C J

Burmeister is looking pretty good for the VT Hokies. Not a world beater but solid. He has come a long way since filling in behind Herbert in Slick's offense. I can't help but wonder if he would of started on this years Ducks team over Anthony Brown?

Well either Wazzu is playing much better then they were when they faced USC or the Beav's were just pretender's and never actually contender's. Based on the way Nolan looked it seems as it is likely the former. He is not quite there yet and even though the Beav's steamrolled with their run game the pass defense was atrocious enough to most likely destroy their PAC12 Championship hopes. Man this league is cannibalistic pretty much every year. There is quite the level of parity of bad teams I guess.

Almost always the answer is simplicity. The three guys you mention have looked like they have "IT" in the limited time they have seen the field. Simply get put the rock in these three guys hands as much as possible and watch us begin to score more points. Exactly.....Mastro brought the pistol plunge to Oregon. Mastro IS the cancer that is afflicting this offense.

I continue to believe the answer to this question is............Jim Mastro. I think he has an outsized influence on what we are seeing.

Not surprised about goducks.com. Seems like they are basically paid to blow sunshine. Canzano gets into some of the tough issues but doesn't quite get to the source the way your questions above would. Another question for me: Do you have a goal of how much you want to score per game? If so what is it and what is keeping you from attaining it?

You have said the offensive (and perhaps the defensive) systems are run by committee. Have you considered giving your coordinators greater control to run the systems and schemes that they have run in the past and were successful with?

Yeah, in fact I am already rooting for the Beav's in every game they play except one per year, and I have been for about 25 years since I finished school there. Would I root for them to win over us if it meant a PAC12 Championship for them and it mattered less for us if we won? Probably not, but possibly depending upon all the circumstances. I do agree that I like their coaches style though. Cerebral, takes risks, out of the ordinary mindset and great at clock management.

Respect and enjoy the peace

Jon, do you really think we have a chance to run the table though?

Stanford upsets ASU tonight. Utah beats SC. Beavers roll and I do believe they have a shot at the PAC12 title as well. Coach Smith is the antithesis of Coach MC. Does more with less and takes a lot of chances when doing it. Bruins destroy AZ, making our win over AZ look even worse.

Forgot to say I love this post as well. Nothing like a pragmatic mano a mano approach to show clearly what the situation is.

We have no better set of empirical data stating that Coach Cristobal is doing less with more than this fact and this fact alone. Even the most die hard MC homer (and there are many.....my god Facebook is rife with MC sycophants) cannot deny what can be observed ocularly, through data analysis (stats) and in the end results on the field. So I often ask myself what will all our ranting and blustering, over what has become so obvious that it's self evident, achieve for us? What will it take for Cristobal to see that he is making some major errors of judgement? Or do we need to just accept the mediocrity and complacently type away like Pollyanna would have, if she had internet in her day? 4-1 will rapidly become 8-4 based on what my cristoball is telling me.

Yes, this is a REAL issue. This is not fun football to watch. No passing game....defensive backfield always on skates.....little to no pressure on the QB.....O and D lineman constantly being stood up and pushed back. Something is going to have to give or the wheels will eventually come off completely. I agree this could be exactly the issue. However, it wouldn't be a vain attempt to better THIS season. It would be a necessary chess move to ensure we don't lose a bunch next season as well. This season is a loss in my mind. You can not play the way this team has in 4 out of 5 games and expect that we will see the needed wins the rest of this season to go anywhere except probably the Cheez-it Bowl. I sincerely hope I eat crow on this statement but............. Good alternative option here. Problem is Coach's track record is not such that he seeks alternatives or options. So while we come up with many alternatives and options I just don't see Cristobal budging on anything. This pattern looks familiar to a pattern down at a university with spoiled children. Yes, we are out. Unless we play every game the way we played when beating tOSU then we are most certainly out. I don't see anyway we win at UCLA or even at home against the Beavers. Wouldn't be surprised if we lose at Utah as well. We will lose a few more games playing the way we have most of this year.

Yes, I definitely expect Cristobal to stick with Brown. It would have been very out of character for him to take the risk on Thompson. Here is to hoping AB can somehow turn it around and get some more wins. I do think we are in for some more gut wrenching losses though.

Yes yes yes. Totally agree with cutting Mastro and Mirabel loose. My conspiracy theory has and will continue to be that Mastro is the real source of our frustrations these past several years. He definitely brought the pistol plunge. Has MC let loyalty become the enemy of the good....or potentially even the perfect? Hard to say, but the optics from the outside point to this as a potential issue. Similar to the military.....there is no place for hurt feelings in the game of football. Do you think Saban worries about who's feelings he has hurt?

