mikethehiker

Oregon wins! 31-27 1 turnover 4 sacks 290 passing yards

The only thing going through my head watching this game is frustration at the stupidity of the playoff designers. Penn State loses CCG and breezes through two rounds of the playoffs without breaking a sweat. OBD will be fighting for our lives tomorrow after the only unbeaten season in 2024 and hands down the #1 team. I guess I’ll be upset at Ohio St. also since they laid an egg against Michigan. They need to pay the price tomorrow - we need to vanquish them!

While our D-line is stout, the back half of our defense are home-grown linebackers combined with a renegade secondary that punch above their weight class as a whole. Will Ohio St. have the patience to stay with their run game? Wisconsin had no choice. For our defense, we don't need to stop every run play. However, we get one TFL or no gain, and now our defense plays ahead of the sticks and gets off the field. It just takes one stop on one drive. So yards per carry can be a little deceiving.

I can't but help see the parallels between Ohio St. this year on their revenge tour against Oregon and Oregon's revenge tour last year against Washington. I think they end the same way and Oregon will show the nation why they are #1. I'm fascinated to see if our front 5-6 can control the line of scrimmage like they have much of the season and numerous times against Ohio St. in October. I'm looking for run stuffs, pressure on Howard, and batted balls at the line of scrimmage. When was the last time we Duck fans have had the privilege leaning on our defense to win big games for us? What a joy! On offense, Gabriel continues to shine brightest on the biggest stages and Oregon has the most versatile offense in the country. Ohio St. has a great defense, but Oregon is not like the others. My biggest concern is Oregon's offensive performance against Ohio St. in the red zone. After two early touchdowns in our first game, we went 0-3 scoring touchdowns from inside the 10 yard line - two drives stalling inside the 2 yard line. As much as I'd love to see Oregon put their stamp on this one, there is just not much separation between these teams. Oregon 31-27.

My guess is that most of us are cautiously optimistic. We will remain that way after a Rose Bowl win. We know only different levels of heartbreak and will not feel relief until we finally raise that trophy. The knock that there are no great teams in 2024 stems from the fact there are no great blue blood teams in 2024. If Oregon runs the table, it will be the greatest run ever in a college football season. We will become an official blue blood.

It is agonizing, although I do think the 37 day lead up to the 2010-11 title game against Auburn was much more agonizing. I'm very confident in what Oregon has shown this season. Both teams have counter schemes for every scheme. It will come down to players making extraordinary plays in crucial moments and Oregon has demonstrated that multiple times already this season.

I don’t know guys. I’ve heard from 536 different sources online that Ohio State has “re-engineered” their defense since our last meeting and are doing things no one has thought of based off fan input. Maybe we should play it safe on offense and just punt.

I would call it selfishness over incompetence. Everyone (schools, TV networks, players, coaches, conferences, bowls, NCAA) is looking out for their own interests. No one is interested in giving an inch for the betterment of the sport as a whole.

Tez is a matchup nightmare for any team. You can’t just hand him off to 1-2 defenders. Everyone in the secondary has to know where he is. Tez along with our Oline, DG’s quick release, and screen game are why defenses don’t blitz us much. I pray that they do. Our YAC will set Rose Bowl records. Ohio State’s win over Tennessee has put them in the same place they were last time we met - overconfident.

If this weekend of games in the first round of the College Football Playoff showed us anything, it’s that teams ranked 9-12 have no business competing for the national championship. What could have been a nice, fitting end to a season in a destination bowl game with more equally matched foes, turned into a death sentence traveling to teams ranked 3-6 in terrible winter conditions and little fan support. And that’s where it ended. No bowl game. No festivities. Not even a Pop Tart. It’s over and none of the games were enjoyable or competitive. Most years felt like 1-2 deserving teams got left out (e.g. Florida St. and Georgia last year), but never 8 deserving teams. I personally think the perfect number would have been the top six ranked teams, rewarding the top two with a first round bye. What do you think? Was 12 still the right number?

No problem with this. The recruiting never ends now (see Dante Moore). Go get some experience and come back in 1-2 years ready to make a big difference.

Injuries have been the cause of our most sever PTSD almost every time. Come January 1, Oregon will be at their healthiest all season barring something terrible happening in practice. Every team will have to overcome injuries and adversity to win it all, not just OBD. In fact, one could argue that Oregon will be best positioned heading into round 2 because all teams advancing will have won dog fights in round 1. OBD will be rested, healthy, and not overseeded. I don't think Georgia is in a good place and their defense will not be good enough to carry them.

If Oregon makes it back to the "Natty" this year, Cliff Harris has to come back for the pregame speech, right?

