Mudslide

I think it's safe to assume that vanilla packages with odd shifts will be employed by the Ducks. I'm no expert, but I think the 4-2-5 is rather standard fare against spread style offenses. DTR and his receivers are really in sync with their safe stems. I'd like to see some disruption of the intermediate routes. (And yep Gonzo has to control Bobo. Come on...what kind of name is BOBO?! Maybe Gonzo should rag on the name all game long.) So the Ducks' 3-3-5 is in order...hopefully with a few surprises out of that formation. But Charbonnet is another sort of bird. He can wreck a solid back-end defense with his catches and runs with handoffs, tosses, flares, and screens. Frankly, over the course of the game, I'm more worried about him than the receivers. Of course, I'm STILL worried about the receivers...just not as much as the back. He, and to a lesser extent DTR, is the key to beating the dynamic blitzing that Lupoi will occasionally send. Still, call me Mr. Sunshine. the Ducks' prolific offense will prevail with a win by 17.

I agree with Charles. The Rodents pass the eye test with pretty good speed and solid tackling. From my brief viewing of their games, they seem to play a lot less zone than OBD (SO FAR!) along with a more blitzing/attacking D. Keeping in mind that we have a reasonably young secondary, and defense as a whole, I look for constant improvement from Lupoi's guys. On the other hand, the Beapers have an entire upper class starting D...with one exception, a sophomore. With added game time and continued development, added complexity of plays, and with these great teacher-coaches that OBD have, we should see dynamic improvement from the beginning to season's end. The Ducks should have a complete defensive playbook to choose from by the time we roll into Potato Salad Field. So yes, the Spud Growers have a decent D...but I'm not concerned about the events of November 26...other than will my wife like her 39th wedding anniversary gift!

Another great piece from inside the bizarre mind of Alan. Many thanks for always picking up my mornings, Alan. Really funny stuff, filled with guffaws. And the coffee in my sinuses will be great to drink later. I do take exception with one comment, however. You have besmirched the good name of the U.S. Marine Corp by tying them to Martin Jarmond. Instead of "Jarhead, I actually prefer the more descriptive "Jarmount". But this may not be a G-rated appellation.

The article is behind a paywall. Perhaps you could summarize for us....

TVD has MINUS 15 yards rushing this season. As good as he is throwing the ball, I don't see this sort of qb in a Dilly offense.

I, too, have seen the "deer in the headlight" look on Ty's face as he approaches the LOS...as well as after plays. To me, it has failure and insecurity written all over it. But perhaps I (and others) are a bit mistaken by his engagement...or seeming lack thereof. Too soon to judge? I looked at this youtube video following his commitment to Oregon. Ty is never going to be confused with Mr. Personality. His persona on screen is exactly like his actions on the field. He is reserved, quiet, and if truth be told, a little boring. If that is a good attribute for a D1 qb I have no idea. But it seems to be his way of approaching the world and the tasks it offers him. Are we being fair to him by questioning his mental preparedness for the play? I don't know for certain, but I think he deserves a better shot at proving himself before we wish him off to the corn fields.

Oregon 56-31 3 3 333

I understand there is a nearby Canid population up north that quite enjoys sniffing Dung Beetle Footprints.

....and WSU is the first team out in the AP poll.

There is the possibility that the coaches know TT is not capable of accurately reading coverages and making the throws you suggest. I don't know if that is true...but either you trust the coaches and their schemes, or you do not. I do.

^ This.

I watched the game twice. It truly was a horribly officiated game. Our only hope is that coaches start filing complaints and calling for reviews at the league office. It's painfully obvious that the head of officials is not doing his job well, at all. What happened to the Training that was imposed on all refs because of these mismanaged games from last season?!

Oregon 35-13 2 TO 3 Sacks 292 passing yards.

