latracey

I think you nailed it on the head here, EzDucksit, in regards to Mycah Pittman. I have watched and listened to several of his interviews this season and the impression I get is that he is frustrated by how infrequently he is targeted in the offense that Oregon is now running given the limited passing skills of AB. In one recent interview Pittman made the comment that he, and several other U of O receivers, would be able to put up the kind of numbers USC wide receiver Drake London was putting up if they were targeted as much as he is. I thought that was a telling comment. It's a tough time to be a talented receiver on the U of O roster. Pittman's dream is to follow his brother and be a star in the NFL. He isn't having, and isn't going to have, the kind of season that is going to get the kind of attention he needs for NFL teams to be interested in him. At this point, he is a player who isn't going to get selected in the draft should he decide to leave after this season, and that bothers him. Also, there was a lot that went on before he grabbed the Washington players' face mask. There is a famous saying in football that the ref never sees what happened first, only what happened second. Still, the penalties by Forsyth (I'm not even sure what he did. I couldn't see any infraction on his part in the replay) and Pittman took the Ducks out of scoring range and could have ended up really hurting the team. It's on the coaches to clean that stuff up because the teams Oregon has coming up will make a point of trying to get under Oregon's skin; and what is with all of the false start penalties? Late foolish penalties have been a real problem in the last several games and if it doesn't stop, something like Stanford will come back to haunt the Ducks.

Absolutely RIGHT toketeeman !! Here is a link to the article that contains the quotes from Cristobal's locker room speech: https://www.i-5corridor.com/p/wet-and-angry-oregon-again-passes

Cristobal said Washington was everything wrong with football in his post-game locker room rant to the players after the game, which also included some F bombs dropped by Cristobal. The link to another article with the direct quote was in Canzano's article that Charles posted above, but Canzano edited it out this morning. My guess is that Cristobal told him to delete it. KT#5 also posted a video of Cristobal's post game speech, but he has deleted it. Suffice to say that Cristobal was hot and bothered after the game, but probably felt a bit sheepish about what he said this morning. I'm sure that he considers his locker room speeches private and for the consumption of his players only.

Just when when I was starting to think that AB had turned some kind of corner with his passing game, he makes it clear that that corner is still up ahead somewhere, or perhaps no where in sight. Speaking of no where in sight, KT#5 was pretty quiet tonight. It's hard to imagine this team will get by Utah once, much less twice. Oh well. Time to focus on the hated Washington State Cougars who have had 2 weeks to game plan for Oregon. The Cougs are another team that historically have given seemingly good Oregon teams fits.

I also liked to see fire in the bellies of coaches and players, especially when it's directed at our rivals the Washington Huskies. I hope they save a little of that fire for Washington State because it will be needed. That said, I think Cristobal characterizing the Huskies as being "everything wrong with football" is a bit over the top. I get it. Mario was offended by Lake's statements earlier in the week. Truth be told, Washington wants to beat Oregon just like Oregon wants to beat Washington. That's everything great about football in my book and it's why we have a classic rivalry with them.

Cristobal really really wanted that last TD. Whose job was it to know when the clock starts after a play review?

It wasn't a win to get style points or win a beauty contest, but any day the Ducks beat the Huskies is a good day to be alive. Go Ducks !!!!!!!!!

Every game left is going to be a fight. Oregon has to prove they belong in the top 4 in the second half with rain pouring and wind howling. What do our Ducks have? GO DUCKS !!!!!!

Second half offense. The weather is clearly a HUGE factor and it seems to be bothering AB as far as passing. JoMo needs to reach into the tool chest and come up with a great run game. Washington's pass defense is one of the best in the league, their run defense is one of the worst.

AB seems stymied for some reason. Could it be the weather? His passes are, for the most part, just plain scary looking. Defense is going to have to win this game.

