mikethehiker

Someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but if Duke beats Virginia in the ACC title game, the ACC will be left out of the playoff!!!! James Madison and the American conference champion will both be ranked higher as the 4th and 5th highest ranked conference champions to get it. This is the ACC Doomsday scenario. Both Texas and Miami needed more chaos to get in and it didn’t happen. Their best hope is that Alabama gets punished for losing the SEC title game. The fortunate thing for the loser of the B1G title game is that Oregon is setting the floor for their drop in the rankings. As long as the game is competitive, they will remain ranked higher than Oregon which could be anywhere from 3-5.

What ultimately matters is the opponent you’re matched up with. As we learned last year, even if you’re perfect, you have no control and could land in a bad matchup with a hot team. I don’t think a home playoff game at Autzen in late December weather conditions is going to be nearly as sexy as everyone thinks. However, pummeling the ACC or American conference champion is a great use of energy. Without understanding the full extent of the injury situation, it’s purely speculation on what the doctor is asking for. On facing Ohio St, I’d rather take them on in a semi-final. If you’re going to catch them with their guard down, that’s the time to do it.

Alabama will beat Georgia again in the SEC title game and we are still alive for 1-2-3 B1G in the final playoff rankings. It’s a beauty contest right now between Oregon and Texas Tech for #3.

This game has me worried a bit. This is Washington's super bowl this year and their players and fans will be ready. It's a rivalry game and if Oregon is not mentally prepared for this environment after the USC game, we may see some stunned looks on the sidelines. I'm excited, because this may be our best apples to apples to comparison with Ohio State so far this year. I want us to look impressive and stay ahead of Ole Miss in the CFP rankings and maybe leap frog Texas Tech. There's an outside shot BIG still finishes 1-2-3 in the final rankings heading into the CFP. This happens when Texas beats Texas A&M, Alabama beats Georgia again in the SEC title game, B1G Championship is very close, and Texas Tech trips up.

USC receivers timed their leaps with their push offs perfectly allowing them to create space at the perfect time and prevent the defenders from jumping. Why do you think our guys were on the ground half the time? If refs can’t call offensive pass interference, there’s nothing our DB’s or any team’s DB’s could do to stop that.

If we win out, I think we land in the #5 or #4 spot. There is still an interesting scenario where Ohio St., Indiana, and Oregon all finish 1-2-3. I believe Texas A&M will lose to Texas which will open the door for Alabama to beat Georgia again in the SEC title game. Then it becomes a beauty contest between Ole Miss and Oregon for the #4 spot unless.... Texas Tech trips up. Then Oregon and Ole Miss are fighting for the #3 spot. I don't see how a 2-loss Alabama climbs to #3 even with an SEC title.

The bottom line is if we lose to USC, they are getting a playoff spot before OBD. We may both still get in, but they would go first. This should be considered a must win.

It was really encouraging to see the Beast with 8 catches tonight. We need that level of production from our playmakers. Great night for Dante!

Oregon 24-3 2 turnovers 2 sacks 183 passing yards

I think this year's Ohio St. team is running a similar path to Georgia's repeat title in 2022. The offense may not be quite as explosive, but they haven't even broken a sweat this year. For that reason, I'd like to avoid their side of the bracket if at all possible. The problem I see is that if we win out, it's very likely that we climb to the #5 or #4 position behind OSU, Indiana, and the SEC champ. If we lose another game, we likely lose a home playoff game. However, the highest priority should be getting into the right rhythm at the right time and let the chips fall where they may. Someone else noted that this could be a 3rd consecutive weather hampered game for OBD. This is good practice, because this is a very likely scenario for a mid-December home playoff game.

My condolences to you and your family. Coming up on one year without our Rottie, Roxy. Still feels like she should be greeting us when we come in. 🥲

I do not put much stock into this due to the inclement weather the past two games, but interesting nonetheless. This was the Ducks lowest 2-game point total (39) in consecutive games since a 32-47 bowl loss to Oklahoma on 12/29/21 followed by the 3-49 loss to Georgia in the season opener on 9/3/22. We also combined for only 17 points in two non-consecutive Utah blowouts in ‘21. In the same season, you have to go back to 2019 in consecutive wins against Stanford (21-6 on 9/21/19) and Cal (17-7 on 10/5/19). I don’t miss Mario-ball one bit.

As much as I want to see us pound the football, we have got to get the ball into our best players’ hands. If DAK and Sadiq don’t have 15 catches between them, we’re letting defenses off too easy. We have to learn how to get the ball to our playmakers. The key to all of it is Dante’s ability to read the defense, audible out of bad plays, know where he wants to go with the ball, and adjust protections as needed. We will go as far as Dante can take us.

