Mic

Not at all. He'd remind me of John Madden, a little bit. And I bet he'd be popular if he could keep to the subject of football and not go tangentially off target.

Well, yes - if only because I don't think (another guess) Willie was as interfering in the Offense as someone like Mario C seemed to be. So, it would make some sense to think his O.C. was more than a little responsible for how the offense was run. This might make for an interesting research subject someday for someone well connected to a university's athletic program: How much influence does the head coach have and/or exert over the O.C and D.C.? I'd expect it to vary widely from coach to coach, program to program. That said, we all know who generally gets the credit when things go well and the criticism when they don't: the head coach.

I think (?) a lot of us root for the Beavs except when they play the Ducks. They're the 'other' Oregon team (w/respects to PSU). Ideally, I like to see an unbeaten OSU Beaver team play and lose to an unbeaten Oregon Duck team - every season. 12-1 vs 13-0.

Good school. btw: this snippet from Rob Moseley's article on GoDucks.com Practice Report for Oct. 05: "When the Ducks play Saturday evening at Arizona, they'll be facing one of the top passing teams in the country so far this season. The Wildcats rank ninth in the FBS with 340 passing yards per game, led by quarterback Jayden de Laura and a talented stable of receivers." As I said earlier, oftentimes it all comes down to 'match-ups'. Arizona might just provide a matchup problem for the Ducks.

He's certainly my favorite RB on this team. What fun to watch! With an average of >7.5 ypc all he needs is more carries in each game. I believe he got 97 yards against Stanford and Whittington got a lot of carries, as did Nix.

Yeah, because Arroyo was an actual O.C. where as Willie T was the Head Coach. So, technically speaking, Willie's 'offense' was more a product of his O.C. than himself, perhaps.

No reason, imo, to stop the 'Shout' tradition at Autzen, as far as the fans and students go. Reining in some of the more exuberant celebrating by the players isn't a bad idea but Lanning might want to strike a balance between the fan-player connection that the tradition fosters. Easier said than done, tho.

Yeah, Hayward says it pretty good. But don't misunderstand Debbie, a lot of us like the Beavers too, esp. their accomplishments on the baseball diamond. Not being an Oregon alumni, I can feel this way. Oregon alumni, maybe not so easy for them to root for the Beavers.

I think (who really knows?) that Dan Lanning understands that as Head Coach, he has enough on his plate then to try and manage the Offense (not his specialty) and the Defense as well. Perhaps this was Mario C's weakness - he didn't understand that and wanted control over everything regardless.

I didn't realize that! Well, then that answers that. Throw it away, hopefully not into the hands of the opponent.

I know hardly a Duck fan who does like the taunting and celebrating that goes on by this team - but it's been a part of Oregon for a very long time, even before Lanning showed up. We were hoping Coach Lanning would rein that in but it's been the one area of disappoint for some of us - the only one, so far. This attitude that fosters the taunting is starting to bleed over into penalties and DL needs to get a firm grip on it soon before it costs Oregon a win they should have had, which it will eventually. So, you're not alone in this, Debbie.

Ryan has been a pleasant surprise although many of us had good expectations about him. One just never knows how a recruit will perform until they get their chance to prove themselves.

Dunno the answer to this but I will say that (apparently) Dan Lanning trusts KD to handle the Offense because he has enough sense to know he's primarily a defensive-minded guy now shouldering the Head Coaching duties and is not a micro-manager. Thank God! I might also suspect that KD might have made it clear to DL before he agreed to come to Oregon that he wanted a free-hand to run the Offense. With certain limits, of course. This makes me wonder if Lupoi has the same freedom on his end?

An illustration of how different people view different things. Personally, I find it painful to listen to Nick Saban speak about anything, even tho I know he knows a LOT about football. I always find listening to Leach entertaining, kinda like waiting for a grenade to go off but without the danger it would pose to anyone but himself. I'm sending my future son-in-law his advice on weddings...

That would indicate that either the pass has been called, or a run has been called, but not an either/or. I wonder what the check-down would be if the pass is called and the receiver is covered? Would the QB have the option to pull it down and run instead? (disregarding the fact that, technically, there's is always the busted-play option of keeping the ball and trying to make some yards by the QB). Apparently not, at least not by design.

