OregonDucks

I also believe that Coach Lanning is instructing his OCs to limit QB runs and the potential for injury. Will Stein had a super athletic QB, Frank Harris, when he was the OC at UTSA (see clip below). Harris rushed for: • 2020: 528 yards and 9 rushing TDs • 2021: 566 yards and 6 rushing TDs • 2022: 602 yards and 9 rushing TDs Harris did miss substantial time due to injury earlier in his career (not sure if it was the result of him running the ball). Of course, I also believe that you have to allow your QB the ability to make critical plays in critical situations (Masoli running over the Oregon State defender for a critical first down) and that especially applies to the post season.

Coach Lanning seems to be more invested in the University of Oregon for the long term. He has said that he is tired of moving his kids around and, like Coach Bellotti, the longer they stay the deeper the roots will become in the community. Hopefully his kids and wife are happy in Eugene. Most knew that Coach Kelly was interested in the NFL and would bolt as soon as the “right opportunity” came along.

They are in for a culture shock. It’s definitely different down south.

I believe that Notre Dame was ranked #3 in the final regular season poll but Ohio State and Penn State would both have been at risk of being left out of the 4 team playoff and those two teams may play against each other in the final. It would have been really interesting to see who would have been the fourth team selected this year between Texas, Ohio State and Penn State. I’m assuming that they would have passed over ASU but they do like their conference champions…

Losing Saban to retirement certainly hurt the SEC. How many championships was he accountable for at Alabama and LSU over the past decade?

Thank you for posting your observations. Obviously, Ohio State is well coached and has tremendous athletes across the board. My only question is - why wouldn’t Oregon have had its best cover corner - Jabbar Muhammad - shadow Smith and play a safety over the top, if necessary? I would say that someone else is going to have to beat us.

I guess that the coaches did not watch the Tennessee game or believe that Ohio State would be aggressive 2 games in a row.

LOL. Makes you wonder what those same fans will say if Ohio State wins the national championship… Time to change their usernames?

Has the most yards from scrimmage amongst rookies heading into the final regular season game. Man, we really missed him this year. Such a fun player to watch. The Tampa Bay crowd was chanting “Bucky! Bucky! Bucky!” after his 25 yard run.

You could sort of make that argument BEFORE the playoffs started, which SEC/ESPiN tried to do, but then you’d also leave Indiana out. However, as much as I hate to admit it, Notre Dame looks like one of the best playoff teams along with Ohio State. And if you excluded ND and Indiana because of strength of schedule are 3 loss SEC teams (with losses to multiple .500 teams) really more deserving than a 11-1 team? I believe that strength of schedule should be used to break the tie of two teams with similar records, not justify teams with bad loses getting in. For the record, I’ll be rooting against ND in the semi-finals.

On the flip side, the Ducks had 24 days off to recover from that travel schedule and then had the shorter flight to Pasadena. How long do 18-24 year old, semi-professional athletes need to recover? Part of me can buy the rustiness from too much time off since all 4 teams with first round byes lost (although Ohio State had the same amount of time off before they faced Tennessee and looked far from rusty).

Yes, but this is nothing new and Coach Stein had a full season to adjust - moving the pocket or designing plays (chop blocks with quick passes) to create throwing lanes. Perhaps he started to do this after the first quarter, when I turned off the game…

Let’s be honest, Oregon was unprepared and didn’t belong on the same field as Ohio State on 1/1/25: • Rushing: 181 (7.2 YPC) vs. -23 •Sacks: 8 vs. 0 • Smith: 187 yards on 7 catches (26.7 YPC) with 2 TDs Can anyone explain what Oregon was trying to do on defense against Ohio State (e.g., keep everything in front/limit the explosive plays, stack the line of scrimmage to take away the running game) because I still have no idea what the strategy was? Ohio State did anything they wanted to with little resistance. While Oregon is improving its recruiting ratings, we’ll see whether it translates on the field. You still have to recruit the right players, need to develop that talent (including in the weight room) and then put that talent in the best position to succeed. The top teams still look different to me with bigger, more athletic wide receivers, linebackers and secondaries. Our offensive line looked slow and unathletic against the Buckeyes - it could not have helped some of the players draft evaluations. If you can’t match up physically, then you need to do something different schematically to try to gain an advantage. If Oregon completed but lost by a score or two, I would simply tip my cap to Ohio State and say the better team won but that was a complete beat down (as the article points out) and Coach Lanning and the staff need to do some real soul searching this offseason. The regular season was nice but the goal is to win a national championship. It might be worthwhile to bring in a former HC (e.g., Saban, Meyer) to look at everything and what we need to do, as a program, to get over that final hump.

You kinda expect it, as a long time Duck fan…

I can't imagine what Coach Smart is going through. At least his dad got to see him reach the pinnacle of his profession. I'm sure that he was proud of the man he became and the success he has had. My heart goes out to the Smart family.

I agree with you but if you bring in an experienced QB through the portal, then you run the risk of loosing Moore (a former 5-star QB recruit), who has 3 years of eligibility remaining. I guess we'll see how much the coaches believe in Moore since they've seen him up close every single day in practice for the past season.

That’s a lot of pressure to put on a redshirt sophomore QB, with a few games of starting experience, on a team that is replacing almost its entire starting offensive line, wide receivers, tight ends, defense line and secondary… Not to mention following the two most experienced QBs in college football history.

LOL. Who would have thought that the Ducks would have two quarterbacks break the all time college starting QB record IN CONSECUTIVE SEASONS?!

I could be completely wrong but 2025-26 feels like more of a “rebuilding year” to me. We lose a ton of starters from the Rose Bowl roster and might be breaking in a talented, but younger QB. Hopefully we still are good enough to earn a playoff spot next year.

Thanks for posting. With Oregon losing both Tez and Holden, he could be looking at immediate playing time. Stewart could use at least another year to become a more consistent receiver.

Dang. That’s all Coach Lanning had to do?!!

In terms of the OP's question: * PK and our boosters might choose option A. They have been waiting a long time for that elusive championship and the window is now. I'm sure that they are well aware that there are no guarantees with this approach, however (see Texas A&M, USC, Colorado, Ole Miss, etc.). * DL and our coaches might prefer option C but are the boosters and fans willing to sit through 3-4 loss seasons until the younger guys develop? Coach Day (at Ohio State) and Coach Smart (at Georgia) have both been in their positions longer so the roster is completely theirs and they can plug the occasional transfer portal player into key positions of need. I believe that Coach Lanning has found the right formula, for now, but, as Charles mentioned, it may be temporary until they are able to get a roster full of their high school recruits and then they may only go to the portal occasionally (option C).

I guarantee you that other Ohio State players know their value and are getting paid. Not just the transfers.