latracey

I agree with you Augduck. The Oregonian’s newest Sports columnist Bill Oram’s take on Oregon football is definitely a bit irritating, and he almost took glee in rubbing Oregon’s (and Phil Knight’s) nose in the dirt after the Georgia loss. I guess Oram’s job is to be controversial, like Canzano before him. The good news is that since Canzano left the Oregonian, I’m enjoying reading his daily column more than ever.

As the forest fire smoke continues to roll in and the air quality deteriorates, my fingers are crossed that it won’t get worse and the game is played as scheduled. 🤞

Oregon 38 - Eagles 21 3 take aways 3 sacks 325 passing yards

I watched the Nebraska game and there was a lot more to the loss than just the muffed on-side kick, although it ranks as one of the worst coaching decisions I've ever seen. I couldn't believe how many very catchable balls were simply dropped by Nebraska's receivers. There was also the inability of Nebraska's defense to stop the run late in the game when everyone knew that that was exactly what Northwestern was going to do. It's hard to believe, given the success Frost had at UCF, that he's done so poorly at Nebraska. It's also hard to believe that this isn't his last season coaching the Corn Huskers.

I agree with Drex Heikes. He didn't actually throw shade as much as he was complimentary of the way his new team has accepted him and made him feel welcome. I will be interested to see how the season progresses and how Dye does.

I’m with Kurt Rambo’s. While I don’t like the Huskies, I really like the Husky Royalty uniform. It a great look.

As cool as it is to imagine for all of the reasons stated above, I just can’t see Oregon going to the SEC. The travel issues make it implausible.

I’m guessing Oregon and Washington are both in the process of applying to be the Big 10’s newest members. It’s the only move that makes sense. I’m also guessing that they will both be unanimously accepted by tomorrow night. Wow!! I didn’t see this coming.

At this point, it looks like every one of them except Wright will get a chance to prove their worth and at least make a practice squad. So much can happen and not all of it good when taking the chance to play one more year in college. I respect the decisions these young men made and wish them nothing but the best.

Venting is the necessary relief valve that lets off steam when we are frustrated. The state of affairs in sports and beyond must have folks pretty darned frustrated because there seems to be a preponderance of unusually negative posts on the U of O sports forums that I frequent. Like many above have stated, I tend to quickly scan past them. This is my favorite forum because the rules here and the thoughtful enforcement of them tend to greatly decrease the number of negative and mean spirited posts that serve to do little more than attack and incense. I have a great deal of respect and appreciation for Charles and the moderators here who are charged with the task of eliminating the trash, so to speak. Keep up the good work my friends.

It's obvious Travis' family means a lot to him. I get it and I can't blame him for wanting to play close to his family and his actual home. As DanLduck said, he gave us all he had while he was at Oregon. Given that the NFL is his ultimate goal, I can see how if he manages to shine in USC's offense this year, it will enhance his chances to achieve his NFL dream. College football, with the NIL, the transfer portal, and everything else, is changing fast. Loyalty to a school, a coaching staff, or team mates now takes a back seat to making decisions based on what an athlete perceives as in their own personal best interest. Best not get too attached to a given star player on your favorite college team. It's a business moving in the direction of an ever more keen focus on the bottom line. I will be interested to see how Travis does at USC and I wish him nothing but the best in his future.

Mariota to Atlanta would be interesting, but I'd rather see him go to Seattle. As far as winning goes, I don't see Atlanta being a top contender any time soon, but who knows? I'm guessing Marcus would be thrilled with the chance to be QB1 again. I'm hoping he can finally put the injury bug to rest that has plagued him over his professional career so far.

I read about a couple of guys that did just that. One bet a substantial amount and made a king's ransom.

I must say that I'm extremely impressed with the OC and DC Cristobal ended up with. I'd love to know how he got Kevin Steele away from Maryland after Steele had only just accepted that job a couple of days prior. Josh Gattis is another great get who seems to fit Cristobal's need for someone skilled with Xs and Os and also a great recruiter. It will be interesting to see how it all works out.

