Nevada Dawg

A lot of SEC fans were against expanding the SEC by taking Texas and Oklahoma. Many of us would rather have added Florida State and Clemson if expansion were to happen. At least that ensures that the added teams were truly Southeastern. I absolutely hate the cannibalization of conferences. Maybe I am simply too traditional, but with this trend and an out-of-control NIL scene my interest in my favorite game is flagging a bit.

I don't know. The roughly 75% blue chip ratio and "AB" type of QB worked pretty well for Georgia last year! Of course that QB is vastly underrated just showing one of the flaws in the star ratings system, I suspect this QB will do just fine running the show this year.

I have to concur with FishDuck's post above. June isn't as early as it used to be with so many croots deciding to get things over with so they can concentrate on their senior season. But realize that Oregon probably has only about half (or less) of the croots they will eventually sign at this point. Plus... It seems after reading this board that Lanning is not being shy about going after top recruits. These guys like to explore their many options and are not especially inclined to commit early. This may well be why other schools (UW) have more recruits at this juncture than the Ducks. It is not how you start; its all about the the finishing kick!

I went to Grad School in Ohio and absolutely detested the arrogance of THE Buckeyes. Growing upon the Pacific Coast made that easy, as did the antics of Woody Hayes. I am also proud to say that my Dawgs have never lost to the dreaded Bucknuts! Last year, I was rooting as hard for the Ducks as my good Duck buddy was. It was indeed a sweet win.

That early 49er team was my first love as a kid. Hugh had folks on a swivel, Joe (Jet) Perry outran defenders, and John Henry Johnson could absolutely truck them. It would have been an awesome team if the defense was anywhere near as good as the offense. I didn't know Hurryin Hugh was still alive, so adios partner.

Undoubtedly true. So many people have asked how I took the Texas commitment. My response: We'll live. The Dawgs QB room was already stacked, and OC Todd Monken will make good use of one or more of them. Not sour grapes at all, as I had actually preferred emphasizing 24 QB Railoa in the first place. He's an Ohio State commit now but I wouldn't be surprised if Smart makes a real run at flipping him.

Sorry if this has already been discussed, but from a fan's perspective, the PAC-12 is often difficult to follow within its own footprint. Here in my area, the major cable company (Charter) doesn't even carry the PAC-12 network, although it has the Big Ten Network, The SEC Network, and extensive coverage of the Big-12 and ACC. For Oregon fans here, this is maddening. Was it last year after the OSU upset that the Ducks played Fresno State and struggled mucho to win? We couldn't figure out why this wasn't televised on one of the traditional football networks (I think it might have been on PAC-12, but my Duck buddy and I found that none of the many casinos in Carson City even carried that channel. How frustrating for my Duck friend who remarked that he could watch my Dawgs just about every week but his Ducks but a few times a season. Kind of sad I think.

These early offers are obviously non-committable and are solely for relationship building. They are more common than you might imagine in the SEC. Just the nature of the beast in the modern era. On one of the Georgia blogs there is a thread entitled "Talk'n 2026 recruiting" with some meaningful discussion of the "prospects".

While I expect the Dawgs to win this one, I concur with Drake's assessment. I've said before that if the spread remains 17 in favor of Georgia, I may place a small bet on the Ducks to beat the spread. But the Ducks are indeed going to have to score a boatload of points to have a chance in this one against an offense, most of which returns from last year, that pretty much had its way against everyone it played except Clemson in the opener and Bama in the SEC Championship game.

C'mon Florida has to bein that top 10 somewhere!

Well I guess I concur that Georgia may not be as good as last year. To say that they would be as good would imply that I an predicting another Natty and it has been a while since anyone repeated. One thing I will predict is that the Georgia offense will be better than last year. They are now blessed with so many WRs and TEs that the passing game could be as good as anyone's. Last year's unit averaged 38.6 points a game, and that was with Smart slowing the offense in the 4th quarters of blowouts to avoid injuries. So my neck is out there but I'm sticking with my offensive forecast.

I'll keep this short and sweet. I think that this article is right on and says precisely what I have said on the forum before. Championship rosters simply take time to assemble. Kirby Smart also inherited a decent roster and had everyone dialed in by year two. That team was IMO the best team in the country but lost in overtime to Bama in the natty. Yet, though that team should have won that game, Georgia's roster was not persistently championship class yet depth wise, and had the Dawgs won that game, the achievement would have had a bit of flash-in-the-pan quality to it. Currently, the Dawgs have that kind of roster after four or five straight years of top five recruiting classes. Alabama and Ohio state also have that kind of roster. This is why they start out every season ranked in the top 5. And sorry, I got windier than I'd planned. Cut CDL some slack in the earlier years. If you do, then any notable achievement will be that much sweeter.

Maybe nobody wants to hear this take, but when Utah destroyed the Ducks a second time in what almost looked like an instant replay of the first game, I told my very good Ducks friend that Mario quit on his team. I had been seeing reports from back East that MC had been negotiating behind the scene to become the Canes Head Coach. Whatever respect I might have had for the guy evaporated upon hearing the rumors. My poor friend was so down after the PAC-12 championship that he was threatening to enter the Fan Portal (he wasn't serious) remarking that the Ducks can't seem to keep a coach long enough to build a roster. I'm real hopeful that you guys have now found one to fit that bill.