Ducks 31-13 2 turnovers 4 sacks 227 passing yards

Thank you, all!! I thought it would be fun to talk X's and O's as a change of pace on a bye week and I appreciate the thought provoking responses. I certainly don't understand everything the defense is doing out there or what the coaches are asking each player to do, but I want to learn more and avoid coming to sensational conclusions. Everything happens so fast and decisions have to be reflexive. Instincts are crucial not only as a matter of experience in the position, but experience playing with the guys next to you. Lastly, I still cannot believe that we are the #1 pass defense in college football! I hope this trend continues! Go Ducks!

Lastly, Play 8 is 12:32 in the 4th quarter, 1st and 10 at the Oregon 47. This run stop is brought you by our awesome defensive line, specifically, Bear Alexander. We are used to seeing this a lot this year, but unfortunately, if our DLine do not beat block and get the back early, we tend to give up a lot of yards. I hope this is Ok. I love to look at X’s and O’s and I know I’m not as knowledgeable as many of you. What are your thoughts or observations?

Play 7 is 2:57 in the 3rd quarter, 3rd and 5 at the Wisconsin 10, very next play. This time it looks like Boettcher is on a run blitz. He’s way ahead of the lineman looking to block him and does a great job attacking the ball side of the ball carrier forcing a fumble.

Play 6 is 3:31 in the 3rd quarter, 2nd and 5 at the Wisconsin 10. I believe it’s Devon Jackson this time doing a very nice job of beating the block and filling the gap at the line of scrimmage for a very nice tackle.

Play 5 is 11:52 in the 3rd quarter, 2nd and 15 at the Wisconsin 31. Tight end #88 for Wisconsin crashes down on our defensive end and then kicks out our linebacker to open a perfect hole for a play that didn’t look like it was designed to go that direction. Thieneman again to the rescue and a massive gain of 18 yards.

Play 4 is 0:50 in the 2nd quarter, 3rd and 5 at the Wisconsin 38. We have a chance to get the ball back with a stop and a timeout, but Wisconsin gets a great push up front and our linebackers again are easily blocked downfield by linemen. Run goes for 6 yards and a first down.

Based on recent history, if you had told me before the season started that Oregon leads the nation in fewest passing yards allowed per game after 8 games, I would have said we must be on our way to our first national championship. Pass defense when it matters most, has been our Achilles heel limiting many great seasons. Well, here we are at #1 in the country averaging a mere 124.6 passing yards per game. Although it’s harder to follow backend defenders while watching on TV, I am relieved when teams choose to pass against us and nervous when they elect to run. In addition to our phenomenal corners and safeties, there are no better linebackers I’d rather have in pass coverage. They are playing outstanding football! However, our run defense is still an area for improvement. We are not terrible by any stretch as we rank #27 in FBS at 114.8 yards per game. As good as our linebackers are in pass coverage, it seems to me they struggle against the run. But there are likely a number of factors at play. Analyzing plays over and over again, I came away with a real appreciation for how quickly players have to diagnose and react to plays and how critical instincts are at game speed. It’s a long two weeks between games, so I took some time to include a few key running plays below from our last game vs. Wisconsin for analysis. I’ve added some observations and would love to hear the thoughts of others as we seek to learn more. Play 1 is 15:00 2nd quarter, 2nd and 5 from Wisconsin 28. Between the left end and left LB, we simply don’t set the edge, and the running back goes for close to 10 yards. D-Line holds their gaps well and this seems like a very preventable play. Play 2 is 11:35 2nd quarter, 4th and inches at the Oregon 43. Seems like we’ve got this one well covered. Handoff goes to the fullback, and Boettcher just misses the tackle. Thieneman then holds on for dear life and another 9-yard gain. Play 3 is 10:25 2nd quarter, 2nd and 20 at the Oregon 44, still the same drive. On this play, Wisconsin O-Line won their battles across the board. They hold our lineman in check and each of our linebackers are easily picked up by offensive linemen hustling downfield to block. First contact is 4 yards downfield, and the gain goes for 7 yards. I appreciated Uiagalelei’s discipline here to set the edge with the motion man and then check the QB before committing to backside pursuit.

Hope Oregon cleans up on a few recruits and transfers. We can be very picky.

It was great Duck weather!!

I think OBD are going to learn more from these experiences than games like Rutgers. Very grateful that Stein made the adjustment and stuck with the ground game. We can’t see what Dante is seeing down the field, but it doesn’t seem like he knows where he wants to go with the ball or what matchups he has when he calls for the snap. Is Stein calling plays with a less experienced QB in mind, or is he still running an offense for the two QB’s with the most games ever played? It would be interesting to compare the average release time from the last three seasons. Dante seems to get rattled a bit after those early sacks. I’m not sure why we have him running as much as he has with the 8 capable running backs we have.

We need more adversity and in-game adjustments. I hope Iowa, USC, and Washington provide some resistance. With the old PAC-12, every team was frisky every Saturday. In the B1G, half of the teams in the conference are dead on arrival. No wonder Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State coasted every year.