DUCKED

And the Ducks would win….and we would actually enjoy watching them again, instead of being frustrated every week with an all too often inept one dimensional offense.

Me, too. Fortunately NFL scouts recognized Herbert’s ability even if Cristobal didn’t.

You may be right. Most coaches chase the money. He’ll be no different. And I don’t blame him.

Sewell won’t be gone unless he transfers.

Well 9-2 has a lot to do with playing in the Pac-12, the weakest power 5 conference.

You’re right Charles. No one is calling for Cristobal’s head. But we’d like to see him evolve from playing smash mouth football into something more dynamic and entertaining, and successful, primarily on offense. He’s got his 5-star QB for next season….. hopefully he’ll take the shackles off.

Excellent. Loyalty is a nice attribute, but it can go too far which I think we’re seeing in Cristobal’s handling of Brown. I think the team feels the same way. Williams throwing up his hands when Brown short hopped an easy pass to him was the result of built up frustration. I didn’t notice the post game dustup between them, but that’s not a good look. Team morale seems to be an issue right now.

Good take….you made a lot of valid points. But I’m pretty sure that the Ducks would be interested in Rattler should he enter the portal, which is expected. The question is, would Rattler be interested in the Ducks? Probably not.

I think most of us loyal Duck fans knew something like last night’s debacle was bound to happen. Oregon continued to skate by each week, struggling to beat mediocre teams, and in no way resembled a team that deserved to be in the playoff mix. They were living off the win against Ohio State, which as the season progressed looked more and more like the fluke that it turned out to be. From all appearances Anthony Brown appears to be a classy guy. But as a quarterback he is really a liability. When the Ducks fell behind early last night I anticipated trouble. When it was 21-0 it looked bleak, and when Utah closed the half with the punt return it was clearly over. No chance to come back unless you can throw the ball….and the Ducks can’t do that. And they couldn’t run the ball, either. There are questions about Cristobal’s coaching, too. Sure, he’s a great recruiter, but what is he doing with all that talent? Is he developing it? It seems like he’s turning 4-star players into 3-stars, many of whom rarely see meaningful playing time. When players are disgruntled, it spreads and effects morale. Ty Thompson is a 5-star recruit and he has barely played. How does that prepare him to take over if Brown gets injured? And how can he be ready to open next season at Georgia with virtually no playing experience? That is on Cristobal. We’ll find out what this team is “made of” Saturday against Oregon State. Win that one and the Ducks will get a chance for redemption against Utah. The Rose Bowl is still a possibility…..

Oklahoma’s Rattler may be looking around.

No, a Ohio State blowout win helps the Ducks……makes their victory in Columbus look even better.

You realize that Ohio State is up 49-0 at the half, right?

Wouldn’t it be great if the Ducks had a vertical passing game?

Confused may be confused a lot, but he is 100 percent right about this.

You are right Charles….he does not have breakaway speed. But nor does the Rams’ Cooper Kupp, the Eastern Washington product who is now the NFL’s leading receiver (who was Vernon Adams’ favorite target before Adams transferred to Oregon) Nor did so many others. Julian Edelman was a quarterback at Kent State before be became Tom Brady’s favorite target, despite not being able to outrun some of his offensive linemen. Anybody remember Steve Largent? Fred Biletnikoff? You don’t need breakaway speed to become an elite receiver. What you need is someone to throw you the ball. The Ducks have already lost two highly recruited receivers - and Oregon pledges - in the 2022 recruiting class. Don’t you think Oregon’s dismal passing attack played some role in their decision? Especially the kid from Arkansas, who is a promising track athlete. What? Oregon’s track program is not good enough for him? That was a football decision…don’t kid yourself. These elite players are viewing their college careers as little more than a stepping stone to the NFL. If they feel they are not getting the exposure they need, they are going to try to find it elsewhere. That’s what Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Joe Burrow did. All three were Heisman Trophy winners who transferred from their previous schools and eventually became multi-millionaires. This is the new reality in college football.

I think there will be plenty of teams after Pittman. And I’m sure he will do his due diligence before deciding where to go.

This is the fear….that even more wide receivers flee once the season is over. You know they have to be frustrated. Can you blame them? These are top level highly recruited receivers, and most have been reduced to spectators. Cristobal’s biggest recruiting challenge lies ahead….holding on to the elite level talent he has already successfully wooed to Eugene. The fact that Oregon is continuing to win without a vertical passing game is no salve for those sitting on the sidelines waiting to get their chance to shine. These guys have been stars their whole lives and are all wondering what to do next. Stick around in hopes of playing more next season in a more diversified offense, or hit the road. I think there will be some dramatic movement, Pittman for sure, but others as well.

Without the win at Ohio State the Ducks would not even be in the playoff discussion. The loss to Stanford was a terrible setback. Stanford is flat out bad this year and losing that game — a game the Ducks should have dominated — was a head scratcher. Jon is right. I think the ONLY hope for Oregon to make the playoff hinges on Ohio State winning out. If they lose, both the Buckeyes and the Ducks can kiss the playoff goodbye. Even if the Ducks win out, they’ll drop out of the top 4.

AB is the guy, no question. And he should be. The point Notalot is making is that the Ducks have no proven backup QB to step in should Brown go down. And that’s because Oregon has not been able to win convincingly in most of its games. You don’t sub in your backup QB when the game is on the line, and several of Oregon’s wins weren’t sealed until the very end of the game. My concern is that if Brown is injured, will Thomson be able to step up and produce? There is no body of work from Thompson that allows us to answer that question.

I don’t think Moorhead would give a hoot about being on Cristobal’s bad side, whatever that is. Was Kirby Smart concerned about upsetting Saban? Moorhead, I assume, wants to be a head coach again, and the resources, fan base, and paycheck, at Washington would be very difficult to turn down.

The fact that a possible loss to WSU is a topic for discussion, just reinforces the questions about Oregon’s number three ranking. Imagine what Georgia, or Alabama, would lay on the Cougs. Or Ohio State, right now, for that matter. The Ducks need to dominate Saturday night……enough of this scraping by.

And Nate Bittle (pictured) can handle the ball and shoot the three.

Michigan jumping ahead of Michigan State is definitely not good news for Oregon. With that decision the committee has indicated head to head results are not a guarantee that the winner will obtain a higher ranking, even if their records are identical. So, don’t be at all surprised that, if Oregon and Ohio State both win out, the Buckeyes, who have a tougher schedule in the next three weeks, leapfrog the Ducks. Oregon having beaten Ohio State in Columbus definitely works in its favor, but several mediocre performances, and the shocking loss to Stanford in particular, will be a negative.

I couldn’t agree more.

No sportsmanship involved. They couldn’t get the play off in time. Classy thing would have been to take a knee. Very un-Cristobal like.