Having read the post on expansion, I think that from financial and recruiting points of view, adding Houston and Dallas based universities could make sense. Texas is one of the most talent rich and monied states there are. But didn't UH just join the Big-12? And I can't remember for sure, but I think both TCU and SMU are members of that conference as well. Other closer schools that have decent football programs but add little market share (and maybe necessary academics)make little sense (e.g., Boise State). And BYU is now, or soon to be, a Big -12 school. So fans of expansion may have to accept Texas or Bust. In my opinion, the conference is probably better off staying with 12 teams. I suspect finances would get better in a hurry if one or more Pac-12 programs start penetrating the playoffs regularly, but the 4-team playoff format is going to mitigate against this.

I never pay too much attention to recruiting class rankings until November. June rankings can be meaningless. One example : In 2018, Georgia was ranked as having t 47th best class(or something like that) in June. The fan base went nuts starting a "What's wrong with Georgia recruiting?" thread that was popular throughout the summer. Turns out that there was nothing wrong with Georgia recruiting as the Dawgs signed the highest rated class that year--the seniors who won a natty. My point? Don't get too high or low over early recruiting rankings It is not how you start but, rather, how you finish.

As one who has been admonished a couple of times because I was guilty of not perusing closely the blog rules, I can attest that Mr FishDuck is actually quite civil in pointing out the errors of my ways. I had a minor disagreement on one of those occasions but, hey, it is his blog not mine. Compared to some discussion boards I have visited, it is refreshing to see differences of opinion expressed here without any insults or name calling that sometimes devolve into p-----g contests that absolutely can destroy a thread. So good job overall Charles in policing the board.

Precisely!!

Kirby Smart gave an interview recently about NIL and recruiting. The essence of his post is that if the first thing a recruit (or his parents) ask about is NIL, he immediately starts to wonder if he is chasing the wrong kid. His thinking (I think) is that a money first approach suggests a "me first" attitude that is incompatible with the effort to building great team chemistry. Case in point. Georgia and Texas are reported to be the most likely landing spots for 5-Star QB Arch Manning. When it comes to NIL, Smart has said that Texas will undoubtedly mention higher NIL payouts than Georgia. This will not be a bidding war and the Manning family has even said that they want this to be an old-fashioned 1970s type recruitment with NIL not being a major consideration. As for Arch (who admittedly may be atypical among QBs these days ), he says he wants to play college football, but that simply being a college kid in a great environment is very important to him as well. As Austin TX and Athens, GA are both great college environments, we still don't know which one Arch chooses. But he is precisely the kind the kind of recruit that coaches love as they stress player development and the long term over immediate NIL payouts. And also life beyond football I might add.

I don't mean to be critical here because I am a big fan of Noah. But there is some room for very real improvement in Noah's game. Last year, I noticed that he was all in in a big way for plays directly in front of him. But Noah sometimes took plays off when the play moved away from the center of the field. I would like to see Noah consistently pursuing from sideline to sideline, and he will have to be more engaged in this way, I think, to win a Butkus award. The good news is that you can bet that Lanning and the position coach most responsible for ILBs have watched film and have seen what I, as an admitted nonexpert, have seen. If they can stimulate that kind of consistent involvement from Noah, he will not only become a better player, but serve as even a greater leader on the field than he may already be.

I am certainly not against a 16 team playoff. Assuming there may be no on-campus games in such a scheme, it would involve 15 of the biggest existing bowl games in which every bowl therein would mean something. There will be screams from some quarters for making kids on teams that go deep into the tourney play even more games and possibly interfere with their schooling. And before anyone claims these players are not real students, I can assure you that more than you might imagine do value, schooling and the value of a degree. So lengthening the season is a consideration. Having said that, the real students I have had in classes would overwhelmingly vote, I suspect, to play another game or two in pursuit of a Natty.

I am still a big fan of the 12-team model proposed last year for the reasons I have posted here before. I just love the idea of having first round games played on college campuses, and the four bully boys on top will not get to partake in this excitement by virtue of getting a bye. Imagine a Notre Dame Oregon matchup played in Autzen or South Bend. Excitement anyone?

Point well taken Ohio Duck.

I concur David. I don't know about being a Heisman candidate, but given that Oregon usually has a good offensive line, the Ducks offense under Bo should be fun to watch if Oregon's receivers are reasonably talented. I also think that Caleb Williams is a bit overrated in general, but he may put up some real stats against PAC-12 defenses.

I think that on one of my first posts here, I indicated that I am a big Lanning fan and congratulated Duck Nation on landing a first-rate coach. Yet I have cautioned before to not have unrealistic expectations in the first year or two. It takes a while to assemble a championship roster with great players across multiple classes. I think that Lanning has the energy to accomplish this. Hey, aspirations to shoot for the moon are great and are the kind of energy that great programs all have. But don't burden a young and developing coaching staff with unrealistic early EXPECTIONS. If the staff becomes as good as I think it can be, you'll get there.

I think that the spread is high but not by much. I may put my money where my mouth is with a (small bet) that Oregon covers. I also think that the Georgia offense is much better than many Duck fans seem to think it is. Interesting tidbit I learned today: Last year's Dawgs scored more points in SEC games than did any other SEC team. Much of that offense is back along with two talented wide receivers who were injured last year. Add in TE Arik Gilbert to go along with Brock Bowers and Darnell Washington and any defense in the land is going to struggle with this team. Oh and the Dawg defense will be very formidable. So the bet I referenced above is far more of sign of respect for the Ducks than it is any concern about the capabilities of the Dawgs.