When I heard the Ducks were recruiting Bear, I had very muixed feelings. He thought he was the biggest star on the team at the beginning of year 2 (he contributed some as a freshman), was chippy with his OL teammates, got his b--t kicked several times in practice, and sulked because nobody saw his value. Portaled to USC and badmouthed Georgia for the next year. This Spring before signing with Oregon, he explored returning to Georgia, Kirby put the inquiry to a yes/no vote of the upperclassmen and they said that he needed a new start elsewhere.

So now he's a Duck and I wish the best for him. But I have to admit that I am more than a little nervous about this one. Hopefully, he truly has grown up.

Despite a few early rules violations, Charles got me properly socialized and I have always felt welcome by the board members on his forum. I do enjoy exchanging views with y'all and rooting the Ducks on.

I agree with Mr. Fishduck that they won't be asleep at the wheel after Idaho last year. Hard to believe that they will lose this game at home. My only concern is whether our cast of newcomers will have jelled enough by game 1 to keep this one out of the white knuckle category.

And yet, there are few individual players any more important than kickers and punters. Those guys can be big weapons if they are good and can lose your games in a hurry if they are not.

Sorry about referring to Carroll as an ex-Fuskie, my bad. Is a Seahawk as loathed by Duck fans as Fuskie?

GO DUCK!!

Maybe the ugliest mascot is ole pug-face UGA, but for some reason, many chicks absolutely swoon over him, lol.

I must admit (ancient history upcoming) that I always rooted for USC during the John McKay and John Robinson eras because those teams were generally formidable at going toe to toe with the best of the Big Ten and punching them in the mouth. I got over that by the time Pete Carroll was head coach.

Feel as one might about Carroll as an ex-Fuskie, but I am optimistic about the changes he is making with the Las Vegas Raiders. It is about time that franchise got a guy how can generate a little excitement among the studs that are on that roster, and Carroll is truly stoked about ex-Boise running back Austin Jeanty. So as a Raider follower and giant fan of ex-Dawg Brock Bowers, I can wish him luck in his new coaching gig.

I am getting a kick out of reading all the verbal venom directed USC's way though I do agree with the general assessment of Riley's coaching acumen. It almost seems as if the Condoms have supplanted the Seattle Dawgs as the Ducks' most hated rival, lol.

I am really opposed to large numbers of AQs for the so-called Power 2. Weight schedules like Basketball does with RPI. Nobody bitches about that formula, and it actually rewards schools that schedule highly competitive OOC games like Georgia-Clemson last year and Ohio State-Texas this year.

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Wouldn't most Duck fans get jacked up to play games against such OOC opponents like Notre Dame or Miami rather than Portland State or Montana State? Oregon does play Oregon State this year and Georgia always plays Georgia Tech, but I, as a Dawg fan, would much rather substitute say Wisconsin or Michigan for one of our walkovers. I know most Dawg partisans feel precisely the same way.

Play challenging schedules and kick down the barriers to the playoffs by winning big games in such schedules. And as a Duck fan, I would love to see Notre Dame and Miami for example.

So many of the top programs will be breaking in relatively inexperienced starting QBs that lists of who' the best in the B1G and SEC are more speculative than I can ever remember, and there are likely to be some real surprises this year that make pre-season predictions look ridiculous. Hopefully Dante will be one of them. At this point, I just hope that Dante is solid at running the plays that are called for him. If so, the Ducks should be just fine.

Look, Arch is talented but generational? I was a Tebow admirer, but far less for his QB skills as for his leadership and will to win. I always thought of him more as a helluva

"football player" who knew how to inspire this teammates and will them to win than as a talented skill player.

Hard for a Dawg to admit admiring a Gator but I did for his forementioned qualities.

On 7/3/2025 at 3:31 PM, David Marsh said:

Iheanacho  may not be a starter as a freshman but I'm sure the coaches will get him involved regardless. 

Probably not a freshman starter, but I expect he will be in the two-man rotation at his position (tackle?) by mid-season. I have watched his film and he is legit.

On 6/15/2025 at 10:42 PM, GatOrlando said:

But my top 3, and most people's would be

 

1.) Spurrier 

2.) Tim Tebow

3.) Emmitt Smith

 

Some might have Wuerffel or Kearse up there. But Tebow is undoubtedly in the discussion. It helps that he is genuinely one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. I saw him with his fiance eating dinner and he talked to me for ten minutes. 

That trio was my top 3 as well. One could quibble about the order but from an opponent's perspective, each of these three would make somebody's top 3.

 

Incidentally, I once asked Champ Baily, who was drafted by the Washington Redskins, then coached by Spurrier who used to taunt the Dawgs relentlessly, what it was like to play for Spurrier. He just smiled broadly commenting that he was a great guy and all the taunting was just part of who he was. He seemed to genuinely like the guy.

