Nevada Dawg

Can';t say if anything will come of it, but smoke on the Georgia boards tonight that the Dawgs are going to make a pitch for Walter Nolen. I believe that he would be a "plug and play" in Athens, and Georgia has put five first-round defensive linemen in the NFL in the past three years.

My very good Duck buddy in Nevada told me about the game when the Ducks, ahead 31-0 at the half, lost in OT. I refused to believe him! When I asked who that comeback team was, he replied "I don't remember; I repressed it."

Why not believe in a football Natty? Even though they didn't win one in 40 years prior to 2021, most of the Dawg fanatics knew more were coming if they could just live that long. Now they expect to be in the mix EVERY YEAR and may well be as long as Kirby Smart is at the helm. I love CDL's bamboo watering metaphor by the way. He learned how to build rosters in Athens and is putting those lessons in play as we speak.

I have no idea where Troy will be drafted, but if he runs a 4.3 at the combine, his position will be high--well worth coming out for. If his "contested catch" ratio is 50% or higher, he could well be taken later in the first or early in the second round. Good luck young man!

Oh Dawg!! I hope that he is drafted in the first 40 picks, and for his own sake, not by the Atlanta Falcons!

I've said it before and will say again, if ever there was a year to commence the 12-team playoff, this was it. In the future, there will still be bitter arguments about committee decisions, most of which, I'd guess, will center on seedings rather than who the top 6 or 8 teams are. Can't wait.

I'm guessing that this is pure unadulterated clickbait.

The portal is a strange beast. Thus far, Georgia has always lost more guys than they add. The players they lose are mostly (but not always) guys that have been around for at least two years and don't see themselves as starters in the year to come. As they are typically talented football players, they understandably wish to see the field before their careers expire, and the Georgia coaching staff often assists them in finding placements suitable for their talents. The fewer guys who are taken in the portal are known commodities that fill gaps in the Dawgs roster for the year to come, and sometimes for longer. Most Georgia fans approve this limited use of the portal. Some call Georgia's approach a strategy for culling the roster to make scholarship room for all the incoming recruits from high school or elsewhere. Recognizing that everyone "culls" to some extent, this is the new normal in college football. At Georgia, scholarships are not dropped just because a player has not made much of a contribution so far. And, in fact, non scholarship players still get combine NIL stipends that pretty much pay all their expenses. But the bottom line is that most players opt to transfer if they feel their talents are not able to show through where they are enrolled. I may be rambling too much here, and if so, I apologize. But I see the post-season portal activities as a process that I am very much interested in, even though we occasionally lose a guy (e.g., receiver A D Mitchell to Texas last year) who made two of the most critical post season receptions in Georgia history that propelled the Dawgs to the 21 and 22 Nattys, and who played a major role in getting the Horns into the playoffs. I understand this transfer as A D is a Texas boy who had family considerations in Texas and so, Dawgs fans were OK with this BIG portal loss.

I think that Georgia wins this one handily if..if..if There are not important opt-outs and Kirby can get them fired up to play in Miami. Thus far, their hasn't been much in the way of complaining about being left out by players as far as I have heard. That could suggest the guys have a chip on their shoulders or, alternatively, are disinterested in the game, the latter of which will spell trouble. In 2018, Georgia got passed over for a playoff spot in favor of Notre Dame, who, in turn, got boat raced in their semi. The Dawgs played Texas, and I could tell from the first two possessions that they didn't want to be there. Texas jumped out to a sizable lead that the furious Dawg rally late in the second half couldn't overcome. It was really an embarrassing performance for Georgia partisans that you don't often see from Kirby's teams. So the question is which Georgia shows up as well as who shows up. I know of no significant opt-outs at this time, but it is early. One of the biggest buzzes surrounding the team right now centers on whether Carson Beck comes back for another year. The quick transfer of 5-star QB Brock Vandergriff to Kentucky suggests that Carson is probably coming back as Brock would have been the likely successor had Carson decided to declare for the NFL.

Yeah I watched that one. It was a total blowout.

The only thing Brock lacks is experience, He has a very good arm and is a legit dual threat QB. But I hear several sources say that, as of today, he is likely to remain in the SEC. Kentucky may well be a good option.

Disagree with regard to Michigan, Fuskies are good enough to beat the Wolverines IMO, and even if they didn't, it would be a close game. Georgia? Fuskies may well have been boat raced had the Dawgs made the playoffs and had a month to get healthy. For a somewhat less than enthusiastic Georgia in a non playoff game, this Dawg Bowl would be closer. But Hey, these games will not be played this year so probably nobody cares.

I fully expect Alabama (or Georgia if they had won) to be playing Texas for the Natty. I am OK with what happened yesterday given the injuries Georgia had on the offensive side of the ball. I am not saying Georgia would necessarily have won had they been healthy, just that I would have liked to have watched that game. But you play with whom you have and so that I can say hat's off to Alabama for gettng her done. I am disappointed for the Ducks in their draw on Jan !. Dawgs partisans expressed similar concerns when Georgia drew group of 5 opponent Cincinnati in the Peach Bowl in 2020. Even with Georgia playing with only one or two opt-outs, they won that game only by converting a last play field goal. So I hope the 2023 Oregon Ducks will show up motivated to play in this game as it will be Liberty's Super Bowl and they are good enough to embarrass a Duck team with multiple important opt-outs.

I considered this one as well.. However with likely opt-outs, it is unclear what we might be measuring, if you get my drift.

I thought about this one as well. The only problem is that the game would likely not be played by the 2023 versions of the teams that had such wonderful seasons and be a true measuring stick.