This statement sums up the collateral damage that this new brand of football has brought to Oregon. This is a HUGE problem for our team and could be a canary in the coal mine regarding future recruiting and potential success. As for the article, it's another gem in my mind.....spot on....pretty much a mic drop. My big question: is Coach Cristobal some sort of player loyalist or what? At this juncture he has to make some tough calls and start giving the rock to TT, Donte, Franklin, Trey Benson and Byron Cardwell. This has to happen starting next game. These five players have to start getting a ton of reps. These are the guys who have the potential to take us to the NC game in the next few years. To do it they need reps right now. What is the best way to coach up talent? Reps in real games and lots of them. Folks, we have seen the product this year. It is insanely inconsistent. Time to play for the future. Let's stop cutting off our nose to spite our face this season.

Totally agree with the title of the article but I don't think it's going to happen. I think Coach is loyal (and possibly stubborn) almost to a fault. Though he did start to transition away from Shough last year, but he still didn't make the leap to Brown entirely. Without a doubt the right move is to go to Thompson first and see if he can get up to speed. If not then give Butter's a try.

Just watched a replay of the Bears vs. Lions game today and I keyed in on Penei for each of the Lions offensive plays. He is more than holding his own. He mauled on a few plays and sprung the Lions back Williams for big gains. His pass protection was not quite as good and his guy got to Goff's arm and forced a fumble on one play. All in all he is playing really well for a rookie offensive lineman. Check him out for a game if you get the chance.

I agree starting Thompson (or Butter's) from here on out is the correct coaching move. Do I think Coach will do that? Nope. He doesn't see things the way we are seeing them. He is way more conservative than how many of us would approach our strategy to win football games. Therefore I think he sticks with his decision. It will be a huge mistake though. Not because I necessarily think Thompson (or Butter's) will give us that much better of a chance of winning now, but because it will hold us back from being successful next year. To add to it we also need to see a lot more Thornton, Benson and Cardwell.

Nah, nothing fishy, there are a few of us who root for all sporting teams in the state of Oregon. For me I graduated from OSU but I grew up closer to Eugene and have been going to games at Autzen since the mid-eighties. I root for the Beav's in every game except one each year. The Beav's are on the verge of a great sporting story if they can keep winning. Out of the ashes rises this years Beaver team....a true underdog story. While you are probably right that Nolan won't bring them the Pac12 championship it's still fun to think about.

Yes, but I stand pat on the fact that the Ducks did what they had to do and won the game. This is an illegitimate loss (or victory for Stanford) in my mind. Granted they may have played ugly in the first half, but what I watched in the second half was pretty solid, I mean they won 17-0 in the second half. Definitely should not have thrown an incomplete pass on 2nd and 18 with less than 2 minutes in the game.....no doubt that was a bad play call, but if it had worked then I guess we would be having a different conversation. I guess I am just wondering how much of this anger and angst towards Coach and the players would be happening if the correct call on the field had been made. Insidious are the things that divide.

I understand the angst and frustration and feel it myself but my emotions are directed in a different direction. Would we still be this upset had the official kept his damn flag in his pocket when time expired on the game, as he clearly should have? It was obvious what happened if you watch the replay. Possibly.......... but not having watched the first half probably did wonders for my point of view of the game. I saw a Ducks team come roaring back and look pretty good on O and D. Then I saw the referees make insanely suspect calls on KT's targeting and a PI call that decided the game. Therefore I am having a hard time finding ways to blame this loss on poor coaching or the players. My angst and frustration is directed at one thing and one thing only and that is the delegitimizing of college football by very poor officiating. The players and the coaches did their job and won the game......one jacka$$ decided it was his day to be a big man.....to be important.

As interesting as this idea might be I don't think there is any chance of it. Very interesting thing to ponder though. We know Cristobal didn't mesh well with Jim Leavitt. Could this be a similar situation? With the Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde play calling does beg some questions.

Jonathan Smith played the last possession to perfection. Beav's as Pac12 North champs? How about P12 overall champion? Would be a pretty amazing David versus Goliath story.

To me this isn't a normal blaming the refs situation. The ref who threw that flag literally won the game for Stanford. Without a doubt the worst call I have seen against the Ducks in many many years.....maybe ever.....considering what was at stake. Many will say it's an excuse and they played poorly etc. etc. But at the end of the game they had done enough to win the game and did win the game, until one guy decides he is going to be bigger than the game. I don't think it was the refs pulling for Stanford though. I think it was just one guy who decided he wanted to be important today.