GatOrlando

Pro days on campus have become kind of a way for prospects to have some control and be more confident because it's in their programs training facilities.

What's funny is last year wasn't considered great past Caleb Williams and two guys in Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels being boom or bust. McCarthy, Penix and Nix were considered reaches by many pundits. I think Penix and Nix were graded as second to third. McCarthy was considered a game manager but one with the physical tools. I think somebody is going to fall in love with a Milroe, Howard, McCord and Gabriel and shock the pundits again. You are one hundred percent correct in this being a weak draft with no consensus top guy. Both Sanders and Ward are considered locks to go top ten, but even they have big questions marks.

One more big time American football game coming up next Sunday. Then it's time for the combine and draft. Who coming out from Oregon improves their stock? Who could harm their status? Will Gabriel get drafted? Tez Johnson a first round pick?

Why are we crying about poor Ohio State. Oh poor babies haven't won a National Title in ten years. I guess they'll just have to take solace in their 11 win seasons. Poor babies haven't beaten Michigan in four straight years, guess they'll have to ask the prior three recruiting classes that won against them every year they were there. Poor babies haven't won a conference title since 2020. Guess they'll have to rely on the four straight they won before that. Poor babies lost a coordinator. Guess they'll just have to poach another like they did last year twice in former NFL coach O'Brien and then UCLA head coach Chip Kelly when O'Brien left. Poor babies had people trying to get their fourth string five star receiver. Geez it's like Finebaum telling us how restless Alabama fans are with how terrible they've been since Saban retired.

Book it Danno!!!

Paul has his schtick down tight. He thinks the new Alabama coach is on thin ice because he has no identity but just a couple weeks before he said Alabama would've beaten Penn State, Ohio State or Notre Dame in a first round matchup.

They need to review these votes. The whole unanimous thing is ridiculous. Don't put silly emotions on voting for worthy candidates.

I think your defense held up pretty well. Last impressions are often the ones we hang onto. The rushing defense against Boise in game two was concerning and you gave up big plays against Penn State and Ohio State (twice). But Tennessee and Notre Dame had really good defenses and Ohio State carved them up as well. People laud Texas but they forget Ohio State made a lot of drive killing mistakes. Boise put up points on Penn State and Penn State moved the ball on the ground at will against Notre Dame. So maybe Oregon needs better corners and safeties to stop 6'3 and 230 pound freshman and sophomores that can run sub 4.40s. Maybe guys bigger than 5'9. Sure would be nice to get the best corner to flip from Ohio State.. Lanning will get it figured out I think. If it's Lupoi or you have to go poach a guy like Ryan Day did three years ago with Knowles.

He's still upset that Pete Rose died without getting into the Hall. But that circles back to the betting lines we were talking about.

Ahh. I was thinking of the bash brothers and the series against the Giants with the earthquake. My father is a big Reds fan and he would always tell me about the Big Red Machine in the 70's. I grew up with the Derek Jeter Yankees dynasty in the 90's to the 2000's as the dominant force. The Braves three dominant starters with Maddox, Glavine and Smoltz just couldn't ever seem to be at them.

I don't usually put wagers on things like money lines in sports because I'm just not knowledgeable on it. But I get the issue of betting on or against your teams. Not a huge baseball fan but was it the 80's that had that A's super squad?

That's interesting. If I was inclined to put some paper on this game I could watch my team lose but see my bank account win. I could also take Philly and the points and win on all accounts. Conflicting.

I'd say this recent Kansas City run is already better than the 90's Cowboys or either half of the two Patriots dynasties. Mahomes just played in his seventh AFC Title game in 7 seasons as the starter. He'll be going to his fifth Super Bowl and if it wasn't for two overtime losses the Chiefs would be in their seventh straight Super Bowl. Remember it took heroics from Brady and Burrow to beat them in 2018 and 2021.

