Washington Waddler

Agree. As important as position coaches are for every group, the trust built over a few recruiting cycles is especially valuable with OLs. Give Klemm that time to develop relationships and I think we’ll start seeing studs like we did with Mario signing letters of intent.

Call them whatever you like (I personally prefer shrapnel), we beat UCLA at the Rose Bowl in them, so I’m okay with it.

It always felt like Mario’s only response to countering an adversary’s game plan was, “don’t confuse me with the facts; my mind is already made up”. He never seemed to play his opponent; only his playbook. What Lanning’s team shows are all those attributes that do emerge when coaching is fully engaged in the chess match: creativity, opportunism and the resolve to do whatever it takes to win. That type of game engagement is why I don’t see this team easily falling into a Stony Brooke mind set.

For the majority of quarterbacks, I’d agree. However, Williams has consistently shown the ability to rise to the occasion and produce outside the pocket. WSU’s front seven speed might well deny him the time to find an open target, but I’m not sure I’d call it a safe bet that he won’t be just as dangerous under pressure against them as he has been against others.

Have to agree with PAC 12 ‘After Dark’ pundits. Trojan DL has not proven itself which should keep Cam Ward in the game. On the other hand, playing cover 1 against Caleb Williams would be a recipe for disaster. Game at the coliseum tilts it towards the Troylets.

The pendulum is hopefully swinging back towards NCAA and program health, and away from further empowering opportunistic individuals. We need to find a balance between these two camps. IMO, not only should such choices result in the loss of scholarships, but make any future scholarship offers automatically probationary until these players have indicated their further intents.

True, but, as a rule, that only stops a certain number of programs from pursuing a potential recruit. Many, if not most, have experienced at one time or another a player having changed their mind and ending up at an unexpected destination. Hence, the experienced coaches know to always keep in touch and not to quit until the letter is signed.

Yes

While it’s nowhere in the realm of a done deal (or even desirable), it’s still hilarious to think of the sphincter-stress being caused in Troyland at the thought of Oregon getting an invite to the B1G. What do the condom dispensers have to do to keep running away from Eugene? There are always American-style football club leagues in Germany or China? We’d just follow them there to. To much fun not to.

Lanning has so far shown the ability to adjust to, and deal with the bumps and pit falls any first year head coach should expect to have. The trajectory his team has thus far charted towards consistency of play and effort is not unlike any other team under a first year head coach, in fact probably better than most. He had their unquestioned attention following the Georgia loss, and it showed in the crisp execution, and the regaining of their confidence and swagger. That accomplished, they then seemed to lose that focus and plateaued a bit against Stanford where poorer execution and penalties undermined an otherwise dominate performance against a very good opponent ravaged by injuries. Figuring out how to shift gears at different points in the season is one of the challenges any first year has to face, and learn how to do in order to regain the focus and attention of his team. Thus far, I see no reason to think Dan won’t get that done in time for an obvious trap game in the desert, and regain the path he’s charted towards the consistency of play he has targeted.

When you look at both BYU and this game, there does seem to be some kind of a disturbing disconnect that happens when Ty is at the helm. Time often has a way of taking care of that if it’s just a matter of youthfulness and bonding with older team mates. But right now when he is on the field, it feels less like he’s running the team, and more like he’s playing a video game.

At this point, it’s difficult to ever imagine the car keys being handed to Ty. That glazed smile painted across his face during the turbulence of live action seems to suggest just how lost the kid feels. To a great extent, he appears to be the victim of his own bright, potential future — which is where he seems to be stuck. Potential means nothing unless you can develope the capacity and maturity to turn it into reality. Yet another reminder of Mario’s legacy? Hopefully, he proves this point of view utterly wrong and catches fire. It’s happened many times before. On the other hand, a step back into the comfort zone of a lower division program where the pressure is off is sometimes required to give young minds the chance to catch up to potential. I wish the kid well — whatever path he eventually follows.

There is simply no way to be ready for a Martin Stadium game, anymore than one at Autzen, if you’ve never experienced it before. So, it comes as no surprise that Dan felt, “. . . caught off guard” by what hit him (as a new head coach) and all the new coaches and players. But, how they responded to that adversity is an entirely different matter. What Noah had to say regarding Mase’s touchdown could just as easily been said of the entire team: “I was like, oh yeah, that’s Game. That’s Game right there.”

I agree with Jester. There’s just something about the Athens culture that makes you feel like they do it right - from top to bottom. Unlike Alabama, whose Sabanized, faceless corporate structure that seems to mask a multitude of sins, Georgia always appears to be up front and out in the open - winning or losing. As for reaching for another brass ring? The rules remain the same: win the first one, good on you; win a second one? You’re a marked man. The media thrives on playing king of the mountain. Like the Roman senate, they love to praise Caesar all the while awaiting their chance to stab him in the back. It’s their job. But, because Georgia is Georgia, IMO, Dawgs got the best chance of repeating of any team in sometime. So, take a lesson from a Duck: let the media gush roll off your waterproof feathers, and keep on doing what your doing.

