C J

Looks like Wazzu is looking for some revenge after we poached Big Joe and Joe Mastro......they can have the latter back. Seems like there is a good chance we will lose somebody soon, considering job openings at USC and Wazzu.

Possibly, but I think more than anything he just seems to have nagging injuries that keep him from playing full tilt. It's astounding how many injured linebackers we have.

My gut says the defense is going to get more stout from here on out. I think now that KT is settling in and we have many of the injured players back things will start to tighten up. Now if we could still have Flowe and Bennett Williams on the field then I would be feeling really good. No doubt though that recruiting big gnarly defensive lineman has been the achilles heel of the Ducks football team for time immemorial. One defensive guy that just hasn't been as successful as I expected is Mase Funa. I guess he has been a bit banged up, but now that he is in his third year in the program I assumed he would start being a force, but it just hasn't happened for him unfortunately. He had 4 sacks and 8.5 tfl's his Freshman year in 2019 and has had zero sacks and 4.5 tfl's since.

I share this hope. We know it's in there because we witnessed it at Ohio State. I still can't help but feel like that Ohio State game was called completely different from an offensive scheme point. Does anyone else see it that way or am I just kidding myself? If it was......why? If not then why are the same types of plays not working versus lesser opponents? Is it because of the type of D tOSU was playing compared to what most others play? That game caused Ryan Day to make a huge adjustment in their defensive scheme. Because of this fact I tend to think the issue was more their D that day then it was that the plays we were running were that much different.

I think this comment sums it up. THIS is the real reason people are booing. It's not the players performance....even AB's.....it's more of a statement about insane behavior from the coaches i.e. doing the same thing over and over and hoping for a different result. The fans are booing because there are no signs of change or improvement but instead a steady decline in the product.

Wow, some great back and forth and words of wisdom on this one. It's a really tough situation right? I don't know a single Duck fan who is ecstatic about the program right now. I know some who are MC backers basically resigned to what is happening, but they still aren't really pleased. We are kind of sitting on this precipice, unsure of what to do, but we know what our eyeballs are telling us and we don't like it. Eventually people have to have a way to let the coach know that they know he is blowing it on a few fronts. The only way I can see to do that is by voicing an opinion during the game in real time when the mistakes are being made = BOOOOOOOO!!!! And so that is what happened Friday night........for better or for worse. Personally I wish it would never happen and that there was never a reason for it to happen, but I do think it has been earned at this point. This isn't a situation where there is one or two or even three poor offensive performances. This is a situation where there has literally been dozens of poor offensive performances over the past 3.5 years. Will it lead to a toxic relationship between fans and the organization? Probably not, but there is potential for that. I do get the feeling that Cristobal will certainly take exception to the booing. I think we have all come to the conclusion that he is incredibly loyal....almost to a fault. If he perceives the booing as a breach of loyalty (and my guess is he will or already has) then this could lead to a toxic and antagonistic relationship until his departure.

Yes, most likely. Game management has been weird and pretty much atrocious. That effort with 2 1/2 minutes in the half was just baffling. The victory formation in the end zone at the end of the game was a head scratcher. And how many other weird plays are called or clock management errors have there been over the past several years. Somebody on here was talking about the lack of dynamic play. I say there is a serious lack of dynamic thinking by the coaches. Do we really not have a single play where the QB takes the snap under center? If that is the case then that is a serious red flag pointing to how the Ducks coaching staff lacks dynamic thinking. What we see from the offensive (and often the defensive) scheme each week lacks any sort of dynamic potential. It's boring and predictable and that is how poor teams with much less talent beat us or play us tight until the 4th quarter or even the final play. There is no other reasonable explanation.

The turnover ratio is starting to flip. -3 in the past two games. This is a real bad sign going forward. Penalties have started to destroy this team. For the season we have averaged 7.66 penalties per game and 79.66 yards lost per game. But more importantly in the past three games we have averaged 9.66 penalties and 92 yards lost per game. So the further into the season we have gone the worse the penalties have gotten. We are seeing regression, not progression. Many of the penalties have come at the worst possible times, on 3rd down, in the red zone etc. This is a very mistake prone team (could be youth?), along with having horrible luck regarding injuries. The injuries are so bad it makes you start to wonder about the training regiment. So in summary there are three big issues that are rearing their head: 1. Turnover ratio 2. Penalties 3. Injuries These three things have led to a lot of the poor play we have witnessed.

