Nevada Dawg

So can I David, and for all the reasons mentioned above by spartan 2785. What's more, as a former close rival and occasional pain in the Ducks tailfeathers, he would give us Duck fans one more reason to despise the fuskies.

Two observations today re. Lanning (and the decision to stay in Eugene): Guys on the Dawgnation Daily podcast also see Lanning as having an immediate impact on the B1G next year and expect the Ducks to become a powerhouse in that league (I concur) Former Tide QB Greg McElroy, who is well connected to the Bama program confirmed that DL was contacted first in their coaching search and backed off for two reasons, Lanning's interest in finishing the job he had started in Eugene AND the fact that his buyout for leaving was 20 million dollars. But I think the first of those reasons was the more important in my mind.

The Nick Saban I knew some 50 years ago as a player and college student in my class was actually a quiet, humble, and reflective guy who would not inject himself into another's business unless his advice and council was solicited. Whether he is anything close to that guy after 7 national titles and achieving the designation as GOAT of college football coaches is another matter, but we psychologists know that fundamental aspects of ''core personality don't change radically over the years for most people. Thus, I suspect that Saban would meet with the new coach, impress upon him that this program was now his to run, and stress that he would not be expressing any opinions unless they were requested. Still, it will be hard for the new guy not to think about who he is replacing and not have this knowledge affect him in some way. Quite frankly, I wouldn't want to be that guy, but if I were, you can bet that I would soak up every bit of knowledge that I could from the guy.

The biggest issue on Stewart I'm told, one that caused the Dawgs not to pursue him, was his self-admitted mental issues. I have absolutely no idea what these issues are, but I certainly hope he can pull himself together and start to play somewhere close to his potential for the Ducks. Sorry to be a bit of a Debbie Downer here, but one should not always rely on high school recruiting rankings as a predictor of success for a third-year college player.

As i said last night, this reputed move to Tuscaloosa made no sense to me for several reasoons. Later, I lesrned of 20 million reasons to add to my meager list---the buyout. Lanning's story about staying in Eugene was the lead story on the Dawgnation daily platform this morning. Dawg fans generally admire the man and follow his career closely.

DL can certainly be impulsive at times. Hopefully, this is not one of them. If it were three years from now and Oregon had won a natty, one might argue (and I am not one of those ones) that Dan might jump at the chance to go to Tuscaloosa, which ain't all that cool a town. Making the jump at this point would be a serious error in judgment IMHO. I have the feeling that Kirby Smart knew that the Saban retirement was coming at the SEC Championship game. When the two men met at midfield after the game, Kirby allegedly said something like You have been a great coach Nick (note the past tense), and Saban allegedly replied I'm too old for this sh-t. My Bama buddy tells me that Saban has been very critical of the NIL culture and having to re-recruit his roster and coaching staff every year. And who can blame him. It is really much easier these days to be a Pro coach than a College head man.

It is great to see the Ducks so high on the pecking order. Always better to be noticed than overlooked. But, as I have said many times, ratings are largely meaningless except for seeding purposes at the end of the season. What goes on between the lines is what matters and always will be.

Charles, I went through a divorce from a wonderful and talented woman some 35+ years ago. We just grew apart and, thankfully, had no children to complicate matters. We remained friends, babysat each others' dogs for many years, and drifted apart once she'd gone into academic administration and landed high powered jobs elsewhere. She is a University President today and is busy as hell, so we don't have much direct contact any more. Maybe that will change a bit as she is 10 years my junior and is creeping up on retirement age. All this is, of course, tangential to your case, but I just want to add that, though things may be a bit (or a lot) unsettled at this juncture, it will all even out over time. And the great work you do on the forum will keep you focused on OBD and help to retain some consistency and sanity in the months ahead. Best of luck my friend.

Bo has already put up so much film in the last 6 years that the pro scouts know what he is about. Having said this, he can still improve his draft stock a bit in the Senior Bowl by playing with poise and displaying his leadership skills. Good luck young man. The move to Eugene will probably pay dividends come draft day in April.

