Nevada Dawg

Hey, at least the Ducks game was entertaining. In Athens, Dawgs lost their opening game to N C State 18-1. Demoralization occurs quickly when you give up 11 runs in the second inning. I'll cheer both teams on tomorrow, but have to hope that the Dawgs can muster some hope for themselves. But, hey, baseball is a funny game.

The spirit I was referring to was his court enthusiasm as a college player not his post-basketball playing activities.

It seems that some of David Marsh's suppositions about Collin Gill were right on the mark. A post this morning on the best free Dawgs site Talk'n Dawgs indicated that geography did play a role in the Gill transfer and that he will likely be groomed for the Star position at Georgia. I also know that Kirby Smart likes big, hard-hitting safeties. Thanks for your insights David. I hope that Collin can be the patient sort, however, as he has a couple highly rated guys ahead of him on the Star depth chart.

Sorry if already posted but I'd add the game would be greatly improved if the spirit of Bill Walton reign over all of college basketball!

Recruiting is fluid and a couple of things I like to see (and often do see) are breakdowns on the strengths and weaknesses of various recruiting targets and information from insiders on what seems to matter with individual recruits /where Georgia stands on these criteria. I follow all recruiting reasonably closely but don't obsess about wins and losses. With big "misses" I've learned the staff usually has a fallback option that is about as talented as the "miss" is. So why worry? Speaking about learning what I can about all recruits I'll ask about redshirt freshman Collin Gill that Georgia pulled out of the portal this afternoon from Oregon. I thought he would be a practice player and probable PWO but subsequently was told he was offered a scholarship. As Georgia did not recruit him out of high school, I am assuming that Kirby talked with Dan Lanning who put in some nice words for the kid. Anybody know any more?

Yeah, I am not surprised by the survey results Charles posted. And for the fan that tends to obsess about high school recruiting and suffer angst over big "misses", paying little attention to incoming freshman saves a lot of recruiting grief. Having said that, I believe that championship teams are built from the ground up, and that this foundation is the rock on which nattys are built. Sure, a portal addition may be instrumental to helping a very good team improve their playoff stock. But overreliance of such additions, in my humble opinion, are a fool's errand when it comes to grasping brass rings. It could happen very occasionally, but not consistently.

Recruiting is a year-round obsession in Athens, GA and will likely remain that way as Kirby Smart recognizes the value of stacking blue chip classes upon each other and developing his charges to fit his system. Little secret: Dan Lanning basically believes this as well. Portal additions tend to be expensive in monetary terms and are always a risk of not being a good culture fit, no matter how talented they otherwise might be. Kirby uses the portal to shore up positions of need, but because he recruits and develops so well, those needs are not extensive. So knowing his philosophy, I am typically well aware of who the very top recruits are in the current year by mid-March and know who Georgia is all in on. And you might be surprised if you are a star gazer how many high-star guys Georgia eliminates from serious consideration for culture fit concerns. Just another perspective on recruiting but I doubt it will ever change drastically as long as Kirby remains in Athens.

Maybe you will be starting (the bans) with that Fisher dude who claims that Lanning better get out of Eugene if he knows what's good for him. He seems like he could be high on the troll quotient.

Yeah, I was just about to say that I certainly wouldn't lose any sleep about Gabriel's arm strength from reading the target article. I might worry more about the receiving core than abou tDillon's arm.

Had I been asked this question myself before seeing the article, I'd have said Georgia Oregon and Texas and would have admitted that the order was debatable. Most expect Carson Beck to soar in his second season as a starter. But it is also legit to argue that Gabriel, with multiple years of starting experience may have an edge. Time will tell, but I think Beck has a deeper pool of talented receivers than Gabriel has, which may tip the scales a bit here.

Many of you have alluded to Walton's ability to make his teammates better. So true. I remember so often that He'd go snatch a rebound ant turn immediately looking for an outlet before he even hit the ground. Man the guy could pass the rock. In my experience, only Bill Russell was as good at distributing rebounds as the big Redhead was. People rightfully cite his impressive stats, but I always thought his passing was an underappreciated aspect of his game. And I am still in a state of shock that he is no longer with us. RIP my man. By the way, Mark Bradley, the dean of sports writers for the Atlanta Constitution, published his remembrance today. The article was titled something like "I always disliked Bill Walton...and then I met him". A touching piece to be sure.