I think I could do it for three million. Good point on the family thing Jon. I don't know if Penn State is any easier a place to coach. I just don't think it's as high profile in Happy Valley because there's not much media coverage there. Ohio State is based in Columbus and while it's not New York or Philly it's still a top 30 city in the US. Imagine Oregon being in Portland. I'd say USC , UCLA, Miami, Rutgers, Northwestern, Georgia Tech, USF, UCF or Boston College are comparable but they aren't. People in LA, Atlanta, Miami, Chicago, Jersey or Tampa have many other things and sports to pay attention to than their college team. Columbus is a fairly large city, but their sports team isn't the Blue Jackets. So you have a top 30 market centered on a college team. I can tell you there are fanatics that have said some nasty things towards Florida coaches. But it's not as publicized because nobody knows where Gainesville is on the map. Closest big city I'd compare the Ohio State thing is in Austin. But there is just as much pressure in Norman Oklahoma, Lincoln Nebraska or Clemson South Carolina. I wish this wasn't true, but I've had conversations with guys who told me they wanted to burn Dan Mullen's boat down one year. I don't know if they were just venting or serious, but it kind of scared me how these people react to a game played by 18-22 year old men.

I hope you're wrong about that threepeat as an Eagles fan. I was hoping for an Eagles vs Bills matchup because if we lost I would've been happy to see those fans get their first championship at least. I personally think/thought that Oregon and Georgia were the two best teams last year. You both just faced a coach/program that knew how to game plan against you and win the small battles that helped offset deficiencies talent wise. Lanning exercised those demons this year but you know he probably feels like last year was a huge lost chance.

You guys would've beaten Michigan. I know Alabama beat you but Beck is a much better QB than Milroe. You didn't have the talent at receiver or tight end this year and had way too many drops but you still beat the third or fourth best team twice. Kirby has built the new SEC machine now that Saban has retired. Sarkasian has a darned good team but until they beat you I have to label you the champs. Georgia had to beat Alabama to get that crown and you did it. It's hard to admit that but it's true. Arch Manning is going to be good, maybe great.. it's going to be interesting to see how Alabama rebounds with a Kalen Deboer QB running his offense. Then you have to wonder if Tennessee, South Carolina, Missouri, Ole Miss and Texas A&M live up to the hype they're going to get undoubtedly.

2002,2011, 2014 ,2023 and 2024. Those are the best years of Oregon Ducks football. They seemed to have their best team ever last year but couldn't quite beat one team. Call me crazy but I think 2023 Oregon matches up better against Michigan than Washington did. Point of post is what ifs and near misses. Especially 2011 in that game against Auburn and those two heartbreaker's last year. Now imagine making four straight Super Bowls, being blown out in three but missing winning one by a few inches. Imagine then going several years of misery before finding your franchise QB but finding him in an era where you are in a conference with Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert. The Bills just lost to the Chiefs 32 to 29 and have missed out on making the Super Bowl for the first time since 1991. This coming off losing to the Chiefs last year, the Bengals the year before, and the Chiefs once more the year before. Snakebit. Buffalo has beaten the Chiefs the last two regular seasons much like Oregon had beaten Ohio State. One has to question if it's better to lose in a blowout or get beaten last second. To me it's like asking if I'd rather be pinned with a pencil a thousand times or a hammer once. I'll take neither. Losing sucks, nothing makes it feel better but time.

Rumor is Knowles wanted D Line coach Larry Johnson fired. Johnson is a well respected former Penn State coach that Urban Meyer poached a decade ago. Evidently Day said no and the rift was created. Knowles didn't even attend the celebration of their title and it was said several players felt let down by Knowles. I find this to be hard to believe if the rumors of Ohio State matching at 2.7 just last night. My thought is Knowles is kind of a transient guy that likes new places and challenges. He's a Philly guy and when Penn State came with 3 million he didn't want to keep playing financial ping pong and he just accepted it. I would've played financial ping pong as long as it went on. Maybe could've got Jeremiah Smith type money.

