Mic

Really? Because I've been thinking O has been doing a good job kicking the ball into & thru the end zone? The punting game has been iffy, but not, imo, the FG's & kickoffs. Am I wrong?

Exactly! I think everyone of us feels the same and worries about that. I imagine it keeps coaches up at night worrying about penalties because it's not something they can always control, emotions being what they are. And boy! Are emotions gonna be running high in this game.

Gunslinger's can win Championships with incredibly brave, bold plays - taking the bull by the horns! Gunslingers can lose Championships with incredibly brave, bold plays - when they break from the scheme and make terrible mistakes by trying to do too much. They're heroes when it works, with the fans raining down praise and the coach left shaking his head. And they're goats when it fails, with the fans screaming murder in the stands, and the coach left shaking his head. I guess the 'trick' to all this (and what's makes a good head coach a great one) is knowing how much rope to give the gunslinger and when to rein that gunslinger in.

After that 60 yard catch, yeah, a simple bow down and he was done. I really liked the thumb's-up gesture Troy Franklin gave to Bo (I assume) immediately after rising from that 1st down catch over the middle. It was the opposite (imo) of a gesture of self-congratulation. It was like he was signaling to Nix "nice throw! We're moving the chains".

I am too, debbie, very surprised at this. Although I have to say it seems to have greatly subsided in the last game. I hope it remains subdued when they're back in Autzen.

"If he's not unleashed"? Do you think he's been operating on one to this point?

And complete mis-direction. I still have it in my mind how Oregon would pound the defense (with tempo) one direction and then suddenly attack them at another catching the defenders completely out of position. It's how Marcus Mariota destroyed defenses with long-ball strikes to a streaking receiver with no defender even in the picture. How did that happen? The corners and safeties were made to be completely out of position. This is something the Ducks will really need be on the lookout for when they play UCLA. Discipline will be paramount as DTR will be acting as MM in an offense trying its best to mimic what Oregon once was, with wrinkles, of course, New wrinkles as Chip's mind never stops thinking and scheming.

Multi-dimensional levels of "physicality". And there-in (imo) lies the primary weakness of Mario C's physicality scheme (or his idea of physicality). MC's was, basically, very one-dimensional possibly indicating a limited view of what it means to be physical. Was it Bucky Irving or Coach Locklyn in an interview recently where one or the other (pretty sure it was Locklyn) explained how speed can equal physicality which is true: it's simple physics. A speeding object (runner, blocker) colliding with a slower or stationary object imparts greater force on that object (tackler). ie: it's not just size and weight, Mario. It's speed, it's numbers, it's angles: all directed at the point of attack, whether moving the ball forward on offense or stopping the progress of the ball on defense. David Marsh does yeoman's work here explaining this to his readers.

Egad. CFB National Championship = SEC Championship, Part II. Oh, that'll be popular with fans, all right.... like a wart removal video.

Short answer: get ready for UCLA. lol Longer answer; prepare for the up-tempo game of Chip Kelly's offense and figure out how to get Christian Gonzalez some help to limit Jake Bobo's catches. Figure out how to continue stopping their big running back. (Oregon did a great job last year in limiting him to 35 yards and they'll need to do that again). Practice tackling and stripping the ball. Figure out new ways to pressure the QB and get some sacks. They'll need some. On Offense, keep polishing their 3-pronged attack (passing, running and Nix's scrambling). Practice hanging onto the ball.and eliminating false start penalties, (like they did in Arizona). Design or practice new plays (not seen yet in any game for UCLA's D.C. to scheme against). They have 2 weeks to 'perfect' several.

I might be inclined to take that bet. Shall we say a 'gentleman's-to-a-lady' bet on this, debbie? Or should a 'gentleman' ever seek to lure a lady into such an arrangement? Probably not. Let's wait and see where things stand after the 22nd, shall we? If UCLA beats Oregon in Eugene, I would say you are probably correct. If Oregon can handle UCLA (and not win by an eyelash) then things might look different.

Then Miami should at least get a good line out of the deal. The rest is their problem. Pity, I liked Steve Greatwood.

Well, after all, most of us were just hoping for an 8 or 9 win season and not thinking Lanning could ever get us to the Playoffs in his 1st year. It's just all these wins O's been racking up has us thinking over our heads. I suppose we should understand that an 8-4 or 9-3 season followed by a decent bowl win would be a great success for the new regime and not get carried away with ourselves talking Playoffs.

Translation, please?

By "they" do you mean UCLA or Oregon (in the Pac-12 Championship)? Unless the Pac-12 champs have more than one loss, I think they get considered for the Playoffs, but it also depends on what happens elsewhere around the country. We all know of the bias that exists in the media - hence NCAA.

Steve Greatwood lived up to his name. Is Klemm anything like him? I don't know but I guess we'll likely get to see in the coming years.

Here's an interesting tidbit that I just thought up. When SC and UCLA leave for the Big1G, some have called for UNLV to be one of the teams to consider for joining the Pac. Personally, I think the chances very low of that happening. Never-the-less, if UNLV were to join the Pac, that would mean the end of the Pac Championship being held in Alligent Field, Las Vegas, wouldn't it? The Pac wouldn't want to go thru another round of criticism over one of its teams having possible home-field advantage again, like the So Cal schools did for way too long.

Even with that scenario SC will still need to win the Pac-12 Championship game, meaning a 2nd win (possibly) against one of those three teams or maybe another. The Pac championship is also on the road (Las Vegas) for both teams.

Good lord! Is his name Tom?

BYU wouldn't be so ferocious at times either, with a few of their players coming back after mission field. But I thought 4 years of eligibility playing was it and it sounds like PoPo will be coming back for a 5th. Was it the covid-shortened season that didn't count?

The Injury gods are fickle and there never seems to be a way to predict them. But you might be onto something because something's changed, thru the first 6 games this season. Injuries are still happening but at a greatly reduced rate, so far. Fingers crossed. We all remember that disaster of a strength & conditioning coach Willie Tagger foisted on us, letting our long-time, world-class trainer go for a 'pig in a poke' who eventually got fired. So maybe there's something to what you're inferring or thinking here?

Now THAT's a profound statement. Cristobal got a LOT more out of his time at Oregon than Oregon will ever have gotten out of Cristobal. With this I'm all in, guys. Did you see this Charles?

Yeah, Joe Salave'a (sp.?) was a good coach and it's too bad he couldn't be kept on staff but Lanning & Co. cleaned house when they came and it's understandable. Do you know where Joe went after he left?

As usual, I suspect $$ will dictate things. That LA market is a lot of $$ for any conference to ignore, let alone one comprised of 10-12 schools in the adjoining states. When SC & UCLA leave, bring in Fresno State and Boise State. It won't be the same but it replaces one of the California schools (Fresno has a population of >540,000) and Boise State (>235,000) gives us a finger into Idaho. It's where half the population of our state wants to move to anyway.

I'll believe it when someone with authority, someone with intelligence, someone with integrity makes the announcement. Rich Neuheisel? nope On to other matters.....