Absolutely loved the man as a player. When home for Christmas from grad school in Ohio, I would always make a trip to Westwood to watch Walton and the Bruins if I could get tickets (I always found a way in). One day in August, 1973, I was leaving Vegas for my parents home north of Bakersfield CA when I saw a guy hitching with a pack and a guitar and a sign reading "LA". It looked remarkably like Walton, so I pulled over and it was indeed him. So I told him I would be going as far as Barstow before tuning off I-15. . As we approached Barstow where I was turning, we were having such an interesting chat that I told him "Oh hell, I'll take you into Westwood" (about 3 hours out of my way) We discussed all kinds of subjects but Walton told me a story I never forgot (and later saw published in Sports Illustrated). It involved the first day of practice the previous season. Coach Wooden would not let him practice or play until he got his long hair clipped to UCLA'S standards Walton told me that he said' "Coach, its the 1970s, I can't stand to have short hair with whitewalls for gosh sakes". Now mind you, this is the reigning College Basketball Player of the Year saying he wouldn't get that haircut. He then said Coach frowned, shook his head and replied "William, I am sorry to hear that because we are really going to miss you." Walton was back and hour and a half later properly shorn to Coach's standards.

Rashada is indeed talented. But Kirby took him, I'm told, for two reasons. First, Kirby practically insists on having four scholarship QBs on the roster and Rashada fits that niche. The second reason is that Kirby was impressed by the kid's competitiveness. Rashada could have been a starter elsewhere but preferred to sign with UGA despite having little if any chance of seeing playing time in 24. Plus, the current and future QB room is absolutely stacked through 2026 with top commits, so there is no assurance that he will ever start in Athens. Yet, Kirby sold the "development" factor and loved that the kid was willing to bet on himself. Who knows if Rashada's bet will pay off, but ya gotta love the kid's confidence in himself.

And this is how the invasion can come to pass. The economic incentive could end up too enticing to pass with fans who hold extra tickets. And I'd not assume that there aren't people, seeing the appeal of the battle of the Os, purchased blocks of tickets to cash in on this opportunity. (Sure hope that I am wrong however).

Having lived in Ohio for four years, I can almost assure you that, if it looks like the game in Autzen is shaping up as the B1G game of he season, I'd suspect that there will be far in excess of 3,000 Bucks fans in the stadium that night. Hopefully it will be fewer than 10,000 of them, but Ohioans will pay what it takes to get in that stadium if sufficiently motivated. Fans there are about as rabid as they are in the SEC.

Are there controls over what students can do with their tickets? When Georgia played at Notre Dame in 2017, Dawg fans were able to obtain many of the student tickets I am told. They were also buying far more tickets, literally thousands of them, by flashing the green to ND partisans that saw the opportunity to make a quick buck. The result was that the crowd that night at Notre Dame Stadium was estimated at about 35-40% Dawg fans. Lets hope that the Oregon fans have a little more discipline and risk temptation to sell out to the enemy.

Those of you who replied (either directly or indirectly) to my skepticism make some really good points. I know well the way the PAC-12 was barely visible to those east of the rocky mountains except at r\Rose Bowl time. And even then, many had to look to see who had won the conference out West. I remember lamenting the fact that Christian McCaffrey, IMHO the far and away best player in college football during his senior year, was snubbed for the Heisman because many voters had never seen him play. I do understand your sentiments! But I also still fear for the future of college football. Can't help it; it is a legitimate concern to me. Now I'll promise to go mute on the subject and see how it all plays out. Oh, as for being at the top of the college football heap- how recent that has been. My Dawgs had spent what seemed an eternity wandering the wilderness, every so often putting together a very good team that always faltered at some point, robbing themselves of a chance to grab the brass ring. Yes, I can breath easier these days knowing that the Dawgs have a coach that will put them in position to win it all, almost on an annual basis. But actually winning it all is not as important as being in position to win it all if things break right. Oregon is not that far away from being in the same position, and that is why, I think, that many of you are quite all right with the move to the B1G. But, nevertheless, I will still miss the ole Pac-12 and its traditions.

