Jon Sousa

Just seeing Ty's commitment to Oregon is gratifying.

Here's hoping... Just to get into the playoffs this year and lose in the first game will give them (HIM) experience that will help for next year. Calming the nerves and whetting the apatite for more.

Hard to judge from only one game. Did Michigan show that they belonged last night? Hard to judge from only one game. Right now Utah is making Tosu look somewhat pedestrian. Maybe all the champs deserve to be in it. What is going to happen in the championship game???? Hopefully, that Alabama didn't belong.

The big surprise was how the long ball was on target! Well done AB!

Looks like the team ended up in a grizzly mess.

Completely agree.

Maybe so much time recruiting takes away from coaching prep???

Agree that USC has the edge on experience. This edge will only last a few short years, depending on how well/fast the Oregon staff adjusts and matures. Will this slight advantage make a difference on the field the next couple of years? Maybe the Ducks will only win by 3 instead of the 7 the last time they met..... or maybe USC will win by 3????

I like it because it is unique... though it did take me a little while to realize it was trees. Quite frankly, I don't think that we should be talking about any dissatisfaction with it as long as the guy who paid for it is still alive and wants to keep donating. If Phil likes it, I like it. Another consideration: our athletes play on it all the time get used to it. The end line and the side lines are sometimes hard to see, which gives us an advantaged over visiting teams. The refs don't seem to have a problem knowing where the line is. Final consideration is... what do the students think of it? We have had this same conversation about various uniform combinations, and to me, the bottom line is what do the athletes who play in them think??? If they start complaining, things will change.

Almost an interesting read from an Auburn homer. What I found even more interesting were the comments after the article. Not one was favorable of the article. One was extremely unfavorable to the writer, calling him a "high schooler". Several pointed out how wrong he was saying that Oregon didn't put QB's into the NFL. JH got mentioned in all of those and several other NFL Duck QB's were also mentioned (but not all of them). All in all, the comment section was very pro Oregon without being at all anti Auburn. They seemed like they were all fairly mature Auburn fans. One specifically was thinking and hoping that the move would be good for both Nix and Auburn.

Thanks for this article. Very interesting and a good development to see.

Totally agree. He deserves to start as apposed to a kick in the butt. I hope to see at least a quarter of someone else at QB. AB deserves this and our gratitude for giving two years of his life to Oregon and helping to elevate the program to at least a 10 win season.

Nice catch LH!

How good is he at recruiting?

One of my favorite quotes: (regarding his lack of head coaching experience) “When I was in high school I coached the third-grade basketball team and we were damn good." - Dan Lanning

Kattleman has left via portal....

...or like they did two weeks ago.)

This is what can make USC an immediate contender.

Isn't Mastro a Pistol guy?? Isn't the Pistol somewhat loathed around here? Is anyone sure we want Mastro? Just asking.

I did not say that OSU will recruit as well as the best Oregon has ever done. I said, "OSU recruiting will be at a the level that the Snake took Oregon to... which was the best ever that Oregon had." When the Snake came to Oregon and had his first recruiting class all the chatter on FishDuck was that he proved that Oregon CAN be recruited too. When he left, MC took it to another level and has been improving every year. What I said was that OSU recruiting will be (future tense-at some time in the future) at the level that the Snake took Oregon to... which was the best ever that Oregon had (past tense - at the time that the Snake was here). I did not say that OSU will ever recruit as well as Oregon is now. I don't see any disagreement here as I did not say that OSU will at any time "recruit as well as the best Oregon has ever done." So, let's not agree to "cheerfully disagree" on anything here. How about if we just cheerfully agree that the recruiting trajectory of Jonathan Smith looks very bright as you do in the first part of your sentence above before you misquoted me in the second half of the same sentence?

Using the transfer portal is one of the things that makes Smith genius. OSU could not recruit blue chips out of HS and so he went to the portal aggressively and pulled in former blue chips that were already coached up a bit by good programs. He did this when others didn't really utilize the portal much. Smith is now getting serious looks from blue chips out of HS. If the progression continues, OSU recruiting will be at a the level that the Snake took Oregon to... which was the best ever that Oregon had.

Nah... UW doesn't have to be relevant with a great coach. Jonathan Smith and the Beavers can take UW's place in the hierarchy.

...or easier. The tougher the PAC 12, the easier for a one loss team to get in.

Cristobal and Whittingham have been building something for a few years, Smith also. I agree with JJ that it should be Smith or Dickert. While Smith has been building for 4 years, from where he started 4 years ago, the rise has been meteoric. What Dickert did without a head coach and FOUR other assistant coaches is nothing short of amazing. The level of amazing elevates both Smith and Dickert over the other too. IMHO, which, of course, isn't worth anything in the final analysis.

Interesting Jon. We may have lost the best chance at eliminating Alabama today. They should have never tied it in the last minute.