Mudslide

Another bites the dust. UNLV fired Arroyo. UNLV fires coach Marcus Arroyo after three seasons WWW.ESPN.COM UNLV has fired coach Marcus Arroyo, who was 7-23 in three seasons.

Thanks for the article, Dazed. You bring up interesting candidates. Count me as another Garret Riley fan. And allow me to throw another hat in the ring. Jeff Lebby from UCF, their OC/QB coach. He has done wondrous things at all his coaching stops. He currently has UCF as a top 10 team in total offense. His teams there have averaged over 43 ppg for a couple of years in a row...netting top 5 NCAA scoring finishes. Earlier in his career, he coached RBs for five years. And for those five years, he had a 1,000 yard rusher in each of them. He was running backs Coach of the Year at Baylor. This dude can coach! I don't know a lot about his recruiting chops, but his coaching record speaks loudly.

Oregon 38-17 1 2 285

Hmmm...why don't we just take this nonsensical anti-civil war name idea to its nonsensical conclusion? Pardon the alliteration...how about we call it The Affable Acrimony? Or The Gracious Engagement? Those should make the schools' administrations feel safe.

The trick plays aren't the problem. It's the choice and ability of players to execute the plays that matter.

The U....minus 11 yards rushing in the first quarter. Couldn't see that coming.

The thing about this game is, of course, the injury story. The Ducks have 3 o-line starters that are doubtful, 3 d-line starters that are doubtful with one questionable, and also that big one, Nix. Unless most of these guys have a miraculous recovery at the trainer's table, a win is highly unlikely. Utah is a strong and mostly healthy team right now. Regarding the defense, this game is the one in which TL must unleash the blitzes and pressure. At the receiving positions, Utah has one incredible flanker, and is average otherwise. So it is possible to pressure with the Duck's talent. Our D has been very, very passive this entire season (though strong against the run!), which is quite unlike Lanning's Georgia D that could press and pressure everywhere.. So THIS is the time for the Ducks to defy D tendencies. Lastly, Ty Thompson. If you carefully watch the games he has been in, he never scans the opposing defense for a pre-read. He walks up to the line with his head down, staring at Forsyth's butt and doesn't look away until the snap. How can he possibly read the D? I believe he is stressed and spooked at the role...afraid of making mistakes is the likely culprit in my junior, pseudo-psychologist analysis. If Nix can't go, I too would like to see Butters get a shot at qb. So sadly, I think OBD are in the deep end with this game. I pray for the best, but without most of the injured returning and healthy, it likely won't end to our liking.

Ducks 45-24 2 3 298

NOT Van Dyke! I can run faster than he can and I've seen WAY too seasons.

Thanks, PotW. But I'm not done yet. I think... I'm just not sure if Charles will approve of my deeply inspired report on the fine Washington qb, Penix. I have a ton of Penix stories that poke holes in his hard stance on soft coverage. With the ball in his hands he could penetrate deep into Beaver territory last week. Unfortunately, he will not get over the hump against the Ducks this week with any deep shots down field. The Ducks will lay the offense of Washington's Penix completely impotent. And.........fill-in-your-own-joke.

I have a source that told me (exclusively) that he has a source that told him his other source said that most "journalists" are full of fill-in-the-blank. Just kidding. He actually said that DL is or is not considering the Auburn job. Further, he pointed out that the Regents are or are not considering letting USeeLA go to the B22G Conference. Lastly, he said there is or is not confirmation that SDSU will join the PAC. And there is some truth for you. I'm really tired of "journalists" quoting "unnamed sources" for their "information". Click bait. If they want to speculate, then speculate. If they want to pontificate, then pontificate. But if they want to give you information, prove it.

The Ducks should see a rankings bump with a stomping of the tail waggers. Udubblebubble checks in at #24 this week.

I have a little more hope for Georgia in this game. True, they lost a lot to the NFL draft last year. But the team returns a really solid core, especially at offense. So, it's also true that Tennessee is a different team from last year's humiliating loss at home to Georgia. But the main elements are still in place...including Hooker. It's my speculation that UT cannot stop the Dawg's rushing attack. Both teams will score a lot. But Georgia will mostly handle the 2011-Oregon-like gimmicks and speed, and will again humble the orange bunch.

This is really an enjoyable, interesting, and informative interview. Many thanks for finding it, Flaps.

I did a little research on the game I mentioned earlier in this thread. That year, 1975, SDSU was undefeated and ranked #13 in the country. They had crushed Oregon State 25-0 that year! Arizona came in ranked #15. Arizona came away with the last second win, 28-21. And there were over 55,000 fans in the sold out stadium. So SDSU can draw. Given all the metrics, if the PAC is to stay afloat, SDSU would be a decent addition to the conference.

