EastBayDuckDad

Oops, meant Penn State is on the road. The PSU offense may be iffy today but it also looks like U$C was rummaging around under the seat cushions and managed to find a defense

Now U$C 14 PSU 3 The Trojenz run game is really clicking with a lot of misdirection and pretty decent O-line play. In spite of my general distaste of all things U$C and Lincoln Riley, beating Penn St on the road would knock them down a notch, out of the top 5 and keep Oregon in the top of the B1G regardless of the outcome of today's game.

If so, and if it was a knee, it's usually an ACL injury that is diagnosed by MRI, which Burch undoubtedly had. Three possibilities: ACL strain is least severe and recovery can be days to weeks ACL partial tear is worse and you're looking at 4-6 weeks minimum ACL total tear is season ending and requires a surgical repair (think Noah W's injury last year) All speculation on my part, but the more severe ACL injuries are usually contact related or just landing wrong at speed. If this is an ACL, hopefully it's a strain and Burch gets back soon. It would mean that he is likely unavailable for today, which would be a major bummer. We'll know at 2:30 when the final pre-game injury report is released.

No doubt about it, Burch not being available would be a significant hit to the D-line, particularly in the passing game. Perhaps not as big a hit as losing KT when Oregon played tOSU in 2021, and that turned out pretty well, but there was more lead time to adjust then. Thankfully there is more back up talent on this year's team with Matayo U, but it is tough to replace 6'6" 295# of bull rush and edge containment.

Watching Northwestern at Maryland. Impressed some by the Wildcats defense, at least against a sketchy Terrapin offense. Which is pretty limited in the passing game. And the run game. And they just coughed up a fumble that granted NW a defensive TD. What a dumpster fire. Oregon will boat race these guys when they come to Autzen. Game being called on FS1 by the B1G Onion-Helfrich duo. Sorry to say this but Helfrich is not a great color guy. Speaks in a monotone and his 'insights' aren't particularly insightful. Tends to state the obvious or indulge in a bit of hyperbole. But perhaps I'm being a bit harsh given it's a boring old school B1G style game.. Switching over to Utah-ASU now....

One thing that strikes me is how much the tOSU offensive weapons have been touted by the pundits as to why they beat the Ducks. I know this is last year and not quite apples to apples, but Oregon faced UW in their place and almost pulled off the upset. Can anyone say that the tOSU offense is better than that offense? Is Howard a better QB than Penix and are Egbuka and Smith better than Odunze, McMillan and Polk? Behind what was voted the best O-line in all of CFB? The Ducks have improved the defense at the LOS and in the secondary and the LB play is solid. While the WRs may get theirs, I cannot see them exploiting the Oregon DBs like Odunze did with Penix delivering dimes. Yes, the Buckeye run game is better than what the Fuskies had, but Oregon's run defense is that much better as well. And it's in our house. Gonna be a helluva contest.

Oregon 27-24 1 TO 2 sacks 245 yds passing Ducks win on a FG. Lots of chirping on mainly tOSU channels that Burch was carted off the practice field Thursday. JHop from On3 reported on X that program insiders told him Burch was dinged a bit and held out as a precaution. No stretchers involved. Whether he is 100% or not remains to be seen. If the line moves a couple points in favor of tOSU today, or if something more substantial comes out I'll be concerned, otherwise... Go Ducks!

Charles is right about the Sound of Music "Fa" sound as being less straining than just yelling. What I want to hear from Duck fans along with the "O" is: " We Faaa in your general direction!"

I just take one of those small air horns with the top button valve triggers, tuck the canister into a scarf, cup my hands around the bell, take a deep breath, warn my neighbors, then drop my chin on the valve and let'er rip. Ok, maybe not, although the idea has some merit and it saves the old vocal cords. But if you hear an air horn coming from the middle of section 12 when tOSU is on offense, I may have given in to my lower nature. Go Ducks! Deafen the Buckeyes!

