C J

Huh? Nebraska 33 Arizona 0???

I think at this point predicting Cristobal's future output is coming into focus. After four seasons we have seen the same issues on offense each and every year. We had the best QB in the nation in 2019 and watched him plod along trying to battle in a phone booth leading to very inconsistent showings from him. I believe the writing is on the wall. To me the decision from Mullens is obvious. Either let Miami buy Cristobal away or we suffer with who knows how many more years very similar to this one because without a Herbert on the roster there is no way we are going to be competitive in big games (sans the fluke in the shoe).

Wilcox and Musgrave? Kiffin? Fickell? Jamey Chadwell? Whittingham? Offer any of these guys $7 million and we have a new and in my opinion better coach then the one we currently have. Recruiting may drop off but I don't care. Not to be a broken record but I would much rather watch 3* guys give 110% and score a lot of points then continue to watch what we have seen for four seasons now.

I certainly don't know for sure but I too am very concerned by the number of injuries during non-contact in practice. It's one thing to have a handful of injuries but it's another to have a high percentage of your entire team getting hurt like this. I definitely think a much closer look into this is warranted. My personal theory is that it's a combination of too physical of practices and mostly that the training regiment focuses too much on power and too little on flexibility and ease of movement.

Yes, the one constant variable is Cristobal so this is a logical conclusion. Six primary coordinators (offensive and defensive) in five seasons??? Houston we have a problem.

Yes, this made sense a long time ago. This IS the way. Did Mario stick with AB hoping to win as many games as he could this year to improve his resume? Hope not, but it makes you wonder. He should of been playing for a playoff spot next year or more likely in 2023. Did he not play the long game for a reason?

Yes, Whittingham and Utah deserve praise. So much so that if I were Rob Mullens I would be getting in touch with Whittingham to see how he feels about a $7-9 million dollar salary per year to coach the Ducks for his last 5 seasons before he retires.

Short term impact for long term gain. What will be will be. I am at peace with it.

Without a doubt. Helfrich, Frost, Greatwood, Campbell, Ratcliffe and Aliotti don't get as much credit as they deserve.

Yes, I think this is a fair premise. That was definitely a team who looked like they quit before the game ever started. There is a very good chance they know specifics about things we don't know. Something hasn't seemed quite right about this team this whole season, you can't really put your finger on it but it feels like Cristobal has sort of lost the team (and possibly part of his staff). Not entirely and it may be subtle, but my guess is the same sort of angst and frustration all of us fans have felt has also been felt by some players and staff. The little (and some big) things pile up. For instance deciding to go with Brown and then sticking with him even though it was clear he was limited very early on. The game management mistakes that just won't seem to go away, the penalties (especially at very inopportune times i.e. 3rd and 2 drive killers), the inconsistent play, the lack of desire.....the list can go on but why bother. Hopefully better fortune will favor us in future years.

Yep, I didn't see anyway we were going to keep Utah from scoring less than 30. This is going to be another long night on defense folks. Although I have to ask myself.....once again........why in the F&*! did Mario not ask for them to look at that horrible spot on 4th down????? That's coaching, that's a basic part of being the coach for a college team. Rising did not get that first down and these 7 points should not be on the board right now.

PAC 12 Network folks are saying 80% Utah fans to 20% Duck fans. That is a bad sign. Utes are playing for something deeper. Will they want it more? They have the fans behind them.....essentially a home game for them. We shall see how our Ducks come out and respond to a mountain of variables stacking up against them.

We shall see tonight, but I generally agree with your points of view. The question I ask myself is do I prefer watching a team winning ugly in most games and losing a few games each season that we should easily win or would I rather watch an unconstrained offense win all the games we are supposed to win because we are boat racing teams by 3+ scores, but we occasionally run into a team that can score more points or perhaps their defense completely stifles us? Unfortunately it is much more complicated than just having a new more offensive minded coach come in. I don't know the right answer but I do know I should be more grateful for Cristobal then I have been in the past. I am trying but I still find myself frequently frustrated.