I would guess Tebow is considered the GOAT by most of the jort crowd (as I sit here at my keyboard wearing a pair of jorts so loathed b Dawg fans). Actually, I kinda like jorts--they last forever it seems, probably longer than I will.

Well, like most of you I am sure not likely to lose any sleep over either of these games (or Montana State as well). I am interested in seeing how both lines of scrimmage gel however. This could be one early indicator of how far the 25 Ducks are likely to go.

 

And the Lady Dawgs win the outdoor Track and Field championship, Congrats girls!

Halves vs. Quarters? If anyone cares, I don't care one way or he other. It does seem though that the game flow would be really choppy introjecting another break for the Quarter at the 10 minute mark with breaks already coming at the 8:00 and 12:00 points in a half.

On 6/11/2025 at 5:24 PM, Jon Joseph said:

 

We have seen Bo Nix elevated from a suspect FBS QB to a 1st round draft choice. 

I beg to quibble. There was nothing suspect about Bo Nix except the quality of the teams he played for. The guy was always dangerous for Auburn's opponents, even though Georgia always found a way to "handle" him. Despite the badmouthing he got from Dawg fans, I am pretty sure Kirby Smart would have taken Bo had he wanted to transfer, although if memory serves me, intraleague transfers in the SEC would have required Bo sit out a year at that time.

 

Bo made the right decision and I am sure the presence of a familiar face (Dillingham) was a major factor here.

I didn't disagree with the premise that experience matters. But I will proudly stand by my post.

I think I saw that Murray State eliminated Duke to reach the World Series, thus giving me another underdog to root for.  Plus as I am fond of nothing about Duke (except their academic standards) that outcome was doubly satisfying. So go Racers!

A cautionary note here: Great portal additions at QB are NOT always readily available. The Ducks were extremely fortunate IMHO to have guys of he caliber of Nix and Dillon G. available when they were needed, and kudos for CDL for scooping them up. But such availability is probably the exception rather than the rule and it is unclear how revenue sharing will impact recruiting of portal options.

 

I do agree that nothing beats experience at the QB position. But a program needs to work hard at developing the youngsters and have some success in so doing to sustain offensive strength over the long run.

On 6/9/2025 at 12:24 AM, Jon Joseph said:

 

Without the tats. (un)social media drama, and the INTs, I hope. I also hope Dante is a better on-field leader. When Beck was injured in the conference championship game, the UGA offense seemed excited when Stockton entered the game and played hard for Gunnar.  

 

Hopefully, in 2025, Stockton will have WRs who can catch the ball. Not a national title last season, but considering the schedule, the roster turnover, and the injuries on the offensive line, running back, and Beck throwing to guys in the wrong jerseys, winning the SEC may have been Kirby Smart's best coaching effort.

I can pretty much assure you that Georgia's receiver room will look nothing like 2024. The addition of two highly touted portal receivers and the return of an X receiver who was suspended for off-field reasons and exonerated, plus the recruitment of a 5-star Z receiver and another very-high 4-star X receiver promise to spice things up. I might add that there are also three highly touted TEs in addition to the two very capable ones from last year. All these guys can't play at the same time but there are plenty of options.

I watched more college baseball this year than I have in years and have had a hard time predicting who would beat whom. So I have pretty much decided to root for the underdogs.

 

As a former pitcher, I have been surprised how nondominant college pitchers are--even when it seems they are throwing serious gas or otherwise have electric "stuff". I've decided it is the aluminum bats that give hitters a real sizable advantage. It is certainly not that way in the pros. When I watch the Giants, I am almost embarrassed for the number of starting position players hanging somewhere around or just north of the Mendoza line. 

 

Having said this, I guess I am too much of a traditionalist to advocate livening up the game by legalizing metal bats. Somehow hearing a hitter say, after hitting a 650 foot HR,

"I really got good metal on that one"  would grate on me. Plus, we would probably have to build much bigger ballparks, I fear, to prevent lazy 420 foot fly ball home runs.

Well he is built a bit like Carson Beck, so maybe,

On 6/4/2025 at 11:26 AM, Augduck said:

This is all very interesting as there seems to be some ‘whispers’ that when all is said and done Bowman flips to Georgia.

 

Georgia's TE room is so stacked that I doubt this is even in the cards. Plus, Georgia has another 5-Star TE that could commit relatively soon.

 

One thing I do know is that were Bowman to flip to the Dawgs, Kirby Smart is not going to toy with team culture by  paying Bowman 2 million a year. I'd far prefer to get a top RB and another DL for the money that would otherwise go Bowman's way.