We are in an outstanding position! Every fan forum in the country is trying to figure out how their team is going to take the next step next year. Even Indiana needs to figure out how to retain their momentum.

For OBD, the next step is for Dan Lanning and the team to finally win "a big game". In our position, it's the national championship (since we only lose to national champions). A Big Game(TM) for most other schools may be beating Florida St., Texas Tech, Washington St., or even Oregon.

That's why we're here. To help Dan Lanning and co. figure it out. Without us, they'd be spiraling into another USC.

When we are facing a team with equal or better talent levels (1-2 games per year) and that team is mentally locked on to us, we can't seem to get over the hump.

No doubt Lanning has the team motivated. But it takes more than motivation and talent to win it all. It takes coaching X's and O's and recognizing what the other team is doing.

I'm convinced we don't have the right coaching experience in the room to get us over the hump which is why I'm also disappointed that we didn't go externally for new coordinators, especially if Lanning knew in advance that Stein and Lupoi were looking to take off.

I'm also convinced that it takes a perfect storm to win the national title in the CFP era. Ohio St. had a boatload of experience, a chip on their shoulder and generational players on both sides of the ball in Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs. Indiana is unlike anything I've ever seen in college football and will lose a massive amount of experience next year.

Maybe next year will be our perfect storm with all the players returning. Will it be enough to overcome our lack of coaching experience?

1 minute ago, eastSCOast said:

I heard a lot of rumblings about Leavitt's character being of concern. Not sure if that's true, but I could see DL pumping the brakes on Leavitt if indeed it was fact.

Thank you. That could make sense, especially with Lanning's close relationship with Dillingham.

I don't understand how or why we ended up with Raiola instead of Sam Leavitt. Leavitt is a proven winner for a rebuilding program. He has playoff experience. He seems to possess a bunch of intangibles like Bo Nix did and he has roots in Oregon.

Maybe that's another sign that Dante Moore is returning, because Leavitt likely wanted to play right away.

As many have said, it’s not the loss - it’s the way we lose that’s so dispiriting. It’s hard to bounce back as fans and it has to affect the players and coaches as well.

Any member of an outstanding fan forum like this invests a lot of emotional and analytical energy into the team each year and to be honest, I’m not sure I fully bounced back from last year’s Rose Bowl loss.

I’ll save my thoughts and analysis for another day but that’s what we do here. It’s therapy.

You have to feel for the players and coaches and fans who traveled so far to participate in this game. Why can Oregon fans not travel? Does our brand still not resonate?

Imagine the players looking in the stands and 90% or more are rooting against you at a neutral site. We’re always outnumbered, but it’s usually closer to 60/40, maybe 70/30. Tonight was much, much worse. That has to take a toll and it will always be a disadvantage for OBD in this terrible post season format.

Dakorien Moore. If he is healthy, we need to hear his name a lot tonight.

DAK has to show up in a big way and Dante has to throw downfield.

Oregon 31-24

1 BIG turnover

3 sacks

315 passing yards

I think Dante will need to throw for 300 yards in this game and our receivers will need to go up and make plays downfield which they have done all year when called upon. 1 on 1 is all they need - even if covered.

Max protect with two tight ends who then become check downs. Stein and Moore need to look for the home run first and let it rip! Otherwise, you'll never loosen up this defense. Keeping the secondary back a couple steps for a half second longer could open up an additional 2-3 yards per carry.

The big advantage Oregon has that nobody else has is that we have already played them. I don't believe teams appreciate how good Indiana is until it's too late. The GameDay crew was still picking Alabama to beat Indiana on New Year's Day.

Oregon has already learned this lesson the hard way. They will not sneak up on us this time, but we will still need to play a complete game on both sides of the ball to produce our best game of the year.

Looking forward to all the replays of Indiana’s winning touchdown in Autzen with the receiver blatantly pushing off to create space.

5 hours ago, David Marsh said:

But that 4th and goal play where everyone rolled out to the right was awful... We did something similar on 4th down against Washington in 2023 and it didn't work... It's aggressive but it also puts all the defenders in one half of the field and based on the flow the offense willingly gives up the other half of the field.... It failed both times by the way.

I had the same flashback. I can’t think of a more worthless scheme, especially against a team with incredible lateral speed. The longer the play extends, the smaller the box gets.

Read my mind on keeping TE’s and RBs in to block more and use as check downs after the rush.

Force extra defenders into the box to try and hold the edge while making the pocket unpredictable so Dante doesn’t become a sitting Duck.

I was yelling at the screen during the Orange Bowl to let our WR’s go up and make some plays. Dante threw one to Benson that he almost pulled off the defender’s back in the first half and then just abandoned any downfield aggression. Our WR’s will make those plays and will have to against Indiana.

We will need to generate 1 or 2 turnovers and we will need near perfect games across the board from our players and coaches.

This is it! If we can win this game, we could win it all. This could be our year!!

After watching Ohio State last night, the 25 day layoff is a real thing and must be fixed. OBD benefit from it today.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see all top seeds lose today. The margins between these teams just isn’t that wide and the teams in rhythm win.

We’ve known this forever. Teams that showed up for New Year bowl games were not the same and it always took 2-3 quarters to shake the rust off for both teams.

Oregon 24-20

1 turnover

2 sacks

196 passing yards

It’s hard to get a good read because the level of competition varies so wildly from week to week.

Dante looks like the best pure passer in the game at times, but then makes some really bad decisions. Too many still.

7 minutes ago, Grandpa Duck said:

It’s offensive for sure. Offends all human sensibilities.

I’m ready to jump out of this plane. Awful. All of it.

Watching the game while flying across the country to Virginia. “Physicality” drinking game is officially underway.

Did Mario really take a delay of game on a 3rd and 8?!?!?

These announcers are so over the top on these poor kickers, making sure the country knows that even their coach thinks they’re trash. I hope their poor parents aren’t listening.

Oregon 34-3

4 turnovers

5 sacks

238 passing yards

MASSIVE!!

Another element of this path that may not get talked about enough is that if Oregon makes it to the final, they will have essentially three road games after hosting in the first round.

With the nation's longest road winning streak by far (12), Lanning has proven to have his team ready in hostile environments. I actually think OBD are more focused on the road than at home and this could end up being positive vs home or mixed stadiums (Rose Bowl or Fiesta Bowl) with family and friends in tow.

I wonder if there is a scenario where the team stays on the east coast in between bowl games should they advance vs. returning home for 3-4 days? Travel and jet lag wears on you and obliterates two of your prep days.

With regards to the talent level of the competition, I think we have the gradual path towards the championship.

I see this tournament as an opportunity for our coaching staff to prove they have the ability to have our players prepared with a game plan to execute against two savvy and well coached teams in Texas Tech and Indiana.

If we can't get past at least one of those big tests, I'll remain concerned about DL's decision to promote coordinators from within.

First things first. I expect a frisky JMU to show up and be ready to play. We need to bring our A game.

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.