C J

Wow, what a mistake prone team this is. Special teams is unbelievable. Katleman is the only bright spot.

Wow........special teams is a major achilles heel for this team. Year in and year out.

Well, save for one great play by Popo the D does not look good at all. Granted ISU has a very good looking offense with great play calling but.......................

Well that's the game for ISM. Hopefully someone will step up for his loss. Dru Mathis? What happened to Isaac Townsend anyway?

How about Popo's submarine move on that fourth down stop at the goal line? Two epic plays by Oregon's big men in this game so far. #1 was Kampmoyers block and #2 was Popo's. Further proof that the big guys make a huge difference in the game.

Thing is..........Shough looked really good in the first drive as well. I don't mind the committee.

What can Brown do for you? Turns out a lot.

Huh????? I thought you were down on Avalos? How would Helf help with that?

Finally got the big STOP!!!

Guess that answered your question.

Unable to get stops on two big third downs (including the busted coverage touchdown pass) and one fourth down play during that drive. Those are back breakers for a defense. I am concerned our D is going to get winded in this game. Somebody should be assigned to Koler full time. Purday will look for him time and time again.

That was classic!! THAT is fundamentals at their best. We need the D to do the same. Break down, slow down and wrap up. There is no reason to try to knock a guy out of his cleats.

Like a knife through butter for the O. Hope they stay consistent with Shough throwing it down field.

If Jamal Hill makes that fairly easy tackle on 3rd down that drive is a whole different situation. That's the fundamentals of the game. That's how you lose if you don't play fundamentals.

Everything has been covered here pretty well. The bottom line is: will (or maybe it is can) Cristobal hand the offensive game plan over to Moorhead and say "it's your game from the start to the end to offensively manage"? I think we all agree that it boils down to this simple premise. I wish there was some way to know whether or not this has already been happening. Perhaps what we have seen this year is 100% Moorhead, but it sure seems if it were then the game plans would of been similar to what he had done in the past with other teams he coached.

The simple answers to your questions Mike is "NO". The Ducks offense just isn't anywhere near where those teams are at any of the positions you mention. In 2014 I never thought I would be saying something like this just 6 years later. I think it's the 2022/2023 playoff season before we maybe have the offensive pulse needed to compete, but there is a lot that depends upon that and by then we will be without Thibodeaux so that is a bummer. The big thing depends upon whether Ty Thompson pans out the way many say he should and same with the big time receiver recruits we have coming in. I am not too worried about the defense as the recruiting there looks pretty good, except for defensive lineman......which continues to be an achilles heel. I am also pretty confident that the O-line will bring whats needed to the table. A big x factor for me is the running back situation. I still haven't seen any RB recruits who have the ability to be transformational the way Trey Sermon was last night.

Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu is big, but I saw him get beat pretty bad a few times in the USC game, as he is a little slow off the block. I am not sure this is not a proactive decision to get the best functioning line in there together. Sorry about the all bold......can't seem to get it to turn off for some reason.

I am sticking with my previous predictions i.e. Ducks 28 Cyclones 24. Shough plays one of if not his best game in his favorite weather and with his family watching on. Moorhead opens up the playbook early and often allowing Shough to throw it downfield. Brown comes in for short yardage and pinched field situations to throw an extra wrench in ISU's defensive game plan. Mr. T shows up in a big way......I pity the fool who has him as their assignment. Surprise player of the game is Noah Sewell who plays all world with his hair absolutely on fire. He gets 2 sacks on Purdy. Lenoir gets a pick and Nick Pickett shows up and gives a workman like performance making a few big plays and redeeming his many shortcomings from previous games.

Not sure it will be 50/50 but I do think we will see both. As others have said it will probably come down to who can move the ball will stay in the longest.

Moorhead is definitely going to need to pull out every trick in the book to get ISU on their heels in this one. Only way we win is if Cristobal hands over the game plan to Moorhead and says "you take it from beginning to end". Our standard run game will get stuffed.....that is almost a guarantee. In fact our standard run game plan is pretty much already stuffed and the game doesn't start till Saturday afternoon. Misdirection will need to be the name of the game.

Culture (once again) has to be brought into the discussion. It doesn't exist on the west coast for football the way it does in the midwest and southeast. San Francisco as a hub for college football is almost an oxymoron......actually it is. As my new favorite character says "This is the Way" when it comes to the culture on the west coast.

One part of me says let him make a ton of money as a back up so he can save his body and enjoy the rest of his life. Another part of me wonders if he is happy with a back up role or would he rather be starting. My guess is he would, but he has gotten pretty beat up over the past 5 seasons so who knows. Either way I enjoy watching him play so I hope Gruden puts him in on Sunday. I will definitely be rooting for him.

Agreed. 28-24 with Shough showing a much better performance in front of his family and in his element weather wise.

Well, that didn't go how I hoped. Colorado defense no showed in a big way. Local boy Sam Noyer looked horrible and got benched. Major bummer. Still a little surprised the coaches had him at second team all league.

I am hoping to see more use of Sean Dollars in space. Maybe some option read type plays with Anthony Brown and Dollars? I would also like to see Moorhead get the ball to Dollars in some short pass situations. I also hope to see the tight ends used in the flats as well as some screen plays that should take advantage of what I believe will be a very aggressive attack from ISU. On defense I hope Avalos (if he is still our coach) brings the house on 3rd and long and makes Purdy make accurate throws with a ton of pressure on him. I believe he will make some mistakes under this approach. I will be looking for a pick six from Lenoir in this one. I agree with everyone else though.........less pistol plunges and more of anything else please.