1. AB goes 20 for 28 2. Travis Dye punches way above his weight class 3. The final score was in our favor 4. KT scares opposing offenses.......this really makes me happy

1.5 more seasons is my prediction. If this keeps up well into next season then the 23 class will start to show it.

It's highly likely they lose all three of those games. If what we saw last night and for 5 of 6 games this season then yeah......we will lose them all playing like that.

Why I don't like Cristoball/ABall: 1. Boring 2. Boring 3. Boring 4. You get the point They could be setting up AB to be more successful, but the product they have now is just really bad. I agree with what I heard from the stands............BOOOOOOOO.....BOOOOO!

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!! You're right Charles, it just isn't going to get any better than this. Now the question is whether I can summon the motivation to keep watching games in the future. Luckily I am on a free trial of Fubo for the next month so I can just record the games and fast forward through a bunch of the bad play and then rewind when it appears a decent play has been made. I think this will be my MO from here on out. What we have seen on the field is definitely testing my fair weather fan meter.

I respectfully disagree wholeheartedly with Fentress. Mark my words.....I guarantee by the end of this season we are going to be wishing we had a QB who is going into next season with a lot of reps under his belt. The best way to coach up talent is through reps. Our 4-1 record is essentially a 8-4 record with AB under center the rest of the way.

Yeah, he is on there right behind Thibodeaux. They play the same spot.

I think the fans (and I will speak mostly for myself here) have taken on a bit of the character of the team i.e. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This week has been all Mr. Hyde. I actually had a lot more angst early in the season after the first game, but it was mostly due to the smothering smoke from wildfires that we endured for weeks. Nothing worse than 500+ AQI to make a person grumpy.

Totally agree with your prediction Darren. I see losses to UCLA, UT and OSU on the horizon. Though I wouldn't be surprised if we lost to Wazzu, the Huskies and Cal just as easily. While I don't think we will lose all the remaining games I do see a 4-3 record as a realistic scenario. The sack stats are a result of Oregon's long time achilles heel. Lack of recruiting on the D line. But they are also a result of the risk averse culture that Cristobal has established. Why not send the human missile (Noah Sewell) on a blitz on almost every passing down? Lord knows he isn't cutting it in pass defense so you might as well put him in the QB's face as often as possible. I have seen little to no blitzing so far this season. The fact that Cristobal is going to stick with AB after what we have all seen is just really disheartening and I think it could be a foreboding decision that impacts Cristobal's time at Oregon for a longer term. Look at the changes made by the top coaches just this weekend. Those guys don't wring their hands over these decisions....they make the call and give the next guy up a go. They don't worry about loyalty or perception, they make assertive decisions based on what their eyes are telling them. Running more than throwing, running more than our RB's, only scoring 24 points??? These are all clear issues that need an adjustment. You don't have to be a football savant to see the product on the field and say.....yeah we need to get someone else in there. Not throwing the ball to Donte Thornton seems borderline criminal at this point. Perhaps what we have seen are a couple one-off's, but physical gifts such that he has are not something you come by everyday. Again I think this is a loyalty issue for Cristobal. He feels loyal to Johnson, Redd, Pittman etc. so they see the field. Not sure how much it matters since we are only averaging 15.4 completions per game on only 27.6 pass attempts per game. And these numbers were heavily bolstered by Ty Thompson going 6/9 against Stony Brook.

Wow.........a lot more is making sense. We hypothesized but didn't have this kind of analysis and perception from a great QB coach like John Beck. Now the question is what is being done to mitigate this problem? Or is it just getting worse?

Herbert is as solid as any QB in the league. Great to see the home town hero excel. Ironically the Chargers won based on a totally botched 4th down pass interference call way late in the game. I don't think it was as bad of a call as the end of the Stanford game though. Sound familiar? At least this time the bad call went in favor of the Ducks........by extension.

Looks as though they are playing really well this season. Very good to see. Thanks for sharing!

Along with seeing some level of dynamic blitzing.

This was the point I was really trying to get at. I think we have a big issue with being able to get the most out of our quarterback and receiver positions.

Yeah, I agree. 4 out of our 5 games we haven't looked worthy of being ranked in the top 25 let alone the top 10. However, the fact that we man handled tOSU on their home field says to me that there is no way Ohio State should ever be ranked above us when we have the same record.

True, but he doesn't look horrendous now. He doesn't look like the best college qb but a few of his long downfield passes were stellar. He is also tough as nails on his runs. His numbers are very similar to AB's.

Riddle me this. We beat Ohio State handily on their field and they are ranked higher than we are???? They don't have a single victory over a ranked team. WTH???