OhioDuck

I think I'm going to start a new dance, The Duck Swoop! Oregon swoops in for another one. Sorry I'm just kind of chuckling to myself. I saw this coming when he made the visit to Eugene earlier in the week. All those 247 guys with crystal ball saying USC, except one for Michigan (?) Just had a feeling all along he would stay in the Northwest. Intuition is sometimes better than logic.

Oregon vs. USC recruiting battles in the Lanning/Riley era: Oregon 1 - USC 0 As it should be and Hopefully a sign of things to come! Big time commitment for the Ducks!

Actually, if you ask me how I would have called it, I would have called interference. But I would have been calling it that way all game long and there might have been a question about who I would have called it on for that play. Stanford guy actually pushed first, Wright may have pushed hardest. There were several times during the game when Stanford played the big receiver on smaller DB game and their receivers committed very callable pushoffs. I would also have called many of them offensive interference. That would changed the complexion of the game a great deal. I'm sure it would have negated a touchdown and at least two first downs on drives where Stanford scored. Point continues to be, it was not a call consistent with the calls/no calls the rest of the game.

They both pushed each other. From one angle I could make an argument for offensive interference, from another defensive. As mentioned above, according to how the game had been called previously, it should have been a no call. But the refs will find a way when Oregon plays Stanford.

Looks like it's practically down to Oregon and USC. Come on big guy you know you want to stay in the PNW.

Yeah, watched post practice interview the other day. If it wasn't this one, he said a lot of the same things. Very impressive young man! He was poised, smart and articulate. In my mind he oozed leadership. No matter who comes out of this QB competition ahead, I think we will have a terrific QB.

Looks like this has been confirmed. Not getting hopes too high, but Oregon has pulled off a lot of last minute flips with last minute visits in the past!

Don't recall exactly, but I think several big time recruits are going to be there for the Spring Game. It's not the regular season, but it does give guys an idea what Oregon football is going to look like. I'm hoping for a few commitments after those visits.

I saw a tweet yesterday that someone interpreted as Conerly and his father being in Eugene. Not sure it means anything, could just be passing through on the way to SC. But I have seen stranger things than a bunch of 247 guy be totally wrong on their crystal ball predictions. A quick surprise visit to Oregon by a recruit has led to a few of those in the past.

Grew up in ACC country, people here were excited when K came and after a few years of sputtering final began to challenge UNC's reign in the conference. After a few years and the retirement of Dean Smith, it was then who will rise up and challenge Duke and that whiney Coach K. Soon it was common knowledge among ACC fans you could not get a fairly called game in the ACC if Coach K was on the sidelines. This bothered many people in the MId Atlantic more than any recruiting "irregularities" that went on. Later I knew the parents of one of the Duke players. They conceded the guy knew his basketball and could coach, but would quickly follow that he was not a good example to their son in the way of character. They gave many examples that I won't go into here. It can be frustrating when you follow a program, that you have involvement in and know they are doing things the right way and watch them lose out to programs, recruiting and on the court or field to programs who are well known for not doing things the right way.

The school tobacco built. Well one of several in NC. Seriously, a good school, great education, but I wouldn't root for their basketball team if they were playing literal devils (kind of what UNC used to be to this guy who grew up rooting for UVA). I really don't care who wins this, want them all to lose and not even be here. This is the ultimate of a blue blood final four. Yuk!

Yeah, thinking the same thing. Who is running with the first team will probably change often so all three get a chance to show what they can do, especially in the spring. We won't see just one guy until one starts to really separate from the others. May not happen at all.

The Ducks are really pulling in some great players on the basketball side of things. Get some good chemistry and hard work going, something special could be brewing.

All I know is both are way faster than I've ever been!

Sometimes not being the last visit is tough. Would love to get him, and still might. One thing is that I'm used to seeing crystal balls break for a school right after a visit. It may help Oregon that he's not making the decision the day after the visit. He has time to go home, sit with his family and talk it out. There is time to remember everything he thought was great about Oregon after visiting Eugene. In other words, even if he is a USC lean there is still time for him to change his mind.

Ducks football, VCU basketball fan here. We played St. Peter's earlier this season and won a close game with them. You could tell this team had some potential to be very good though. They are reminding a lot of us of our 2011 improbable final 4 run. Go Peacocks! This is what makes March so cool!

I have no problem with Nix starting if he wins the job. What I hope for is if he is not playing well, one of the other guys at least gets a chance. What was so frustrating last year was that sometimes AB was playing so poorly it was hard to imagine anyone coming in and being worse. So, why not give those guys a chance?

Yes, it's great when players enjoy playing. That usually also makes it more fun for us fans. Football is fun again may soon be applying to us as well! I'm ready for the season to start!

Thanks, this is such great and hopeful news. It pretty much confirms what I was sensing about Lanning, what I heard from some Georgia fans too. Lanning is the real deal.

Yeah, all the rule changes to open up the game and allow freedom of movement have gone out the window now. And I'm not sure anyone has taught a lot of officials the change with the principal of verticality on defense. They still call it the same old way. Offensive guy jumps into a defender just holding his position, offensive guy goes to the foul line.

I was wondering when someone would mention running backs. Cardwell has a great chance to break out. He has all the tools to be a great running back, I think we saw the tip of the iceberg last season and he won't be alone as a very talented running back this coming season. I'm wondering about Nix. I know it's maybe not a break out season since he's been starting since he was a freshman, but I think there is a sense that he has never lived up to his potential. Could this be the year and right situation where he lives up to that potential? If not he has some young guys on his heals who could be break out guys as mentioned above.

Admittedly I am not up on the Falcons at the moment, but I don't think their O line is a strong suite. I would share the concern already expressed that Marcus lands somewhere that his passing and running ability are taken advantage of as part of the plan, not just running for his life because of the break down of his blocking. I hope they have a plan in place to utilize his talent.

At some point there has to be some regulation of NIL. There is regulation of any business that balances the ability to make money with keeping it from harming others while doing it. To some extent I am wondering if this can be done by NIL being something that happens after you come to school, not promised before. It seems like what is happening right now in some (certainly not all) instances is a bidding war that has nothing to do with Name, Image and Likeness, but is a thinly disguised bribe to get kids to come play for whoever. I have no problem with someone being able to profit from their NIL, I've always thought for example when a jersey is sold with a players name and number in college, that player should get a portion of the proceeds. That's only fair. If they are able to market themselves, even if the school helps them in marketing themselves, great! But I don't think some of the offers we are at least hearing rumors about have anything to do with real NIL, it's just the same old corruption made legal.

Yes, coaches are important, but they never throw or catch a pass, run the football, throw a block or make a tackle. You have to have good/great players. You can also have the 5* players and not win championships. When players are playing for each other, getting better for each other, pushing each other to be better, then you have something magical. If you have that and 5* talent...