On one hand, it's a real head scratcher as to why Mario wouldn't have immediately prioritized the hiring of his coaches the minute he got to Miami. That makes the most logistical sense and seems to be the way new head coaches roll. It's what competent head coaches do and it is certainly what Dan Lanning did. You paint your vision of the future with the coaches you hire to help you to make that vision a reality. On the other hand, we are talking about the Mario Cristobal we have grown to know; a lot of hot air and coach speak with little to back it up. In that respect, much of what we are seeing isn't surprising. It begs the question about his competency to even be a head coach. He fell into a great situation at Oregon where the table was pretty much set for him from the get go. His top down, Navy Seal, management style was probably not a lot of fun for his assistants evidenced by their jumping at the chance to escape. This gets more and more interesting as time races by. The longer he waits to make the critical assistant coaching hires, the more difficult it is going to get. Have I mentioned how thankful I am that Miami swooped in to take Cristobal far, far away from our beloved Duck football program?

If you are part of the Miami faithful, you've got to be concerned at this point that Cristobal hasn't managed to secure an OC or a DC after a month trying. None of us who have watched Mario operate at Oregon are surprised. Letting Ken Dorsey slip through his fingers is an omen for things to come. Recruits aren't going to do you much good if you don't have the necessary coaches in place to coach them, on top of the fact that valuable time spent aligning an overall strategy is slipping away. This is looking more and more like the sequel to "Willie takes his dream job at FSU". Whether Cristobal manages to be successful or not, he will still ride off in the sunset a multimillionaire, but I don't see how this ends well for the University of Miami football program. That said, I'm thankful they rid us of Cristobal and that the stars aligned enabling us to secure Dan Lanning. You know it makes me want to shout!

I like all of the changes except for one. It seems the default font size is now smaller which makes the comments more difficult to read. My vote is for a slightly larger font size. Otherwise, this remains the best forum on the planet.

Herbert is phenomenal. The final drive that ended with a TD strike with no time left in regulation was one of the most amazing series of plays of the year. The time out by Staley at the end was understandable, but going for it on 4th down from deep in your own territory is unforgivable; especially in such a big game. Taking 3 points in the red zone on 4th and short, and punting the ball on 4th when deep in your own territory would have changed this season. I truly hope Staley has learned his lesson about analytics vs game reality. My question is about the pass interference call at the end of the first half. How in the world is that not a horrible call? The pass in question was being thrown away by Carr and was not even close to being catchable.

These grades are ridiculous because it's almost impossible to predict how any of these coaches will do in their new jobs. Lanning is graded down because he is young and unproven as a head coach. Lanning is a coach on a team that has a chance to be a national champion, which is something none of the A graded coaches can say. To accurately grade these guys, a key data point would be to include the quality of assistants each coach has hired which it doesn't appear has been done. I really like what Lanning has done on that front. Only time will tell us which of these hires was good and which ones were not. Perhaps Mario is an A hire and Lanning is a B. I guess we will find out. One thing I do know, however, I'm a lot more excited about next season than I would have been if Mario were still head coach.

And they missed the expired play clock by Alabama and the face mask tackle by Cincy. Ahhhh... but the night is young.

Pac 12 officiating crew. Stay tuned for some thrills and chills on that front.

Cincy's offense is pretty good. The game will come down to whether or not their defense can stop Bama.

As David so astutely points out in the article, "A good kick is a win and a missed kick is a loss, and the kicker has no control over where the ball will be located in terms of range or between the hashes. They just need to go out and kick the ball and score." One of the things that frustrated me the most about Mario and other Oregon football coaches is the refusal to offer scholarships to the kickers they recruited. Kickers are perhaps the second most valuable players on a team and having a great kicker is extremely valuable to a team's overall success. Being able to kick deep into the opposing team's end zone on kick offs saves field position and eliminates the possibility of the other team scoring a touch down on the kick off. Being able to be almost automatic from 40 yards out or closer results in victories more often than not. Recruiting 5 star kickers and punters, and offering them scholarships, should be a top priority every season.

As I become more familiar with the rules over time, I find it easy to abide by them. There are plenty of forums where almost anything goes which is why I find myself not even bothering with most of them anymore. I really appreciate coming here where intelligence, kindness, and respect rule the day. There really is no better forum available to fans passionate about Duck sports in my humble opinion. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of my fellow Duck fans far and wide. We have many blessings and much gratitude to celebrate.

Ah Machiavelli. Now THERE was a man who understood how the world truly works.