cartm25

I second this! Was looking through comments to see if anyone else had selected it. Too good not to include.

Great post! Colin Cowherd often says, "Judge your decisions based on what your primary rivals think about them." A variation of that would be, "What can you learn from what your primary rivals do." If osu is interested in Hampton and not Lupoi, that would get my mind churning. Do they see Lupoi exceptional and untouchable? Have they seen enough of Lupoi, and know they don't want anything to do with him? What is it about Hampton that they want so bad; what do they know or see?

Didn’t realize Brian Kelly was on the bad end of this list.

I thought this was interesting, so I thought I’d share:

The 4-year stretch with Chip Kelly as head coach was the most electric tenure in Duck history, and I'm not sure there was a more exciting team/stretch in all of college football. The vibes of that team every Saturday was off the charts. Every game was pure entertainment . . . or at least the anticipation of pure entertainment, and I was rarely left disappointed. I give Chip Kelly more credit for the growth and recruiting of the program during that time. There are STILL recruits today that credit that era/players/offense for making Oregon their dream school. However, I choose to compartmentalize Oregon Chip Kelly (Love) and osu Chip Kelly (Despise). I would have no problem if Chip Kelly had more success at UCLA than he did. At least he was doing it on his own. Him joining osu felt wrong and dirty . . . like LeBron joining super-team after super-team, or Kevin Durant joining the juggernaut Golden State Warriors.

Autzen is always pumping in crowd noise . . . with noise from the crowd.

As much as I HATE osu, I can't help but think of my favorite NFL team, the 49ers, when thinking about Ryan Day's situation. He consistently has one of the most talented teams in the nation every year, and his only losses come against other exceptional programs/teams. Between 2019 and 2023, Kyle Shanahan led the 49ers to 4 NFC title games and 2 Super Bowls . . . and a group of 49ers fans want to see Kyle walk because they didn't make the playoffs this year as the team endured constant injuries over the season. And he does so with what fans would call "mediocre" QBs. To the osu fans that want to get rid of Ryan Day, I say, "I respectfully disagree . . . vehemently and emphatically."

I've heard PSU returns nearly their entire team. Should be a significant advantage . . . an intangible one that often gets overlooked.

Thank you for the article @Darren Perkins Given the nearly unanimous, universal criticism of the seeding in the 12-team format, I think that will get fixed and the CCG will have some importance.

Thank you for sharing this. I like what it said about his intangibles as well.

As many have pointed out, I think the Ducks need taller DBs. They also need bigger, more athletic DLineman. The OL is baffling to me because they did such a good job against osu in their first matchup, and so poorly in the playoff. IMO, that would point to scheme issues rather than player talent disparity, no? Here's hoping an OL with limited time together can gel quickly next year. And of course, no more important position than QB. I sure hope Dante Moore is everything the hype says he is. From the highlights I've seen, he might have the best "arm talent" a Duck QB has ever had; he can flick the ball downfield with apparent ease. Hope he has the decision making and processing to match the arm. While I love Tez Johnson, player's hyping other players on the team have always gone in one ear and out the other, for me. I simply don't care what a player says about the quality of other teammates . . . they will always hype up their friends and teammates. Once I start hearing it from coaches, then I'll start to get excited.

Had a similar thought. Chip always spoke well of Oregon up until this point. Work for osu long enough and it will rot the best of people.

Chip Kelly has developed quite the backbone hiding behind Ryan Day, massive NIL, and all their 4th and 5th-year, 4 and 5-star players.

I hope it works well enough to beat Miami every time.

LOL!! Yes good idea. Let’s add a Joe Burrow, J’Mar Chase, and Justin Jefferson to the cart and head to check out.

Thanks David for the article . . . love talking about this stuff. I have a different take, I think the running game was the primary reason for poor offensive output this year. In the offensive statistics that I track (see below), the rush YPG and YPA were the worst over that period (from 2007 to present). I don't think opponents feared the running game, especially when they know both Oregon RBs are not homerun hitters. While the passing output regressed compared to last year, it's still one of the better years historically. Only 2014 (CFP finalist and Mariota Heisman) and 2023 were really better. In the tracker I use, I remove points scored by D/ST to truly show how effective the offense is at scoring. In 2024, the Ducks averaged 33.4 "offensive" PPG; only Mari Cristbal's offenses performed in line or worse than this. In 2023 the "offensive" PPG was 43.7. @Jon Joseph - You asked about the number of possessions. I track that for efficiency metrics, and I count all the offensive possessions except for obvious kneel-downs or milking the clock drives at the end of the 2nd and 4th quarters. I had to blink a few extra times, but the number of possessions in 2024 was the exact same as 2023, at an average of 10.28 per game (144 total in each year). When you look at the data, you'll see how remarkably efficient the 2023 offense was. I feel like you @David Marsh, it feels awkward to criticize such a successful year, but the offense really regressed, and not just relative to 2023 either. The silver lining is that, while Stein's offense regressed in 2024, it was Stein orchestrating the most efficient offense, statistically, that Oregon has ever had in 2023. The data:

I don't believe the seat should be "hot", but I have no problem with it being slightly above room temperature. Statistically, the Ducks defense in Lanning's first year ranked in the 70's. The defense improved to rank in the 10/11 range in 2023 and 2024, but if we focus on the the high quality teams (BSU, tosu, and PSU) in 2024, those teams scored, essentially, at or above their average PPG for the year. I would hope for a little more from a Lanning-led defense.

@Charles Fischer - Thanks for sharing. Liked everything he said. Always nice to find good quality Ducks content.

I think the jury is still out on his coaching ability. He’s taken a 1-win garbage team to 4 wins in 2023 and then 9 wins in 2024. To me, that’s evidence of good coaching. There will be bumps along the way for a new coach and an improving team, so the losses this year, to me, aren’t final judgments on his coaching ability. Re: Colorado’s loss to Oregon in 2023, Nick Saban himself could have coached the Buffs in that game and the Ducks would have still walloped them.

Agree with this. Colorado was in the running for Big 12 championship this year. Though, I think Sanders is best suited for the college game given I think he's an excellent recruiter. If he can acquire more talent than his Big 12 peers, then they should be in good shape for the foreseeable future. Jumping to the NFL would put his coaching acumen in the spotlight, which may, or may not, be up to the task. But having some of the best talent relative to your primary competition can cover up coaching weaknesses.

Love getting top available talent. Hoping they can generate some chemistry real quick next year.

I am one of the "most ardent" ohio st haters, so I was disappointed again with their win. My take is in line with @OregonDucks take: ohio st and Texas have better athletes . . . for now. It's astounding to me when I look at those two teams play. I always say, "Wow! Their players are massive." And it's always the Dline, DBs, and WRs that stand out to me. I'll look at a listing of Oregon's roster and see heights and weights and think, "Wow they do have size on the Dline." However, our Dlines tend to look a bit round and smooth as compared to the etched from stone sculpture twitchy Dlines from tosu or Texas.I realize there are exceptions; Harmon and Burch looked the part, IMO. I think getting beasts on the DLine is Oregon's last hurdle to put them over the top. As a defensive guru, Dan Lanning should be the perfect person to make this a reality. PS - In thinking about this, my respect for Nick Aliotti as a DC continues to climb. He churned out havoc-inducing defenses, often with consistently undersized defensive personnel.

Such good news. Can’t wait to see this constantly: