Wrathis

I'm with Rambis in that I've thought the rules were a bit much, but the truth is that I enjoy this place so much that I make an effort to tone myself down. Once or twice I've wondered if I nudged the line a bit, but this IS a private place that I didn't create and as such I most certainly will do my best to follow the spirit (and the letter) of the rules as they're laid out. Also, keeping the trolls down makes it MUCH easier for me to not get spun up and want to retaliate to absurdity. I always like to start my work day with a positive mindset, and so instead of looking at whatever "news" may be out there, I come here. Yes, that's right, THIS place is how I choose to start my day and I'm grateful to be able to come here and get the good news of all things Duck Football! Thank you all :)

There should only be about 13 people in the country that dislike Coach Locklyn...and that's the 13 defensive coordinators on the other side of the ball that will have to face his Running Backs this season!

I'm with you on part of this: I appreciate what was accomplished while he was here AND I'm glad to see him go. MariØ is an excellent recruiter and really stepped up the recruiting game here at Oregon. However, he also tried to make us something we're not, he tried to change our identity. We're blazing fast. We spread you out, use misdirection and score...A LOT. He recruited players capable of that and inherited a few as well (some unknown guy named Justin Herbert for example...anyone know what he's up to these days?). Unfortunately he squandered their talent and instead decided to run off-center all the time. He did have some offensive imagination though in throwing swing passes to RB's out of the backfield on 3 and 12 every single time. He managed to get blue chip, blazing fast 6'4" receivers here, then used them exclusively for blocking. Hell, I'm convinced he handcuffed Joe Moorhead and forced him to play Anthony Brown and I'm not sure I can be convinced otherwise. That being said, I really do wish Miami all the best of luck. I don't blame MariØ for going back home to his ailing mother, to his alma-mater and his pursuit to bring them back to relevance. If I were given that opportunity, I'd jump on it as well. However, I can thankfully say "good riddance to him and his talent wasting, unimaginative, prevent offense...and I'm grateful that it's Miami's problem now."

There's any number of small towns in central/northern Arkansas that have that Mayberry feel to them. There's still plenty of outdoors things (golf/fishing) to keep you occupied and the home prices are low. Tell them to take a look at Hot Springs Village if golf is something they value. If they're more about fishing and hiking, Siloam Springs/Jasper/El Dorado might be more their speed.

Alright, I'm gonna be that guy... I'm guilty of seeing things through green/yellow glasses as much as the next person, and I'm hoping that we kill it this year. However, we have a TOUGH schedule and we need to keep that in mind. Thankfully, aside from Georgia and the Beavs, we get the toughest games at home. Bear in mind though, we have a brand new head coach and there WILL BE some learning curves. We're hoping those won't cost us a game, but it very well could. We also have an Offensive Coordinator who did great things at Memphis/Auburn, but didn't accomplish much at FSU. Granted, his offense does produce 1,000 yard receivers...which takes us to our next point; 1,000 yard receivers have legitimate QB's and we have questions. (I'm as high on Butterfield as anyone right now) Nix may offer the highest ceiling, and we hope the highest floor. However, we know his propensity for making inexplicable, bone-headed plays. That in itself may cost us a game or two. Inexplicable turnovers brings us to defense. This is where we expect to win games. Sure, but what do we really know about Tosh apart from his time at Alabama where Axel could probably look good calling the plays. He spent 1 year at 3 different NFL programs after having spent 1 season at Cal and 2 with that team up North. Maybe that's bc he's a hot commodity that everyone wants him coaching, or maybe that's not it at all. What we know for sure is that he (along with the rest of the staff) are phenomenal recruiters. I do know we didn't rank in the top 50 last year for sacks, yards, interceptions, fumble recoveries or TD's. (#75 overall, injuries be damned) At the end of the day I just want to temper expectations. Expecting 11-1 with a completely brand new staff, new schemes, a new QB and new players that played less than 100 meaningful snaps last year seems reckless at best. Those kind of expectations inevitably lead to knee-jerk reactions when growing pains are encountered. We do have the most talent-laden roster in the PAC-12. We have the best O-line in the conference. We have some real high upside to look forward to. I LOVE our WR room as you can't coach height into a player. I love the explosiveness of Cardwell and what little I've seen of Dollars so far. But we also have a lot of questions on both sides of the ball that will need to be answered. All that being said, I expect we drop the "neutral site" game with Georgia. BYU dominated our conference last year, I expect them to be tougher this year. Bc of our "newness" we may lose that one (but learn a lot in doing so). Also, every year we inexplicably lose some game we have no business losing. Last year that was Stanford, in years past it's been one of the Arizona teams (usually on the road). I expect we have that game as well this year, possibly Cal on the road as they always play us tough...and boo me off stage if you want, but I'm not convinced we win the I-5 Fiasco this year in Corvallis, nor do we take the Utes even though we get them at home. Maybe we find a way to steal one of those... And so without any further ado, I'm expecting 8-4 and anything above that is icing on the cake. Two years from now when everyone is gelling and systems are solidly in place (assuming we keep the staff together), then I'll start making calls for CFP inclusion. Until then I'm going to enjoy the ride and look for growth every game. Geaux DUCKS!

What a great article! Thanks for sharing!!!

I was thinking the same thing...must be a Clemson writer lol! Then it occurred to me that if they read this article that they're probably asking the same question about who's tossing Nix in the conversation?!

Watching this was a nice way to spend part of my Monday mourning here at work

This is a concept helmet I saw on Twitter over the weekend and boy do I LOVE IT!

