GeotechDuck

I find it interesting that the national media is finally starting to pick up on it. However, most outlets are framing this as an issue over the past two years, when this has been an ongoing issue with him since 2007. Mario has been a head coach for 14 seasons. He has lost to an unranked team in every single one of those 14 seasons as a head coach. In 10 of those years, he has lost to more than 1 unranked team. He still has the rest of this year to make that 11. Probably the most surprising thing is that he has not been able to really grow and change over time. He’s an elite recruiter and assembles some of the best rosters in college football. However, some things just don’t change: His teams are always undisciplined and have a ton of penalties. He believes that he can just out “physicality” everyone all the time. They are little to no adjustments based on opponent. He doesn’t take advantage of mismatches on offense. His clock management has to be some of the worst in the entire FBS. Situational awareness costs him at least 1 game a year. For comparison, Dan Lanning in four seasons as a head coach has never lost to an unranked team and has only lost one game to a team not ranked in the Top 10. I appreciate what Cristobal did to help elevate the program, but Lanning is a MASSIVE upgrade.

Novosad was on the injury list for several weeks as “questionable” before being cleared for Rutgers. I read somewhere it was a lower back issue / strain. If you follow the timeline of the injury report, my guess is that he probably didn’t practice for 3-4 weeks. It is reasonable to assume that Thomas earned the QB2 job during that time by passing Moga on the depth chart. With likely limited to no practice reps from Novosad, the staff probably felt more comfortable with Thomas the last 2 games. Is Novosad even eligible for a medical redshirt? He suited up, traveled with the team to Rutgers, and has not been on the injury report for the past 2 games. I was under the impression that if you travel, suit up and are not listed as “injured”, a medical redshirt is probably not a realistic option.

Didn’t Brohm attend Louisville? Would he really leave or just leverage a raise?

Both Moga and Novosad traveled and were suited up on the sidelines. Both have already burned their redshirts. If Moga and Novosad both intend to transfer at the end of the season, wouldn’t you suit up and travel Smith as your 3rd QB? Just doesn’t seem to add up.

Didn’t Novosad already burn his redshirt?

I feel a lot better that we have Lanning and not Mario. What a massive upgrade that was for Oregon, and Miami paid for it. 😂

Death, taxes, and Mario losing to an unranked team. EVERY SINGLE YEAR.

Mario probably at half time to his team: We need more physicality. Physicality speaking, we are not as physicality as Louisville right now. We need to pick up the physicality in the second half. I am going to call a timeout before the second half kickoff as a reminder for more physicality.

Is Oregon going to have a Top 25 win at the end of the season? It’s possible they may not. They probably need to win out.

Need a score here. Let’s go. Line is playing better. Keep it up.

Davison was open early there. Too bad

Very concerning. Getting killed at the LOS right now

UGLY. Hope the OL decides to show up at some point.

Seems like a very nice kid. I will be pulling for him from this point on, except for today of course.

I am going to guess Cole Hocker.

“The number one overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, Cam Ward, signed a contract worth $48.7 million over four years, with the entire amount being fully guaranteed” That is generational wealth that NIL cannot compete with. If Moore is projected in the Top 10, I can’t see a situation where it would make sense for him to stay another year.

So Sanchez allegedly got in a fight with a 69 year old delivery driver, lost the fight, got pepper sprayed, got stabbed, then got arrested?

Hilarious. The two teams everyone was picking to win the SEC (Texas) and the BIG (Penn State) both have two losses. Outta here!

Oregon officially broke Penn State.

Unreal. Every season it’s something. I hope it is closer to 4 weeks.

This seems like a huge risk that is not necessary at this time. This is something the PAC-12 should have considered when the ship was starting to sink in an effort to save the conference. This is not something the BIG should do in position No.1 among all the conferences, IMO. This has a Goodfellas Restaurant scene vibe:

When I saw the Penn State punt team run out on the field at the 36 yard line, and kick a net 16 yard punt, I think I instantly had flashbacks of Mario. That was a bad decision that has not been discussed much by the media. Mario loses to an unranked team every season. They will probably beat FSU next weekend and then lose to some below 0.500 conference team. Book it!

“The Trojans proved in their loss Saturday against Illinois that they still aren't a contender just yet.” Not yet, huh? 6-6 in conference play since joining the BIG screams just on the edge of greatness. Michigan is up next, so that is probably dropping below 0.500 real fast.

I’m with you. The AP poll is a complete joke and has been for a very long time. Not only would Georgia be favored, but they would likely beat a few of those teams by more than one TD. Having people that don’t watch all the games rank teams by the number of losses they have, without consideration of their strength of schedule, might be the dumbest thing in sports.

Maybe an Us vs. Them teaser?