The new Snapdragon Stadium is expandable to 55,000 (mostly to accommodate professional sports). IF SDSU joins the PAC, I think it is likely the stadium will be expanded to fulfill ticket demands. San Diego is a sports starved city since the Chargers left town. By the way, I grew up in San Diego and attended many events at San Diego Stadium/Jack Murphy Stadium/Qualcomm Stadium/whatever it was named at the time. I do NOT miss it. It was austere and located in a river bed that included more than a few (million) bugs. I went to SDSU and recall with angst when the home team was ranked and playing Arizona, who was ranked in the Top 10. The game was close and ended with SDSU in the redzone and fumbled on the last play at the 1. There was plenty of enthusiasm for the team and the game that night. I don't know the attendance, but it was near to filling Jack Murphy Stadium. So there is potential in adding the school to the conference.

Oregon 38-17 2 3 296

It may be irrelevant. Or it may not. But out of too-much-time-on-my-hands curiosity, and also because I'm a name kinda guy, I looked up the meaning of the name, Wilcox. Here is what Ancestry.com had to say about the Wilcox family history... English (Yorkshire Lancashire and Flintshire): variant of Wilcock with genitival or post-medieval excrescent -s. This form of the surname [Wilcox] is based on the pronunciation. Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022 One doesn't require a dictionary to decipher those key words. Maybe Mullens has an Ancestry membership. Or maybe, it was an amazing prescience by Mullens of what Wilcox might bring to the Ducks, no? Hmmm.....

This is a bit off subject. But how in hell does Graves do that with his fingers??!! 'Taint natural.

But TVD cannot run. He has amassed a TOTAL of 23 yards rushing in his three years at the U. He's a passer and a good one. But he doesn't run...which is integral to the Ducks' offense. If he does head to the portal (smart of him), it won't be to Oregon.

Fine show. This one is definitely worth a watch.

Oregon 31-24 3 4 255 The two best run defenses in the PAC. Lots of time off clock, but lots of passing, too. It's gotta be a really high scoring game...or a mishmash of runs, drips, and errors. Rain. I'm going with the latter.

Aw...I know. I was just trying to find an intro into (apparently not as humorous as I hoped) "recording" of Cozens and his/their record against "stiff" competition.

More hilarity is afoot. Many thanks for another delightfully funny article, Alan. But I have two further comments. First: I’m not an advocate of “Northwest nice.” But that’s only when it comes to things like love and war. And as we all know, football may as well be war, with terminology like “blitz,” “aerial attack,” “defensive line,” “long bomb,” and “Let’s annihilate those depraved and deranged Washington Huskies.” Indeed. Spoken like a divorced man. How about the football as "love" part? How about (just the G-rated versions) "cover", "stemming", "crush", "pass", "sack", or to include my wife's personal favorite, "split end"? I know, that last one is not spawned by love. But I hear it every day. Second: “Bruins.” It was the first and only time in UCLA history that they did not copy and steal from Cal. Having attended Cal, I take exception with your forgiveness on this single point. We have the recording! The first "coach" and Athletic Director at UCLA, Fred Cozens, said...and I quote..."Since we cannot think of a name for the school, let's call ourselves the 'Little Bears'". Someone, the brightest person on Cozen's staff then said, "Hey, aren't those called "Bruins"...little European bears?". Well, whadoyaknow?! The school had a, er, non-copied beginning at ... something. Second and a Half: And speaking of beginning...Uckla was continually "crushed" by none other than Occidental College or Cal Tech and the like for many years. Still are, me thinks. Now THAT'S love.

We have been debating the NIL changes in collegiate sports for many months now. Nothing has changed in the effect of NIL, the NCAA's lack of control over it, the universities' understanding of the impact of it, or even our business/fiscal or sociological arguments for and against the damn thing. And ultimately what? Nothing. Nothing has changed. The U.S. Constitution is what it is and the courts will (or should...another story) provide the sideline boundaries for who does what to whom and when during the play of this NIL game. For me, the ONLY entity with any control over what happens with the NIL program is the fan. With feet, fingers, funds and affection, when the fan takes leave from enjoying the sport and what it becomes, then and only then will amateur sports return to campus. And I also believe that pay for NIL (PfP...let's call it what it is) will go the way of the AFL...smaller fish subsumed in a larger tank of professional sports. It's already begun, by the way. The "super conferences" are becoming a reality. Soon, I foresee super-super conferences subsuming the best (paid) teams as hundreds of schools drop by the fan and fun relevance wayside. I, for one, will cheer that day. It's all personal preference, of course. I stopped watching professional sports years ago when greed and hundreds of millions were paid to players and billions of dollars paid out to teams aggravated my sense of worth from giving them any attention, or even a single dime of my hard earned, every-day-Joe's salary. Collegiate sports is going there. Charles has suggested that we still have a couple of years to enjoy college sports in much the same way we always have. I've come to agree. But, as in seemingly all things in this society, change is occurring at warp speed. Before long, I'll be taking my rooting interests to true amateur/club sports. I'm thinking rugby might a good replacement. Player inducements usually range in the 6-pack area. That is...until NIL from breweries screw that sport up, too. LOL. Meanwhile....I'm still on board. GO DUCKS!