AnotherOD

I was looking at the ACC and if SMU beats Pitt at home next weekend, they have a very easy path to finish 8-0 in conference and 11-1 overall. If Clemson, Miami, and SMU all finish 8-0, on the third tie-breaker Clemson and Miami play. If Clemson beats Miami in a close game, both Clemson and Miami probably get spots and an 11-1 SMU conference co-champion likely gets left out. Iowa State is unbeaten (and has a tougher road to stay that way) but they could meet an undefeated BYU for the B12 championship game. Does the B12 get 2? If not, a second one loss program gets left out? How about if tOSU gets it worked out and beats Penn State and Indiana? Indiana and Penn State still have a manageable road to 11-1. How many from the B1G can go? If Oregon beats tOSU in a rematch, can you take a two loss tOSU team in over one loss Penn State and Indiana? In this case tOSU would have still beaten both teams (and only lost twice to #1). How do you choose between Penn State and Indiana if the B1G does manage 3? Texas A&M finishes with Texas. What happens to everybody else in the SEC if 11-1 Georgia and 11-1 A&M play for the SEC championship? In this case I believe all of Texas, Tennessee, and Alabama will have at least 2 losses (Texas to Georgia and A&M, Tenn to Arkansas and Georgia, Alabama to Tenn and Vandy). How do you pick which SEC team gets in if indeed as most believe they get 3 spots? Similar situation between Alabama, Tenn, and A&M if they are beat by Texas. What happens to Georgia if Tenn happens to find a way to pull an upset there? In that case it would be Texas or Texas A&M vs. Tenn in the championship game and Georgia, Alabama, and the loser of the Texas showdown all with 2 losses. There was some worry the expanded playoff might make the regular season less exciting? It sure seems at least to be setting up for a number of meaningful games the last 5 weeks, and possibly a lot of debate for those 7 spots going to the non-automatic qualifiers (and just 6 if ND lands a spot -- ND probably will be pulling hard for A&M over Texas as it makes their opening season win look bigger -- can USC knock them off at home that last week of the season?).

I have a hard time not seeing it as a shot at Miami's fan base not particularly well disguised as a recruiting pitch. Recruits, especially Florida recruits, if they are considering a Florida school, know exactly what is going on at Florida, Florida State, and Miami. To me it sounds like, after two years of being pretty heavily criticized by a fair portion of Miami's fan base, Mario saying, "Look, get off my back, its taken a while, but now I've got things going" ... (and from the look on his face at the end of the video) "you should probably say sorry." I'll just add, its been a pretty fortunate season for Miami. Saved a VT and Cal, FSU being bad, Florida looking at a possible 5-6 win season, and once again, other than possibly Clemson, the ACC looking pretty bleh. Mario could stumble his way, at this point to over 10 wins.

Maybe Bedford ends up getting another year if he ends up not making it back (I think this is his 6th season but he only played one game in 2022 and might miss all of 2024 which I would hope would make him a good candidate for a medical year)? Looking at it right now, I'd think the staff will probably be looking in the portal for: OT, OT, TE, WR, DT, CB, CB, S, S, and NB based on who we have seen play so far, and at what points in the game (in the sense that if there is an experienced player available in the portal the staff likes, it likely would take that player to compete with the guys returning, despite young talent on the roster -- who still might be considered more in the "depth" stage). That's 10 guys which seems like a lot; but, in 2023, I think 8 starters were first year portal guys; and, in 2024, I think 7 starters were first year portal guys. So, in this new environment, even 9-10 new we starters doesn't seem crazy. I think Oregon's on the field success, coaching staff, success highlighting portal guys well in their shorter time here (Irving, Gonzales, Nix, Gabriel, Cornelius, Burch, Kyree, Stewart, Caldwell, Harmon, Tysheem, Muhammad, Reed, etc.); and presummed competitive NIL, makes Oregon possibly a strong contender for a number of the top portal guys. I'd say top concerns would be finding 2 or possibly 3 OLs in the portal who are good in their first season, won't be easy. If Stewart continues on his recent trajectory, I think he could be gone. I think there are options at #2 or #3 WR but I don't see an obvious #1 WR (could Dakorian Moore have that kind of first season impact?) Finally, there are a few young guys we are hearing good things about in the secondary (Pleasant, Flowers, Woodyard, Laulea, Turner, etc.) but I wouldn't be surprised if guys are looked at for all five spots. Looking at all the senior starters, before the season I was thinking "rebuilding type year" in 2025, but now I think I probably should first wait and see what those additions look like. As well, in college football, much is about the QB, and if the Ducks get good play at that spot (and the rebuild OL holds up), even with a bunch of new starters, on paper should still be very competitive.

