Mic

If we look at this in a cynical way: "Even the 'bigwigs' need teams (like O) to beat so they can be Big" Without the Vanderbilt's, Mississippi States, Missouri's, the Rutger's (and the O's) where'd Alabama & Georgia & LSU & Clemson & Ohio St. be? If I read between the lines here I think what you might be saying is none of this bodes well for Oregon: joining the Big 10 (or whatever they call it) or staying in a diminishing league with left-over teams used only as fodder for a handful of big teams. Sadly, I have to say I agree. But we have hopes our new coaching staff will bring us back to where Oregon almost was, because that was an exciting time for Oregon football fans. Even though Auburn nipped us and Ohio State thrashed us in the BCS, at least we were there, on the big stage, to make our run at it. All those teams you mention, they were almost there once or twice, too. The NCAA needs to figure out some way to level the playing fields for all the other teams or their own Golden Goose could lose its luster. No one I know thinks seeing the same 5 or 6 teams playing for it all, year-in and year-out, would be a good thing. No one except the fans of those handful of teams. Otherwise, all the NCAA is - is a minor league for NFL teams. And we all know how barely popular Minor League baseball is in comparison to NCAA football.

I would be rather shocked to see Bo play this entire game. There won't be many chances for Coach Lanning to get his young QBs some playing time and EWU affords him that. I won't say he'd be making a mistake by not playing them, but it certainly will give us a clear indicator of where this season's going if we don't see either Thompson or Butterfield. Pretty much like what we saw last season, I think.

It's just my opinion but I think Georgia would lose a significant number of players to injury before the end of the 1st Half. Talk about a talent disparity, a strength disparity and an age disparity. Let alone an experience disparity! No, I think the Jacksonville Jags would 'win' a Collegiate National title, pads down. Thankfully, we should never find out.

Dylan Mickanen's article that appeared originally on 'Fan Nation Duck's Digest' is probably one of the more reasonable and sensible articles coming out of this woodshed beating by Georgia. Mickanen: Don't Judge Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks Yet WWW.YARDBARKER.COM The sky is not falling. It's reasonable to be worried, the loss to Georgia had zero positives, but it was just one game. Despite what Oregon preached all offseason leading into the matchup, the... It's still pretty optimistic but at least it draws some reasonable conclusions based on passed Oregon history (Kelly & Cristobal's tenures) and actual recruiting numbers and status in the Pac-12. None of us want to jump to conclusions nor do we want to give up on our Ducks. It's barely September yet. Dylan has taken the time to assess where Oregon stands talent-wise and schedule wise with a reasoned approach. And he's kinda told us when/if we need to begin our panic attack. Give him a read.

As much as I enjoy (and respect) your analysis (like the above article) I think comparing Georgia to a a"bottom tier NFL team' is stretching things a mite, David. Yeah, they're pretty good, darned good for a college team, but college teams are absolutely no comparison to any NFL team. However, I get what you're saying; but I don't share your enthusiasm for the Ducks chances to get to the Rose Bowl. I do share your sentiments. Maybe things will look better after we play (and beat!) EWU, BYU and WSU convincingly. First things first.

No more QB transfers from the evil Portal! This 'portal' thing isn't working out for us very well. Tyler Shough would have been a better option for us than sticking with Anthony Brown. No more Portal. Let's start a chant: 'No - More - Portal', 'No - More - Portal'...'No - More - Portal'... Recruit! Develop! Win!

Naw... the Ducks were just about to say "Enough" and get tough....Georgia was lucky - it could have got ugly. But we let them off the hook....

Actually, tho I think EWU should not be overlooked and Oregon should come loaded for Bear. I expect Dan Lanning will not be in the mood to 'play nice'. It could get ugly. It should get ugly. Lanning should push the Ducks as hard as he can to make them play fair - but like fiends. The rest of the season depends on what happens Saturday, imho. A close win: not good. A strong win: good.

What happened to white? It's hot, right? Wear white! I have a green Ducks shirt, a white Ducks shirt, a black Ducks shirt... but no yellow Duck shirt. Yellow is not a good color on me, says the wife. What'd I know? Color, schmullor. My green, white and black shirts all have something in yellow on 'em. GO DUCKS!