What's the old saying? "There's nothing new under the sun..." Generally attributed to King Solomon. I guess in many ways it's true, albeit in slightly different forms, even in football. Are we to think the Kenny D's Offense is actually an amalgamation of several earlier offenses from other teams including OBD themselves? Apparently so. This is not to discredit KD's offensive; this sort of thing isn't an easy, no-brainer type of 'cut and paste'. One has to have a strong grip on the strengths and weaknesses of a team's players and abilities, at the very least, and a like feel for the opponent's. Charles set me straight on Willie T's offense which I had apparently washed from my mind. But whomever inspired KD to build his Offense, all I know is it seems to be working, more-or-less, and is exciting and fun to watch. It will be fun to watch it develop further and iron out details going foreward.

At the CFB level there isn't a team in the country that doesn't have talented players, decent coaches and rabid fans. Over the years of watching collegiate football I've learned that many games do not end up the way they look like they should on paper. There's this funny thing called 'match-ups' where individual matchups of key players (offensive and defensive) have profound impacts on the outcome of every game. ie: Team A can beat the snot out of Team B who had beaten Team C. On paper one might think that Team A should expect to have no problem with Team C as well. Then the two teams meet and .... voila! Team C beats Team A. What happened? Team C 'matched-up' better against the strengths of Team A then they were able to against Team B. And so on. Whew. What all this means is that different teams present different problems to each other. There is no reason to think Arizona couldn't 'match-up' better against Oregon than they did against an opponent who beat them previously, and vice versa. And, key players come in and out of the lineups due to injuries, etc. Every team in the Pac-12 should be considered dangerous to any other. Especially on their home field. History has confirmed this many times. A loss to Arizona in Tucson should be considered a real possibility nor should it be reason to dump one's favorite team. Arizona has a very good (and dangerous) QB in Jake DeLorean who can throw bombs. They have one of the best cover backs in the league coming back from injury. They will be playing Oregon in the desert, in front of their fans, late in the evening under lights. A loss to Arizona, who is getting better game by game is certainly a possibility. A Duck win here would be a very good indication, imo, of Oregon's chances in the post season. A loss here would certainly not be out of the question and if it happens, a credit to a talented Arizona team and their coaches. GO OREGON!

Oh, Debbie...say it isn't so!

And Charles set me straight, too. Funny, I must have washed any memory of Willie's performance right out of my mind!

Taggert offense? Uhhh... o...k... if you insist! LOL (what's his record at Florida Atlantic?)

I don't want Leach's offense. I agree with you - a team must have balance and I like the running game (when it works) best anyway. What I meant is how many plays can an O.C. load on the page and expect his QB, RB's and the rest of the Offense to be able to run properly and precisely? Maybe, given the talent a coach has at his 'disposal' at the time, it's possible to over-load the playbook and get an offense that does "most things, OK, some things GOOD and some things POORLY" versus ALL things GOOD? I don't have the football grey cells to know but it seems to me Coach Leach, given his successes, has a better grasp on things than some others. Hopefully Kenny D will have an even better grasp and a better group of young men to work with than Leach ever had. And hopefully, that will lead to more success than Leach has had. I just don't know. Don't think I'm all for chucking overboard Kenny Dillingham, because I am certainly not! GO OREGON1

I won't agree. Leach is in the wrong conference. Ask me who I like as an O.C. better and I'd say "Leach over Dillingham" except for the fact that Mike Leach will never go back to being just a coordinator.

Why is this not good news to me? Because Noah Sewell still has 2 years of eligibility left, that's why. Yes, I'm selfish. I'd like to see him stay at least one more year and try for a 1st round pick. For selfish reasons, of course. Oregon could use him!

That's not a bad formula, tho maybe 10 plays run with precision (with a couple extra for special circumstances) might be better. If Lanning & Dillingham think they have a team that can handle more plays (with enough precision to reliably work) then the more - the merrier. Realistically, how many plays can an Offense run, precisely and reliably and effectively? Without confusion, false starts, missed assignments and backfield collisions? Not being an offensive mind anywhere near the mind of you two(Charles and Dillingham), I have no idea but I would hazard a guess - it's not a lot more than 10 or 12 (not counting "wrinkles"). ? Maybe Leach has a point?

BINGO. $$$$$$!