Also in this discussion, it has been mentioned that Lanning's concept goes back at least 30 years in the NFL. Buddy Ryan’s “Polish Goal Line” Defense | Monkey With A Gun MONKEYWITHAGUNBLOG.COM RIP, Buddy Ryan, inventor of the "Polish Goal Line" Defense. Supposedly this play...

Interesting enough, with all the Ohio State complaining, there actually was already in the rules a way for Ohio State to have gotten the 5 yards and not lost the 4-5 seconds. All they had to do was either call a timeout or let the play clock run down to zero. In the more extreme case of a team having no timeouts and not enough time left in the game to allow the play clock to expire, I think the only remedy would be for a savvy QB to quickly count the extra defender and spike the ball, which would be pretty difficult. So, maybe the existing rules don't cover all situations; but, at least for the Oregon/Ohio State game, tOSU with a timeout, actually apparently had an already in the rules counter.

Is there a rules expert willing to comment? In the NFL, I believe there is a rule in the first 5 yards there can be some contact but no such rule exists in college. You cannot block or otherwise blast a DB as a WR unless the pass is thrown behind the line of scrimmage. I was quite surprised at the number of comments I read in various sites suggesting "that kind of contact happens on every play". No, WR don't run a 5-6 yard curl and after 5 yards, absolute blast the DB to the point he falls backwards about 4 yards, leaving the WR wide open for an easy catch and step out of bounds to save clock. On Eleven Warriors, there is a thread where over about 6-8 posts and there is a discussion of this and there is one Ohio State fan willing to stand up to the crowd and say, " Yes he absolutely blasted the DB and it was about as clear as you are going to see." Props to that fan because I have to agree and am actually the tiniest bit surprised so many tOSU fans want to ignore the obvious.

I thought it would be a little closer between #1 and #2 as well. My overall thought ended up being that since Texas is playing Georgia next week, the voters felt no strong reason to move them since a win, they stay #1, and a loss, they drop. I'm not totally sure I agree with the argument; but, I suppose I see the thought process (and it leaves you with a #1 versus #5 matchup to highlight next week, which obviously ESPN and the SEC will be able to promote).

Brandon Johnson getting picked on. Wonder if we might be better off with a 3rd DB.

It seems they are running at Tuioti.

That was a bit ugly. Dan c'mon. We have shown that already. That's 5 points left off the board (with the FG miss).

And a free yard on the spot, out at the two, placed at the one.

Well, you know, they are reviewing this one. Hmmm.

Gonna be tough to beat tOSU and the refs together. If they reviewed it and gave it to him? Maybe. Not even reviewing it is extremely poor. One is bad, the other concerning.

If it were at tOSU? It might be tough taking the Ducks. However, it is at Autzen, at least to this point, that makes a difference. Over the last 30 years? Teams not in the Pac-12 have not fared so well going into Autzen for the first time. It could be argued all day tOSU is a conference opponent but they haven't traveled out here in the meaningful time frame. Michigan State, once under Saben and once under DeAntonio traveled out here and were sent packing. Michigan, when they were a big thing, came out here and were upset. Oklahoma, when they were still perceived as decent, didn't leave with a win (despite where one wants to place the on side kick). Nebraska when they were still thought of being a possible thing under Riley, lost in Autzen. Wisconsin, still under the direction of Alvarez, lost in Autzen 31-28. Tennessee came out, and didn't make it a game, same with Old Miss. Opponents tend to look at the game and say tOSU has been in these situations and I get it, but it is not the exactly IMO the same situation. tOSU better? Well, maybe overall the UO is not outside the margin of error. Playing at home is a thing in college football. No one knows what will happen, but a strong bet will be the UO (somehow) will be better on Saturday at home and tOSU will overall be not quite as good. Just how it TENDS to play out. That could be the difference. I haven't been a Phil Steele guy for a long time; but, back in the day he placed the Autzen advantage at 6-7 points. Not 3.

