The Kamikaze Kid

The PAC went 0-5 in bowls last year. In a battle of two teams that saw their coaches leave before their bowls, UO was down 31-3 by halftime. The defending national champs and their fan base have the right to talk as much smack as they want. Duck fans feel that the team under performed due to sub par coaching and the team is much better than the results. I believe that as well but it will need to be shown on the field.

I think reporters should stop using terms like “going pro early “ or “ leaving to go pro”. Instead they should say a player quit school early hoping to make it in the pros. Every year in basketball, far more kids “go pro early “ than there are draft spots available. A few good games in college is not a red carpet walk to pro sports.

I'd say some dawg fans are delusional but the other Dawg aren't. Win a championship, talk all you want Dawg fans. 2-15, back to the dawg house you go fuskie fan.

Lanning seems to be intent on setting his own path. I don't see what the appeal of Bama would be for him. It seems to be more of a Kelly/ Helfrich transition. "Here's the keys to the Ferrari kid. It's all souped up and has a full tank of gas. Don't wreck it." Keep winning championships and it's just par for the course. Stop winning championships and you're a failure. The only move I'd be concerned about would be going pro. If he likes the advantage recruiting gives him, he may stay at UO for awhile. If he wants the challenge of a level playing field, he may leave. If he leaves after the Ducks win some championships, I'm sure they land on their feet just fine.

I think one of the biggest Duck stories to not come out was how not broke the Ducks were at the end of the Helfrich era. The biggest problems they had were defensive miss management. Both D coordinators Pellum and Hoke tanked a defense that had been humming along until then. The team had an instant turn around under Taggart with Herbert at QB but flailed with Bermister. I don’t think the Ducks were broke at all when Mario took over. He got WAY too much credit for the return to the top 25. It looks to me more like he was what kept them from being top 5.

I wonder how long until there’s an NIL dating website to match up athletic parents. In the world of ridiculous, you go big or go home.

Ironically, this is the type of game Mario envisioned winning with his ground and pound. This is also a game that his simplistic offensive mindset would have gotten shut out in. They will need both ingenuity and physicality to just move the chains let alone score. I see the Ducks going into this game playing with house money. Getting a win would be awesome but the learning experience no matter the outcome should expedite long term success.

UO 13 UGA 24 Breaking in a new QB, receivers and running backs against the best D in the nation is a tough way to start. Outside of a probable loss, you really couldn't ask for a better sink or swim game out of the gate for the new coaching staff to evaluate players, schemes and themselves. The Ducks will likely take their lumps but be better for it in the end.

Oregon has a three game win streak and nobody even really cares. Fuskies have not had a three game win streak since before the pick. Nuff said.

Oregon won't really start recruiting until September 3. That's when the talk turns to walk and the world finally sees what the team, coaches and players look like. If the direction of the team appears to be back on track towards national prominence, things will take care of themselves.

"Only three things can happen when you throw the ball, and two of them are bad." Pretty much sums up Mario's offensive philosophy.

I don’t think ranking the Ducks in the zone (10-15) where they usually hangout is all that shocking. That’s around where they were last year until the coach mentality then physically checked out on the team. Ranking a 4-8 dumpster fire (USC), with a new head coach seems way shakier to me.

At the end of the close elite eight Virginia game, 5 star Louis King played hero ball to try to win it but all I wanted was for whatever star Paul White to take a shot that had a 50/50 chance of going in. I'd way rather see some decent four stars stick around 3-4 years and develop good team chemistry than a bunch of 5 star one and dones just use the UO for a highlight reel before heading pro. Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish all on the same team not only didn't win a championship, they nearly got bounced by Taco Fall. Seems like if Altman can land top level one and dones, he could build a solid team that he could coach up. It was fun watching guys like Freddie Jones and the Lukes go from freshmen with potential to legit top ten draft picks. Will we even remember who was on this team five years from now?

This new top down philosophy of "How can I get better everyday?" is blowing my mind. What a change from "I'm the smartest guy in the room." Mario. I believe we've gone from top ten players with top fifty coaching to top ten players with top five coaching. Not only is the future looking bright, it's looks to be arriving much sooner than expected.

The UO QB had a tougher time against Stoneybrook than he did in an NFL preseason game.

To me, the biggest problem with Scott was that he perfectly personified the out of touch fine wine and caviar mentality of the university presidents. They all saw the Pac as an exclusive gated community and not the isolated runt of the liter the conference has become.

After a 2022 season of three yards and a cloud of punt, they'll need to add another lane to the exit portal.

I think a preseason Pac/ ACC bowl doubleheader in LA would be a solid move.

It's always bothered me that someone has to win when USC and ND play.

fuskie brain: If you just flipped around 2-15, it'd be 15-2. Take that Duck fans!

"I'm happy where I'm at." = "Per$uade me to change my mind."

Fuskies hoping to return to the Chris Peterson glory days when he went a whopping 2-4 against the Ducks.

Solidify the Pac with top choice Mountain West teams (SD St, UNLV?). From there, talk with interesting teams that are about to join the Big 12 (Houston, Cincinnati, BYU), once the Pac is a solid 14 or so, go for the top Big 12 teams that you can get (Baylor, Ok St). End up with a good 16-18 team conference. That seems like a logical progression to me.

From Brooks to Kelly, UO built overwhelming teams with underwhelming talent (based on star ratings). With MC, we adopted the USC model of underwhelming teams with overwhelming talent. It feels like the Ducks are going to finally be putting the best of both worlds together. The UGA game may be more than they can chew right out of the gate but after that, this may be a legit top ten team. The offense should be the funnest to watch since the Mariota days but the D may be venturing into uncharted waters. The season can't get here fast enough for me.

Bravo LH! I’d add that injuries should also be included in the the Mario effect. Between his strength and conditioning plan and full speed practices all the time, the UO injury list seemed to be at an all time high.