Grandpa Duck

I am enjoying the escape from the confines of the Pacific Time Zone.

Lots of good points, Oregon123, particularly that a strong Oregon State program redounds to the benefit of all of the state, including OBD. One thing, though, it’s not a probability that the good OSU players will transfer, that is already happening. Addicus Sappington?

This coming Saturday night the Sam Houston Bearkats, 0-8, will be in Corvallis to give the 17.5 point favorite OSU Barkrats an opportunity to make it three in a row! Will fans storm the field again should their team get the trifecta? “Barkrats vs. Bearkats” , there’s poetry in that.

This is not the first time Oregon has been a leader in pass defense stats. Way back, in the days of coach Don Reed, or thereabout, at this time of the season Oregon led the passing stats for at least the Pac-?? (not sure what the number was for the PAC, but it probably was 8 or 10). The Ducks did not have anywhere near the quality of DB's we have now at that time. The reason we had the best pass defense stats was simple. Our run defense was so bad no opponent needed to run the risk of throwing the ball. They just ran it up the middle and bead the crap out of us. I know this was the era when the beavers beat us eight years in a row with nothing more than a big fullback. There were two of them, Shilling and Pifer. Spelling may be wrong. Each of those fullbacks started as a freshman and when the first graduated the second came in. The Ducks would be ahead at half time and the beavers would just start running the ball up the middle. In those days Autzen was a mud field. If you were around then you know what I am saying is true. If you were not around then, count that among your blessings.

The the mighty beaver back yard ( never was a “Nation”), prevails!

Coug’s miss a short field goal to stay behind 10-7 with 1:05 left in game.

The “New World PAC 2” Cougars are still doing their utmost to reach back into their past and “Coug it” for the rodents.

OH, NO, MARIO!!! Never was a coach more “snake bit.”

For Utki, PERS is not funded by taxpayers. The money an Oregon coach pays from his or her salary into PERS is matched by the Oregon Athletic Department which is not taxpayer supported. That money is invested by the Oregon State Treasurer in the same investments that State of Oregon funds are invested. Those investments have earned a lot of income over the years and the return for retired former State of Oregon employees from the investment of their own money is substantial. However the PERS funds are totally separate from any tax revenue. The taxpayers of Oregon do get a huge benefit because the total funds the State of Oregon Treasurer has to bargain with potential sources of investment are greatly enhanced by having the PERS funds along with taxpayer funds. The entire PERS funds, which grow every year, are there for investment. However the taxpayer funds decline to a low amount with each two-year State budget. Yes, I get a monthly PERS benefit, but none of it comes directly from the taxpayers. I worked for SAIF Corporation, which, like the Athletic Department, is not taxpayer supported. SAIF is totally dependent upon premiums paid by Oregon employers.

Oregon has the No. 1 pass defense in the country at 124.5 yds per game and the #4 defense overall. tOSU is No. 1 and Iowa No. 2. Some of the OBD defensive players are young and will be Ducks for several more years. Our quarterback, Dante Moore, started the first four games playing, pretty much, at the level of Bo Nix’ second season and Dillon Gabriel’s only season as a Duck. So, he was being compared to the two quarterbacks who have more college football experience than any others, ever. Nix started 61 games, Gabriel, 64. Nix was not well regarded in his early years at Auburn, and Gabriel had detractors at Oklahoma. He admitted that his spring ball as a Duck was pretty rough. Each of them opted for more college football at Oregon because they felt that they were not ready for pro ball, and they were correct. For each their best season was their last season. Both are starting in the NFL, and both started as rookies. Oregon did well by them. Dante’s first four starting games as a Duck were against probably the weakest defenses OBD will face this year. He came out of the blocks going full speed ahead. He was not sacked in any of those games. When he came on the field against Indiana Dante had previously started 10 games, five of which were at UCLA. As fans, we were spoiled and had unrealistic expectations. Dante is in only the early stages of learning how to deal with a pass rush. As he gets more experience, he, and OBD, will be just fine with him leading the team. While we don’t like to use him much, the OBD punter, James Ferguson-Reynolds, is a weapon other teams must spend a lot of time preparing to face. He can kick the ball a good distance using a standard kicking style, and he can place the ball well with a “sidewinder” style. Also, he can run and pass very well, making the fake punt option available on every punt. So, we fans have a lot to be happy about, and, I believe, much to look forward to.

Remarkable that this deep into a thread about uniforms no one has mentioned that by rule the visiting team wears white jerseys unless there is an agreement between the teams before the season.

During much of the second half, Brock Thomas’ best plays were handling errant center snaps that totally destroyed timing. Putting Moore back in the game would have been extreme gross negligence under the conditions. Thanks to Thomas, OBD avoided what could have been two or three turnovers. And, Thomas managed to avoid giving up the ball to Wisconsin without a trace of Panic!

LaMichael James had amazing moves and feet. Didn’t have Davison’s power, but he could go sideways as well as any I have seen.

Bo Nix just hit Franklin for a TD in Broncos v. Cowboys. Either the third or fourth connection between the two for the day. For me it's CBS on Comcast.

Maybe there is a quarterback out there who can be successful “without good protection “, but from what I saw against Indiana and Wisconsin that quarterback is not starting for OBD. It amazes me that those two opponents’ pass rushers have no difficulty getting into our backfield and our pass rushers couldn’t find theirs with GPS.