I think this game is another example of the fact that Pac 12 officials are the very worst in the NATION. Exhibit A is that safety. Dye's forward progress clearly had him out of the end zone before the tackle. Exhibit B: The last review. Dye clearly had WAY more than first down yardage. I shudder to think what else is in store for us in the second half.

My memory was also from 1994 and "The Pick". It really was "the most improbable ending to a football game" as reported by Jerry Allen whose call of the play has been immortalized. It was THE BEST on too many levels to put into words, and it truly was the vanguard moment in University of Oregon football.

More important than weather differences, or change in stadium environment, I think the very poor quality and the lack of consistency in Pac 12 officiating is the main reason that the Pac 12 eats each other up year in and year out. As someone who regularly watches as many Pac 12 games on a weekend as I can, I find that there are terrible, game changing/deciding calls that happen way too frequently in way too many games. It's painfully obvious that the officiating in our league is much, much worse than it is in any other conference in America. It is a problem that Larry Scott at least addressed, and one that needs to be rectified by the new Pac 12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff.

I don't see the recent recruits that flipped, or hit the portal, to have as much to do with what is happening on the field with Oregon as much as it's about players wanting to play close to their families for the programs that have been near and dear to them because of their proximity to said programs. For what ever reason, Mario is definitely evolving his game plans to fit the the strengths and the weaknesses of opponents in the last several games more than I've seen during his career as head coach. Maybe it was the booing, maybe it's the fact that JoMo being sick was a chance to stand back a bit and evaluate what was needed. Good things might definitely be coming up if the coaches can keep the players' eyes on the prize by focusing on one game at a time. The Utah game, and the possible rematch in the Pac 12 Championship look to be monsters on the horizon. As we all know, anything can happen and everything can change. As Chip Kelly said, the games in November are the ones we remember.

It's hard for your home state college not to get into your head and your heart, and leaving home and the support your family can give you in the rough transition from living at home to living at college is very hard. That said, it's surprising how many recruits from far away places end up honoring their commitments to the University of Oregon. It's a credit to Cristobal and his staff of coaches that put a high priority on creating the kind of family atmosphere that is so supportive of their players and helps to alleviate the homesickness players can feel being so far away from their families.

Until they sign on the dotted line, you just never know. I was looking forward to seeing this guy on the football team in the fall and on the track in the spring. That all said, I wish nothing but the best of good fortune to this young man.

As Kirby Smart, the football coach of the Georgia Bulldogs said yesterday, recruiting is the most important component relative to the success of a college football team. It trumps even coaching in importance because it's a lot easier to coach up a player with great physical skills and talent. The more talent you have, the more the coaches look like geniuses. There are many things about Mario Cristobal that drive me crazy at times, but the one way that he is superior to any other coach in the history of Oregon football is his understanding of the importance of recruiting. Recruiting is his top priority, and the emphasis he puts on it is paying off this season with so many key players injured. I'm not worried about what Lake said about Washington in comparison to Oregon in the area of recruiting. I graduated from the College of Education at the University of Oregon and the education I received there served me well through my 38 year teaching career. The only thing that truly matters when comparing Oregon football to Washington football will be the scoreboard at the end of the game.

We are now at that juncture in Oregon's schedule where their destiny will be made, or broken. Yesterday was a spooky day in the Pac 12. WSU over ASU, Cal over OSU, and Washington over Stanford. As the officiating crew at Autzen proved again (what in the world was up with that TD taken off of the board for a penalty that wasn't called in real time, but was called after a review?), Pac 12 officials can and will make things go sideways at times. Washington, WSU, and OSU have all been thorns in Oregon's side in the past, and they will be bringing their best games because beating Oregon would be a huge cherry on top of their whipped cream. Utah demonstrated once again last night the they are hard to beat in their home stadium. I was glad to see Oregon's offense led by Anthony Brown play their best game yet yesterday. The defense left a bit to be desired. I hope that was more about Cristobal's trying to get young guys some playing time because I expected better and the team will need better starting in the next game. When he coached at Oregon, Chip Kelly said something that really rings true today, "The games in November are the ones you remember". Let's hope Oregon keeps it's nose to the grindstone and gives us some sweet November memories.

