Nevada Dawg

Given the way I have seen Cig rebuild and strengthen the Hoosiers, I think Indiana will be one of the top teams in the B1G as long as he coaches there. I have no confidence in the Illinois coach BB stemming from his dismal showing in the SEC, but we'll see if he can keep the Illini meaningful and competitive. My biggest disappointment among recent B1G coaching changes is Luke Fickell--I thought the Badgers would be very competitive by now. I think that Washington could well ascend to become a meaningful opponent again, as could USC if they finally decide to can Lincoln Riley, and I regret to say that I am not at all confident about the longer term prospects for Nebraska--but could well be wrong here. .

When I saw the Ducks" schedule whenever it came out, I told my great Duck buddy that Oregon was in the catbird seat for playoffs 2025. My critique is not of the best half dozen of the B1G teams, but the other dozen seem like cupcakes to me. Hopefully NIL will help to improve the competitive balance of the conference over time.

Cig seems to be brash mostly when bragging about this coaching accomplishments and is way too smart to give the Ducks bulletin board material. So, let's give him an experience on Saturday to make him more humble (if that's possible, lol).

I'll make this short and sweet--when (not if) CDL breaks through and hosts the big glass trophy, he will skyrocket to the top of the Ducks' coaching fraternity!

I tend to agree with this assessment. Cristobal needs to let his assistants pretty much run the show and not be Mari intrusive. Bonehead decisions is what I dislike most about Mari and i am not sure that he can resist if the going gets tense in a big game. Time will tell I guess.

I also meant to mention last night while posting here that I am glad to learn that Bear Alexander appears to have "grown up" considerably and s making great progress in Eugene after his miserable showings in Athens and Los Angeles. He, I believe, was on his last shot and is not wasting it. So, congrats to the young man and to the Duck staff for helping to set the young man straight.

I certainly agree that you are fortunate to have Lanning (as I have noted here several times). And I do believe that a Natty is in our future, maybe even this year. There is always hope, No?

My best friend, who is a Notre Dame grad, has the deepest contempt for USC. This staid retired Air Force Colonel gets absolutely profane when referring to Trojan football. In a recent phone conversation, I asked him if he will miss the ND-USC annual rivalry game going away after this year. His reply was "Hell yes, I relish the chance to blister their f----- rear-ends annually and would even enjoy the opportunity for an encore in the playoffs or a bowl should that come to pass." He hopes Lincoln Riley can remain at SC and keep them mediocre forever.

This is going to sound like a "homer" comment and I don't mean to overrate this young, relatively inexperienced bunch of BullDawgs, but I see 4-5 teams rated higher than them who would be underdogs (gambling odds) in a head-to-head meetings on a neutral field. I remind you that the Dawgs lost to the same Bama team in week 4 last season and dropped way down in the polls. So what happened. They learned from their mistakes and ended up winning the SEC. They, like the Ducks, earned an ill-fated Bye (remember all Bye teams lost their initial playoff game). My point though is that polls are nearly meaningless at this point in the season. Saturday night, I congratulated my dear Duck fanatic buddy on the PSU win and said they should probably rise to #2 in the polls. His reply: Why not #1? I cautiously reminded him that polls this early don't mean squat and said the early ascendance To #1 last year really didn't work so well last year did it? So I ended up besting his predictive ability on most of the polls, but I was quick to point out that the Sunday morning ESPN poll did indeed have the Ducks at #1.

Thanks Charles. We back sufferers should try to support and encourage one another. Two of my friends have a similar condition and can understand when one of us needs a brief rest on our hiking outings. The Sierra Nevadas rise straight up out of the Carson Valley floor where I live and can't be hiked on anything other than severe switchback trails. Three years ago, my regular hiking buddy and I walked a 6-mile extreme trail up to a waterfall above the little town of Genoa. I mentioned that hike to him a week or two ago and all he could do is groan. Truth be told, I have no desire to repeat that walk either although it sure was scenic when we did it. Hope you get to make that trip to Happy Valley for the next White Out involving OBD.

As one who suffers lower back pain, I can certainly emphasize. I can still walk for exercise with the help of an elastic belt, but can only go 10-15 minutes before having to sit and rest a few minutes. This is the long-term result of a bad auto accident in 1998, but thankfully, the problem didn't become terribly noticeable until 2-3 years ago (yeah the doctors told me it would happen eventually). What I can't do very well any more is drive for long distances or be comfortable on long plane rides. Sure hope your recovery proceeds steadily and is a good one.

I know some of you could care less whether this rivalry game continues, but as an old PAC-whatever league fan (I go all the way back to the Pacific Coast Conference), I am a traditionalist and am pleased that it will continue. Plus, given the way college football has changed, it will likely be a Duck win for the foreseeable future.

