OhioDuck

I would say yes, except for two things. One is I do not carry the history of the program that some of you do, Bellotti is the first Oregon coach I remember. And two, it's going to take more than three years to say that. After five years, if Oregon is still on an upward trajectory as it is now (getting to/winning NC game maybe), consistent top 5 team... then yes he's the best ever. I have heard some commentators talking about whether he is the best coach in college football right now. That's another question. What Dan Lanning has done at Oregon is certainly impressive, but that may take a few more years to determine also.

Back here in the east we have become pretty sued to Appy beating some pretty good teams (ask Michigan), not that OSU is pretty good. Beavers are definitely having a rough time.

I was surprised that Penn St. was able to mount a comeback they way they did. I'm not sure if it was just some scheme things as coach said after the game or what, but they almost pull victory out of the jaws of being dominated for most of the game. So, I would like to see them working on finishing against good teams. If we are up two touchdowns vs Indiana in the fourth quarter, lets win by three!

It's kinda cool though. I like Lanning's perspective. "This is a white out because we are here." There are going to be fireworks when the ducks come to town.

While the targeting call is somewhat new, they began changing this rule when I was in junior high school. Our coach announced it was no longer legal to lower our head and lead with the top of our helmet when hitting someone. We were then taught a form tackle, putting the facemask into our opponents chest while wrapping up with our arms. That was 1968. The reason was that some players were getting neck injuries when leading with the crown of the helmet. Aside: I broke my friend's ribs with a form tackle when I was in 7th grade. I'll never forget his screams of pain. I never could really hit someone hard after that. Later the son of a well known player broke his neck "spearing" an opponent, which pretty much proved the point. Now the rule is also to protect the ones being hit. This practice is dangerous and it has been for a long time! It has been very hard to get players to stop it, even with the threat of ejection from the game.

In Olympic boxing the hitting surface is a different color. Maybe the "crown" of all helmets should be a different color so it's no longer up to interpretation? It seems that the reason this was not called is because as the PSU player was lowering his head to target, he made contact before his head was all the way down to make it contact with the "crown" of the helmet. Some have said it was the "hairline". I think that's probably right but this guy shaves his head, so the hair line is the crown of his helmet.

I watched a full Ohio State game yesterday for the first time. They are good, but certainly didn't look unbeatable. The Huskies gave them everything they wanted and more for much of the game and the Huskies ain't the Ducks!

last week Ducks had 1 #1 vote in each poll. This week 16 in the AP and 6 in the coaches'. The Ducks are convincing people on the field.

Dang, that just makes me want to cuss! Get down there again and fumble this time!

189 -69 in total yards, a missed field goal could have been the lead for the Ducks. I have to think if Oregon dominates the yardage in the second half like the first we still win by 10 or 14. Gotta get some points out of moving the ball though.

Yeah, I'd crowd the box a bit. Throw in a few creative blitzes also, including run blitzes into PS's favored running gaps. From what I've seen the PS O line is good at holding their blocks, but as someone else said, not so good at actually moving people around. Often their backs have bounced around trying two or three holes before finding one they can get through for a good gain. Working with their hands and getting off blocks quickly will help, but also the line playing their techniques and keeping blocker off of the line backers will free up the backers to make plays. While PS's defense has played well their offense has not impressed me at all so far, running or passing.

If this game is well played, close and exciting both of these teams will still be in the running for the playoffs and the NC. Remember a lot of people wrote Ohio State off after they lost at Autzen last year. By the end of the season they were ready for the playoffs and won it all. If the Duck were to travel across the country and come up just short in a classic game, they could do the same thing Ohio State did last season. As I see it, and things could definitely change, there are five teams that could win the NC. Ohio St., Penn St. Georgia, Miami (even under having newly discovered the O Mario) and Our Blessed Ducks, not necessarily in that order. And I have my doubts about a couple of those being included, but not the Ducks. There are several teams that the pundit class said were going to be really good preseason that have not been impressive so far, but still manage to keep their high ranking (see LSU as the best example). The Ducks have been better than many expected. I expect them to stay that way.

Get that back healing up Charles!

Ducks 31-17 1 2 245

I can see why some would pick Penn St. but it's mostly home field advantage. So far, watching both teams, Oregon just looks bigger, faster, stronger and more skilled. I don't buy the holding back and Allard playing bad on purpose, give me a break. At this level athletes just don't do that. Of course the proof is always what happens on the field, The Ducks can't afford to play at any level less than their very best. And watch for a few wrinkles Penn St. hasn't shown yet.