Great retention. Go Ducks!

I am not sure how my post just above got posted to this thread. I meant it to go to Charles' thread about rooting for the Huskies. Sorry fricken I somehow screwed up.

I've been a Pac Conference fan going all the way back to the old Pacific Coast Conference when Idaho (the Pac Vanderbilt) was in the conference. And my detestation of the Big 10 goes back equally far into that Paleozoic football era It is worse than my dislike for the fuskies and I have no choice but to root for them. The only team in the B1G that I dislike more than Michigan is Ohio State, so my choice is obvious (to me at least). I will still dislike the B1G, historically the most overrated conference in America. I will root for the Ducks there but for no one else as if next season.

I pretty much concur with every line of this post, especially with Penix and the Heisman. And Penix does have that full stable of quality wide receivers. As a group they are better, in my humble opinion, than the bunch in Columbus, OH and certainly better than any of the other playoff entrants.

Michigan's senior experience and leadership is the one factor that keeps me from placing a meaningful bet on the fuskies this week. Yet I still expect them to win. My comment about the South rising again was a bit tongue in cheek. But I will caution that simply adding more teams to a conference doesn't necessarily make that conference better, and that goes for all conferences in my opinion.

Yeah I mentioned the same points in the thread about the game. And I didn't even know about the RB injury then which, of course, makes the clock mismanagement issue even worse for its consequences.

Interestingly, tonight's discussion of the Natty on the main Dawg site with all the coaches on it comes down fairly clear on the side of the Seattle Dawgs hoisting the trophy next Monday night. Michigan's defense is good, but the argument was that Alabama was by far the most offensively challenged team in the playoffs,. Michigan has not faced an offense, they say, even close to that of Washington, and that Penix and company are going to expose the Michigan secondary big time. They also have noted that the Washington offensive line is badly underrated (this coming from multiple sources who regularly break down film on trench monsters) and that Michigan will not be able to stunt and blitz like thy did against Alabama because Penix and the receivers will make them pay dearly if they do. Posters favoring Washington in this one also suspect that Deboer's defensive strategy will likely be to stack the box against the run and force J.J. McCarthy to beat them with his arm, which they don't believe McCarthy can do--at least not to the extent that Penix can put up points against the Wolverines. Having said this, I have to add that one of the posters whose comments I respect most also did say that he had expected Michigan to come up short a few times this year, either outright or against the spread, and been burned by a team that still has a zero in the loss column. So who knows. The bettors think they do, and so far the bigger bettors are going Huskies.

I fully understand SEC fatigue in other fan bases. Enjoy the down year but...the South will rise again...and often

The best player and the best WR. If I am a pro team drafting a WR, I take Odunze over Marvin Harrison Jr. Odunze has the better contested catch ratio (in the 60s somewhat compared to Harrison's figure in the 40s, and the latter quit on his team for the bowl game. Jusr my opinion perhaps,mbut quitting on the team does not sit right for me. Penix truly is a dart thrower who can drop perfectly thrown dimes fifty yards down field. Making player comparisons is always a bit risky, but he gives me Kenny Stabler vibes every time I watch him. I fully expect my Dawgs and Ducks to be entertaining us all in next year's playoffs. And yes, this was the most entertaining SET of semis in playoff history.

Well, decided to root for the Fuskies over Texas and about had a heart attack at the end of this one. SIAP but the Washington brain trust ought to be given the Mario Cristobal award for clock mismanagement at the end of the game. Had the Fuskies simply went into victory formation on that first and 10 in Texas territory, they could have nearly totally exhausted the clock and the game is over, But for some unknown reason, they kept snapping the ball and handing it off thereby risking a bad snap, a fumble, and posssibly leaving Texas ample time to come down the field. They managed to do so exactly that and are darn lucky they didn't lose the game. I thought DeBoar was smarter than that. As the /Fuskies hung on, it is cool that the Natty will be between the B1G and the Pac-12 in the last season of the Pac-12's existence. Next year the Fuskies will be in the B1G, but this year, they are the Pac12 Champions dammit!! And I need to eat some crow as promised. For the first year in BCS playoff history, I whiffed on my predictions for the semis.

