Jester

That’s the spirit!

If you truly believe Oregon can make a run at the playoffs this year, it would be beneficial for USC to be undefeated heading into the conference championship, but not 100% necessary. Oregon just needs to keep their collective heads down, and just win. A lot of the traffic in front of them is going to go to by the wayside. For example: I’m a PSU (#14) guy, but I can tell you the Lions will have at least 2 losses in them. We play Utah (#13) so we can kick them to the curb. I have zero trust in the teams ranked #8-#12, which consist of 2 middling SEC teams (Arkansas & Tennessee), an ACC pretender (NC State), Okie. State, and Kentucky. Do you believe any of those teams are winning out? Absolutely not. We could derail the current #7 team (Spoiled Children) and wait for tOSU to take care of Captain Khaki and his Wolverines. For the sake of this discussion, I’ll pencil-in GA & tOSU in slots 1 & 2. What about Bama? Hmm? They may get their shot against GA in conference championship game, and if so, they will lose. They looked very suspect against TX so I’m not handing-over a free ticket to the playoffs, but even a two-loss Tide team will be considered as a final four candidate. This is where we queue the Saban “cry me a river” tears. It’s so early in this process that these ranking may look completely different by the end of the season, but just thinking through this in a similar manner to what I just did, I would concern myself with Oklahoma, Clemson, and the perennial player, Alabama. If the only blemish on the Ducks record this year is the GA game, which was the first game of the season and this would be taken into consideration, I actually like their chances. To me this was a fun hypothetical exercise to walk-through as I don’t believe our Ducks are ready yet. I prefer the Ducks to just move forward, focused on each game, and carry the Al Davis mantra of, “Just win, Baby”.

Along with Manning and Bridges on the back end, I would throw a little love toward Bennett Williams and Christian Gonzalez. Williams’ form tackling and physicality was a pleasant surprise vs. Blue Coug, and really, why do you guys want to throw at Gonzalez? You get a sense that he’s really starting to get locked-in. In general, this group has really picked it up. As for the TE’s – Ferguson is proving to be just a monster. As a fan, when the ball is in the air you quickly inhale with the anticipation of a catch. With Ferguson, you inhale after the catch because that’s when the fun starts. I think the D-Line is starting to find its footing. They’re not putting the QB on the ground, but I really like how they are playing against the run. If you want to shrink an O-coordinators playbook sans a ray gun – stop the run. Sacks and pressures will come when making offenses one-dimensional. I’ll take DJ this week as a line of scrimmage difference-maker, but the leader of that group is Brandon Dorlus. Alex, I have no issue with Nix running either. It’s part of his DNA and asking him to minimize those instincts is simply handicapping his overall effectiveness. Nix has a great quality that’s not spoken of that often, and I would imagine it’s a quality that all successful athletes and great leaders have, and it’s the ability to forget. He can toss an inexcusable pick, park his carcass on the bench, and within two minutes tighten the chinstrap and reload without fear of failure. He owns it and moves on. As Bo is stacking solid performances, we’re seeing that it’s not just playing experience and an understanding of a playbook that is separating him from Ty & Butters. It’s his leadership ability. Tell ya what, other teams better put a stop to it soon because this type of thing rapidly gathers momentum and can be very infectious. Go Ducks.

Humorous and insightful. I really enjoyed that read. Great job, Alan!

So, you’re seeing my weirdo Pullman vampires and you’re raising me GA mutant athletes. I think you’re playing with a pretty strong hand. Good points. This may sound trivial but if Bo does decide to slide instead of playing 250lb. fullback, I hope he has practiced folding his legs and dropping his posterior in a manner that keeps him from being injured. As silly as it sounds, some guys just don’t know how to slide safely. I used to cringe watching Trevor Lawrence try to slide. It was like watching a tranquilized giraffe slowly tumbling to its knees.

This is a brilliant observation, and an oversight on my part! I'll take it, David.

Oregon, 41-26, 3, 2, 267

Log Haulin & 30Duck, hope you guys are right. I like nothing more than NOT sitting on the edge of my seat in the forth quarter. Actually, the "edge of my seat" saying doesn't apply to me. If it's close, I'm standing, pacing, gesturing, and I even tie-in a little jumping. It's basically aerobics with cursing.

