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GeotechDuck

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Posts posted by GeotechDuck

  1. IMO I don’t see any team making it through conference play undefeated.  
     

    USC is a paper tiger.  They are living off turnovers and their OL is a sieve.  When they meet upper teams in the conference with a decent defense and that take care of the ball, they will drop games. 
     

    Oregon has issues in the secondary, with penalties, and with redzone execution.  Those will catch up to them at least one time.  
     

    Utah has a talent gap.  Improved coaching at USC, UW, and Oregon will make it more difficult for them to win against the teams at the top of the conference stacked with talent.
     

    UCLA is looking good and DTR is playing extremely well. They are well rounded on offense and defense, while not elite.  However, their schedule is a nightmare and I don’t see how they run the table.  They still have Cal who is playing better, Oregon, USC, and Utah plus the championship game. 

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  2. On 9/30/2022 at 10:05 PM, Mic said:

    Yep, but if this UW team is the one that beat them convincingly, then either there were severe matchup problems or the Furd is gonna struggle this year to make 500.  Of course, one should never count chickens before the hatch.  And Oregon needs to play lights out tomorrow night.

    I am guessing that Stanford won’t win 6 games this year.  They look tragic right now. 

  3. On 9/30/2022 at 10:18 AM, Charles Fischer said:

    GeotechDuck...please always post with great responses such as that one.  Long ones are fine as long as people put paragraph spacing every three or four sentences, and keep the bottom of the post tight...all as you did.

     

    There are others having a hard time learning that, but the way you write is informative, entertaining and easy to read.  Perfect.

     

    And THANKS for the content of your post.  I know Hopkins at ScoopDuck has written off the Pac-12 for survival, but I am thinking that if the winners in the conference can receive half of the Playoff/Bowl revenue when they make it, and the powers-that-be realize it will be easier to make that Playoff in the Pac-12 versus the B1G, then Oregon and the Pac-12 can survive and thrive.

     

    Especially if we have additional revenue from streaming.

    Thank you!  I 100% agree with you that with the addition of the playoff spots there may be some creative ways to generate revenue and save the conference.  

  4. Sorry in advance if this is long.

     

    Despite this news, I feel like the PAC is going to stay together.  The tOSU AD was on record yesterday saying UCLA and USC were the only schools that made sense for them to add.  The Iowa AD has come out and said similar things.  I see a lot of arguments about the BIG taking UO and UW to reduce travel burden for UCLA and USC, but not so sure that argument holds water.  

     

    In my eyes, the BIG wanted three things:

    1) They wanted access to the SoCal Media market to increase the revenue for their TV deal.

    2) They wanted access to the LA area because there are a ton of BIG alumni in that area.

    3) The current schools wanted better access to the SoCal recruiting grounds.  If Oregon can take the best kids out of SoCal, what do you think Michigan, tOSU, and Penn State are going to do?

     

    The BIG already got everything they wanted with the first round of expansion.  I don't understand the "on an island" argument.  Why does the BIG care if UCLA or USC are "on an island"?  In fact, I would argue that is a nice advantage for all the current BIG teams:

     

    1) The current members only have to make 1 trip west coast trip a year max.

    2) Having USC and UCLA on an island is going to make success for the LA schools a lot more difficult.  Just take a look at how difficult it is for NFL west teams to travel back east and win consistently.    

    3) When USC and UCLA struggle after the move (and they will), schools like tOSU, Michigan, Penn State and even Wisconsin are going to have a field day recruiting in SoCal. 

     

    I know both UO and UW are talking to the BIG, but I don't think they don't have the market, alumni base, or recruiting grounds to leverage the move.  If somehow the BIG gets a stupid money offer from Amazon for 3rd or 4th tier rights, then maybe it happens, but I just don't see it. 

    • Great post! 1
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  5. On 9/26/2022 at 8:31 AM, cartm25 said:

    Question:

    What's wrong with Tyler? That's not the guy we've ever seen last season in this offense. Any rhyme or reason why he's struggling right now?