I guess I'm still a skeptic in some ways. Charles's point #1 still resonates with me. I have hated the Big-10 since I was about 10 years old (almost seven decades) and still do. For better or worse the Ducks are now in it so I will root for them to kick butt. This is do-able I feel with Lanning at the helm, but maybe not as quickly as many of you suspect. But, hey, maybe I am wrong. Charles's point 4 also strikes a cord--and that's tragic for college football IMHO. At this point, it is impossible to know what transpires over the next decade, but if the glory is distributed only among the 34 members of the Power-2, the ole game I knew and loved is badly diminished. I would sure as heck hate to see 30-40% of Div-! teams give up the expensive sport of football because they have little of any chance of hoisting the big glass trophy, and for this reason, no one much cares about football any longer. Maybe I'm overly pessimistic, but I am no where as giddy about recent events as many Duck fans seem to be.

Straight line speed is for more important for CBs and Stars than for safeties. There are several safeties in the NFL who run 4.7-4.8 but have the instincts and ball skills to make up for it. Plus, I suspect that after a year of strength and conditioning Woodyard will be running in the mid to low 4.6s. I trust Georgia's and Saban's Alabama evals of Woodyard and will stand on my earlier comment. I think you'll be glad you have him.

I still recall my first post on the OBD forum about how you would come to love Dan Lanning. Your comments tonight make me realize how I hadn't really stuck my neck out at all. I am overjoyed that Lanning has far exceeded my initial expectations, and the best part is that he is just getting started. Yes, indeed, you've hit the jackpot!

For the record in light of my earlier comment, I fully anticipate Woodyard to become a strong contributor for the Ducks.

Saw a number of favorable posts today about the Woodward pickup on the Talk'N Dawgs site. Woodward had at one time early been a Georgia commit who bailed when the DB room became too crowded in Athens for his taste. Most of the commenters thought this to be good pickup for Lanning and Co. The one reservation a couple of the coaches on the board had about Woodyard was his 4.8 speed in the 40. But another guy pointed out that this time by a 17-year-old likely improves after a year or two of strength and conditioning. He also noted that Woodyard's cousin Kyle Hamilton was also running 4.8s in high school and went on to become a consensus All American at Notre Dame and first-round NFL draftee, so obviously a 4.8 40 time at this juncture foretells absolutely nothing in itself. I found this information about Woodyard interesting and thought I'd pass it along.

I wonder about the criteria for arriving at these rankings. Is it number of needs addressed weighted by the perceived quality of the signees to address those needs? By these criteria, our Ducks would have to be rated very highly. I'd also think that coaches with the mindset that the best pathway to success is retention of people on the rosters whom are well known commodities, such as Kirby Smart and Ryan Day, might never be rated very highly on portal classes because they have fewer needs to address and would rather spend their NIL resources on known entities who could otherwise be tempted by "tampering" solicitations from afar. Having mentioned here Day here, Ohio State would almost certainly be rated highly this year in part by the pick-ups of ridiculously talented running back Judkins from Ole Miss and safety Caleb Downs from Alabama. But without knowing the set of factors involved in generating the ratings, I tend to take off-season lists of this type as of dubious value (though am still glad to see the Ducks rated highly' regardless of the criteria).

Wow a bombshell here. I was just wondering while watching the Natty tonight how much longer Cal would last at UK when his "high school superstar one and done" model was no longer the key to success in the NCAAs. Moving to Arky is not being banished to the netherworld. Nolan Richardson proved that big time winning is not impossible there, that's for sure. But the model has to change. For one thing, I doubt Coach Cal can have the success recruiting the elite of high school basketball to Fayetteville. And even if he could, his model is stale. I used to think that UK could be a consistently dominating program if Cal could get the guys he recruited to stick around three years, mature, and experience the value of teamwork. I remember thinking that NIL may be the key to bringing this about. Yet I have heard through the grapevine that many of the UK players did not ever go to class, had no interest in so doing, and probably wouldn't have remained eligible for much longer than a semester or two. It will be interesting, if this move comes to pass, to watch Coach Cal try to adapt to the changing landscape of college hoops.

Today was the first time I( have seen Paopao play. She hit a couple or three clutch treys to blunt the valiant Iowa attempts to come back in the second half. Otherwise, a relatively quiet but effective player who played good defense.