Triphibius

Two points, one specific, the other general. First point. Where will Oregon ever find another receiver like Tez Johnson? Well, there is only one Tez, but note the following news item from 24/7 sports. Oregon signee Dakorien Moore takes Under Armour All-America Game MVP honors Second, DL is still a young coach. He is bright, he recruits players well, he has brought in effective offensive coaches, and I think he is generally a good motivator. I do think he has some growing to do both as a game coach and as a long-term strategist. I think he intends to stay at Oregon. He is good, and will get better. I would not bet against him.

I understand that DL does not want to make excuses, and I respect his assumption of responsibility for the disappointing result. As an Oregon fan, however, I want to understand what happened. Why was Oregon so soundly defeated by a team they previously defeated? Specifically, why was our defense so unsuccessful? There have been many references to "Jimmies and Joes" in this and other threads. Yes, OSU has excellent athletes, but they had the same athletes in October. What changed? Here are some hypotheses: 1. OSU got better. Contrary to the predictions at ATQ, Kelly and Day did not repeat their mistakes from the Michigan game, but made effective changes. However, see point 4. 2. The layoff affected Oregon. Plausible, in that all four bye teams lost. This may be related to point 3. 3. DL's sports psychology approach may have been faulty. (The Rose Bowl was being described as a "business trip.") In baseball, a manager down 3-2 cannot lost game 6 by saving his best reliever for game 7. Emotionally, Oregon needed to commit everything to the OSU game psychologically at the risk of being flat the next week against a weaker opponent. 4. Defective scheme or execution. Jeremiah Smith is an impressive talent, no doubt. On two of his TDs, he was running free with no defender near him. Bassa was animated before the first TD, as if he recognized there was an assignment error in the making. As others have pointed out, there was game film from Tennessee. I am emphatically not calling for anyone's head here. We have capable young coaches, but I think they need to develop further to achieve their ambitious goals for the program.

Sorry if my response seemed contentious, Oregonducks. Boettcher, a fellow Axeman and German, is a favorite of mine. Thank you for your response. He is athletic enough to play center field and get drafted by the Astros. He did not appear to me too slow yesterday pursuing Henderson. I would admit that Bassa, although no doubt knowledgeable and of high character, has physical limitations. I cannot argue with you on the tape, as I have no access to it. On that coach's clinic, Boettcher was singled out for an outstanding play that compensated for others' errors against PSU. We can agree to disagree on this. Personally, I hope BB comes back and calls the signals next year, but he needs to do what is best for him. If that is the Astros, it will no doubt be better for his body in the long run.

I do not get the criticism of the LBs. Boettcher was the fourth rated ILB in college football per PFF.

The schedule was beyond the control of the players and coaches. The article above suggests that the layoff hurt Oregon, and that may be true. I prefer to analyze football in terms of match-ups and schemes, but I want to consider this debacle from the perspective of sports psychology, which is one of the many elements of coaching The psychology of baseball, the sport that I played, is entirely different than football. Baseball must be played with calm determination; football requires emotion. I say this as an observer, not a participant. I could certainly be wrong, not in the characterization, but in the weight that I am ascribing to this factor. My point is this. When it was reported at 24/7 that Oregon was approaching the Rose Bowl as a "business trip," I felt uneasy. I understand that DL was looking at the situation as a 16 game season, in which his team could not afford to expend all its emotional resources on one game. The risk of this was that Oregon would come out flat and lacking in alertness when they faced their hardest test. I wonder how much of the difference between October and yesterday was a result of the emotional state of the two teams, and how this manifested itself especially at the line of scrimmage.

Early observations, with the caveat that I turned the sound off and did not read all of the game thread comments: 1. On two of Jeremiah Smith's touchdowns, there was no defensive player near him. I am not denying him credit, but there appeared to be somewhat wrong with the defensive scheme or execution. If Oregon out-coached OSU before, it looked like Chip got the better of Tosh this time. OSU appeared better prepared with one week's practice than Oregon with three. Puzzling. 2. Jack Sawyer won his matchup with Cornelius. He had a big impact, including pass deflections. 3. Evan Stewart was not available at some point. I do not know what happened, but that must have affected our offensive scheme, as he was integral to our first game success. 4. I was confident that Burch and Uiagelelei would put heavy pressure on Howard. I am shocked at how well their patchwork offensive line held up against our defensive front, both running and throwing. Again, puzzling. 5. Oregon had a great year. This was a tough end to it, but congratulations and thanks to our players, coaches and staff for their success.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all Duck fans a win. I recently read an analysis at ATQ. The author compared Oregon's run defense with and without Burch. The difference was substantial. I think the trouble our guys had with outside runs against Wisconsin was partly because of his absence on the edge. I saw a replay of the game with PSU on BTN. I recall that a number of the long runs happened when our guys filled their gaps but the Lions' RBs just bounced off our linemen, who seemed strangely lacking in energy. This seems consistent with the report that several of them were sick. According to an analysis by an OSU source posted by someone here ( I cannot recall who. but thanks), Michigan was able to stop OSU's run consistently with six men in the box. The reason, said the author, was that OSU recruits lineman with an emphasis on pass blocking, which has made it hard for them to run on Michigan. According to ATQ, our defensive tackles have the highest success rates per play on the defense. Based on this, I would be inclined to emulate Michigan's approach.

