GatOrlando

I feel bad for Wisconsin fans. Two straight weeks of not scoring a point is going to stretch to three next week. Oregon wants to dominate, and I think they want to prove a point going forward that they aren't going to mess around with middling to lower tier B1G squads. Wisconsin made the game ugly last year. Oregon is going to pounce. The only question is will Fickell make it to Eugene and then get fired, or is he gone tomorrow?

There's usually a clause in the contract that doesn't allow that. The coach has to seek out a comparable deal because it essentially nullifies the previous employer from having to payout the entire sum. It's the same but on a much smaller scale for people receiving unemployment. You have to show that you are seeking employment. I'm not sure if the contract is exclusively for head coaching jobs, or if it covers getting a gig in the media. But it's a big reason why Jimbo Fisher isn't the coach at West Virginia today. Jimbo knew West Virginia couldn't come close to paying him ten million a year for the next five years, so he's happy to just collect that check.

It's a real shame that people go after the family of a football coach if that's the case. Yeah the guy made millions and didn't meet expectations, but the daughter had nothing to do with that. Social media really let's too much go on these days. I would never support any action against the family of anybody, I don't care if that person was rude to me or had some issue that caused me strife. You don't hold a child responsible for the actions of a father or mother. This is a freaking football coach. Yeah we all love our teams and will hold the coach responsible for the results. I'm not happy with the job Billy Napier has done, and I think it's time for him to be let go after this year. But if I heard anybody I associate myself with heckle the man or his family, I would give that person a piece of my mind. Let's all remember these guys make a ton of money, but they worked very hard to get these jobs. Many hours and time away from their families, essentially becoming surrogate fathers to many 16-22 year old guys.

They might be able to buyout the daughter's tuition at Penn State. Possibly the Jim Knowles contract and a Happy Meal.

I don't think Oregon State has the resources to give Smith near the amount he is making at Michigan State. That means MSU would still be on the line for the full buyout I think. I know there are some big time boosters up there, but I can't see them wanting to be on the tab for two large payouts concurrently(Meltdown Tucker) along with whatever it would take to pry away a big time hire.

I don't know if anybody caught the James Franklin interview on Game day today. If not , I'll just give a few bullet points. ° He was shocked to be fired on the Sunday following the Northwestern loss. His second straight loss as a twenty plus point favorite, and third straight B1G to open the season. ° He has no plan to retire. He has no hobbies and plans on coaching somewhere else next year. This actually should be a positive for Penn State fans, as it takes them off the hook for the record breaking 49-55 million dollar buyout owed to him. ° He still loves Penn State, but his daughter will not be attending the school next year. Take from that as you will. ° He said "We will win a National Title somewhere" , and "I had a great twelve years". He won 106 games there, and had six seasons of ten plus years. He won one B1G Title, but won only four games combined vs Ohio State and Michigan. Penn State was the third wheel in the B1G before Oregon joined the league. They are now arguably the fifth or sixth, depending on where you put Indiana and USC moving forward. Both Nick Saban and Kirk Herbstreit expressed their distaste for the firing of a man who was only one game from playing for a National Title last year. Of course they failed to mention all the resources and expectations that went into this "All Out" year. Penn State just paid over three million dollars on Jim Knowles, and probably much more in roster retention and transfer portal players to win it all this year. The team is out of the discussion two weeks before Halloween and lost to two of the worst B1G teams in back to back weeks. Mostly a very predictable interview, but the timeline of his firing has been told two different ways. I don't have validation on this, but I heard from certain Penn State fans that the firing was pushed by boosters and went down differently than how Franklin described it. Who knows. I find the fact that he said he was treated very well there, but his daughter would not be attending next year as interesting. Maybe it's nothing, but most kids go to certain Universities because of their degree choice. So if Franklin were to be hired by perhaps a Big 12, ACC, or SEC school, would his decision come down to picking a place with the same level of academic standards as Penn State?

Mari-Oh-No!!!

The Duck has that Husky at every corner. Their only hope is to get Lanning hooked on Starbucks.

If they really want to show their disdain they must refer to Oregon as the team down south. They took the first step in getting Adidas, but that's a minor step imo. I would've tried Puma or some rugged outdoor company. Adidas is for European Futbol.

