mikethehiker

Thanks for sharing this insight regarding Tez Johnson. Perhaps this is the possession receiver we so desperately need, which in turn takes more pressure off Nix having to run for first downs.

I think Ty is likely a great talent and hope he excels at whatever and wherever he chooses. It has to be 80-90% mental for Ty and only he knows where his headspace is. The coaches have to discern and decide. Many times, it's extremely difficult to overcome those mental hurdles and bounce back from previous experiences without a drastic change of scenery.

I hope you're right, but I have 3 question marks. Team speed on offense, a go-to possession receiver, and QB depth. 2012 and 2014 were extremely fast teams (not just tempo) with quick, agile lineman and breakaway speed at skill positions. At the receiver position, we need a man among boys to go get the football and move the chains even when scheme is covered. I hope this receiver is on hand now and will take huge strides this year. We all understand the QB situation and I hope Ty has a breakout year. Our 2011 team had Darron Thomas, Brian Bennett, and Marcus Mariota all on the same roster.

Appreciate your thought Jon. Although we’d all like to see aggressive opponent scheduling, I have a feeling this new format will lead to conferences trying to minimize conference losses. Unless all conferences go to 9 conference games, this number will reduce to 8. And why play a conference championship game and give your 2nd best team an additional loss? Now that automatic qualifiers are in place, the goal isn’t one playoff team, but 2 and possibly 3 teams from your conference. This could backfire on the super conferences where it gets more difficult to crown a sole champion without a championship game.

This is spot on. I'll never forget Oregon already up 7-0 on tOSU and absolutely rolling coming off the FSU game. Had to lean on freshman Charles Nelson who dropped a HUGE, wide open, 3rd down pass on the 2nd drive. That play always stuck out to me as our biggest missed opportunity and huge swing in momentum. Ohio St. went on to score the next 21 points and then played keep away from Oregon.

Glad Dante is returning for another year and I hope more Ducks follow his example. Is it just me or did the offense seem to loosen up quite a bit without Dante and Richardson in the NIT? Many have pointed out Richardson's struggles during a tough senior season, but I'm not convinced that Altman has had much luck incorporating a "big man" into the offense who struggles to shoot with range and stretch the floor. In rhythm, Dante has excellent footwork in the post and a smooth finish. He's more polished offensively in the block than any big I can remember, but not quite as athletic as Jordan Bell or Kenny Wooten and can't stretch the floor like Chris Bucher or Bol Bol. He's a unique player for Oregon and could be the premier post play in college basketball next year barring another injury. I love watching him play and hope he really takes a leadership role next year. That could include keeping the offense moving around him by making quicker decisions, becoming a better passer out of the post, and demanding the ball when he has an advantage.

Welcome! I have loved my visits to Costa Rica (7?), but there's still so much I want to see. I bet it's difficult to watch as much college football there as you would probably like to with regional programming. Maybe you have a way around that. Getting a home and home series with any Power 5 school is essential to for non-conference scheduling. I'm leery of taking on the top dogs early in the season with our current defense, but you can't make a big splash unless you schedule the game 6-8 years out. I'd love to schedule more traditional powers who may be struggling, but the game itself creates a lot of buzz. Teams like Texas, Florida St., Texas A&M, Auburn, Penn St., Tennessee, South Carolina, & Florida would all be great additions to the schedule. However, the PAC-12 still needs to address equal number of conference games played with the other Power 5 conferences. I don't think enough people realize the significant impact this has on overall conference perception. We've seen year after year when a stellar PAC-12 team gets knocked off on the road playing a tough 4-5 games stretch, Alabama/Auburn get a week off playing Directional State. Half of the PAC-12 has 1 extra loss each year. In the end, the middle have of the SEC has 2-4 losses each and STAY in the Top 25, while the middle of the PAC-12 has 3-5 losses each and MISS the Top 25. Winning head-to-head on the field is job 1, but the number of ranked teams in a conference also has a significant impact on perception of conference strength.

I'm good with Altman sounding off here. The Ducks put in a great NIT effort and should have been rewarded with fans to cheer them on. Understand the year long issues, but I thought he was also speaking to the athletic department, ticket sales, social media, and promoters. That's not Dana's job apart from leading a pep rally. Oregon athletics should have found a way to get fans in there, especially with Wisconsin in town.