No question, depth is good to have regardless what the format is. However, some players are special talents whose skills cannot be replicated, even by highly capable substitutes (for example, Tez Johnson). Football is a rough game, and risk is part of the equation, but the longer the playoff continues, the greater the odds that injuries will determine the outcome. I have probably said enough. Thanks for engaging on my point.

My fear is that in a sixteen team playoff, the winner will not be the best team, but the luckiest (in avoiding injury). A March Madness approach does not work, in my view, with a sport as tough on the human body as football.

Good observation, Solar. Let me add three things. 1. PSU's going faster than their normal pace may have caught OBD unprepared a few times, according the Autzen audibles. 2. The defense struggled to set the edge against Wisky. The problem here was that PSU ran between the tackles very successfully, which no one else had been able to do, other than perhaps BSU. 3. Burch had a quiet game. I can't say whether this was scheme, personnel, or his physical state. Boettcher still had an impact, as it was he who made the tackle on Warren on the two point conversion. Boettcher is a favorite of mine. Two observations about his play; 1. His run blitzes usually failed, possibly because PSU was ready for them. He never seemed to find lanes into the backfield. 2. On one play, a guard came right at him, untouched by the defensive line. LBs cannot make tackles if the defensive linemen do not occupy the blockers. I am no coach, I not cannot say why this happened, but I was shocked at how ineffective Harmon and Caldwell were against PSU. No doubt PSU deserves much credit. No doubt others will see more or say more.

The Cooper Cupp could be mistaken for the Rams' star receiver, or the indispensable component of the players' equipment. Also, no alliteration ought to be permitted.

I have the suspicion that Oregon is easier to defend without Tez Johnson in the slot. Losing Lowe did not help, either. Wisconsin looks to this non-coach to be playing well. Our tackles are being pressed hard in pass protection. We need to find a second receiver to target. Holden? Ferguson? Sadiq? I will be curious to see what Stein can devise. On defense, Wisconsin had better success by running the ball toward the outside. There needs to be an adjustment to curb that, putting them back in second and third and long.

Beware the Tarmac, Mr. Riley. As far as I am concerned, it could not happen to nicer people. I hope they experience several more seasons of this. To be clear my animus is not against Riley (although he may be a jerk for all I know), nor against USC's fans (to whom the same applies), but to their President and Athletic Department, who betrayed their long-time PAC-12 partners. Be careful what you wish for, Trojans. Beware of Midwesterners bearing gifts!

If the B1G is not to their liking, there may be room for the Men of Troy in the burgeoning Pac-2 Conference. Just a thought.

The Six Pac plus (we hope) two. For Sinatra fans, the Rat Pac.

According to the author, USC left the PAC-12 to escape the bad officiating (and not to escape competition from the U of O, or simply greed). Please......

At least Oram correctly blamed the collapse of the PAC-12 on USC and UCLA. I find this all sad, not amusing. Perhaps I ought to add that I live outside the NW and do not have to listen to caterwauling Beavers on a regular basis.

I believe I heard that Boettcher led the team in tackles. I thought he played well. He was consistently around the football, and tackled well. Then again, I am not a coach and am biased in favor of a fellow SEHS Axeman.

Am I hallucinating, or have they made a substitution on the line at center and right guard?

I disliked the fly sweep, also. We have one of the best receiving tight ends in college football. However, they seem to be forcing the ball to Sadiq, who has only a holding penalty to his name tonight.

An exciting race, and a great victory for Cole Hocker. Congratulations to him and his proud parents. Two of the last three gold medals in the 1500 won by U of O runners.

I notice two things: 1) the disparity in results between teams with similar talent, (e.g. Michigan vs. Penn St. and Oregon vs. USC) 2. the Buckeyes are loaded. I suspect two things: 1) Wisconsin at Camp Randal Stadium in November will not be easy 2) Jonathan Smith will find a way of being a nuisance regardless what he has

It has been said that he runs like a Dierre.

I, for one, will miss Yogi Roth and of course Nick Allioti.