EastBayDuckDad

Every once in awhile I need to reread this Dennis Dodd dud about the great hire U$C made compared to the so-so one Oregon made. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/2022-college-football-coaching-carousel-grades-lincoln-riley-an-a-with-brent-venables-an-a-replacement/ Are you not entertained?!!!

Great perspectives in the article, David. The days of Beavus and Fusky as Oregon's main rivals are now relics of the past and the ghosts of the old PAC. Maybe Washington again someday. I have to admit that I had Penn St winning in our prediction contest as I believed that Knowles would have WS's number just enough to stop Oregon's offense when it mattered. The Rose Bowl was just so jarring in terms of getting outcoached on both sides of the ball. The Bucknuts probably had the talent edge, and that made the difference with the enlightened coaching advantage. What I saw Saturday was a more talented Oregon that will be the best of the B1G for the immediate future. This match up will be exciting to watch for years to come even if Stein moves on and DL replies him with another offensive wunderkind.

What scares me the most is not the concussion risk, though it is more common with a blow to the head, but the risk of C-spine injury. Modern helmets are designed to absorb most of that concussive blow, but do not prevent the sudden flexion, extension or compression of the neck that can result in cord trauma. It was unnerving to see Lamar's head snap back from the impact knowing what was happening to the C-spine

Good sir, I concede your point as it further reinforces my premise that the Ducks have not rebuilt so much as reloaded. Dream on!

Like three day old tilapia, some things just don't age well...

It is indeed safe to dream. I think everyone figured that OBD was a year away from NC contention due to the NFL losses and youth of this team. But looking at things five games in, a few takeaways: DL..Lost Harmon, Caldwell and Burch to rounds 1-3: So far Bear, Amari, Green and Grey look pretty darn good, Matayo and Tatum are as good as last year with Purchase added to the mix LB..Lost Bassa: Mixon has upped his game and battle-ax Bryce has the green dot in the middle DBs..Lost nearly the entire secondary: Would anyone argue that Theinemen, Canady, Flowers and the Fantastic Frosh aren't an upgrade? OL..Lost Conerly and Cornelius: Pancho anchoring 'newbies' World, Harkey and Pregnon have avoided the growing pains from 2024 WR..Tez (and Evan S) gone: Add Benson and a healthy Bryant. And, ahem, Dak. TE..TFerg and PHerb moved on: Jamari J and Sadiq, Sadiq, Sadiq! RB..James to the NFL: More Fantastic Frosh in Hill and Davison, a better Lamar and Noah. Enough talent that Hughes is a depth chart afterthought QB..Lost Dillon G to Cleveland: Dante. 'Nuff said Have I left anything out? I don't want to gulp the kool-aid, but nearly every question about why this team would take a big step back in 2025 is being answered. Yep, it's ok to dream.

Surprised a little by how well the D-line held up against the PSU rushing attack, but Bear Alexander had a coming out party. The rest of the interior was solid with good if not great LB play. DBs shut down the WRs for the most part and except for the TD by #8 against Theinemen and a couple of risky but successful heave it up throws by Allar, took away the easy routes and chunk plays. Surprised a bit, and thrilled, that Tosh's schemes nullified much of what PSU was trying to do. Nothing the offense did was surprising, but ecstatic that the Duck O-line spent almost three quarters either having their way or playing straight up against that good Penn St front seven.with few misfires as a result of the hostile crowd. And Dante's performance was all that and a bag of chips. I am less worried about what Indiana will bring into Autzen in two weeks than I was after that Illinois beatdown. They are good, but OBD's better. DL, TL, WS and staff will have two weeks to dissect apart how Illinois screwed the pooch and counter what Indiana was so successful at against them and Iowa. I think Mendoza will get rattled by a steady diet of Matayo and Tatum in his grill and Bear on a mission of mayhem up the middle.

I will hand it to the Beavs, their LBs looked pretty sharp and the QB made some good throws when he wasn't running for his life. They looked good enough to win outside of not-so-special teams. A win over Houston would have boosted Oregon's SOS too.

PSU 28-27 1 TO 2 Sacks 315 yds passing I so want to be wrong here, but I think this is OBD and Dante's trial by fire that comes up one point short. Oregon plays well and beats the spread but doesn't get the outright win. Tight enough to only drop the Ducks by a place or two in the polls. Then Oregon misses the B1G CG, but runs the table ala Ohio St. last year, gets a home CFP first round game and beats PSU in the semis.