A sample of some of the fan thoughts from the 3,000+ responses in the Cal-Miami post-game thread: RemoteAbalone8687: "I'm not somebody who usually thinks sports are fixed but that game was rigged 100%." "The game is rigged because Miami is the only chance the ACC has of having a good team." JacobDeGood48: "Everybody talking about Cam Ward and Damien Martinez but I think the refs were Miami's most important portal acquisition." Garret126: "ACC 's going overtime to prop up a team to save a dying conference." TheBoilerCat: "ACC refs pulling off quite the impressive weekend to keep Miami undefeated." Beartato327: "That targeting should have iced the game." Fifth_Down: "It's so ****** a top 10 team can avoid upset in back-to-back weeks based entirely on their own conference refs not following the text book definition of the rule book during an automatic replay review." Woullie_26: "Like, you gotta at least to try to make it look fair." Its_LOL: "ACC in survival mode trying to gift wrap Miami an undefeated season." Cmonkeybaum: "I know we'll keep watching, but do they think we are stupid????" tvcneverdie: "Cal blew this majorly but ACC refs are completely in bed for Miami, gross dude." DelPride: "I didn't think they could top last week, holy **** they did!" "2 weeks in a row Miami is saved literally by the ACC review studio. Hmmm. Yeah sure nothing fishy at all." Seminal-Patriot: "Worse called game since ... Miami's last game." Dollars: "The ACC refs need to be investigated. Not sure I've ever seen a targeting call that text book level not called." TrustMeIKnowThisOne: "ACC review booth projected to make the CFP." Levajack: "ACC review booth is now leading in the Heisman race as well." AuGaSkittles: "Congrats to the ACC review booth for 2 straight huge comebacks." Skyelighted: "ACC review center definitely understands there are tens of millions of dollars at stake in the upcoming lawsuits and 2025-2026 negotiations would greatly benefit from having an undefeated conference champion in the playoffs." JakeSnake42: "Cal, welcome to the Miami ref show!" SemiShPost: "ACC refs need to put on Miami jerseys at this point." DoctorBursyGator: "They gotta do an investigation into ACC refs. Absolutely trying to keep the conference alive." KeyPossibility464: "This game just felt dirty."

I understand when a team blows a lead, there often are posts like, "the refs didn't blow an X point lead" but when the game comes down to a single play that ends the game for the team blowing the lead and they hold on to their win? And the refs blatantly (and quite possibly unethically - as in the ACC refs instructing the outcome from an office somewhere - which protects the team that has the most financial beneficial to them to do so) erase the game winning play in favor of the team that just lost? Yes, in this instance in fact the refs did take a win away from one team and give it to another on one play. All Cal's blowing it in the last 19 minutes didn't matter because they actually did finally make a play which won them the game. And arguably it wasn't even a single play. In the post-game discussion over on Reddit, there are four plays in the final minutes of the game that all favored Miami (which was the road team). For those who have never watched it or otherwise are unfamiliar, take a look at the final seconds of the 1972 Olympic basketball final, where the refs replayed the final three seconds of the gold metal game three times, after the USSR lost the game the first two times. The US team, which had won seven gold metals in a row with a 63-0 all time Olympic record, to this day has never accepted its silver metals, despite seval attempts by the OIC to get them to do so, with even one member, Kenny Davis, having it written in his will forbidding his wife, children, or descendents from ever accepting the metal on his behalf. 40 years after the game Davis put together a reunion of the team members and they unanimously voted to continue to reject the metals stating simply, "By the rules of the game, we won." If allowed to regularly pass with comments like, "the refs didn't lose the game", possibly leads college football even further down the same path. Judgment calls are one thing, blatantly swallowing whistles and not making obvious calls to protect a favored team to alter the outcome, quite another.