Like everyone else is saying the key will be to start fast. That might mean choosing to receive the kick off if we win the opening game coin toss. Come out on the first possession and throw a deep ball to Donte Thornton or Devon Williams on the first play from scrimmage. Throw a high rainbow (not a deep conservative overthrow as we have seen many times this year) and let one of those tall physical receivers see if they can go up and make a play right out of the gates. When it works, and I think it will, run up to the line of scrimmage and rip off another 2 running plays with blur speed. Play the rest of the quarter in 2 minute offense mode looking for open receivers in the flats underneath the Utes zone and when they move up burn them deep again. These are the kind of things I would try if I were coaching this game tonight. You are not going to be able to run over the Utes the way we did OSU, UW and WSU the past several weeks. We will have to have a completely new game plan tonight.

At this point I agree with this statement. While I think it would severely hurt us in the short term I think a lot of us fans would be much happier in the long term with a different style of play at Oregon. As for JM, I do somewhat agree with the premise of the article. There is too much smoke for there not to be a fire. Mycah Pittman and two other highly recruited receivers bailing after observing the Oregon offense this season and let's be honest folks.....it's been four years and this IS the offense for Oregon. It's not changing....and it's not going to change under Cristobal. Love the recruiting but at the end of the day I would rather watch hungry 3 star guys give 110% effort and put up about 40 points a game.....even if it means we lose more games 48-40. Personally I am interested in watching a team that throws it 40-50 times per game.

I am going to have to agree along the same lines as Jon's prediction. Whittingham is too good to see his team drop off that much...or at least enough for us to get the advantage. Utes 36 Ducks 28 1 turnover created 1 sack 215 yards passing From what I saw of Utah a few weeks ago they are better in every facet of the game. Better running back, better quarterback play and this one hurts the most but better in the trenches on both sides of the ball. When you throw in how much better they are on special teams it becomes an avalanche. A lot of predictions above are counting on the Ducks defense to hold Utah below 28 points, but I don't see that as a possibility. Ducks to the Alamo bowl versus...........maybe Oklahoma?????

What a load of malarkey from Sankey. Upsets by underdogs in championship games is exactly the kind of dynamism that is needed in college football. In no other sport that I know of (high school, college or pros) are decisions about who makes the playoffs based on the teams that a board thought were the best. No, it is decided by records over the course of a given season within a league/division. What a joke.

To be honest I have lost some faith that simply recruiting the highest starred players results in direct outcomes on the field. I still think it matters, as obviously many of the best recruiting teams are dominating the playoff landscape. But I don't see our team or USC really benefitting that much more than other teams like Utah, Oregon State, Washington State etc. Now Lincoln Riley might change this, but generally speaking there is decent parity in the Pac 12 even with Oregon and USC out-recruiting everyone else by a long shot.

I can only imagine Altman's discussion with the team about the defensive effort tonight against UC Riverside. It was atrocious. They gave up so many easy buckets to small guards driving to the rim. Not to mention a good amount of offensive rebounds. Offense looked real good in the first half but sputtered for a good 10+ minutes just before half and well into the 2nd half. Lot's of dribbling by Richardson and very poor ball movement during that part of the game for the Ducks offense. Overall though I really liked seeing Richardson be assertive and Dante is on the precipice of becoming a major contributor.

I agree that relatively the market isn't as saturated in So Cal, but the market is so big that even with the greater lack of interest than in the south it still makes for a pretty big footprint. With a winning team they could easily begin to fill the coliseum again. This hire for USC will have a big impact on our program. In both negative and positive ways. I don't think Riley will fall flat on his face, but you're right that his defenses could leave some vulnerability and opportunities to exploit.

Yep, we will smell it all the way over here in Oregon. This would be a really big bummer. Go Bulldogs!!!! End this madness. My hope is for a 1 Georgia vs. 4 Ok St. and 3 Cincinnati vs. 2 Michigan final four. The most interesting playoff group since the first year with Oregon in it.

I could see paying Cristobal $6-7 million per year but I don't think he will get into the upper echelon with Kelly, Riley, Saban, Tucker, Smart etc. etc. If $6-7 is not enough for him then we should walk and find someone else.

I am not convinced that being the head coach at Akron is an upgrade from being the OC at Oregon. Must be a real personal decision for him I guess. Hope it's not partially due to not having a shared vision with Cristobal.

Wow, that is an intense article. I definitely agree with the premises though. Not sure why Kelly wouldn't say I will take the job after the season finishes up. I suppose because of the recruiting signing period?

What I continue to be miffed by is Trey Benson. He is consistently listed as the #2 running back but I rarely if ever see him on the field. He looked great on the few carries he has had this season though. Perhaps he is still a bit banged up?