Desert Duck

"... rumors that 5-7 Cal is heading to the Gator Bowl..." I can't get past the part about a 5-7 team going to any bowl game, for any reason. I'd hope embarrassment alone would keep a 5-7 program from accepting . But then again, I'm old.

Billy Beane: "There are rich teams, and there are poor teams. Then there's 50 feet of crap. And then there's us." In NO WAY am I suggesting that our program is crap. We have a fine program. However, in the world of winning, there's Alabama... and occasionally another team from the SEC, and then there's everybody else. Today, CFB is all about the Benjamin's -- and in reality, has been for quite sometime. The transfer portal, and the NIL, simply moved it into the stratosphere.

Regarding how did they miss him as a high school recruit, yes, he broke his leg early in his junior season at Sheldon and was gone for the season. However, he came back his senior season and put up exceptional numbers. But perhaps the even bigger impact is that he attended very few camps, etc, which is where most of the scouting is done these days. So, by midway through his senior year, he was on almost nobody's radar. I remember when Justin's name came up regarding Oregon. I then talked to a close friend who was a coach at Sheldon who gave me his take. He could not say enough positive things about him. He said that his teammates absolutely loved playing with/for him, that he was wicked intelligent, that he had all the physical gifts and tools... oh yeah -- and that this big 6'5" kid was actually fast too. From what I understand, at first Oregon was trying to get him as a walk-on... and nearly lost him to Montana. Oregon pretty much just lucked out, IMHO. Another 'local' kid who put up crazy numbers was the highly talented Eric Dungey from Lakeridge -- who went on to have a very impressive career at Syracuse. Eric was/is a great athlete, great kid, and held a 4.0+ GPA. From what I understand, Oregon didn't even give him a sniff. And at this Christmas time of the year, something about a prophet not being welcome in his home town comes to mind as well.

"How did all the great recruiters miss him?" Because the Oregon coaches kept Justin hidden, and reined in, all in plain sight. At least until the last 2 games of his career at Oregon when they recognized we wouldn't have a chance again Utah & Wisconsin unless they removed the reins from our stallion. By then, the scouts understandably didn't know what in the world to think.

Unless a guy is an absolute lock in the first 3 rounds of the draft, I would think that the NIL money grab opportunity would help to keep them around for another year or two. There's no question that many of these guys will have a much greater opportunity to make bank by staying in college and exploiting the ever-lovin' daylights out of the current Wild-West NIL. NIL controls will at some point in the next few years have to be implemented. But for college athletes out there right now, at this moment in time, the fields will likely never be greener.

Basically back to the pre-playoff days and an AP champion.

Exacty. My first thought: "Glass Houses."

Under today's FBS CFB, I'm not sure what's left to sanction? When a team can virtually purchase a recruit, and legally do it in plain view, I'm not sure what's left to sanction.

My first thought in today's FBS CFB is what "under the table recruiting" violations are there left to violate? I mean just this side of coaches doing something like directly hiring ladies of the evening for recruits and paying for it with a university check, there almost appears nothing left to violate.

"Losing hurts Oregon very little." Other than the fact that losing this game would likely instantly knock us out of the playoff chase. IMHO, the PAC12 simply doesn't have the conference strength to get us back into the hunt.

It will be interesting to see which of our young QBs stick around for another year.

"Barren Wasteland" Ouch... At least this guy doesn't beat around the bush. Sadly, in regards to college football, I'm afraid the facts and data say he's right. The last time the PAC had an outright national football champion, Nixon had just crushed McGovern in '72 (USC). Since then, USC shared the title in '74, and the UW in '91. The 2004 USC title doesn't exist. Of the 32 teams who have participated in the College Football Playoffs since 2014, only 2 have been from the PAC12. So, the PAC12 has a lot of work to do. One thing that I am particularly pleased with is that Mario showed us that Oregon can recruit star athletes. Hopefully that will continue under Lanning.