I forgot about Bray and Oregon State. They should hire coach Klein and see if the Waterboy has any availability yet. So it's three coaches fired, two Beavers conquered, and one coach getting the money tree.

Oregon got two guys fired and one a huge pay raise this year. Will a third get fired after the Ducks host the Badgers?

All credit to Indiana, but this "big" game didn't seem to elicit the same type of energy at the Whiteout game, or the game last year with Ohio State. Maybe I'm wrong, but perhaps this top ten matchup was just bigger on one side. Oregon was the proven commodity, they were the brand and the power that held the crown. I only caught a little bit of GameDay, but I heard the Oregon crowd booing the mention of Ohio State more than Indiana. The loudest boos were aimed at McAfee when he trolled the crowd and picked Indiana to win(correctly unfortunately). Perhaps I'm wrong, but maybe Indiana wasn't given the amount of respect they've earned. As long as Cignetti is there I think they will win, and he has no reason to leave. He's older than Lanning, Day, Smart, and even Dabo, so he has a long history of success. Just Google or ask him 😂.

Boise State and Gonzaga have been misled into thinking they are finally joining a conference that provides them a real chance to compete in a power league. It's a real shame the Big 12 wouldn't take Boise and the Big East couldn't take Gonzaga.

Just remember the same people who laud you and give you the flowers first are the same ones who'll be the first to throw stones. Just look at Alabama. Look at Texas or Oklahoma. Heck look at Notre Dame and Ohio State last year. You know, the two teams that won three and four straight playoff games respectively.

As a self proclaimed Ducks bandwagon fan myself for this year, I can safely say I'm not leaving. My loyalties will always be Florida first, but I'm firmly behind Oregon winning it all this year. Let those other bandwagon jumpers start doubting. It was a ten point loss at home to a top ten team. It broke an 18 game home winning streak and the first ever B1G conference loss(Rose Bowl was a playoff game).

Sixteen days ago he was leading a team ranked in the top four. Heck this was meant to be his get well time before he got his second chance this year to be at a top ten team, potentially two. Times are changing friends. Ten years ago there is no way this many September/October firings. Mike Gundy and James Franklin were longstanding institutions with high levels of success. But investors are now involved in everyday activities now. They see a bad stock and they sell it right away, they'll take the initial big loss because they feel like a bad stock could ruin the rest of their portfolio. There's no sentiment involved. I thought Penn State being compared to last years Ohio State or that Michigan squad two years ago was inaccurate. Who did they beat? What did they prove last year? They still would've been shut out of the playoffs if it hadn't expanded. They played the two lowest rated participants. When they finally faced a fellow big boy, they came close but lost. Same old story. James Franklin has a 55 million dollar payout. Will he take a year off or will he coach again? Who is Penn State going to go after? I can see Oklahoma State or Arkansas looking at Franklin. I don't think Franklin would take either of those gigs. He's going to wait for a program on the level of Penn State. Penn State will likely look at the usual big names to see if they're interested. Guys like Curt Cignetti,Bob Stoops, Jon Gruden, Urban Meyer, Nick Saban, Matt Campbell, Matt Rhule ,maybe Chip Kelly. They may look at Vanderbilt again. It's going to be interesting, they are the biggest shark out there looking. I think Penn State is actually going to be more dangerous now. They are super talented and have great coaches still on staff. I wouldn't be shocked if they put a scare into Indiana or Ohio State.

In some points in life you have to just understand it wasn't your day. Indiana has really used the portal to infuse much needed talent and winning experience. This was their first ever road win vs a top ten opponent. They are now 1-40 in their history, Cignetti is a great coach. Props to them. Losing happens to the best, what makes you the best is how you respond. You can go the way of a proven entity like Alabama or Ohio State and win the whole thing, or you can go the way of the PSU and FSU who let one loss turn into three. I know which side I'm putting my potato chips into. The Mighty Ducks will bounce back like they did in all those Disney hockey movies. No Hawk, Iceland, or Hoosier is going to land a knockout blow. Ducks fly together, Ducks have a mission, and Ducks will never give up. The Hoosiers don't even have a mascot that knows what it is. The Bowling Green honorary cat Chubs makes more sense than that monstrosity we saw wondering the sidelines today. "Who's There?", apparently some hideous big foot looking creature found in the Disney reject bin.