"Stanford, and this can be confirmed by any Cal fan, is an aggregate of nothing but fetid air blowing through the scraggly needles of a decaying redwood tree." Here is a little story from my Cal-Berkeley days. Just before the Cal-Stanford game, several of my Cal acquaintances bought 100 mice. They painted the mice with blue and gold paint. (Please say a prayer for the miscreants and forgive them, not for their great humor but for their lack of best form.) The boys took these pesky rodents and released them at the Ferd's Taj...er, Student Center. They left a huge note saying something like, "Hey Cardinal Farmers, Cal gives you the 'bird', too. Good luck finding all 200 mice!" These Cal dudes the proceeded to pull every fire alarm in the building. Now, I don't necessarily agree with these juvenile antics...mostly because I'm 77. But at the time, I appropriately laughed my a$$ off. Another GREAT (pardon the caps, Alan) article from Sir Alan. Post Script I later met a Stanford grad, the founder and owner of Coleman Industries (Coleman lanterns, etc.) at a restaurant bar in San "Don't call it Frisco" Francisco. (San Francisco, AKA "The City!" Uh huh. Anyway, Mr. Coleman was quite a nice fellow and he admitted that no one is allowed to fail at Stanford. They basically pay for their degree. (USC anyone?)

I went to Cal and SDSU...and I would never cheer for them to win BECAUSE I went there. Both are crappy schools with perennially crappy football programs. But Cal also helped me despise, Ugly Stinky Crap, too. (After all, their stadium is a toilet bowl.) Don't you love the word "crap"? You might ask, "Mudslide, if you didn't like those schools, why did you go?" Because they were willing to subsidize my scholarly ability to call them "crap" with crappy scholarships. Go Beavs, I guess (but...ugh...crap).

Bettors flock to Oregon State after sportsbook's initial line favors USC by nearly two touchdowns WWW.ESPN.COM Caesars Sportsbook opened USC as a 13.5-point favorite for Saturday's game against Oregon State. Minutes later...

LOL...who the he!! is Alex?! Sorry Alan! But great job.

Oregon 45-38 2 2 299

Hilarious, informative, timely, dripping with delicious sarcasm... another quality piece from you, Alex. My good man, your stuff is terrific. Nay, may I say Pulitzer worthy?! (Of course it isn't. It isn't political enough. But one can dream.) Keep 'em coming, sir. Palease.

WSU, as well as OSU, have received a lot of votes on both the AP and the Coaches polls. Both are close to top 25 ranking.

Great article, Drex...funny and memory stimulating. Many thanks. That Masoli run is one of my all-time favorite Duck recollections. I'm having real trouble at the moment not wanting to hurt my arm....back patting. I've been a fan of Nix and predicted (somewhere in the forum) that he had stardom potential this year. I did not believe he had yet smacked into his qb performance ceiling. TT and Butters will get their shots this season and KD will have them rolling. But this is Nix's year to climb to the NFL.

I agree that sports streaming will be ubiquitous. But over-the-air network channels will still be broadcast and carry game broadcast rights. PPV may also be the future of college football. Non-streaming cable sports programming will still be alive and well in rural areas (at least).

Yep, it's fiber optics. We're told that there are limits on the number of homes connected to any particular node. Ours is maxed out (perhaps more?). There is just not the bandwidth to stream worth a poop. We can't even use our monitored security cameras due to limited uplink speed. Grrr.....

My reference was to Charles' question regarding "Amazon or Apple". (I hate Apple too.) Yes, we can stream, too. But like many others, I live in a more rural environment. Our DSL download speed here is super limited. I can't get any video to play without start-stops all along the way. There are too many homes on our CenturyLink optical cable node. That is no way to watch my Ducks.

There are just so many reasons particular to our situation...cost, poor audio/video streaming resolution, Annie's answer, I detest Amazon, I have no Apple devices nor intend to own any, etc. etc....as well as the fact that I think viewership will be WAY down AND Amazon has no decent experience covering sports. But then, as my favorite t-shirt says...."I don't know what I'm doing, and you can't make me stop!"