I think the string of games lacking 2nd half intrigue is quickly coming to an end. The law of averages would suggest we’re due for an App. State style nail-biter, and Pullman is the perfect setting for this to take place. To be blunt, that place is just weird and weird things happen in weird places. Pullman is the type of place that could render your compass useless against the pull of the magnetic north pole. A place that would be voted most likely to have had real life vampires attending an opening night screening of Twilight. I don’t know, man. I saw they had a tussle with the vaunted Vandals of Idaho, bested the Badgers in the turnover bowl, and started to get their legs under themselves vs. the hapless Rams of Colorado State, who by the way lost 34-19 to Middle Tennessee. To make the win against CSU less impressive, I’ll gladly let you know MT lost a close one to James Madison, 44-7. Fun Fact: The next opponent for the Hurricanes – Middle Tennessee. After taking a deeper dive into their record, knowing they have a newbie (less than a year…still wet behind the ears) head coach, and in having a pretty good idea of how their player personnel stacks-up against ours, this is a no-brainer, right? Why do I feel that’s not the case. Going way back in this series, wins and losses were fairly even until the pendulum swung quite heavily in favor of Oregon in the mid 80’s, but our friends with a logo befitting of the oddness of their university have won two out of the last three in Pullman. When I think of WSU, I have visions of some squat, Max Borghi type RB catching swing passes, and careening off Duck defenders for improbable back-breaking first downs. Aargh! For the past couple weeks, we’ve been saying, “We’ll know more about our Ducks after this game.” Then, the first Cougar to challenge us let us down by not having the fight in them we thought they’d have. Instead of being content with our team’s decisive victory, we started questioning if BYU was up to the task while missing a couple receivers and D-Ends. Perhaps a last second win in a highly contested event, against a game adversary, would have provided the confirmation we were looking for. Now, we open door number two to find a 3-0 Cougar full of swagger and dreams of capturing the North at the expense of the talent-laden Ducks. This opportunistic group makes up for their lack of 4* & 5* talent with relentless effort and with team buy-in to Dickert’s style of coaching. They’re having fun right now and their cup certainly runneth over with confidence. I would suggest that the Ducks flex their muscle early and plant the seed in Mr. Ward’s head that he would have been better served staying at Incarnate Word. Don’t let this kid get in a groove, and for crying-out-loud let’s continue the solid tackling. On offense, please value the football. I think the Cougars will need a couple possessions gifted to them to remain competitive in this game. I’m taking almost everything I have just written and I’m tossing it right out the window apart from my thoughts on Pullman being overrun with vampires (cuz THAT makes sense). I just think this game is going to be closer than what it appears on paper. …It’s Pullman. Curious to hear your takes. Close game or not, and how curious are you to see how Our Beloved Ducks perform in a tight ball game?

Living in PSU's back yard, I can tell you many of the faithful have been looking for anyone to unseat Sean Clifford. The guy is a gamer, but he also feels like a progress development stopper at the position.

Not all teams are constructed to be immune to the Rat Poison. Georgia is one of the very few teams that won’t take the bait. First and foremost, the Dawgs have a roster that is not new to success. The trajectory the Bulldogs have taken to reach the college football mountain top has taken years, and a thick skin has been developed during that time. Secondly, GA has obtained enough talent to be able rotate its players. Those on the field as starters today may have been back-ups last year, but they were back-ups that saw extensive action in competitive game situations. Again, these guys are building that thick skin. Finally, I would say the culture within that locker room won’t allow outside accolades to interfere with what this team is trying to accomplish. That’s a testament to Kirby Smart and the environment he’s cultivated over his tenure with the team. One could suggest it’s akin to what the Patriots had during their heyday when Bill Belichick didn’t pretend to be smarter than everyone else by drafting guys from directional schools in the early rounds. Just an objective note from what I’ve seen this year. After watching Bama and tOSU, I think the gap between 1, 2, & 3 has widened, and GA is (1) in this scenario. The Tide hasn’t shown the perimeter threat this year that they’ve had in recent years. If it wasn’t for Bryce Young magic, and TX being forced into turning to a #2 QB (albeit experienced), the Tide would have lost that game. As for tOSU, they seem to have sequences where they haven’t played to expectation. I can’t explain it. I just envision them (tOSU) on the field with the Dawgs and them not liking the result. Just an eye test thing for me, I guess. Final answer. Don’t worry about the Rat Poison. Cross your fingers for team health, and this season should play-out favorably for Georgia Bulldog fans.

Let's hope you're right about that, HappyToBEADuck. I watched that game as well and was surprised at the resiliency the Cougs displayed, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. Wisconsin has never been a mystery. They line-up 5 kids big enough to eat hay out of a rack, plop a TE beside them, and try to jam it down your throat. It ain't sexy, but it's the formula that gets the job done in the monotonously plodding Big10 West. Typically when the Badgers own the ball for 15 minutes more than their opponent...they win. However, the Cougs kept fighting and hustling. If you need evidence of their effort, you don't need to look any further than at the play where a D-Lineman hustled to strip the ball from a Badger TE in the red zone to preserve the 17-14 lead. Oregon will have to match or surpass the sustained WSU max-effort, secure the ball, tackle well (particularly outside the hashmarks), and play solid special teams. If you're not aware, the Cougs had a 73-yard kick return against the Badgers that led to field goal in their 3-point victory.

This is a good point, particularly when paired with the comments on QB hurries possibly being a better barometer of QB pressures than just looking at sack totals. If we’re not putting the QB on the ground, where are the errant throws? Hall completed over 70% of his passes for 305 yds. and 2 TD’s. Very solid numbers for a guy without 2 of his primary targets. What makes those numbers a little more disconcerting is the fact that the Ducks did a fabulous job of stuffing the run (2.5 per carry) putting BYU in obvious passing downs. I don’t know. Maybe we haven’t come up against an opponent that schematically favors the Ducks implementing complex pass-rush schemes…yet. This week’s game certainly won’t be one, as the ball will be out of the QB’s hand quickly making tackling on the perimeter of the utmost importance in stopping WSU’s offense. You know what though, I’ll take our guys shutting-down the run any day of the week and cross my fingers that 3rd and longs will eventually turn into picks.

Miami’s D is playing well, but I think A&M’s offense is pretty sad as well.

Canes had a sequence earlier in the game where they had first and goal inside the ten. Play calling was three straight unimaginable runs prior to getting their 3 points. I’ve seen this movie before.