Nevada Dawg

Boy I hope your suspicions about Gunnar Stockton are on the money. I kinda feel the same way about this guy.

Let's hope the Ducks get a Super regional--that home field advantage is so big this time of the year. My Diamond Dawgs are also in pretty good position that way. Win tomorrow against aTm and they are almost certainly in. Huge advantage for the Dawgs as they haven't lost a series at home this year.

Was coming over to post the100 days info. Ya beat me to it Jon. And that 100 days takes us only to Week 0, No?

Rare for me to be sure, but I agree and heartily endorse almost all of Jon's many points in the preceding post! My only quibble here is the contention that only the power 2 deserve to be taken seriously as championship contenders. Too much of that favoritism and you could see football becoming a club sport more quickly than you might imagine. But 24 teams/ Not credible to this observer.

I don't know whether I'd go that far. Most Dawg fans thought the 2021 season was over when J.T. Daniels got hurt and Stetson Bennett became the starter. Three more games downstream and a loss to Bama in Tuscaloosa made that sentiment a prophesy. Yet, by the time J.T. was fully healthy, about week 9, Stetson was cooking with gas and gave the Dawgs something that J.T. could not: superior mobility. His arm strength and accuracy was also noticeably better than adequate (indeed, he won the Manning award for best QB when he season was over). I tell this story to note that Dante has some learning to do on the job and it can be done. Stetson succeeded because he had a chippy attitude, believed that he was the best QB in the room, and made his teammates believe that as well. It took until the second half of the 2021 Natty to win me over, but Kirby got there far earlier. That's one reason why I am just a fan and Kirby Smart gets paid 13 million a year. What I'll be looking to see from Dante is the kind of leadership and confidence that Stetson Bennett displayed--in short, the IT factor. If I can see that "fire" early on, I figure we will be all right at QB, and perhaps good enough to get back to the playoffs. If not, who knows at this point.

I really question trying to compare Dante to Bo Nix. Nix was a three-year starter from an SEC school when he came to Eugene. I expected him to flourish, told Y'all you were going to like him, and sent Charles a clip of Nix highlights to back my enthusiasm. He took his lumps whenever he played the Dawgs, but he is hardly the only QB to suffer that fate. 30 Duck nicely summarized what Dante faced as a raw freshman at UCLA. The biggest thing he and Bo have in common is that they were both highly touted 5-star recruits. And the Bo Nix you saw in Eugene was highly experienced--Dante isn't and is very much a question mark in my opinion. If the OC stays within Dante's skill set and doesn't put too much on his shoulders, he will probably so just fine. But lack of experience could show up in pressure packed situations in a way Bo Nix was much better prepared to weather. I am rooting big-time for Dante this coming year and I guess we'll all see what transpires. Go Ducks!

I will drag my tail out of bed and rush through the hygienic routine to catch the game but I'd really prefer a 3:00 kick (6:00 Eastern). If it was anybody other than Ohio State I'd be rooting for Texas's opponent but I really detest OSU. So Hook Um Horns.

Hey, we are now in the lower-level (minor league) pro football days where 75% of the rosters are majoring in Football and everything else is a nuisance that is tolerated to stay eligible. I don't think the performance of paid athletes has any real implications for the quality of educations that universities provide for their general student bodies anymore.

Man, do I have mixed feelings about Bobo. I think the game has passed him by a little bit, but all the criticism about predictable play-calling stemmed last year from repeated injuries on the offensive side of the ball (particularly on the OL) and perhaps the worst receiver room I can remember throughout the Kirby Smart era. Plus, the best offensive analyst Georgia had who worked well with Bobo, got snatched by Georgia Tech as their OC last year. While Bobo could have done better, he called plays that he thought would work best with whom he had to work, even if they were unimaginative. When Bobo was the offensive analyst at Georgia, he deserved much of the credit for the development of Matt Stafford and that was well known by the Curtis family. This was another big reason that Curtis ultimately picked Georgia. Curtis is the closest prototype to Matt Stafford that Georgia has seen, so voila. I figure this gives Bobo at least two more years to do his development thing so we will all see what happens there.

Mama liked Oregon but definitely wanted him in Athens where OC Mike Bobo had forged a special relationship with the Curtis family.

Sarr sounds like ex-Dawg Anthony Ant-Man Edwards of the T-Wolves. Ant has much improved his outside shooting and is unstoppable going to the hoop if there is the slightest crease in the defense. Routinely jams over 7-footers. He reclassified to get to college early and was the #1 overall pick of the NBA Draft at the end of his one-and-done year. He's still a baby who, I believe, would still have been a college senior this year had he stayed in school. If Sarr is at all comparable, the Ducks sure as h-ll want him.

Wow, talk about a bittersweet moment for poor Derrick. Based on his comments about Mom being his rock, I won't be surprised if he dedicates his future football career to her memory. I know I'll be rooting for you Mr. Harmon.

Culture is paramount to the success of champions. Retention of talent is, IMHO, more important to success than portal acquisitions. Players who are recruited to top programs and spend their careers there are typically much more successful at getting to and staying in the NFL than program hoppers. Case in point: 26 of the 32 first-round selections in the recent NFL draft spent their college careers at their original landing spot. This is not possible without strong culture that emphasize player development. The Ducks have reached the point where they can rely on this model, stressing to in-comers that development is everything and to start grinding early, to learn from the older players, and to do anything to contribute before reaching the status (hopefully) as a starter and/or regular rotational piece. For many players at Georgia, they don't regularly see the field (except for special teams) until late in the second or the third year. But if they have embraced the "development" mantra and are ready to ball when opportunity knocks. One of the major reasons that both Michigan and OSU won nattys the past two years is that the coaching staffs had been very successful at retaining the top talents, whi, in turn were very experienced and "developed players who knew how football is supposed to be played.

Brock got nearly three times that amount last year in signing bonus and Ladd's signing bonus at the top of the second round was also higher than Beck's reported NIL. But many of the guys drafted in rounds 5-7 can only dream about making the money next year that Carson Beck will pocket. One such player is Quinn Ewers. Had he opted for the portal rather than the NFL draft, He'd have made at least three times as much actually playing football for a good college team than he will as a 7th round draftee carrying a clipboard on an NFL sideline and maybe hoping for some mop-up duty in a blowout. Jon what say you about the likely House settlement? Do you believe this will bring some sanity to NIL payouts?

Truly a remarkable showing for a first-year in-conference participant. Hearty congratulations to the Duck Athletic organization.