Losing - especially losing bad - can teach you everything. Winning teaches you one thing: you like it. That’s why the value of the Georgia game as a teacher for both players and coaches has the potential leading up to Pullman to get them ready for anything the Cougs and their fans might throw at them. Has the Georgia lesson sunk in yet? That’s why you play the game.

The thing about Bo is you can’t buy the kind of determined focus he seems to be putting on display to turn his career around. When a quarterback refuses to accept anything short of the goals they’ve set for themself, it becomes an invaluable team asset.

When has Pullman ever not been a trap game? Even when they’re favored, they never seem to lose touch with that disrespected, ‘little engine that could’ mentality. Pullman has always been, and will always be a place to just grind it out and take care of business.

Schadenfreude

Deboer is an interesting offensive study. His masking, pre-snap motion packages coupled with an excellent OL and nicely tuned, productive quarterback and receiving corp get the ball quickly and efficiently to where they want it, thereby limiting the effectiveness of opposing front sevens. Admittedly, MSU’s DBs looked B1G lost in their attempt to solve yet another west coast passing puzzle. It will be interesting to observe how the hydrant whizzer’s passing attack fairs down the road with the availability of more film room tape, and having to face better DB groups more accustom to the targeting strategies of west coast air raid offenses. Deboer is a bit of an unknown right now. That won’t last long because he’s got everyone’s attention now.

I think the ONLY way we’ll ever know what Ty’s ceiling is, is to toss him in the fire and see what he’s made of. Whether or not that ever happens is up to the fates. Or, maybe he was born to live his football life waiting in the wings? In the meantime, he just has the look of a very immature kid whose stuck in the blaze of his own high school headlights without the slightest idea of how to live up to the hype he created with his own god-given talent. And, there is no way around it when your inner confidence doesn’t mesh with what people see in you, short of learning to swim the hard way. So, somebody, please, care for the kid enough to shove him in the deep end?

Reminds me a bit of those Alabama fans coming out the woodwork to cheer for us against Auburn. You’re just their latest needle with which to annoy their real target.

My feelings towards the purple pound puppies remain the same, but I have to acknowledge that there is a whole new mood to the world of college football out there now, and they - along with little brother to the north - are feeling it, and can’t wait to leap over the old, and into this new landscape to grab whatever it has to offer. My advice to myself? Suspend judgement. Let go of the past. Expect the unexpected. The greatest danger to OBD? Living, dwelling on, and trying to recreate our past success. That’s what finally drove USC over the edge. It’s a whole new world.

Charles, Groucho Marx had some good advice for what you have to deal with — “If the garbage man calls, tell him we don’t want any.”

True, but the coaches have bolstered youth with portal experience, especially at running back, wide receiver and corner. Bowers was one of my favorite players last year period. Your youth is as intimidating as ours, if not more so. How has Georgia played the portal? Is Kirby in love with it like some, or just as a needs be option?

You’re on to something David, and your comparisons are at the heart of it. Programs like ours that have grown out of being a ‘who we are’, rather than a ‘where we are’ must, as a result, succeed or fail based on adhering to that hard earned identity. Failing to do so, and we become lost. So, being a ‘who you are’ is a process. It requires coaches, players and fans to wake-up every morning and remind themselves of what it means to be a Duck. We know and feel what it is, but it’s fragile. It requires focused care, and a willing dedication to that vision in order to turn it into reality. ‘Who we are’s’ must create themselves on the periphery of wealth. ‘Where we are’s’ wallow at the center of that wealth. Our identity was established on, and grew from that reality. Because you came from being a have not, you had to try harder, learning that it demands working together (like ducks inflight?) and daring to fail: risk reaching for it. We can see the beginnings of that dedicated vision with Rich, and it’s fruition with Chip and Mark. They took that aggressive, willingness to risk to win, and turned it into an identity that has magnetized and inspired countless high school athletes from all over the country. They couldn’t wait to become part of the O. But, coaches who fail to grasp our origins (our identity) can lapse into habits created from being part of a ‘where we are’ culture. ‘Where we are’s’ tend to rely upon their wealth doing the work for them. And because they’re wealthy, they are conservative and don’t like to risk losing that wealth. Sound like anyone we know? Great programs require talent. But, they also require hard work and a willingness to risk it all to win. And, holding that together and making it work (the glue) is knowing who you are. We’re Ducks. We fly!