Proud of the overall NIT effort! Our downfall last night were year long issues mentioned in this thread. Ducks were playing vanilla man-to-man defense through NIT for the most part due to lack of experience, leadership, and communication. Anytime Altman tried to switch it up, the wheels came off the buggy. We have a lot of players who aren't true position players other than center. We typically don't have true centers. Last couple of years we've had no true PG. Shooting guards who don't create their own shots consistently playing point. Our small and power forward wings have been problematic, lengthy, athletes for years and they've played with an edge. No one knew what to expect from anyone on the roster this year outside of perhaps Dante. Always look forward to next year and hoping the team gels on defense in December rather than March.

I watched the NIT game last night against UC Irvine. The arena was mostly empty and you could hear everything a small, immature, section of students decided to yell and chant throughout the broadcast. It was embarrassing, childish behavior, but it's also not unusual for brains that haven't fully developed. Cheer on your team, yell in frustration at the refs, and boo the opponent, but endlessly heckling and impugning opponents and officials in demeaning and personal ways shows poor character and sportsmanship. Please put yourselves in your team's shoes if they were a visiting team in another arena. I don't think legislation is the answer, but maybe ADs could be more proactive in fostering high expectations of sportsmanship. I wish we had higher expectations of ourselves.

Forgot to add that we'll be -15 on targeting calls again.

I'm so excited for the ridiculous amount of talent returning to the PAC-12 next year. EVERY possession will matter. Our success will largely depend on the health of Bo Nix and defensive improvement. U$C, Washington, Utah, Oregon St., and Oregon could all make a run, but the PAC-12 Champion will be the one with the best defensive unit from those five. Best case is 12-1. No one is running the table in this conference next year, but a 12-1 PAC-12 champion will make the playoff. Worst case is 8-4 with a phantom loss (I've attended the last two Sun Devil stadium losses). Could be worse if Nix is injured mid-season and defense doesn't improve. I think we easily score 42 ppg with a healthy Nix, especially without Georgia on the schedule. We'll need every single point. Our losses will come at Washington or Utah (maybe both) with ASU on standby. I can't see our defense improving enough that quickly to stop Penix Jr. or Rising on the road (hope I'm wrong). If we win both of those games it will be because Bo Nix is winning the Heisman Trophy.

I don't like any of this NIL one bit. However, as long as we're turning on the TV to watch the games, $ will dominate the college football landscape. I have personally watched college football to escape the NFL. How is this sustainable? I'm not sure there is a middle ground here. College sports across the board are either amateur or they're not. Isn't NIL undermining the whole purpose of Title IX? As stated above, at some point there will be lawsuits to make sure everyone has access to the pie.

Pritchard was the perfect player for Oregon. Developed over four years to become NBA ready vs. arriving NBA ready in their own heads. Altman's goal is similar to the military trying to break down individuals to do something greater as a cohesive unit on the floor. 1 unit will always beat 5 players and it's beautiful to watch. It's very easy to observe on the defensive side of the floor.

65-7 should be Exhibit A as to why we don't need a 12 team playoff. The gaps are too large right now. Most years it's very clear who the top 2-4 teams are. Some years you need a 5th, but rarely ever do you need 6. The only way 12 teams is good for CFB is if the football talent spreads out across the country now that there are more paths to the playoffs and 2007 type parity returns to the sport.

I'm glad Oregon has a great shot at pulling in talent from the portal, but this new transfer portal free agency is turning college football on its head. I enjoy college football for the amateur athletic nature of the sport and this isn't it. Moving forward, how important will it be to recruit other college rosters vs. high schoolers? If you don't strike an initial NIL deal out of high school, now you can strike one transferring. They HAVE to bring back the 1-year sit rule for non-graduate transfers in D1 football. There's got to be a tradeoff to put more tension into the system that benefits the sport as a whole. Think about the ramifications: -players will think twice before jumping on an already stacked roster, maybe make a name for themselves elsewhere -players will think twice before jumping ship and be more inclined to stay through the development process -boosters are less likely to through NIL $ at players who can't compete and must sit out the next year BTW, I think the 1-year sit rule should apply to coaches too. It may look a little different, but a head coach under contract should not be able to leave a D1 school and head coach another D1 school the following year. There must be some tension and tradeoff put back into the system.

