Jon Sousa

It's hard to have a favorite with so many talented young ladies on the team.... I do like #12, Te-Hina Paopao though.

This is OREGON where banana slugs grow BIG. Also... ducks eat slugs.

Well, DUHHHH. Of course they should. Still, no one, but NO ONE is remembering that UW was supposed to WIN the North by traveling to Autzen... the game that would decide the North representative to the PAC 12 Championship game. UW didn't make that road trip because of COVID problems. In my mind (though not the rules that the PAC decided on), UW forfeited that game and therefore the Ducks had every right to go. How can anyone say that the Huskies would have definitely won that game, 1) when they had not won a single road game all season, and 2) when the Ducks played as well as they did the next week in the championship game?????? IMNSHO the Ducks would have beat WA and then USC before going to Arizona to get humiliated.

I'm just shocked that Brady Hoke isn't on this list. My vote for DC next year is Andy Avalos. Just sayin.

It took me a while to figure out what you were talking about because I didn't watch any football today. Simple answer: No, we are not there yet. Observation slightly off topic... It is great to see both Clemson and the Domers lose. Maybe the ACC isn't any better than the PAC. I am rooting for tOSU to win it all.

Are CAL, Oregon State and Iowa State all on the same level?? Seems to me that any objective analysis would say, "No WAY!"

"...unbridled anticipation and joy?" I'm looking forward to seeing a good game and I am hoping for a win. I definitely have no concern about which team is going to show up. The Ducks are going to show up. The team that played USC is the same team that played OSU, with a few differences due to injury, protocols, and who practiced well that week. I recognize that football is an emotional game as well as one of preparation, practice, and execution. I also know that it is played with a pointy ball that is very hard and bounces very irregularly. Football is a game with momentum shifts. On one third and long Shough threw a perfect pass to DJ Johnson who caught the ball and then lost it as he was bringing it to his chest. He was then hit and the ball fell to the ground. That dropped ball resulted in a punt to USC. Momentum was lost, for sure, but what did it do Shough's confidence? I respectfully disagree with you that the Ducks "have the clear roster and talent advantage". We have seen it over and over again the last few years. An elite HS recruit comes in and you suppose they will be an instant starter, but they sit behind a starter who came out of HS with one or even two less stars. KT was the best recruit in the country but even he was second string learning behind a senior who was better than him. KT originally came in for limited situations. He probably would not have started the whole year had the senior not gotten injured. KT had to learn a whole lot more a whole lot faster and did well. Yes, the Ducks have more stars on their roster, but most of those stars are in their first or second year at Oregon. That does not make them better than the juniors and seniors who are playing for ISU. ISU is a very good team. They just missed winning the BIG 12 championship. They have a very good defense with a scheme that the Ducks have not seen much of. Shough is going to be starting his 7th game with no experience reading that defense live (for this reason alone, Brown might be a better choice). ISU has one of the best, if not the best, running backs in the country. Their offense is a well oiled machine. Their QB, while a HS rival of Shough, has a lot more college experience than Shough. What do I expect???? I expect the Ducks to win... and I am hoping that they win going away.

Culture is complicated with many facets and interconnections. Part of the culture is family. Everybody says this. The main ingredients of the family part of the culture are being comfortable around each other, being supportive of each other, the ability to be yourself, and having fun together. The family part of the culture Mario is building is conducive to enjoying the game and letting your natural talents flourish. How that meshes with the tough, physical, "impose your will on the the opponent" part of the culture, I have no clue since I don´t live in that culture. I point this out just to say that I don´t think that the tough part of the culture is overpowering the family part of the culture. Shough´s problems are related to Shough, not to the culture. If it was a culture problem it would be more wide spread than just one QB.

Gruden is said to really like MM. As we saw in that last game, Gruden also knows how to give Marcus what he needs to succeed as far as scheme is concerned. He also has the beef to protect Mariota. All that said, I don´t like MM leaving. He would have played more if he stayed healthy... MM´s only problem with staying anywhere.

Nice flashback... BUT... it gave me another flashback... of a certain Auburn guy who rolled off an Oregon player and then rumble on down the field. Was he down? Was he not down? in the flashback above he was definitely NOT down.

We also might need 30+ points to win this game.

It all depends on how he is practicing this week. Last game Brown was in with H-L in short yardage and goal line... by design and practicing. I wonder if there isn't and expansion of Brown sets that wouldn't easily insert him into whole drives should Shough falter. If this is a must win game then MC and Moorhead have to be willing to pull him if the need arises.

I just love seeing Kayvon Thibodeaux "finessing" QBs to the ground.

Why can't kids see that a few years in college to mature, learn, and hone skills can be beneficial??? How are our "one and done"s doing???

Absolutely GREAT for the Oregon Ducks!

True indeed. Unfortunately, not very many can see that. "Money Can't Buy You Love"... and yet....

Not even a QB sneak with Brown running it?????

It depends on where their heart is.

They say that hindsight is 2020... and we definitely want 2020 in the rear view mirror... and we don't want to look back.

IMHO, which isn't worth a lot, this is Oregon's game to lose. If MC lets both Moorhead and Avalos do their jobs the way they want to do it, the Ducks will be very hard to beat.

Totally agree.

I am hoping so. AA needs to show what he can do with top recruits before going back to coaching 3-stars if he eventually wants to head coach a good P-5 team.