At this point we are to the games that matter (except for the fan bases on the non playoff teams yet to play). So my plan is to watch the Duck game with interest as I am a Duck fan and to say nothing more about the semis, simply consuming them as an interested fan. I guess I have become a bit spoiled as it has been three years since the Dawgs were not in a semi. But hey, ya can't be there every year. At least my gut will not be churning this year wondering if my team wins it all--but to be honest, I miss the anticipation. And Go Ducks!!

Great take. Thanks. I have one slight disagreement. Georgia deserved to be in a playoff. Georgia did not deserve to be in a 4-team Invitational. With Bama, a team I assume would have be in as the SEC champ along with UGA, what team do you leave out? Jon the disagreement is not really a disagreement. While discussing the issue with my Duck buddy, he asked me who I would leave out in favor of the Dawgs. I told him nobody because I couldn't make a rational case against any of the four entrants, largely for the reasons you have mentioned. This was a rare year where there were more than four qualified entrants, and as I said above, I have no quarrel with any of the selected participants. Kirby Smart knows this as do his players. It is unfortunate that the Dawgs ended up not being able to defend their national titles for a third year--but hardly an injustice. And as Kirby always says, "Hey, we aren't going anywhere." The Dawgs may not earn a bye next year given the brutal road schedule they will play in the SEC and a neutral site game against Clemson, whom I expect to be improved a lot over the 2023 edition, But I'm pretty sure they will make the 12-team playoff and have the big trophy in their sights. And I still believe that the 2023 edition is one of the best four teams in the land.

I am not saying this to gloat in any way but.... The Orange Bowl today reminded me of the Georgia-Oregon game and the TCU Natty beatdown last year. My great Duck buddy drove down from Lake Tahoe to cheer on the Dawgs with me, and like the two aforementioned games, we left the game on but talked and speculated about other things from before halftime. I hate blowouts and would rather see a white knuckler any day (though my heart might disagree).. Georgia was trying to send the playoff committee a message, but on their own behalf, not FSU's. I, of course, know why Georgia was not selected and am good with that, as are the Georgia players based on post game interviews today. But you are never going to convince me that this Dawgs team is not one of the four best in the country. I have absolutely no quarrels with the four teams in the field and wish them well. I could even root for the Seattle Dawgs in the playoffs, much as that might offend Duck partisans. But my prediction is that the two B1G teams as they have been called here lose to the two so-called SEC teams in the semis. I welcome the opportunity to eat the ceremonial crow if I am wrong on both counts.

TXDuck, "watching paint dry" was exactly the descriptor I used while texting back and forth with my great Duck buddy. He said to me on Missouri's first drive in the 4th Q that he thought that the paint was drying. Missouri's offense is normally far from inept, and what passed in the first three quarters was a testament to the quality of the OSU defense. But, I was not surprised to see Missouri break through late in the game and win this one--in fact I made a small wager that they would win. Things could have gone the other way had the QB not been hurt, but OSU wasn't moving the ball much when he was in there. Missouri has been underestimated on this board and elsewhere all year long. They really are legit. qa is a testiment to the quality of the OSU defense.

My opinion, if anyone cares, is that non playoff games in our new era are almost meaningless for calculating the relative strength of conferences. So many teams field squads that bear faint resemblances to the regular season rosters that I am not surprised by anything I see these days (except Northwestern upsetting anyone) . Plus, aggregating teams in their respective leagues the year before they get there (e.g., Washington in the B1G, Cal in the ACC, Texas in the SEC) seems a major stretch for me. Just my $.02. Still, comparisons will be made, meaningless as they may (or may not) be.

I just started watching this one in the second half. Looks to me that Arizona wants to be there more than the Sooners, but I could be wrong from the limited amount of play I have witnessed in this one.