The Kamikaze Kid

I love how he stated how enthusiastic the team was for him to finish what he started by staying and winning the championship with UGA. After watching their own coach mail it in towards the end of the season then all together bail on them in a blink, this was a great first step towards building trust. He spoke repeatedly about talk only having meaning through action. I can see how he gets his guys to run through walls for him.

UGA's starting units will look much different after graduations and early departures. If anybody knows the weaknesses to their defensive schemes, Lanning does. Nobody will have any game film on UO's offense. Let's not put up the white flag just yet.

Wow! KT being straight up about Nike’s green and yellow NIL brick road. Don’t know which is the better recruiting pitch, Lanning’s epic D wins a championship or this.

Lanning’s D held #2 MU and #1 Bama to less combined points in two playoff games than Mario held Utah to in just one game. I’ll take the Fighting Lannings going 11-1.

UGA’s offense digs as many holes for them selves as the Ducks do.

Key symptoms: swollen head, delusions of grandeur and repeated mumbling about the early nineties as if it was yesterday.

Nice to know there’s a cure for purpleitous.

It was a bummer to see Herbert lose after everything he did to win but let’s also give Mariota props for how much he contributed to the win including that sweet late td.

24-23 UGA 145 255 2 4

The Chargers D won’t be confused with the ‘85 Bears. Just saying.

A reasonable year one goal would be for players to at least match their star level on the field. If that gets done, then they should be favored in 11 out of 12 games. With some decisive wins, backups should get plenty of reps to help contribute when injuries occur. With solid on field results, recruiting should hum along. The cupboard is far from bare. The coaching should drastically improve. A top ten season should be within reach.

I’m honestly more interested in who Lanning wants in his system than the guys Mario wanted in his. if even just a few guys follow him out west, half the starters could be Sewels, Flowes, and KTs.

If UO gets blown out by UGA then the playoffs are out of reach anyway. UO comes close in this national audience game, and they are now on the everybody’s radar and still in playoff contention. UO actually goes and wins the game, then they vault into the top five and the Lanning era is the talk of college football. I don’t really see a down side here except if they get blown out like Chip’s first game at Boise St.

And remember kids, the UO has just been his side job this whole time. Expect a quantum gear shift Tuesday morning.

It’s gotten so bad so fast in fuskie land that I’m now actually rooting for them to improve simply for the sake of PAC 12 respectability.

Am I the only one that thinks maybe Lanning dialed up a vanilla game plan knowing they were in win or lose? I’d expect a few kitchen sink surprises await Bama coming up.

I think we’re good at receiver but we may be thin in the DB department.

Mario = epic talk, minimal walk. Lanning = confident talk, epic walk. Just look at what the man has done for the UO in his part time while getting ready to obliterate the #2 in the country. I can't even imagine what it will be like when the Ducks get the full throttle fire hose pointed at them. We may see the lack of recruit signings as a blessing in disguise for a huge portal opening at Autzen after the championship. I think a very bright future will be coming at us at light speed while we are still in Mario's slow lane of expectations.

Maybe he was impressed with the UO's young scrappy receiving core at the Alamo Bowl. Stranger things have happened.

After four years of slow plodding offense that resulting in weekly escapes from defeat, our stubborn coach felt vindicated in his refusal to change after one lower case w after another. At this point, I feel that we all suffer from what I'd cal Mario syndrome. In Lanning's open letter to the UO fan base (his introductory press conference) he wisely addressed most of our concerns. He said that his offense was going to revolve around explosion plays. I am sure in his UO research he saw all of the two yard passes mixed in with perpetual runs up the middle. He obviously felt that this was such a concern to the fans that it needed to be addressed. The OC he is bringing in was the guy behind those high flying Memphis offenses from a few years back. I'd expect more of a turn in that direction. He also stated that every decision that gets made will be evaluated and improved upon all the way down to which hotels to stay at and pregame routines. I'm sure being a defensive mastermind, he must have found Mario's mule headed desire for repetitive plod ball more cringe worthy than we did. On the subject of limiting the expectations of what can be recruited here, we need to get a grasp on the fact that UO may have just had it's most significant recruiting promo last week (UGA thumping MU) since the Dennis Dixon magic show at the Wolverines den. With a potential bigger one in another week, we may see a tsunami of five star interest heading our way.

I'm not sure we are even all on the same page about what the Pac 12 even is. As fans, we see it as an athletic conference like the Big 10, 12 and SEC. I think the conference presidents see it as an exclusive social club more like the Ivy League. I think they prioritize their elite membership over competing with other conferences for athletic supremacy and national branding. Anyone paying attention to the fast changing organization of conference realignment could see that the Pac is falling far behind at an alarming rate. To the Pac 12 presidents, the prestige of membership out ways all other concerns. By any logical metric, the Pac 12 Network would be considered a dismal failure but to the Pac presidents, it's their pride and joy because it's theirs and theirs alone. Against this back drop, how could the UO even consider leaving to join another more successful conference if it meant giving up club membership to the most exclusive club around? Would Harvard consider leaving the Ivy league for more financial gain in the ACC? Of course not and that is what I'm concerned about that is the heart of the problem. We may be stuck on a sinking ship because the captain doesn't want to suffer the indignity of unlocking the life boats.

First one to 100 wins.

While game planning to mow down MU on the way to the championship, he's also solidifying the Ducks staff and players while appearently taking up a new hobby of tormenting the Fuskies. Busy guy.

This is a major problem with limited playoff births. With a 12-16 team field, the posers get revealed early. An undefeated team does deserve in or what's the point of even pretending the the system isn't rigged. Cincy should have to prove they belonged by winning a 6-11 type match up. Get past that and then it's on to a 3-6 game. Win that and you've earned a spot in the final four.

Without an expanded playoff, expect more of the same. College football today is much like basketball was In UCLA's heyday when only conference champions made the tourney. Even a 27-3 second place USC missed out as did all those great Kamikazie Kid teams the Ducks had in the 70's. Alabama is the new UCLA and the UGA's and tOSUs are their Kansas and North Carolina equivalents. When basketball expanded the field, more teams had a shot and March Madness was born. If football doesn't do the same, 99% of teams will just be wasting their time and fan interest will wane. You already see the apathy setting in for both fans and players towards the bowls.