     

    Answer by MC:

    He needs to throw the ball with more physicality.  

     

    There.....I fixed it  😜

     

    This is going to sound a little crazy, but I honestly think the loss to MTSU is the best thing that could have happened to Mario.  I know he is probably hurting right now, but getting completely embarrassed by a G5 school at home while coaching the same school that he played for and has so much pride in was the probably wake up call he needed.  If he takes a look in the mirror after this loss and makes some adjustments to his offense, game management, and practice routine, there is a ton of potential for him to build a great program at Miami and for him to be very successful there.  I guess we will wait to see if those adjustments ever come.      

     

    As far as practice is concerned, I watched a very interesting video from a Canes guy.  He said the starters were taking 150+ live snaps per practice and that his opinion is that Mario and Feld are over working players with their "physicality" and "iron sharpening iron" philosophies.  His argument is that the conditioning is not there yet and the depth is not there yet to support that kind of workload on a daily basis in practice.  As a result, the injuries are piling up and the players that are on the field are overworked or are battling minor injuries themselves.  He indicated that he thinks Mario and Feld need to back off a little with their intense practice routines. 

     

    I got the practice info second hand, so take it for what it is worth.   It does seem to make sense in what we are seeing right now.  When you combine the practice routine with the conservative play calling and the poor game management, the end result is a blowout to a G5 team, just like we witnessed.  

     

    And as some others pointed out...for me it is more about all the Canes fans and their attitude for the last 3/4 of the year than it is about Mario for me.   

     

     

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  6. On 9/26/2022 at 10:00 AM, Wrathis said:

    I expect Wazzu's defense to absolutely WRECK USC. If the Beavs held Heisman contender Caleb Williams to 16/36 (44%) for 180yrds and 1 TD with that patchwerk offensive line, the Cougs are going to feast on him ALL DAY!  

     

     

    USC's OL play is just flat out tragic.  They are going to take a few losses in conference if they can't clean that up.  I can't remember watching a conference game and seeing an OL get abused like that in a long time.  If OSU didn't turn the ball over 4 times, that is probably an easy win. 

    I have a very hard time believing that USC could beat WSU, UW, Utah, Oregon or maybe even UCLA right now.     

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  7. On 9/27/2022 at 5:29 AM, Log Haulin said:

    Irving and Wittington are killers right now. These two, imo, have created a lot of separation from the rest of the RB room. Especially Bucky.

     

    With the way the O line is playing and Bo's huge gains in IQ and decision making, these two are having huge success. 

     

    I don't know how far behind them Cardwell is due to injury. I trust that the coaching staff knows what they are doing.

     

    I suspect match up week to week will dictate Caldwell snaps. Hope he plays next week against Tree.

    Speaking of killers - have you been watching Ott down at Cal?  That dude is absolutely shredding defenses.  IIRC he was committed to the Ducks at one point. 

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  8. We have some serious talent at the RB position right now.  I am also extremely impressed with Irving so far.  He is a dude and is 1a IMO. 
     

    I also like Cardwell as the 1b and I am shocked that he is not getting any playing time.  I thought he was hurt, but apparently he was dressed and healthy last week??

     

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  9. The offense is really really good.  Yesterday we had the most yards by an Oregon team since 2017 and put up 29 points in the 4th quarter against a decent defense. 

     

    We are running new schemes on both sides of the ball and I think this team will continue to improve.  I still see confusion on defense.  At half yesterday I checked and I think Sewell only had 6 tackles on the season?  
     

    Guys are still thinking and not playing free, but that will continue to improve each week. 
     

    It is scary to think how good the offense can be if they clean a few things up and convert in the redzone. 
     

    I fully expect that the defense will continue to improve and I believe we have a legit shot to win the conference. 
     

     

    • Go Ducks! 1
  10. On 9/23/2022 at 4:47 PM, DUCati855 said:

    LA to Seattle= 960 miles (by air)

    LA to NJ (Rutgers) 2450 miles (by air)

     

    So roughly 2.5 times as far.