Let's do a little math: Ohio Stadium is the 3rd or 4th largest (depends on the source) college venue in the US with a seating capacity of 102,780 spread over 808,359 square ft shaped like a giant oblong horseshoe. That's 7.86 sqft per fan. Maximum decibel level is not documented. Autzen is around 400,000 sqft (exact size not documented but estimated from stadium dimensions and UO published concourse areas) and seats 60K including SRO. Roughly 6.7 sqft per rabid, stomping, screaming Duck fan. It is inside a steep earthen bowl with surfaces that bounce sound like an amphitheater. Maximum noise has been recorded at +127dB putting it in the top five nationally. Fans are right on top of the field and opposing teams routinely note how tough it is to hear. Yes, Autzen can literally fit inside Ohio Stadium. But decibel-wise would you rather be sitting on a commercial runway at some distance from 747-200s taking off or standing right next to an F-35 Lightning launching off the flight deck of the USS Gerald R Ford. So to say the atmosphere and noise level that will be generated at Autzen on Saturday is inconsequential shows a rather amusing degree of ignorance.

Think almost three years back when the media coaching carousel report cards came out: Riley to U$C...A+ Lanning to Oregon....C+ Remember that you can't spell "entitlement" without the word Title, something that it appears the Trojenz are never likely to sniff under the current regime. And yeah, the look on the SC player's face after Riley's thoughtless diss said volumes. That locker room must have been a happening place post game. How many recruits will want to sign up for that, and how many players are now eyeing the Bear Alexander exit strategy?

My apologies

Gotta love three B1G teams (tOSU, OBD, PennSt) and only two SEC teams (Texas and Georgia) in the top 5 of the Coaches Poll.

Sad but true

Heartbreaking to watch Cal (I'm UC Berkeley, class of '76) give that game away to Miami. The Caines are not a top 5 team. No way to soft pedal Bama's loss to Vandy, that should drop them below Oregon. Georgia may stay above the Ducks this week in spite of the Bama loss. Even though the bloom is off the Michgan rose, Texas has a better win in Ann Arbor that anything tOSU has done thus far. My rankings: #1 Texas #2 Ohio State #3 Georgia #4 Oregon Alabama, Miami, Tennessee, Penn State, Ole Miss, maybe Clemson and LSU after that in no particular order. And it's "look out below!" for the Trojenz. And yeah, that Boise State squeaker win at Autzen looks better every week. It's all on the line now for Saturday in Eugene against the chestnuts.

This is the one time I'm willing to make an exception.

Agree with this up to a point. Stein's scheme is far superior to what Cristobal dialed up, the problem tonite was execution by DG and a couple of untimely drops by TFerg and Tez. That was at least 14 points left unclaimed. The good news is that the O-line is now doing its job and James is Bucky-like in his balance and YA contact. Stewart got re-involved with the offense and had a TD. Gabriel focused back in after his bad reads and picks. Tough as nails bouncing back after getting clobbered on that circus catch by Holden. Two red zone picks against tOSU won't cut it, but all the other aspects of the offense that were MIA the first two games are now present and accounted for.

Gabeiel had Herbert wide open and threw it roo late

Ducks 38-16 2 TO 4 Sacks 255 yds passing Not trying to be a copycat on the score but I think Oregon pulls a UCLA and doesn't open the playbook up more than needed, keeps to the ground game and puts MSU away by the end of the middle eight. Chiles gets some chunk passes that result in only FGs since they are crappy in the red zone. James gets +100yds. Not a shellacking, but a good solid win.

This bowl may be as good as it gets for Fusky

Sheesh, Bama shellacking Georgia 28-0 halfway thru the second quarter. Never would have believed that.

Ducks 42-14 3 TO 3 Sacks 285 yds passing

Apparently there is still trouble in La-La Land. This kid had red flags two years ago when he transferred to USC and underperformed with the last defensive regime Riley had. Lynn is a very good DC and I imagine the accountability he demands from his players resulted in Alexander's reduced playing time. This may end up being a plus for U$C but it sure looks ugly right now. Does anyone know what happens to an NIL deal if the player opts to take a redshirt? After observing the debacle with the QB at UNLV, you would think that those contracts have a clause for this type of eventuality.

It is a setback, but with the O-line settling in with Pancho at center, Strother at LG and Harper opposite, there is continuity. Strother had the highest line PFF for the Beav game and I think will be fine for UCLA, MSU and maybe even tOSU. Nothing beats repetition. The main concern is depth if someone goes down, but give Bedford all the time he needs and hope to keep everyone upright until he and Iuli return.

Lots of love for Bo, but after watching Jaden Daniels dropping dimes on MNF, he looks like he deserved that Heisman.