I would guess that just by walking around outside the stadium in Duck gear before the game, several aggregations of PSU fans are likely to try to start a conversation by offering something to eat and drink. In the big faceoff in Athens against Notre Dame in 2019, I saw Georgia folk engaging the ND fans all over the place the morning (and afternoon) before the game. I asked many Irish fans if they were having a good time on campus, and everyone said they loved the Southern Hospitality they were receiving, We did a lot of joking though that it wouldn't be that way Between the Hedges in Sanford Stadium once the sun went down. I suspect some of you will meet PSU fans like that. Just stay away from the students. Incidentally, you may be interested to know that the blogging procrastinators on the Dawg site in which I participate pretty universally predict OBD to win this game, and many don't think it will be close. This reflects, I think, the regard they have for Lanning and the lack thereof for Franklin ever winning big games. Thought you might find the sentiment in Dawg land interesting so I am passing it along.

LOL. These are 18-22 year-old college athletes who will be hyped up for a big challenge. I seriously doubt any of them will be looking for a cot in the 4th Quarter. I'd be more worried about the Ducks getting a good nights sleep on the road the night before. I also don't know where the team will be staying, but I hope that it is reasonably close to Happy Valley to avoid a lengthy bus ride to the stadium on game day. Go Ducks!

I'm not sure that CDL was at all concerned about the final score of that game which was already well in hand. I applaud his efforts to give his back ups reps against a P4 opponent on the road.

I much prefer coaches to give the backups reps in one-sided games as opposed to running up scores for whatever reason. Game reps are super important for player development and a coach never knows when those backups may have to be thrust into action to (hopefully) keep a team headed toward its seasonal goals.

I think there isn't a ghost of a chance Kirby is interested in an NFL job. He has been there before (with Saban) and reportedly was not enthused about the gig. As for Fran going to Florida--that's a nightmare for a Dawg fan, lol.

I can't remember if Fran Brown was at Georgia under Kirby Smart for one or two years. But in his short stint in Athens, he won over the players and the coaches. I m Told that Kirby enthusiastically recommended Fran for Head Coaching positions just as he did with Lanning. The real football freakish knowledgeable fans, many of whom have some inside ties to the team, are so high on Fran that they would hope he might wish to return as the Georgia head man should Kirby hang em up any time in the not too distant future. Obviously Fran has many fans in Athens that wish him the best.

I've never known the game as anything other than the civil war and never did see the connection to the carnage of 1861-1865. And truly, I know it is a rivalry game but if the 19th century civil war had been as one-sided as this year's game appears to be, it would have been over after the first battle of Bull Run (and there would have been no second).

I don't mean to totally trash Arch so early in his career. But...even with the most talented roster Texas has had in recent years, it is clear he is not destined to win a Heisman Trophy. I do believe he has enough to develop into a winning QB at the P4 level, but I said at the time, and will reiterate now, that I breathed a sigh of relief when Arch picked the Horns over the Dawgs. (His high school recruiting highlights seemed very unimpressive to my eye).

I am not about to kick Dabo when he is down but...the man has not handled the Portal era well at all, practically ignoring it as a matter of fact. Nice to know that he feels confident in the rosters he has recruited out of high school, but he has fallen off in that regard as well. Clemson simply is not as talented as they were thought to be by the pundits and it is showing up between he lines. H either adjusts his recruitment strategy or he will lose his credibility with the Clemson fan base and maybe be coaching at somewhere like...Troy. That would be sad for a man who has recently won two Nattys.

Actually, I was surprisingly calm as the game unfolded, even when the Dawgs were down big time early. I was faltering a bit late in the 4th when down by 8 and facing a 4th and 7 with little time left. That's when Gunner Stockton uncorked the biggest of his many clutch plays by throwing a perfectly thrown back shoulder fade caught in the end zone and then threw a pass again in the end zone to convert and tie the game. Maybe it was irrational but I just felt at that point that we would win this sucker. After the game remained tied when UTs young kicker missed a game winning field goal and then made one in OT, I knew we would somehow pull out the win with a touchdown in OT. I was relieved of course and really did enjoy my post-game glass of celebratory bourbon. Let me add that I was really impressed by the Ducks' two D. Moores--what a great battery!

Man this is a poor slate of BIG games! By contrast, the SEC has several games against opponents, some in conference some OOC, where both teams actually have a pulse. I am tuning in to the Ducks game until it becomes out of hand and then flipping to see if Georgia's next opponent, Bama, can begin to resurrect its season against Wisky--one if the Best BIG games this week. My Dawgs have a tough road game against Tennessee that I am not at all confident about. Plus Game Day is there and I may have an audiogenic seizure having to listen 50 times to Rocky Top should the Vowels play well.

Ducks looked sharp executing today, BUT...they were playing one of the very worst teams among the P4 conferences, one that did not execute and looked, quite frankly, pitiful. Gundy is gone I fear, possibly before the end of the season. It is time. Meanwhile, the competition ramps up soon with PSU looming. Go Ducks!

Ya never know if the money is good enough, but there are several reasons Schumann is an unlikely candidate IMHO. First, he is very well compensated in Athens. Second and possibly more important: His wife and all his kids are reported to absolutely LOVE Athens, GA, and there is a lot there to love. Glen is pretty fond of the place as well I am told. Bama is going to face great difficulty finding what boosters consider a suitable replacement for St. Nick and they'd better hope that DeBoer grows into the job.