EastBayDuckDad

Add to the brainpans where The Duck lives rent free: Fusky Beavis Trojenz And now, Bucknut!

So now we know that the 12th man penalty was intentional to run time off the clock, even if DL won't directly admit it. Freaking genius and something that the defense oriented mind comes up with (from one that won a NC, which I don't recall Ryan Day doing yet). As a side comment (start of rant) too many pundits have weighed in on the final drive OPI, saying it shouldn't have been called. Joel Klatt and Colin Cowherd to name a couple. Watch the tape. Several times and in slo-mo. Does it fulfill the obligation that the offensive player "Pushes Off: Initiates contact with a defender to create separation in an attempt to catch a pass"? It doesn't matter if the zebras have swallowed their whistles and 'let them play' up to that point. Is it a penalty or not? Nikko Reed flies back 3-4 yards after the contact, which is clearly initiated by #4 in a tOSU uniform. The separation created allows Smith to catch the ball. I don't give a shirt if it shifted the game in the Ducks favor. It was OPI, clear and simple, and the right call. The subsequent 12th man play only succeeded because the refs made the right call on OPI. Bucknut coaches, players, fans and the national pundits can whine about how tOSU was the better team, lost because of the refs, isolated mistakes, the miscues of Ryan Day or Knowles, or Oregon just got lucky. Oregon won. Left at least five, and possibly more, points on the table. Didn't bring the A+ game and still beat Ohio State. They beat tOSU on the ground and in the air. Exposed the vulnerability of an 'NFL caliber' secondary. Did just enough in the run game to help Jordan James get 115 yds against an 'NFL caliber' D-line. Protected DG enough to not take a sack, help him into the endzone on a perfect run option read play and allow him to drop dimes to EStew and Tez. Bucknut will get another shot at the Ducks in December, if they win out. Good for them. If so, it'll be a helluva game. That's then, this is now. Oregon beat THEosu Saturday and won round one. Fans of OBD see it clear as day even if the blue-blooders are conflicted. Enough of this rant. Move on to West Lafayette, Indiana and beat the Boilermakers!

I have watched that play several times in 4K slo-mo and there is no doubt that Smith came into Nikko, who brought his arms up to keep some space. Smith definitely pushes off as Reed stumbles backward 3 yards before he recovers to get the tackle after the catch. It was the right call from the officials who had been swallowing the whistles all game unless it was obvious holding or PI. They don't throw that flag on such a critical play unless the call is obvious. I don't think that Reed tries to 'sell' the OPI with his stumble. If Reed doesn't get that call, the game is essentially over with a Bucknut FG from that distance, so there is no way he risks it. Watch it again and see how Nikko's head, right shoulder and arm go flying on contact. Can't fake that. And it fits with Smith's MO of stiff arm holding off DBs while posterizing them with a one handed grab. Ryan Day and tOSU fan can complain all they want but it was pretty clear both in the moment and in retrospect that the right call was made.

The statement was in his name with the right acceptance of blame and correction. I'd rather he use AI and modify based on his true sense of regret and contrition than have an Oregon program staffer write it for him. Not that different than when politicians use speech writers to pen the right words to say when they find themselves in hot water. Holden owned the bad mistake and made the apology, even if a sophisticated word generator helped. Kicking him off the team, which happened once already after a gun charge he was ultimately exonerated on (and nothing from that episode should necessarily be read into the current one), is excessive. So is suspending him for the season. Holding him out for a game or two is a Lanning decision and I very much doubt it would be made on a 'how much do we need him' basis. Justus Lowe played most of his snaps Saturday and did a good job, particularly blocking. Other WRs are there to step up. Any further punishment should and likely will be made based on: Is it good for Holden in the long run? Is it good for the team in terms of lesson learned, accountability and cohesion? Does it distract from the task at hand, which is beating Purdue on the road Friday?

I'm guessing they had maybe 10,000, occupying most of the upper deck southwest part of Autzen and scattered through the stadium. They did make some noise when Bucknut scored but mainly covered their ears.

Could be a flurry of commits and perhaps even flips to OBD in the wake of yesterday's win over tOSU. There were over a dozen high ranked Blue Chipers in attendance at Autzen and what 18 year old kid wouldn't want to be a part of that.

They do indeed on B1G Network and the editing is better than what Pac-12 used to do. Taping it right now.

Yep, conflicted as well but I've got to lean towards the Bolts over the Broncs. Perhaps I'll just root for the offenses and against the defenses.

It will take a bit to turn THEosu into U$C, but the entitlement exhibited by the fans I have encountered in the past and last night argue that will happen sooner rather than later in regard to their attitude toward Oregon. I see the day coming where Bucknutt fan becomes Trojenz fan, just with less fashion sense and a wider waistline.

Up in section 29, I thought I saw the east scoreboard hit 127dB in the 4th quarter when Howard took the sack on that last tOSU drive. That could be an Autzen record. People around me were wearing earplugs. I should have been as my ears are still ringing gloriously this morning. The few functioning auditory sensory cells I had left after nearly seventy years are now shot to hell. I think my wife is trying to say something to me about something. What?

If it was intentional, it was the most brilliant situational use of the rule book I've ever seen. It may spawn a whole new defensive lexicon and position package: Nickel, Dime and 12 cents. Along with the laser beam onside kick it is one of the greatest 'big balls calls' ever in Autzen.

Well, maybe not for nothing. They will fire sale the remaining tickets, dropping them like hot potatoes on the secondary market. Oregon fan will happily snatch them up with a "Why thank you, Bucknuts, see you in Indy in December!"

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.