

It would be ideal for the Ducks, if Nix returned and the Ducks could groom and ease Moore into that starting role. I think he could benefit from having an experienced QB like Nix take him under his wings and show him the ropes. However, the sad truth is a lot of these 5-star recruits don't want to wait their turn. I think the MSU fans were saying the reason they lost Moore to the Ducks, is because MSU took the bird in the hand, with another QB, Edmunson. They felt that Moore lost interest in MSU and they didn't want to get into a bidding war or compete for him. However, now that Edmunson decommitted, Moore is coming back around to the idea of playing for the Spartans. At least, that is what I read. So, Nix returning, could cost us Moore.

It was probably the coaches' way of appeasing him to hopefully keep him around. But for what? To play Dante Moore's backup in garbage time?

Some said that it wasn't TT's fault and that Whittington slipped. Others argue that it was a combination of running the ball in the shotgun formation and TT's sluggish, tardy hand off, that allowed the Fuskies to get into the backfield and surprise Whittington. He slipped when he tried to stop on a dime and reverse directions. Like all season, TT's body language and his whole demeanor never showed that he was engaged. Even with everything riding on that one down, he still looked as if he was just going through the motions. It would be a waste of a scholarship and valuable playtime to invest in him further, when its obvious he doesn't want to be there. SUC's backup QB got to play almost the entire 4th quarter against the Buffs like TT did. Unlike TT, SUC's backup QB, Moss, was a true frosh with very little live game experience. Even if it was against one of the worst defenses in the Pac-12, he made the most of his time and marched his offense down the field to score 2 TDs. In doing so, he won over the trust of his team and his fans. TT on the other hand, looked incapable of moving the ball 10 yards almost all season. Ducks never had that sense of comfort. I don't care if Butters looks worse than TT in practice. I want a guy who wants to be there, hungry, and itching to prove himself on every snap. It was irresponsible of the coaches to let TT steal away precious playtime from Butters all season, for the inevitable fear of losing him to the transfer portal. Also, it did nothing to prepare us for these dreaded situations, whenever our starting QB goes down. Why do the coaches continue to cling to him and treat him with kid gloves, when he hasn't taken any steps to show that he can lead this offense? It was so obvious to all those watching, both Duck fans and non-Ducks that the coaches don't trust him with the ball.

You are not alone.

Hmmm....Does his initials start with a TLC u later? Nope, haven't got a clue.

Wasn't that the play where Addison rushed on a delayed blitz and got called for roughing the passer too? I rather Addison or Williams rush off the edge. Addison took too long to get there. Delayed blitz only works if your secondary covers the receivers.

I wasn't sold on MariØ's coaching from yrs, 1- 4. As for DL, we shall see... I can't see him making all these reckless calls and having a long and illustrious career, especially trying for the second onside kick within four games. The same beef that I had with MariØ not challenging some of those calls, I'm seeing the same lack of situational awareness by DL.

No, not only that play but the first time that they used spread formation and then later brought it back in. It was meant to trip up the defense, but it ended up tripping up and confusing our offense which led to a fumble. My point is that our RBs were moving the ball methodically down the field. There was no reason to get cute.

Yeah, that was poor awareness on his part. Would have had the ball on 2 yard line, with 1st and goal.

Well, the #1 DL recruit, David Hicks was at the game. I don't know if the Ducks spoiled their chances of landing him with this loss. He would have been a nice start.

That's what I have been saying. Lupoi and DL are rolling the dice and putting our DBs on an island on almost every throw. And they are losing that those 1-1 battles most of the time.

He is not without fault. They couldn't stop the Ducks' running game. KD didn't need to resort to trickery, just ram the ball down their throats and we would have won.

Isn't that ironic? We finally get a defensive-minded HC, and our defense takes a step back, without guys like KT to shoulder the load. Is it just a matter of DL and Lupoi getting the players they need to run the SEC-like type of defense or are they calling an ultra conservative game, which doesn't put our players in a position to make a play on the ball? They are always start lined up, too far away to make a play on the ball. I don't know if its due to poor instincts or running the zone defense. By the time they react, the receiver or back is flying past them.

Who was that? Jackson-Powers? He already sealed that block. Hands to the face was excessive and cost the Ducks points.

He was playing hurt which led to the bad snap on that long drive. The coaches might have been wearing out the Fuskies' defense, but it also took its toll on our OL. That might be something to consider in the future when trying to bleed the clock. At the very least, they should have subbed guys regularly.

It really sucks that Ducks had to do it in front of all those 5-star recruits. Although, I think having those recruits at the game, can sometimes serve more as a distraction than add to the excitement. It puts undue pressure on a team to perform. Can you imagine all the work and hours that DL and Co. had to put in, just to get these recruits out to Eugene? That's why I question where DL's focus was this week. His time might have been better spent preparing for this game. It reminds me when PK flew in LeBron and bunch of celebrity athletes to Eugene, and the Ducks laid an egg at home against SUC? It came down to a missed FG by Maldonado. That game had a very similar feel to this one, with playoff implications and ending, with the Ducks choking.

As bad as SUC's defense is, they get more pressure on the QB which leads to turnovers and sacks. I rather our defense blitz more and give Penix less time to dissect our defense. And hopefully rattle him and get him off his game. The Ducks never did that.

Why the hell did the coaches have to take so many unnecessary risks? As bad as the defense played, they did enough for the Ducks to get the win. Everything went awry when Forsyth's shoulder started bothering him and the coaches left him in the game, without giving him a breather. With so much riding on that drive that could have put the game out of reach, it would have been advisable for him to take a timeout or replace Forsyth. DL was so concerned and shortsighted with keeping his timeouts that he didn't want to burn one, when Forsyth was clearly in pain. And also on 4th down, when Nix was begging DL, to put him back in the game. Those were both critical plays that could have meant the difference between winning and losing.

Lupoi needed to take more risks and call more blitzes, instead of leaving our subpar DBs on an island. Penix was way too comfortable sitting back in the pocket. I can see why Saban demoted him at Bama. The Ducks need to shop for new DC. He is not going to lead our defense to where it needs to be, to compete for a championship.

You beat me to it.

Forsyth was hurting. His shoulder was bothering him which probably affected his snap. Only after that bad snap, did the coaches take a timeout to let him rest. The coaches should have taken a timeout before that play, if they knew it was an issue.

Disappointing....I expect more from DL. Kicking the onside kick was a terrible, arrogant play call. Ever since the Ducks pulled off the first onside kick, all the Pac-12 teams have been watching for it when playing the Ducks. Then Cal executes their own against SUC and all the Pac-12 teams are put on alert. And I thought CK and MariØ were aggressive. DL is taking it to a whole another level, right into the category of reckless.