Before conference play started, I thought it was highly unlikely anyone got to the title game with less than 2 losses. USC proved to be better than I thought, but 2+ losses it is for everyone in a very good year for the conference.

I love the way we stack up in the bowl games this year. Especially if both Michigan and Ohio St. go to playoffs and everyone gets healthy. Does B1G send Penn St. to the Rose Bowl. I like Utah, USC, Oregon, Washington, Oregon St., UCLA, and Washington St. against similarly placed opponents from other conferences. Could lead to some high rankings to start next year if key QBs return.

Late to the thread, but all of this had me thinking back to the 2010 Oregon defense. One of my favorite and better Duck defensive units in a long time. They were high football IQ defenders with great instincts - Casey Matthews, Michael Clay, Spencer Paysinger, Brandon Bair, Kenny Rowe, John Boyett, Eddie Pleasant, Talmadge Jackson III, Cliff Harris, Dion Jordan, Boseko Lokombo - WOW!! They were play makers - football players. And none of them were as highly rated as our current team. They gave up under 19ppg including 2 shutouts. Part of the problem is that we have played some outstanding quarterbacks this year. However, I also feel that many defenses are so over-coached nowadays where players are more worried about making mistakes vs. trusting their instincts. Outside of CB Gonzalez, it doesn't seem like anyone is consistently winning any 1:1 battles to be considered a "player maker" on the defensive side of the ball. I'm not paid enough to solve the problem, but it had me longing for 2010.

Thank you for the great and well-researched article. I DO remember many, many, 3 and out's from the Chip Kelly days. We scored fast, but many times it took a few drives to get started. This year, we see long backbreaking drives from the offense. It would be really interesting to compare average plays per drive from year to year. Agreed on kickoff returns, especially with this year's offense. Only return situationally, when there's a clear advantage and the team needs a spark. It's not so much comparing 2014 Ohio St. vs 2022 Oregon as much as it is the other elite teams available (although it's a great point). There was only one unbeaten team in 2014 (a flawed Florida State team ranked #2, not #1). I'm also ok with Oregon missing the playoff to win a Rose Bowl. However, my dream scenario is an Oregon vs. Georgia rematch in the National Championship where Kirby Smart is played on loop saying "we've got better players" and Oregon wins the game on a last second, long-distance field goal.

I think it's absolutely selfish and has no place in a top tier program. Ever since Tony Washington got flagged for a midfield bow following a drive stalling sack in the 4th quarter against Arizona in '14 (not nearly as bad as what we see today), I cringe each time a player feels the incessant need to posture after every routine play. I'm always waiting for another flag to fall and frankly, the refs should throw more. It's a terrible example to set for young people watching college football. I understand the tremendous amount of hard work most of these athletes put into every practice and game - it's rewarding to see it pay off. However, it's plain selfishness to celebrate your own play by yourself. If it's worth celebrating, a teammate will come over and celebrate with you.

Thank you for sharing. Unfortunately, this still doesn’t explain why 3rd down was the correct down to come back to. If the goal was to give WSU one more play, why not just give them another 4th down? How can these officials say it was corrected if WSU never got their 2nd down situation and play call? Did they still get it wrong after a 24 hour review? If all they did was replay the exact two plays, then nothing changed and nothing was “corrected”. I really desire to fully understand the game and this just doesn’t compute.

Thank you, I still don’t get it. Why does running the ball on 2nd down after the mistake matter? They could have went back to 2nd, 3rd, or 4th down and they picked 3rd down which is one down past the mistake. It worked out in Oregon’s favor, but my OCD can’t get past this.

I knew they screwed up the moment it happened and couldn’t believe they were able to rewind an entire possession. What I don’t get and nobody has explained is why did they go back to 3rd and 17? The mistake was made going from 1st to 2nd down. Why didn’t they go back to the actual mistake and make it 2nd down? Can anyone explain this?

I will never forget how completely unprepared Oregon was (especially on offense) when we last played a real game there in 2018. First drive had a 7 yard loss, false start, and a delay of game. 3 and out on first three drives for -3 yards (and 1 def PI penalty). Total first half was 18 plays for 35 yards. Here's hoping for a much better start. Oregon vs. Washington State - Play-By-Play - October 20, 2018 - ESPN WWW.ESPN.COM Get play-by-play updates on the Oregon Ducks vs. Washington State Cougars football game.