Lucca0923

We Coug’ed It. (Now, please WSU, don’t Coug it against the hated Huskies.)

Compare Lanning’s sportsmanship against what that jerk Urban Meyer did in the 2015 National Championship game. He kept his starters in the last four minutes to run up the score when Ohio State was already up 35 to 20. It was pretty clear that our beloved Ducks were not going to win. Not only did Meyer deny his second and third stringers a chance to get on the field in a championship game, but he risked possible injury to his starters. On any given play, there is a chance for 22 young men of serious, life long injury. Making them play more past the point of the game being decided just for a coach’s ego is a sign of a coach who shouldn’t be trusted. That kind of “It’s not my job to stop my offense” mentality should have gone out the door with the coaches who down played concussions as “just a little dinged up.”

While it’s great to get a win— we probably should have lost this. I hope Lanning lets them enjoy it for a short while and then rips them of lack of discipline. We’re not going f t9 win many rough games with that those kind of stupid penalties, missed tackles, and lack of concentration.

OMG, what I was just saying - no discipline. That was a killer penalty.

We don’t seem to be playing with any discipline - sloppy tackling, penalties, etc.

This is such terrible news. He appeared to be a fine young man who was respected by his teammates for his skills as well as his character. My thoughts go out to his family.

I agree with several of the comments about how stretching the field with long balls opens up the running game, and how an intercepted bomb is basically the equivalent of a punt. (Few interceptions of bombs lead to pick sixes like a short down and out.) But also remember that long balls require the offensive line to block longer which can increase the frequency of either sacks or holding calls, both of which move the team backward.

While it wasn’t a key playoff game, the 2015 game against the hated Huskies in Seattle was one of the most enjoyable. Living in Seattle, I heard all week from UW fans that this was the year they broke the streak (11 games at that point) because Mariota was finally gone and transfer Vernon Adams had a broken finger. And, the Huskies had started out hot in Chris Peterson’s second year. Then we broke their backs with Adams making some great third and fourth down plays by scrambling and passing. There are few better times than sitting in Husky Stadium when we dash their hopes.

I also disagree with this comment about Kyle W. He’s a pretty principled guy as far as coaches go. I remember reading that when Pharoah Brown blew his knee out in a horrific injury during the Ducks 2015 victory at Utah and had to stay in the hospital there for over a week, Witt visited him several times with different Ute players after practice. This was in the heels of a tough loss to us. Shows class.

I was on the Oregon track team as a freshman (javelin) and was around our sprinters for some workouts, The guys who ran the 400 always seemed to be the best all around athletes on the team, next to the pole vaulters. It’s a gut bomb race. Years later, my daughter was about to run her first 400 in a middle school track meet. I joked to her before the start that in the 400, if you don’t puke at the end of the race, you probably weren’t running hard enough. She went wide eyed. And then she went out and torched the field by at least 20 meters. Didn’t puke though. She still brings that story up. Sometimes, it’s just fun being a parent.

Growing up in Portland, I had an opportunity to meet Bill Walton when he first came to the Trailblazers and when I was a 16 year old gym rat (through circumstances that are interesting but not worth the time to explain now.). Walton was a very friendly person who took time to talk with a wide eye kid. What people might not know is that Bill suffered from a terrible stutter through most of his life. It was almost painful to watch him speak, which if it was for his listeners, you can imagine how it felt for him. After he retired from the NBA, he was advised by the long time announcer Marty Glickman to confront his fear head on and consider trying to be a broadcaster. It’s to his credit that not only was he able to overcome the stutter but has actively supported efforts to help others to confront this unfortunate affliction through the Stuttering Foundation.

I’m a proud Oregon native, and along with 5 others in my family, I’m an equally proud Oregon alum. But I’ve been living in the Seattle area —in the Belly of the Beast—for thirty plus years. Although it’s a beautiful part of the country, I can attest that many of the Husky fans are the most arrogant, self entitled people I’ve ever met. During the first one third of our 12 game winning streak starting in 2004, the atttitude of many of these fans was that the only way we beat them was through cheating, either on the field or in recruiting. The next one-third of that streak, their attitude was that things would soon change and go back to the “natural order.” (What arrogance!). And the last one third was highlighted by abject demoralization. Personally, that was the best phase. I agree that fixation on the Huskies should not be all encompassing. But a healthy hatred of your primary rival is part of what makes the game so fun. It hurts when we lose—I was in Autzen when they finally beat us—but it inspires the desire to work harder for the next game.

Cincinnati deserved to be in the game because they did during the season what has become standard for making the CFP: went undefeated all year. That is an incredibly difficult thing to do, as all Duck fans know. On any given Saturday, there is always a chance for an upset, which is why navigating the minefield of a competitive schedule (emphasis on ‘competitive’) should be rewarded. It’s one of the reasons we love the game so much. It’s also one the best reasons for an expanded play-off, either to 8 teams or preferably 16. It introduces a greater chance for the occasional upset that provides fans excitement. And it will eventually help introduce some parity across the country if more teams can say to recruits, yes, you have a chance to play for a championship with us.

The article is pretty spot on about the PAC-12 not being CFP competitive—as currently structured. However, a few thoughts give me a sense of optimism, not so much for 2022 as for the succeeding years. First, we will eventually have an expanded playoff system that opens more opportunity for conference champions, and the Ducks are, arguably, always in a legitimate hunt for the PAC 12 championship. Second. Nick Saban will eventually retire, and the follow-up act is going to be tough for whomever gets the nod. The shake-up is going to rile the SEC for for a couple years in terms of recruiting. Third, getting a player Bo Nix who could have almost had his pick of SEC and Big 10 teams to consider, shows that Oregon is still attractive on the national stage for recruits. It’s an acknowledgement that while the the recent PAC 12 success nationally has been limited, the PAC 12 can cycle back up. Just as cash tends to flow to where future (emphasis on future) opportunities look best, such as developing countries, talent often does too.

I’d like to never again see our secondary spotting receivers 10 yards when they only need 8 for first down.