Whew, it's gonna be hard (in my opinion) to discuss this without it going political in a hurry. It would seem if you are against the LIV then xenophobia would be the accusation of choice, and if you're in favor of it then greedy capitalist might be in order. The more moderate take on this might be that you can recognize the horrid human rights history of Saudi Arabia, but support competition in the marketplace and that a change in traditions might end up being a good thing. Allowing free people to make their own decisions about their employment though seems 100% inarguable and something we should all be able to get behind...

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Not sure how many of you keep up with golf, but I just wanted to point out that one of our own is currently leading the RBC Canadian Open. Wyndham Clark shot a bogey free -7 under 63 yesterday and will be teeing off today at 1:48pm. This is great news considering Aaron Wise won 2nd place at The Players last weekend which vaulted him up to number #27 (from #59) in the FedEx Cup standings. Next up will be the US Open starting next Thursday (6/16-6/19) where hopefully we'll see both of our boys kicking butt and draining putts!

I'd have to say my "Bang the Drum" guy is Justin Flowe. We 'feel like' we have lightning in a bottle and he looked phenomenal for the one game we saw him in, but we need a fully healthy season to see if it was a fluke or the real deal. The other player I'm dying to see is Tetairoa McMillan down in Arizona. I LOVE our WR room now, but I really wanted to see him as a Duck and not a Wildcat...

I had 3 dates this past weekend that required me to fill up my Jeep 3 separate times...either I'm going to have to start dating closer or start picking them up on a bicycle! I spent more on gas than dinner and movie tickets. (as an aside, I've waited 35 years for the Top Gun sequel and Maverick DID NOT disappoint. 100% watch it in the IMAX!)

So far I haven't bought into the USC hype, but boy are they gonna be tough to slow down! All of their games should be shootouts and it looks like you're gonna have to score 45+ points to even be in the game...hopefully DJ, Justin and Noah can knock Caleb around a bit and get him rattled!

Of course that was the most important thing for Mari, bc we all know that he had ZERO intentions of throwing a football...

In all honesty, I think this is exactly the way it was intended to work. They lease him a car and in return he promotes that dealership on social media and makes appearances at the dealership. I mean, I have ZERO issues with this and maybe some of our boys will make friendly with high-end dealerships in the area...

I expect that's exactly what's kept him off the field...There have been great TE's who didn't have blocking as their greatest attribute, they were more of an oversized slot receiver. However, a TE is a new QB's best friend. That being the case, I expect we'll see more of him this season than we have in past seasons.

I've been a Spencer Webb fan and hate that he doesn't see the field more often than he does. Granted, forever in my mind is etched the touchdown catch against Auburn where he stepped over the defender, so maybe I'm jaded. At any rate, I've wanted to see more of him on the field...

In reality he's a gun-slinger and I'm hoping he's a shadow of Brett Favre. I know he doesn't have that arm strength, but it's that mentality that I'm expecting. 3-4 touchdowns and 2 awful picks but he's gonna spin it! Now before anyone jumps on me, I'm not saying he's Brett Favre talented, just that he reminds me of a Brett Favre mentally. Since that's where I'm starting from, I expect that the only way I get disappointed is if he throws the picks without the touchdowns...maybe I'd be better off expecting a Romo???

Below you'll find an excerpt of an article from a news source I like to frequent. In said article, it appears "that school up North" is encouraging people to wear green. Trouble is, considering the source I'm not sure I should believe them, but then again, wearing green is obviously the best color available for anyone to wear regardless of circumstance... "New research led by scientists at the University of Washington indicates that a species of common mosquito flies toward specific colors, while ignoring the cooler shades of green, purple, blue and white. On the other end of the color spectrum, human skin emits a strong red-orange signal for the mossies—and those are two of the colors that attract the bugs." Avoid Mosquito Bites by Ditching These Colors of Clothing This Summer WWW.GOODNEWSNETWORK.ORG New research shows mosquitoes fly toward specific colors (red and black) while ignoring the cooler shades of green, purple, blue and white.

I remember this vividly in spite of bleaching my brain in an effort to forget. However, Lockie was a 3*, #19 dual threat QB. What I'm proposing in offer should net us something better than that. Do it every year and we'll surely have more to work with. In reality I think this really comes down to having the ability to analyze talent and coachability. Admittedly it's a precarious line to walk, but as I've stated before, I'll take a kid with some talent that needs to be coached up over the primadonna any day of the week.

Simple: Don't get in a bidding war for an unproven commodity. Offer him a scholarship, Division Street access and a reasonable NIL compensation based on the value he "presumably" offers. Sell him on the program, the WR's and Offensive Line he'll be playing with and the defense that will be backing him, then let him make his choice. If he chooses Florida/Ole Miss/Miami etc, then he becomes their problem. If a high school player is all about the benjamins, then let them be a burden elsewhere...

I haven't checked, but this weekends runner up placing should put him in the top 50 of the FedEx Cup standings. If he can continue this strong play, he should position himself well for next year...

I must admit that I'm very happy to hear this news. By us seemingly implementing a "self-imposed" salary cap, we aren't just throwing money at anything that moves. It requires us to be calculating and responsible in our evaluation of talent and team needs. This also gives us access to the proverbial "high road" when that team up North wants to accuse us of "buying up" the recruits they thought were "rightfully theirs". Besides, a decent 4* QB behind a very good offensive line will look better (IMHO) than a 5* behind a patchwork offensive line. All in all since we've opened Pandora's Box, I much prefer the idea of a salary cap across all of college football without any of the shenanigans used in the pro's. Couple that with the penalty of losing future cap dollars for all recruiting violations and we'll level the playing field for all schools...