    Without a west pod... Every flight would be at least 1.5 times as far.

     

    So there would easily be 3 times as many miles traveled  compared to the small footprint of the Pac12.

    Fair enough.   I am probably thinking about it from a gut feeling instead of logically.  

     

    I wonder if the BIG will leave the LA schools on an island?  They essentially already got what they wanted - media rights money and access to SoCal for recruiting.  Plus, it would benefit the current BIG schools:  

     

    1) Only 1 trip to the west coast trip per year maximum per team

    2) Increased travel will make it more difficult for USC and UCLA to be competitive

    3) Access to SoCal recruiting with games in LA every year.

     

    It will be very interesting to see how this plays out. 

  11. On 9/23/2022 at 9:00 AM, McDuck said:

    Kliavkoff spells out the reasoning near the bottom of page two of a letter the Pac-12 office sent to the California Board of Regents.

     

    WWW.NYTIMES.COM

    Letter from the commissioner of the Pac-12 Conference to the University of California Board of Regents, objecting to a move by U.C.L.A. to go to the Big Ten Conference.

     

    Interesting.  Thank you for the link to the article.
     

    it seems like there is a huge disconnect on dollars somewhere. The BIG listed their expense budgets for each of their schools last year, which includes travel for all sports. Michigan was at the top of the conference with total expenses of $9.2M/year. 
     

    Wisconsin was second at around $9M, then there is a 20% drop to the next school and some pretty decent falloff after that.  
     

    I understand that UCLA is going to have some increased travel, but it is not like Seattle, Pullman, Eugene, and Corvallis are that much closer for them.  I don’t see how you get to 3x the number Michigan is spending?  
     

    i would think double would be a stretch. 

     

  12. The whole “UCLA is going to lose money” thing seems really out of touch with reality.  
     

    Michigan had the highest student athlete travel costs in the BIG last year at a total of $9.2M for all athletes in all sports. 
     

    Even if that amount is double for UCLA and they have to give Cal some cash, they are going to be cash flow positive in the BIG over what they are going to get in the PAC

  13. On 9/19/2022 at 2:45 PM, Charles Fischer said:

    There are two other major components in this that can save the conference in my view.  First is the new 12 team playoff that could be worth two billion among the competitors. One game could garner 50 million for one team alone, thus these are huge revenue boosters for athletic departments, even if they are viewed as a massive bonus in some years.

     

    The other one is the Pac-12 considering rewarding the winners; those who qualify for the NCAA basketball and Playoffs do not get 1/12th of the revenue but HALF, with the rest split 11 ways. This will keep Oregon/Washington happy and preserve the conference.

     

    After all the concerns we had two months ago--we might be alright!

    Nice!  I had not seen that angle before, but that seems like another good option for saving the PAC.  I really want Oregon to stay in the PAC, if possible.  The thought of flying across the country to play Purdue, Rutgers, or Northwestern in November is just.......BARF!

    🤮

     

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  14. The way I look at it there are two choices for the Pac-10:

     

    Option 1: Take the estimated $300M/year from ESPN and accept that PAC schools are getting less than 1/2 the revenue of BIG and SEC schools.  This is a HUGE issue and will continue to widen the gap between the BIG/SEC and PAC, especially when players start sharing revenue. Option1 creates a situation where the Pac dies a slow death and eventually becomes irrelevant in 3-5 years.  I don't even view this as a realistic option at this point. 

         

    Option 2: Sell content to a streaming service like AWS or Apple. They want in on sports and there is a chance they might be willing to pay up to get content.  AWS just paid $1B for a year's worth of Thursday night NFL football games, so we know they are willing to throw money at sports.  Option2 has a ton of risk, but if a large portion of the population switches to streaming over the next 5 years, it might just work out and save the conference. 

     

    If AWS or Apple offers north of $400M, I think you take that deal tomorrow and just go all in and hope it works out.  Is there really another option with a long term chance of saving the conference?

     

    You get the playoff berth either way, so might as well roll the dice and see what happens. 

     

     

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