Washington Waddler

While you can’t compare Herbert’s and Brown’s passing talent, you can compare their running ability, and capacity for taking a hit. Both have the height and weight to neutralize an lb and run over safeties and corners. You could argue that MC correctly preserved JH for the passing game while utilizing AB in the run because of his passing deficiency, but it felt like a waste of Justin’s (until the last two games) Senior year. Whatever the reason, it’s nice to see this change in how MC is using his QB.

Be wary of the word you choose to define what you want to be. Mecca is the one place all Muslims attempt to see once in their lives, but it is also only Muslims who are allowed to go there. Not sure Riley understands the nature of the ‘true believers’ attracted by his invitation.

Canzano’s pretty astute on this one. The question remains whether the Trojan horse is ready to ride for a hit the ground running type like Riley, or requires the disciplined retraining of a Fickell.

Whether the Riley hire makes you nervous or not, it’s a great move and will be a big factor in west coast recruiting, but not the only factor. Location and vision play a big part as well in the eyes of recruits. The disadvantages of being in the LA basin as compared to more inviting and livable environs like Eugene, plus our new indoor training complex that will specifically target warming trends that affect air quality are equally important, especially to parents. We’ve got our advantages too, and MC knows that.

The ‘blind bid’ idea reminds me of that family fairness teaching tool where one kid scoops the ice cream but the other gets to choose which bowl. Guaranteed to drive some coaches nuts

Especially when his priority was converting on 3rd. Great read progression!

Seen this to many times before. Stars matter more on Hollywood Blvd and Trojan resumes. Anyone coming in there better understand that appearance is just as importance as substance. If you can’t be a field general AND an acting promoter, you’ll fail.

Nice insight HD — and great article FD. MC’s coaching outlook has been influenced by his playing career in the trenches. And, priority one for a lineman is to protect. A child’s identity (ie, his/her self confidence ) won’t emerge until the parent takes off the training wheels and gives him a shove down the drive way. The trouble with toughness is not in being that, but in how it is focused. If that focus is primarily on the defensive, protective, then your not risking enough to succeed, to find your confidence — your identity. It takes that to score points. We saw that with Herbert. After all, it is the reflex of a lineman to protect his QB. That said, MC appears to get that, and has freed up AB (maybe because he’s had no other choice) to move about the cabin. I still feel Mario is a work in progress, and worthy of our support because he learns from his mistakes. Will he ever be able to take the training wheels off? Only time will tell.

I can still hear “More Than A Feeling” ringing in my head,

If there’s one thing I hope our program has added to the ‘don’t do’ list of head coach hiring practices, it is to never again assume that the preference of a departing head coach will provide the same magic associated with him, and automatically lead to those results. As much as we all liked Mark’s personality and wit, Chip’s stamp of approval was not driven by what was best for the program’s longevity, but by his ego. In that light, Mark inevitably became Chip’s “mini me”. What Mario will do is anyone’s guess, but my sense of the guy is a grounded, results-driven person. If going home is important to him, it will happen because he’s earned it and has the best chance at staying there on his own terms.

The real problem with a Coug victory would be the insufferable gloating on PAC 12 After Dark.

AB’s completion % goes up the shorter the distance is between him and his target. When we can’t keep him within his comfort zone on 3rd down, the opposing D knows it and loads the box which usually ends with a stuffed run or rushed throw. Any chance at consistency against the Beavs may rely upon putting AB consistently in a high % 3rd down situation which means well designed 1st and 2nd down plays loom large.

In the past, Beavs have been pretty adept at putting the horse before the cart. The unforgettable 2008 C***l War is a case in point. But, Jonathan Smith is not Mike Riley and will have his team focused on us and not the brass ring. No way can I wish any success for the mutts.

Let’s just respond from our loss to Utah how tOSU did from their loss to us and beat the Beavers!

The War Between the State? While we’re on the topic of rodent riddance week, might as well be time to trot out an old joke or two that all you oldies probably know, but some new comers may have yet to hear (read?). Should resist the urge, but I can’t help myself. Question: What’s the only sign of intelligence in Corvallis? Answer: Eugene 42 mi

Mario’s opportunity to learn and grow in Eugene would all but disappear in his home state. That’s why you leave home in the first place.

One of the possible way of seeing the potential in DA’s front court is by looking at what’s happened to Kelly’s team. Without Te-Hina or Endyia Rogers to run the show, his bigs are like a gear box without a clutch. Just think of how Sabrina drove the car!

Agree with the learning curve. Anyone paying the slightest attention can see MC is a determined learner. You have to thrive on your mistakes to become a skilled and highly capable head coach, and he checks that box. A great HC? To many variables and unknowns to venture there. The flip side to this coin remains the same: Can Mario’s Miami-bred sense of the game ever embrace the spirit and energy that is at the heart of Duck football? That river flows all around him, but he has yet to jump in. Until then, it may continue to feel like a kid with a shiny new car who keeps adding neat new parts to, but has yet to move it out of the drive way.

There is a pretty good reason you don’t start at the top. The only direction you have to go is down. Winning teaches you one thing: you like it. Loosing teaches you everything else. So, the paradox is tOSU really won that game, and we lost.

‘Tried and true’ makes for a poor guiding offensive philosophy in football simply because the circumstances that allowed for success in the past game are not necessarily going to be the there in the following. I’m a Mario fan. However, one thing that makes me nervous anytime an OL guy takes the reins is that his force of habit seeking consistency that was forged over time in the trenches will blind him to the more volatile and fluid reality happening behind him.

Well stated JJ. So long as the mythical NC was decided by a vote, competition remained between conferences: you didn’t know who, but you knew where they’d be going. With the advent of the BCS morphed into BCS x 2 — a Wall Street dream come true — we now have combined conferences (SEC ACC) dueling not so much for championships as the emerging right to view western high school athletes as a ‘farm system’ feeding their newly minted franchise championship system. Where does that leave the PAC 12? We’ve always been isolated by geography. Proximity in the east has always had a competitive advantage for them, but now with corporate greed involved, it has become a game changer with the NCAA becoming the big loser. Under the vote system we were just isolated on the west coast. Now, we might as well be somewhere in the Mariana Trench. In time, corporate greed often is it’s own undoing, but for now ESPN/Disney is running the show. Where o where NCAA have you gone?

Great analysis DM. Wazzu’s bringing the house strategy got me to wondering if JM’s practices had AB working screens a bit more this week. I’d also say that the addition of Cardwell’s speed after C.J. went down, and the addition of TJ Bass’s down field blocking ability has helped ignite this resurgence of interest.

What troubles me about MP’s move is the shortsighted nature of it. New WRs not only have to make the team, they have to develop chemistry with a QB — their evolution is unique among players. That’s why his move doesn’t make sense. Assuming he wants to land at a D1 program, he must reestablish both those relationships. For me, that’s sad because I saw his body type and skill set stepping into the position next year vacated by JJ and JR. We’ve a way to go yet to reach that built-in cultural understanding that seems to exist at other long time elite programs that you stay with it no matter what. But, it’s situations just like this that move us towards that goal.

Think Nike is giving a nod to grumbling traditionalists who want to see some yellow along the green. Great helmet!

Yeah, if things keep going the way they’ve been, the PAC 12 IS toast!