For me, a meaningless ranking meant only to hook readers in. You tell me there are 121 teams in the FBS Oregon can't beat? Nonsense! lol But, maybe it'll help motivate the players, tho I doubt many of them are paying any attention to this. I know the coaches certainly shouldn't be.

At last, some good news, maybe.

The AP reported that this is only the 2nd time in Div.I Collegiate football history the a top 20 ranked team gave up 7 consecutive TD's without a stop to another team. Yeah, it was that bad and to be honest it looked liked if he had wanted to, Kirby Smart could have made it 8 straight TD's. I also did some math and came up with the dismal fact that in the two Utah games at the end of last year and this 1st one, Oregon scored a total of 20 points while giving up 125 ! We also lost the bowl game in between the Utah losses and Georgia. I just couldn't remember the score.

No, the staff are only 0-1. If you consider the two losses by Oregon to Utah and now this one, Oregon has scored only 20 points while giving up 125 in just three contests! Something is definitely wrong with the Offense which makes a suspect Defense even worse. I wonder if this might be one reason why Travis Dye fled the coup for USC?

Only the 2nd pitcher since 1901 to do this in their debut? Gads, he's sounding like the baseball version of Justin Herbert! Well done, young man.

Agreed, but 1st things 1st. Take care of EWU. Put 'em away early, if you can. Maybe play one or both of the backup QB's to get them valuable real-game experience. And thrash them. Being favored by only 20 pts, at home, to a Big Sky opponent isn't getting much respect from the oddsmakers and/or pollsters.

I'm not disagreeing with anything you said in the above post. Talent will always be the deciding factor when all else is roughly equal (facilities, coaching, techniques, strategy, etc.). In the meantime, I'm silently pleading with fans, coaches and players NOT to overlook the Eagles coming up just because BYU is looming in the background. Oregon should not have to struggle with EWU but after what we all saw last week a real statement has to be made - if it can be. Eastern Washington is the most important game right now because it's next game, right now. At least Mario C had that right - one game at a time.

Why would we get 'freaked out' by this news source? And you're right - good news about a former Duck is good news as long as it's true.

The AP reported this morning that the loss to Georgia marks just the 2nd time a Top 25 ranked team ever gave up 7 straight TD's without a punt. You're right, Kirby very likely could have made it 8.

In hindsight, with the two back-to-back losses to a 'decent' Utah team and now this loss, Cristobal didn't build as good a team as we might have thought. This makes the win last year in Columbus all the more remarkable - and puzzling.

Technique also comes into play and that can always be improved upon. But , yeah, this is what everybody is saying including Kirby Smart. It'll be up to Lanning and staff to change this with recruiting. Not sure how they'er going to be able to out-recruit the SEC teams though.

Of course, it's EWU and today's poll listing Georgia still at #2 is probably pretty accurate. So of course there's gonna be a big improvement in the defense next Saturday. Not sure what it will tell us if there is, tho. Pretty sure what it will tell us if there isn't.

Gaming odds are only that, odds. But the big betting houses get things right more than they get things wrong and there's good research behind the odds. Being favored by only 20 pts against EWU is not a good sign. This is one game O must put the pedal to the metal, if they can, or there will be little confidence against BYU, another team the Ducks should be able to handle. EWU game is more important than many are thinking it is, imo.

One of the more reliable betting sites (vegas insider.com) has announced the early line for the Duck's next game. I think it reveals a lot, (although, they were way off on the -17.5 points they had favored Georgia by earlier). Oregon -20, with an o/u of 72 This tells us 2 things (maybe): 1) the gamblers expect the game to be a lot closer than it looked like it would be just one week ago, and 2) our defense is expected to give up a lot of points. To win by 20 with an o/u of 72 means EWU is expected to score at least 24 points. Just some food for thought.

Or, as my old coach would say, a well-placed kick in the a__*, followed by "Get to work" * figuratively speaking

I agree with 1Ducker1 above. Conference realignment will not bode well for Oregon, imo. But how do you stop a freight train with no brakes?