Indiana has faced two B1G defenses. They torched Illinois for over sixty points but struggled for about three and a half quarters at Iowa. They were trailing until Mendoza threw the game winning score late in the fourth. They scored twenty on a defense not nearly as dynamic in both athletic ability and depth of options for pressure packages due to the secondary. Oregon will be able to get pressure on Mendoza unlike anything he's seen. Cignetti is incredible, but I saw his team just get whipped against the two teams that compare to Oregon. This years team is more talented, but they aren't at the Oregon level. Plus traveling across country for an environment louder than Kinnick. Oregon wins 34-20 Mendoza gets sacked three times. There are two turnovers forced. Moore throws for 256 yards.

Too many kids grew up watching Ed Reed play hybrid with the Ravens. The difference is Ed Reed would only creep up on designed blitz packages and he had Ngata up front to eat the blockers. Ed was also a physical phenomenon with years of experience and the ability to audible out when he recognized the route tree.

The only thing to me that Oregon lacks that all the other powers have is a vintage or signature look. It's ironic in a way, Oregon became known for their uniforms, but outside of Eugene there aren't many who can identify that one iconic look. I personally like the chrome wings helmet, but the first Oregon game I saw was Akili Smith in the 1998 Sun Bowl. That yellow helmet with the O on it.

Will Nebraska ever win another National Title? Is Minnesota a blue blood? They have more claimed National Titles than Penn State with seven. Pittsburgh and Michigan State have six claimed titles each. These are all P4 programs with titles dating back sixty plus years. Michigan State has won the B1G and made a playoff. Are they a blue blood? I think it's time to just call the perennial contenders "Big Brands". Big Brands get the recruits, they have NIL, facilities and uniforms. They have big names attend their games and get the prime television slots against other Big Brands. What was a bigger game last year, Ohio State vs Oregon or Ohio State vs Nebraska? Those games happened back to back. One was remembered as a great back and forth. The other was seen as an almost letdown. The media didn't give Nebraska any credit for almost beating Ohio State. They said it was Ohio State still up in their feelings over losing to the Ducks the prior week. To me that was confirmation that Oregon is on the Ohio State level. Nebraska, not so much.

I didn't recall that happening in the title game. Wow!! I was taught to hand the ball to the official if I ever scored as a youth and in high school.

We don't talk about the shoe thing Jon. The only shoes we bring up are Free Shoes University as described by one Steve Spurrier. As for playing spoiler on Saturday and down the line. I'm for it as long as it doesn't keep Billy around another year. My hope is he has quietly been told this season is it and he gets to prove to maybe a program like Oklahoma State or even Arkansas that he deserves a second chance. Maybe he'll pull a Lane Kiffin and fail at his first big job only to succeed at a lower level one. No offense to Arkansas or Oklahoma State, but they aren't programs where National Titles are expected.

I don't know how many on here follow the NFL whatsoever, but this past weekend we saw the Arizona Cardinals coach get hit with a 100,000 dollar fine for physically shaking one of his players. Why would he do that you may ask. Well the player had a game sealing score against the dreadful Tennessee Titans except he dropped the ball before he crossed the goal line. The Titans got the ball back and scored the game winning field goal as time expired. I believe there was an Oregon player who did this against Boise last year. Luckily it didn't cost the Ducks the game, but this idiotic showcase has happened multiple times a year now for over a decade. What in the world is going on, and how did this become a thing? I'd rather see the guy get a flag for spiking it than doing this nonsense. Coaches need to start stressing this, just hand the ball to the referee and do your celebration for goodness sake. Can anybody think of a worse lapse of judgement in today's game?

Oregon is a great university, it just so happens the conference you joined has some of the best institutions in the country. Top to bottom, it's great schools. But if you want to be higher than you are, just let West Virginia and Utah in and you'll be up on three schools. West Virgina Mountaineers On SIWhy the Big Ten Isn't as Realistic for WVU as the ACCWest Virginia may have a difficult landing in a Power Five conference if the ACC doesn't show any interest.