Yeah I was surprised at the general tone of comments on the Talk'n Dawgs site tonight after the Dawgs loss to Alabama. It was a great game, was reasonably well officiated, and both teams had an opportunity to win in the last five minutes. Bama got it done; There were a few mitigating factors I could mention, and some posters did bring up, but in my opinion, those are losers' laments. I was very surprisingly OK with what went down and can congratulate the Crimson Tide. It is nice when you can breeze through sets of comments without having jerks ruining things with their ridiculous rants and ravings. I'd like to thank Charles for shielding us from the majority of hotheads and trolls. It has to be a tiresome job.

For me, it would depend on who they are playing. Plus Urban has proven to be a mediocre prognosticator in big games, barely better than Corso. That being said, if my Athens Dawgs don't win the title again, Ducks, keep me engaged and bring home that trophy!

Today I watched Greg McElroy's "Always College Football" podcast on playoff selections, and Greg managed to outdo Jon Joseph, listing the scenarios that would present a path for inclusion for each of the top eight teams in the CFP rankings. My head hurt unwrapping all this, but he did have a point, or should I say rationale, for each of the team's inclusion. Of course several teams would need an improbable sequence of outcomes, but each scenario could conceivably happen. I've just decided to sit back on Friday night and Saturday afternoon and watch how things unfold with a trusty bottle of bourbon at my side. I hope that I am not an alcoholic by Saturday at about 4:30. So Charles, I understand the queasiness and feel it myself. And I'm betting that you'd agree with me that this would have been a great year to kick off the expanded playoffs to get them off to a rousing start.

Kind of sad to me that college football is becoming the sub-NFL farm leagues where everyone is a free agent and no one enforces rules against tampering. The traditions of the game are fading fast and I can see why many are beginning to throw up their hands and walking away from college fandom (I personally know three of these guys). I wonder how long it will be before many of have-nots in Division 1 decide that they can no longer compete, financially or any other way, for talent and drop their football programs. I could hardly blame them I mean 10 offers of 1-Million plus for QB who has won nothing makes me sick, ,even though I have admired the way Ward has handled himself between the lines. Sorry to rant but this is how I feel about the way the game is devolving.

And now I'm feeling more respect for Charles' fear that somehow the PAC-12 and specifically the Ducks could get left out of the playoffs. The Fuskies are now in the top 4 and , should they win on Friday, are in. I personally believe that the Ducks are in with a win as well but it is humans who make these decisions which, sometimes don't leave us with the best four teams. Sunday morning I watched the College Football Final. wrap-up on ESPN and two of the three commentators had Oregon among their first two out of the playoffs. These guys also saw a path to the dance for Ohio State. And unbelievably, according to the ESPN computer, the Bucks remained above Michigan on their little power index. wth! Oregon has received enough Buzz during the latter part of the season that many people other than Duck partisans expect the Ducks to be selected should they win on Friday. That makes me feel better but, remember, it is humans who make these selections and do what they do for any number of reasons. I see the SEC Championship game as a play-in to the playoffs, and I bet that Kirby is sending those vibes to his team. This is the way it should be, particularly in a year where there are more than four deserving teams meriting consideration. But I have read three headlines over the past two days, probably written as clickbait, implying that what we think we know about selections may become chaotic should Alabama win the game against Georgia on Saturday. Again, these headlines may all be clickbait, but as an Oregon fan, I'd suggest that we all become Dawg fans for a day on Saturday (no problem for me) so the above doesn't unfold.

Yeah, I don't know what it is about this Georgia team which has fallen behind in the first quarter of almost all Power-5 opponents this year. I don't even sweat that any more unless they fall two scores down, and when they do, they seem to come back all the harder. Still it is not a good look and could well get them in trouble at this time of the year.

Disagree on the national perception. I do believe that Oregon shot themselves in the foot at several junctures in Seattle, but most non-Duck fans are not that attuned to the inner workings of that game and would not come away with the impression that Oregon beat itself. Sorry, but I've had the occasion to talk with several friends from back East who watched that game, and they have asked me if Oregon could beat a team that beat them earlier. No sense among these fans, who know the game of football, that Oregon beat themselves. And there is too much of an obsession on rankings and stats on this board in my opinion. I've often heard it said by people wiser than me that stats are for losers, and I concur in the sense that relying on them to feel better after a loss is meaningless. Like it or not, what matters most is what happens between the lines. And as I alluded to above, I think the Ducks of December are better than they were earlier in Seattle, will not repeat the mistakes made on that fateful day, and will come away with a solid victory in Vegas.

I like the part about the Ducks, as PAC-12 champs getting the nod over 1-loss OSU which will have played one less game than the others in the playoff picture. I quibble with the argument that the whole nation saw how we outplayed UW in a losing cause. You ask most people who are not PAC-12 fans, they probably think that UW won that game because they had the better team on that night. I personally believe that the Fuskies have regressed noticeably since that fateful day in Seattle, whereas the Ducks have gotten better. I expect that to be readily apparent Friday next. Go Ducks!!

As it should be. Ducks need to beat an undefeated team of Fuskies in the PAC-12 Championship game.

There are many ways of looking at resumes and one way ie examining the W-L records of a team's opponents. Looking at last week's data for the top 8 in the playoff contenders, the two teams with opponents' best W-L records were Alabama and Georgia. Oregon's opponents were only two games over .500. Oregon wi sti get to the playoffs if they beat the beaves and Seattle Dawgs, but not on the strength of a stellar resume.