If your assessment proves to be sadly accurate, maybe we should mix things up just to confuse OU and consider punting on 3rd down now and then... you know, just to keep OU on their toes .

At the end of the day, for me the important question is, "Do the kids & recruits like it?"

"I'm glad you brought that up. It was green before!" The brown trees reminded me of the tree on the primary Oregon license plate when the state first came out with that plate design... that tree was also brown. The public rightfully objected and they changed it. No idea why anyone would have thought that representing Oregon with a burned out looking tree on our primary license plate could have ever seemed like a good idea. At the time, I thought that maybe next license plate option they might come out with would be the "Stump Plate" -- jk . Anyway, the first time I saw the floor was on TV, and I couldn't stand it. Then, after seeing it in person, I liked it -- a lot. Unfortunately, about 98% of people who have watched Duck basketball, only see it on TV. And I don't think a design should have to "grow" on people. And, IMHO, at a minimum, the brown burned out looking trees have got to go. With all of this being said, I 100% love, appreciate, and respect the history and creative tribute behind the concept. Frankly, I think there's some impressive creative genius at work in there.

"You'll be starting. Guaranteed." Well... I suppose there is that . But knowing that there's a strong likelihood that while you might be getting some significant PT, but getting in a losing team, I would hope would not appeal to most 4/5 star recruits. On the other hand, maybe he just drank really hard on the, "Your class is the year we turn the program around," kool-aid. Plus, the sunshine and almost year round summer fashion attire might have a draw for some 18 year old kids (I'm referring to the sunshine from October through May. Outside of that, it just hotter than hades). Anyway, onward and upward the Ducks go.

Charles - It's obvious and evident to anyone who comes to Fishduck.com that you have put a tremendous amount of work and effort into it. The fact that you provide a healthy environment for Duck fans to come and share, and all without ads, is a wonderful thing. As adults, we all know that nothing is free, and when we are using something of value, we all recognize that somebody is paying for it. In light of this, I would not be remotely shy about making the "Donate" button prominent. I think you have created something of significant value here. Now that I have been enjoying your site for about a month, I will be clicking on the donate button and sending a "thank-you" your direction.

I was laughing so hard at the "Just Like Little Brother" one --- so much so that I had to share it with my wife.

I certainly can appreciate that reasoning. But Arizona has such a terrible football program that it still surprises me he would flip to the Wildcats... even with 3 of his buddies going there.

It was very encouraging to see them show up last night and give Baylor a run for the money. We've got the talent, perhaps they're beginning to come together. Here's to hoping last night was the game where they turned the corner.

"Beavers embarrassing Pac 12" After what our Ducks did in our last 2 out of 3 games, something about glass houses and rocks comes to mind.

I have no idea who will win... but GO UTES!

After all that's happened, like most of us, I can sadly understand the kid choosing another school. But ARIZONA? Are you kidding me? How does a kid eyes-wide-open dump Oregon and choose the often perennial cellar-dweller Wildcats? Since 2001, Arizona has compiled a record of 108-138, while attending several memorable and highly prized bowls such as the Advocare V100 Bowl (yeah... I'd never heard of it either). This poor kid is definitely going to need to "Bear-Down" hard in Tucsan. And now that the NCAA has sanctioned / is sanctioning the ever-lovin' daylights out of UA's basketball program, he won't even have a winning basketball team to go and watch. There has got to be more to this story. Maybe he just loves the gorgeous, high desert, Catalina Mountains. Sure, that's the ticket.

Excellent article, Charles. I tend to agree with your take. I also appreciate Coach Moorhead's willingness to take on this very challenging assignment -- especially after the year he has had. I love the fact that the program offered him a bit of a shot at redemption while on his way out, and he chose to seize the opportunity. He deserves it, all the kids certainly deserve it, and so do us fans.

Right! And two years later, Justin is hands-down one of the top QBs in the NFL... which is so wonderful to see happen. And all the more exposes MC.