Joshua Whitted

I love that they're bouncing ideas off of one another since each has a background on the opposite side of the ball. It really is a good example of how smart, non-egotistical coaches can work together to form something special.

Thank you for reading and commenting, I really appreciate it and I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Good stuff all around, Hayward, and I think you make a really good point about potential transfer quarterbacks moving forward that are in situations that Nix was in before he transferred. DJU in particular is a great example.

This is a really good shot, I imagine this was an outside zone, too. Really surprised he didn't push hard outside that outside edge blocker.

I think you make some very good points, Hayward. I also agree that win or lose, Lanning still might end up being the better coach, but it will take some time to determine that.

Charbonnet is LEGIT. I think he's right up there with Bijan and Corum. We did do a really good job containing him last season, hopefully we can do the same this time around.

Well, I think if we were making marginal offensive progress, it wouldn't be much to write home about, but the offense has really, really hummed since the UGA game. I mean, over 600 yards of offense against a surprisingly good WSU defense is noteworthy, and the fact that we're 17th nationally in total offense despite doing absolutely nothing against UGA just speaks to how dominant the unit has been since. I'm certainly not crowning Nix as the next great Oregon QB, just really impressed with his improvement, and his play has been the biggest reason the offense has improved so dramatically.

Very impressive to see what Dillingham has been able to do with Nix. I can't wait to see what he's able to do with other QBs down the road.

He looks like a completely different player, and I certainly did not see this level of progress coming.

Thank you for reading, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Yeah, BYU is very well coached and collectively they play way better than their talent. It is a really good measuring stick opponent for the Ducks. Georgia is out of our league, and obviously we're out of EWU's.

I think this is a very fair point regarding the toughness of this year's team. I think it was pretty impressive to see them dominate as much as they did in their get right game. It seemed like they took that beating at the hands of Georgia personally, as they should have.

Love the input from everyone in this thread. There are so many factors that could determine the outcome of this game; turnovers are definitely going to be a big one. I apologize for not responding to each comment directly, and for this being a little light from a research standpoint. I'm still getting back in the swing of writing articles again after some time off, but I'm so excited to get this season kicked off and contribute another round of articles this season!

To answer my own question, I'd argue the BYU game is up there with the Utah game in terms of importance. The Utah game is big, as another loss, especially in a blowout, would really be a bad look for a program that should be in contention for a conference title. The BYU game is important for the course of the season. Going 1-2 to start would be a rough way to get Lanning's debut season kicked off, and the Cougars are definitely going to be a tough out.

One of the biggest travesties in recent college football history is how badly Cristobal and Arroyo stifled Herbert...