I tend to look at it like this. Forget "five stars" and "four stars" counts and let's just say between the states of Oregon, California, Idaho, Arizona, and Washington there are just 12 kids everybody wants. Do we want Oregon, USC, and UW to all be pretty good and have 4 go to Oregon, 4 to USC, and 4 to the UW? Or do we want those other programs to be on a bit of a slide and have 9 go to Oregon, 2 to USC, and 1 to the UW? I like the idea of 9.

I'm a Duck fan just waiting to see Stewart being used. I took a look and the NYT stats suggest Stewart is #2 in targets behind only Tez. I have no reason to suggest it's wrong and I'd further suggest it is probably on point. It's just, when we actually get an endnzone view, it really, really looks like Stewart is pulling away from his man. The check down, in this instance probably is pushed by the staff. No one really to blame unless it's on the OL, for not holding for another half a second, where the OC might approve a different decision. I'm just wondering, Oregon may have a guy in Dante Moore which may may take those shots and light up the board and will Lanning and Stein let him? I'm a huge fan of Gabriel and want to see where it goes; but, I think Moore may be the one guy ... So far, I'd put Gabriel more in the line of Nix and Brown than in with Herbert or Adams. When I look at those guys, despite where one might fall on the outcome, Herbert and Adams were big play game changing guys when they saw it, rather than what we mostly are seeing now... Not bad but not not necessarily game changing.

Never really understood those who pulled for USC and the UW to improve. Is the argument: if Oregon isn't so good, maybe they look better if other conference teams are good? Oregon won all its games and made the national championship. I want Oregon to do well and things always work themselves out if you win your games. The main thing I can see the UW and USC being better means, is they get a greater share of the better players, which makes it harder for Oregon to win all its games. It is more difficult to get the best recruits (especially West Coast kids) to Oregon so Oregon isn't as good, and it now must beat competition that has more good players. Oregon need 4 more points in 2011 and 4 more points in 2012 and probably would have made the National Championship game. That would have been 3 trips in a row. If USC and the UW each were good enough to attract 2-3 top target recruits Oregon really wanted, who instead went elsewhere because those programs were on the upswing, those top target recruits in a Duck uniform aren't enough for 4 more points? Talent wins games. When USC and the UW are down, it helps Oregon look like the place for kids, especially West Coast kids, to go if they want a shot at being in the National Championship mix (and all that goes along with that). My thought has always been: Having as much talent as possible >> getting some kind of "bump" in perception when you are losing games due to other teams being slightly more well thought of. You say beating them if they are better helps? Well, Oregon went to the National Championship in 2010 by winning all its games. Stanford was the only win on its schedule that was better than 8-5. Stanford had a great run for sure, however, when Oregon beat them their prior four seasons were 1-11, 4-8, 5-7, and 8-5. They really were not yet viewed as a "top tier" sort of opponent nationally. 8 of its 12 wins were 0.500 or worse. Didn't matter. Win the games. Pile up the talent. Having the most of the best players is a time tested recipe for college football success. USC or UW being good makes that more difficult.

(Where is the sarcasm font?) Who would have thought, all it took to turn around two decades of struggles for Miami was getting last year's fifth best QB and third best RB from two teams that finished a combined 13-12 in that incapable old Pac-12? 🙂