Whenever the camera pans the Illinois sideline, Bielema looks like he's trying to remember where he left his wallet and car keys. Same look he had when Oregon beat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl over a decade ago. Lord, what an embarrassing beatdown.

Man, is Indiana really this good? They are dominating Illinois on both sides of the ball and they can't keep Altmeyer upright. Mendoza is having a career day. I agree with others that I'm glad Oregon gets them at Autzen after a bye following the Penn St game.

Beavs came to play. More to fix in the run D for the 2nd half and for next week. Doubt the 2s and 3s play much today unless a huge can of whoopa☆☆ gets opened up in the 3rd qtr by Oregon. Nice drive to end the half, except for that wonky screen in the 1 yd line.

Iowa up 38-28 after a pick and a couple of scores. Looks like the Hawkeyes will pull it off. OBD just has to play their game against both of these teams and they'll be fine, even on the road

And right on cue the Rutgers QB drops a beautiful go route in the bucket for a big gain. Between these two teams on the road, the Scarlet Knights look to be the bigger threat.

Defenses have woke up but both O-lines have gone to sleep. Turning into one of those zombie style B1G 2nd tier games.

Two teams of interest to us OBD fans going at it on Fox Sports. 21-21 midway thru 2 qtrs. Neither team all that interested in playing defense and lots of PIs when they try. The Rutgers QB Kaliakmanis running a ton of RPO, pretty good arm and decent legs when he decides to take off. Iowa is still a variation of 4 yards and a cloud of rubber pellets on offense. Other than that, entertaining game. Mark Helfrich is doing the color analysis. Better OC than announcer, I'm afraid.

Dominate LOS on both sides, particularly in the run game. Be efficient and minimize penalties. Don't show much to Penn St. Keep everyone healthy. Am I asking for too much? 🙂🦆

Yep, Lanning and the Oregon D staff sure can't develop players internally. Getting only 4 and 5 star recruits and proven transfers because of those deep pockets and NIL. Mixon was a 3☆ that played special teams early, then rotated in on defense, and now is arguably playing better than the faster and more 'talented ' #26, Jackson at the ILB position. Ditto Boettcher, who walked on for 'a t-shirt and backpack'. Mixon has shown the ability to play heady football, diagnose plays and respond quickly even if his top end speed is not elite. PFF may reward interceptions a bit too much in it's ratings, but it rewards Mixon in all aspects of his performance. He plays his heart out and like BB, brings his lunch pail to work every day.

I think that there is a concern for run D, particularly with the YAC we saw against NW. A few thoughts: Admittedly a big chunk of the yardage was in garbage time, and padded by the 79 yd run against the 2s and 3s. If the sacks and big butterfinger TFL by Stone are subtracted, there was still significant YPC for the NW RBs. This was even apparent in the first half while the starters were in. It is something to address, and I'm confident that DL and TL will take it to the 'doctor' this week. On the flip side, running the ball was NW's game plan as the only way they could hope to keep the game close was to slow it down, run clock (their TOP was 5 min longer than OBD) and keep the ball out of Dante's hands. Oregon let some of that go and made sure the NW passing game was ineffective. And ineffective it was, held to 135 yds on 50% completion rate, 3/11 on 3rd downs, 2 sacks, two picks, a big TFL and no penalties (though the 1st pick could have been a PI and would have been with the old PAC12 crews). The one stinker was on Offord, and that was a rookie error that can be corrected. Point is that the run game D had some concerns that the NW game plan amplified. It did the Ducks a favor by exposing an area of relative weakness and focus for clean up before Happy Valley in two weeks. Hopefully we will see it cleaned up significantly against the Beavs Saturday.

Run D still a weakness, even before the 2s and 3s gave up the one at the end. Lots to work on before the Penn St game, or else it will be a very bad day in Happy Valley for the Ducks

Yikes, DM took a head shot that vacated his helmet from his noggin'. Right back in after a TO, then laser shot to Sadiq for the TD!

They are missing Noah. O-line losing some blocking battles on the runs, but they are solid in pass pro. 1st half almost done in a little over an hour given the grind it out nature of this game. DL will have a little motivational work to do at the half

The NW DBs are playing pretty well, and Moore not really sharp on his longer throws up to now. Sappington hits the FG while the announcers are pointing out that he missed several in practice wide left due to the wind. OBD 10-0. This has all the looks of a grinder.

Give NW credit, they are blitzing just enough to disrupt the downfield passing game and then covering the outlet and screen reasonably well. More misdirection is the cure.

DBs doing their jobs even if the D-line is a bit slow to get going. I'm confident they will start to dominate.