These are literally the safest picks an analyst could make at this point with no real insight to share. I really like our chances after surviving the Rose Bowl. Evidence all season has shown Georgia is offensively flawed with or without Carson Beck and I don't believe they will make it to the title game. And please keep underestimating Arizona St. and Boise St. One of those teams is going to pick off a favorite. I don't think Texas makes it through both Clemson and Arizona St.

A rubber match occurs after a split. It's over Texas. You don't have one Top 25 win this year. Not one.

Wait, does DJ Uiagalelei have any more years of eligibility left? Just kidding. The only transfer I'd be interested in is a healthy Cam Rising if he's able to swing another year. That guy is a freaking baller.

Next year is going to be as good of a year as any to develop your next signal caller. The outgoing crop of top tier QBs with talent and big game experience leaving after 2023 and 2024 are going to leave a significant vacuum in that Top 5-10 quarterback list. The most proven big-game experience potentially returning will be Drew Allar, Jalen Milroe, and Quinn Ewers. I'm fine putting our next highly talented and developing QB in the box with those guys with Will Stein running the show. If we have the right pieces around Dante Moore and Novosad, they still have the opportunity to have OBD competing at the highest level.

This is going to be an ongoing issue until something gets fixed, expecially for the B1G Conference with almost all of their members being up North and all the bowl games in southern locations. It's one thing traveling to one bowl game over the holidays. It's quite another to travel to 3-4 games all residing in the heart of SEC and traditional Big12 country. HUGE disadvantage.

If we run the table, I think our first round game against Ohio St. or Tennessee will be our toughest game. I'm not convinced that Georgia's offense can execute at the level needed (even with Beck) to get to the championship. Texas' resume leaves a lot to be desired with Michigan and Texas A&M being their biggest wins of the year. They played the entire bottom half of the SEC conference with Georgia as the only exception. They miraculously missed Alabama, Tennessee, LSU, South Carolina, and Ole Miss. However, it would be glorious to beat nearly every playoff team at least once this year on our way to our first championship.

Who owns the decision for the matchup locations? My guess is the bowl owns the decision to maximize their revenue. If Oregon had any control of the matter as a higher seed, I would request the Orange Bowl over Cotton Bowl just to ensure Texas didn't get a home game (if favorites win out). I'll be rooting for a lot of upsets.

Agreed Charles. I would love insight on how Penn State offensive line neutralized our defensive line. The hands to the face foul on Harmon seemed like a frustration foul because I know those guys have a ton of pride up front.

I think your take is as good an argument as anyone could make. Texas losing really throws a wrench into the bracket. How much can you penalize three close losers in their conference championship games? What do you do with Notre Dame whose best win is against Texas A&M 3.5 months ago and easily has the worst loss? What do you do with Penn St. which played us and Ohio St. very tough but their best win against Illinois is our fourth best win? What do you do with Indiana whose best win against Michigan is our fifth best win? Could they slide down to 11 or 12? Ranking Texas, Penn St., Ohio St., and Notre Dame 5-8 is anyone’s guess at this point and no answer is wrong based on whatever unwritten rules we’re using. But the implications are massive for second round matchups.

No major Duck injuries if any at all!! I wouldn’t blame anyone for being a little concerned over our defensive performance against Penn State and I’m sure it will leave a bad taste in the mouth of OBD as they visit the doctor on Monday, but I’m so thankful that we only need to visit Dr. Filmstudy and not Dr. Injury. This month long playoff will be a war of attrition and the depth of every team will be tested. Snagging the B1G crown in our first year, beating all three blue bloods, and securing the overall #1 playoff seed were all incredible feats. Just as important was getting out of Indianapolis healthy. With that said, what does Dr. Filmstudy prescribe for the Ducks heading into the Rose Bowl?

With Cam Ward losing again and out of the spotlight this weekend, it’s down to a three horse race with Hunter and Jeanty. Gabriel has a puncher’s chance at winning this thing as the “best player on the best team.” Both Jeanty and Hunter are two unconventional picks as a non-P4 RB and Hunter as a two way star on a 3-loss team. Another wrench to throw in the mix is the fact that all three candidates are out west. How will the majority of East Coast voters view the candidates?

In the PAC 12, every team had an offensive pulse and when you can put points on the board, then there’s always a chance. Teams were “frisky” every week and there was no respect for decorum. In the B1G, there is always a clear pecking order and inferior teams are not allowed to cross those lines and they don’t seem to try. If we had joined the B1G last year, it would have looked even worse for them. Oregon, Washington, USC could have all been Top 5 and Michigan would not have finished unbeaten.