I thought that was an odd question given that it's pretty clear now that Cristobal isn't the kind of guy that has "conversations" regarding the game decisions that he makes.

The more young guys that get game time experience, the better.

There's no doubt about it; Anthony Brown played like the kind of quarterback we are used to seeing in Oregon uniforms today. He had his best day of his college football career, and my hat is off to him. I also noticed that Joe Moorhead was up in the box again today. I think getting the bird's eye view has really made a positive difference in his play calling which is beneficial to Brown.

Great article Charles, and it clearly explains the endgame issues with Cristobal that have driven me crazy for a long time, but most notedly in the last three games. Clearly, the time time to be aggressive is NOT with 3 minutes left in the game and a lead. It's hard to believe that, left to decide for himself, reputed offensive genius Coach Moorhead would go along with that ridiculousness. First downs are as good as touchdowns at the end of games you are leading is basic football coaching 101. Maybe MC needs to be reading less about Navy Seal philosophy and more about the basic tenets of good football coaching strategy. The whole idea about needing to get a bigger lead is even more ludicrous when considering that Oregon's offense on that drive was moving the ball down the field, the Ducks were inside of the 30, and if Oregon kicks a field goal, UCLA is forced to drive down the field to score a touchdown to win with probably no time outs against a defense that was playing well. All I can say is Booooo! Thanks for posting the cued Youtube video. I appreciated being able to replay it over and over again to digest the many aspects of the play that resulted in the interception. Why were Pittman, Johnson III, and Williams all in the same area with all of their defenders right there with them? Most notably, What WAS Johnson III doing there? My guess is that he completely messed up and shouldn't have even been in that area which is why, at first, the coaches were saying that the failure of the play was a "player issue". Either Pittman, Johnson III, or both were not where they were supposed to be. Justin Herbert would have seen every defender in the same area, realized someone had blown the play, tucked it, and ran. Brown is not at that level and, as others here have mentioned, has a "just doing what they told me to do" attitude. As far as running goes, Brown would have had to make the decision to do that pretty quickly because Dye's block wasn't very good and the defender was a step away from getting to Brown. Regardless of that, running would have been a much better choice. The real problem here, that was so adeptly addressed in Charles' article, is that Cristobal's understanding of endgame strategy is terrible. It's also come to my attention that MC is fairly bull headed about the way he sees and does things so we are sure to see what we consider to be crazy coaching decisions at the end of close games many more times to come in the future, although hopefully not today.

I find that Steve Tannen, who is part of whatever they are calling the Oregon Sports Network now, tends to fall in with the company line; and right now the company line is loud and clear that Cristobal doesn't want to hear fans booing in Autzen Stadium on Saturday, or any time in the future. The interesting part of Tannen dissing fans who booed is that I often listen to the 5th quarter broadcasts that he does on KUGN with Ken Woody after the games, and there has been no lack of criticism by both of Brown, his lack of good decision making, and the poor clock management and coaching decisions made in the end of the last 3 games on their radio program. Tannen is well aware that fans who were booing were mostly booing the decisions make by the coaching staff, but far be it for him to buck to company line.

Great analysis Charles and I completely agree. DeRuyter is blessed with a talented cast of characters and they are beginning to internalize his schemes and use them to make for a defense whose upside is just plain scary. Sewell, KT#5, Dorlus, and Swinson and company are crazy good. While it may be debatable that UCLA has the best O-line in the Pac 12, the fact that Colorado is far behind in that department is clear. It will be interesting to see if Oregon's defense will continue to improve and to capitalize on Colorado's weaknesses. I think we are all keeping our fingers crossed that this WILL NOT be another game in this year's trend where the Ducks play down to the level of their opponent. Given the terrific mismatch of our defense vs their offense alone, it shouldn't be close.