Washington Waddler

Rockne said when you pass there are three things that can happen, and two of them are bad. Add a third negative to that equation if a receiver is simply out of position to make a tackle, or is just plain bad at tackling.

What if, and what is: the two sides of the sports coin. If we play just half as hard as the media thinks, we win the rest of our games.

Comments like that just reaffirm what we’ve understood ever since the program started turning things around back in the 90’s: outsiders haven’t got the slightest idea what Oregon is really about.

While it’s never panic time, the bi-polar performance at quarterback is a head scratcher. I can understand off-days where QBs are just missing targets. But, repeatedly not seeing targets and just looking lost out there? At best, it’s just paying your dues, and learning what it takes to play the position. At worst? There have been moments against both Indiana and Wisconsin where Moore has reminded me of Ty Thompson. You’ve got to have some fire in your belly to overcome adversity?

Radical, outside-the-box uniform choice? I suggest the wolf in sheep’s clothing route at Iowa. Go as Minnesota.

Wasn’t that Canzano in a recent Portland protest photo dressed up and dancing around in an inflatable beaver costume?

In the transfer portal era, has signing a letter of intent (especially for quarterbacks) become a stepping-stone strategy for those who know they’ll likely never see a starting role, but now have an enhanced Oregon-endorsed resume that could lead to a better NIL offer with a program in need?

By now I probably shouldn’t be, but I’m always surprised at how good the mottos are that Dan comes up with every week. Need a game day tee that says, ‘Time To Pay The Rent’.

As always, it’s what inside the uniform that counts, but they do look pretty cool. Just keep on truckin, like the Doo-Dan man!

Did Joni Mitchell have the domino-driven effect of firing college head football coaches in mind when she wrote ‘The Circle Game’?

Would be like Scarlett returning to Tara after losing the war.

It still amazes me the complete turnaround attitudes have taken between Oregon and Washington over the past 65 years. During the years of Jim Owens and Don James, they lived in our heads rent free. No one owns anyone else forever, but for now, nice to have the (Nike) shoe on the other (Adidas) foot.

In tight games, the 4th quarter can tip on adrenaline. Against Penn State, it was their panic-driven urgency that put them back in contention. In the last ten minutes against Indiana, we couldn’t match their closing energy surge, perhaps because of the price we paid being in back to back top ten games. Not trying to make excuses. Just see this as part of the learning curve for our young leader.

Always love any references to ‘Shout!’ and ‘Animal House’. My favorite line in the song is, “you’ve been so good to me”, because that’s how it feels the Ducks have been to their fans. And as for the rest of the season? “FOOD FIGHT!!!”

Teams usually recover quicker from losses than fans do. Once they’ve recalibrated for the loss of wiggle room that the season once had, but realize the goal is still alive, a cold, hard focus is often the result - hopefully!

Sure, as in potentially the next head coach at either Penn State or Florida.

A little advice for the fence sitters: “There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning.” - Louis L’Amour

Hose the Hoosiers

Sleepless nights for Don Essig

Never forget that 4th quarter Beaver punt that Keenan took back 70 yards for a TD right into a rainstorm from the west. Ignited a comeback that Maurice Morris capped off with a score. Welcome home KH!

Like Rival’s Nathan Bishop said regarding Oregon’s drop to 3rd in the AP - “Good!” That kind of fine dining just feeds a master motivator like Dan.

Agree with Spartan. Like rep metrics for pitchers, the odds for injury go way up when true freshmen are pushed past their ability to maintain body control. The overall health of the RB room has to be taken into consideration by the coaches. That said, they’ve earned bigger roles, and will probably get them, just not as much as some fans may want. Just another reason there are coaches, and there are fans, right?

Among the many misuses of the word, ‘expert’, or the description, ‘national writer’, is when they are applied to those who ply their trade in the world of sports. The reason for that is obvious and simple: just beneath that expert’s shiny exterior of unbiased, nonpartisan objectivity lies a kid/college student who grew up cheering for his home team. In the end, that hidden inner fan will always trump the exterior expert. Bless them, but they just can’t help themselves. And, because the vast majority of these national experts reside east of the Mississippi, that inner fan’s affection for Oregon can be considered cool and remote at best. That’s why I prefer their disregard and negativity - it’s honest. It’s only when they shine their rah-rah light on us that I get concerned. I view that only as a chess move, a set-up whose purpose is to undermine with false praise. Call me paranoid, but that’s how I’ve learned to view them.

Would be awesome and a nice Oregon tribute if there were some Duck/Corso photo hug cardboard signs in the crowd.

Whether or not Oregon’s win will be viewed as diminished will have everything to do with which Penn State team shows up in Columbus on Nov 1st.