I would agree and has been part of, and to some degree, shaped the outcome of college football for as long as I've been watching (1992). I'll further suggest the Pac-12's lack of following along with this standard operating procedure (after the Pete Carroll USC run), may have played a roll in the ultimate demise of the conference. The top teams in the SEC, Big10, and Big12, teams routinely in the NC hunt and at the top of the polls, I'd argue get a degree of "benefit of the doubt" or "protection with the whistles" to keep them in their spots, especially at home and in tight games. Not going anywhere near suggesting a "fix", just if you were going to beat an Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Clemson, especially at their place, you better really beat them, and not expect to get anything close to a 50/50 split with the calls as a factor in pulling out a close game. You had to win without the whistles (so you better not leave it close enough to need to be decided by them). In 2012, Oregon has ridden several years of success to perhaps it's best team yet, 10-0 and #2 in the polls, two games away from a spot in the National Championship game against a Notre Dame team that many, many people felt Oregon would handle as Alabama did. Oregon is beating Stanford late in the game 14-7 and Stanford TE Zac Ertz goes up for a jump ball in the corner of the end zone blanketed by a Duck defender, who forces a clear bobble of the football into the air which Ertz comes down with on top of a Duck defender, pulls in and rolls over on the defender with his shoulder, the first part of his body to touch down, landing on the white out-of-bounds line. He is ruled out of bounds. No clear evidence the call was wrong. Oregon ranked #2 and heading to a National Championship game, if was Alabama in the SEC, Ohio State in the B10, or Oklahoma in the B12 playing at home likely get a quick review and the play stands as called. What does the Pac-12 do? Its replay official decides to re-officiate the whole play himself from the booth and Stanford is given a TD forcing OT, where Oregon is knocked out of the National Championship game. The Pac-12 goes on for the next decade mostly being an afterthought by most of the college football when it came to the BCS/Playoff conversation. Does the Pac-12 have that same lackluster perception if instead it wins the 2013 BCS National Championship? I would think it would have helped. Not even mentioning on the key 4th and 1 from the Duck 11 with 2:17 seconds where the officials swallow the whistle when the right side of the Stanford OL jumps early (that Herbstreit and Musburger both mention in the broadcast) that would have made that 4th and 1 a 4th and 6 instead of a first down. Shoot, the 2021 Oregon team, which didn't turn out to be so great, did start 4-0 and beat #3 Ohio State on the road to climb to #3 in the nation themselves, got hosed on about 3 calls (two personal fouls and a horrible defensive holding) which allowed eventual 3-9 Stanford to improbably drive from their own 4 yard line with 1:44 left the length of the field for a game tying TD with 0:01 on the clock, which led to an Oregon loss in OT. Watching the last 1:44 of the game you would have thought the conference actively wanted all of its teams out of National Championship contention by the first week of October.

Oklahoma sitting at 3 points and 93 yards of total offense with 4 minutes left in the 3rd.

"Tennessee is taking it to OU in Norman" Some interesting thoughts from fans about Oklahoma QB Jackson Arnold. OU reportedly encourage DG to find a new home, at least in part, to five star Arnold's not willing to sit a second year (and keep happy): "Alright guys time to quit messing around and put in our Heisman caliber QBs" "Jackson Arnold is the worst qb I’ve ever seen touch a football and I just watched Payton Thorne and Hank Brown play" "Bench Arnold" "Who's the next QB on the depth chart? Arnold ain't it" "Arnold shouldn’t see the field until next week." "Saying JA is in way over his head is like saying 9/11 was a tragedy" "I think when Arnold gets over to the OU bench, all the OU players and coaches should come over, circle around him and just spit on him like a medieval witch ceremony" "Arnold better not start the second half" "That may have been it for JA" "We 100% lose with Arnold. We need to see Hawkins to have a chance." "Seriously who ever is keeping Arnold in the game needs to sit down off of the headset for a bit." Young QB, early in his career most likely eventually figures it out; but, sounds a bit like they are missing DG tonight. Just checked back at the start of the second half, and indeed the backup QB is in the game.

Who are currently the highest ranked G5 teams right now? Boise State, Liberty, Appalachian State, Tulane? If Boise State ends up getting that G5 spot, this is a win against a playoff team, I'm just saying... Idaho beat Wyoming, at Wyoming, 17-13, holding Wyoming to 270 yards of total offense, just saying ... Narrowly resisted the temptation to buy a month of Peacock and found a way to watch the game anyway, so this new, greedy college football tv set-up, wasn't able to hold me hostage and get that $8 for a month of Peacock I otherwise did not want, so there is that too ...

Interesting angle that hadn't really occurred to me regarding the outcome of the game. Jabbar Muhammad, who experienced fall camps at Oklahoma State and Washington prior to Oregon, answered an Athlon reporter's question about Oregon's fall camp this way: "One thing I wanted to get better at was my physicality and you have no choice but to do that here, so it was a perfect match for me." When further asked about the difference in environments between Oregon and his other stops he said: "It's way different, you are hitting and rat-a-tat-tatting every single day, so it's much different. It's a tough schedule. It's legit all day. I know you see the Tik-Toks and everything, but our camp is really all day. It's lenient in some other programs, but this one is kinda tough."