Dan Wetzel: 'I don’t think [Kirk Ferentz has] ever been asked a tough question' AWFULANNOUNCING.COM Yahoo! Sports columnist Dan Wetzel joined 92.3 The Fan’s Ken Carman on Friday to discuss Kirk Ferentz's... "After the Hawkeyes were thoroughly trounced 54-10 by Ohio State last Saturday, the elder Ferentz lashed out at reporters over their questions about the state of the offense and what he intends to do about his offensive coordinator/child, some of which were asked by Doug Lesmerises of Cleveland.com, who has been critical of Ferentz and the Hawkeyes’ offense in his columns. While none of the questions he was asked rose above the level of “obvious given the situation,” the longtime head coach complained that he felt “interrogated.” “I complimented the guys on Sunday during some of the interrogations that I experience on Saturday,” said Ferentz. “It dawned on me coming home that as bad as today was it could have been worse. I could have been that guy (while pointing at a media member), I could have had his job and acted like he did. Could’ve been a hell of a lot worse, right?" This was from a 2022 article. It took a new athletic director to step in and fire Brian Ferentz after last season. There was talk about what Brian was being paid and what level Kirk was protecting him and keeping him on staff but nothing I can substantiate. But it's a bad look that I can't see being accepted anywhere, especially at a huge state learning institution like Iowa. Iowa is a darn good school and they have a pretty good history. I can't imagine Oregon State or Washington State doing this. Much less a program with over 700 wins and a proud B1G member.

Most coaches are incredible human beings as well. I hate when people attack a person or their family. No place for that garbage and if anybody is doing it they should be ashamed and be shamed for doing it. This kind of shocks me. I always heard he was well respected amongst his peers. But if he's doing something that draws this there may be truth to the rumors of him silencing local media in Iowa City. That should never be allowed.

I was surprised that a "lock" Hall Of Famer hasn't got any solo titles to his name. At what point does quantity overshadow quality? James Franklin and Ryan Day gets criticized for losing big games but how many has Captain Kirk won? Lanning in one year has done more in the B1G than Ferentz has. Beaten the big three and won an outright conference championship.

There are many longstanding and legendary coaches in CFB. People know the names well. But did you know that Kirk Ferentz is only a couple wins from breaking the all time B1G wins? Has he been there since forever? Yes.. he's entering his 27th season in an era where that's unheard of. Has he won anything of note? Yes and no. He's won multiple B1G West division titles and a couple shared B1G titles before the league implemented a CCG. He's appeared in a Rose Bowl and two Orange Bowls. Winning the 2009 Orange Bowl over Georgia Tech. He has run a clean program with a high graduation rate and no off field issues. He's also put some great players into the NFL like Kittles and Wirfs currently along with Hockenson. However, he isn't free from notable issues like hiring and keeping his own son on staff when it clearly wasn't working. Winning the B1G West was like being the fastest turtle tbh and Iowa got smoked in each title game except one. He's also been blown out in two of those three BCS bowls. Recently he is being blamed for his apparent acceptance of high floor and low ceiling since in his words "They do things the right way". Well, that's kind of an arrogant statement. That's like saying that winning at a high level is only possible within programs that stretch the rules or have questionable personnel. Notre Dame runs a clean program, and they do it at a high level. Putting all of that to the side though, I can say Iowa doesn't hit the transfer portal with the intensity of an Oregon or Texas because they don't have the means. So perhaps Iowa could be a little more aggressive and hit it big or strike out. You never hit the home run you don't swing at, but you also could bring in guys that don't buy into the culture and possibly make an eight win team drop down to barely bowl eligible.

The end goal and ultimate highlight was the NT. But they knew right as the playoff bracket was revealed that to get there they'd have to beat a team that already beat them. Beating Tennessee was just the first step and most of their fans were apathetic about that considering there were large swaths of orange in their stadium for the first ever home playoff game at night. Beating Texas was a nice big win and beating Notre Dame was the conclusion. But listen to their players and fans before everyone of their playoff games and compare it to what they said before Oregon. They gave respect to the other team but the wording was about moving on. For Oregon they talked about getting another shot against them particularly. Heck Chip Kelly was asked about that game particularly before Notre Dame. No question about the last opponent they played in Texas or Tennessee. It was about Oregon and their offense played well against Oregon. They asked about a game played weeks ago.

I think beating Oregon was a highlight tbh.