OregonDucks

I’m extremely nervous about the Rose Bowl. Ohio State may be one of the top 2 teams in the playoffs. They certainly have as much talent as anyone in the country. Ohio State beat Oregon in the last 2 Rose Bowls that we played against them and the National Championship Game. Hopefully, Oregon’s recent success against the Buckeyes carries over to this playoff game.

If the current B1G Conference was in place last year, Michigan, Washington, Oregon and Ohio State would have deserved to be in the college football playoffs. I don’t like the idea of an arbitrary cutoff. The top x number of teams should be in the playoffs and seeded based on the committee’s rankings (like they do in the NCAA basketball tournament). I would reduce the number of teams to 6-8, eliminate the conference championship games and start the playoffs earlier so that they wrap up in early January. (And they should push the transfer portal to start after the playoffs conclude.)

Penn State and Oregon both played Ohio State tougher than Tennessee. Heck, even Indiana had a similar game against the Buckeyes, so if Indiana shouldn’t have been in the playoffs than neither should have Tennessee.

Tennessee certainly didn’t look like they belonged in the playoffs last night (I don’t want to hear any more SEC grips) and Texas looked far from dominant. Indiana lost to Ohio State by 23; Tennessee by 25.

Clemson TD makes it a 7 point game with 11:43 remaining

I don’t know how USC can afford to keep Coach Riley. USC is a sinking ship.

RIP. The GOAT leadoff hitter and base runner. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll ever see anyone like him again. RIP, Ricky. I loved watching you play. Gone too soon.

Well, Oregon did play and beat 3 playoff teams this year (Ohio State, Penn State and Boise State). SEC schools have a history of canceling home-and-home series with West Coast schools, including Oregon (e.g., Texas A&M). Oregon swept home-and-home series against Tennessee and Miss State (credit those programs for traveling to Eugene!). Their fans, by all accounts, were first class. Most SEC schools would never schedule an away game against Oregon (we had to play LSU and Auburn in Dallas and Georgia in Atlanta for “neutral site” games). No thanks to any more of those “neutral site” regular season games in SEC county. (I can’t believe that Oregon might have to play Texas in Dallas and Georgia in Atlanta as the #1 seed in the playoffs!). Texas A&M Aggies drop USC Trojans, Oregon Ducks - ESPN - Pac-12 Blog- ESPN WWW.ESPN.COM When Texas A&M was a member of the Big 12, it scheduled home-and-home series with USC and...

So must have Boise State (34 points given up) and Ohio State’s (31 points given up) offenses. Guess we’d better be ready for Tennessee/Ohio State, Texas and Georgia to be “playing lights out” on offense too. No more Purdues, UCLAs, Michigan teams remaining on the schedule…

It's the only way that Penn State is scoring. I'm not going to lie...it makes me even more nervous about Oregon's defense (or lack thereof). They feasted on the bad B1G offenses but didn't show up against the best teams this year (e.g., Boise State, osu2, Penn State).

LOL. Another pick six - 14-0 PSU.

It would be nice if they "expanded" Autzen stadium to be symmetrical and upgraded the amenities (e.g., restrooms, concessions, media area) on the North side. However, like you mentioned in the article they have to ensure that it will maintain the acoustics. In terms of Matthew Knight Arena, while I agree that, regrettably, Mac Court had to be retired, I do not understand why they didn't try to replicate the design in the new area. Matthew Knight has no unique character. The designers could have maintained the tiered balconies and the proximity of the fans to the court. Unfortunately, Matt, looks just like any other newer basketball area in college or the NBA. It is devoid of character and atmosphere. Really a shame and lost opportunity.

LOL. "If I wanted to win individual awards, I would have played tennis or golf." -- Dillon Gabriel

Yes, I heard the ESPN Gameday crew mentioning it but I take everything that ESPN/ABC says with a grain of salt because they are in bed with the SEC for a tune of $3 Billion. ESPN was also airing the 30-for-30 SEC "Decade of Dominance" last night (I decided to take a hard pass). LOL. Were they really proposing to put in a 3-loss Alabama team (who lost to not one but two .500 teams) in the playoffs over a 11-1 Indiana (or any mid major team)? Give me a break. ESPN Signs $3 Billion Deal for SEC Football as CBS Era Nears End SPORTS.YAHOO.COM Disney’s ESPN has finalized a deal to buy the rights to college football’s most-watched television package for $300 million per season—at least five times the $55 million per year fee that...

Someone better add Indiana to the small dogs…

Bear should certainly have a lot of motivation next season - he is playing to improve his NFL draft stock.

The coaches could also be thinking beyond just next season with the QB. If we lose a game or two next year but the QB continues to learn and improve over the course of the season, it might be worth it over the longer term, as I believe that either backup QB would have another 2 years of eligibility remaining, after next season. That could really set up Oregon for a run over the next 2-3 seasons!

I agree with #1. On # 2, we may see better QBs enter in the next transfer portal window, after the bowls/playoffs. When did DG enter the portal? On #3, I don’t think the coaches would be able to stick to that promise, if they didn’t believe the QBs were ready to lead Oregon to a B1G Championship and the playoffs next season. They owe the rest of the team to put the best players on the field to win football games, and that includes the QB. Plus, Coach Lanning doesn’t seem like the type to make promises, other than the promise that the player will have a chance to compete to earn playing time.

Is it just me or does USC seem like a sinking ship? Everyday it seems like we hear about another transfer.

The Herd | Dan Lanning's advice to Bill Belichick, Oregon's culture....

Is Indiana even going to be any good next year? How many starters do they have returning?

Even the NFL scouts, who get paid to evaluate players full time and have a lot more tape to watch, against better competition, seem to miss on certain position groups more than others. QB and WR seem to have the biggest misses from the first round selections every year. I think we are seeing the same thing at the collegiate level with recruiting stars for these positions. For example, Cameron Colvin came to Oregon as one of the highest rated players to sign with Oregon, at the time, out of De La Salle High School and we didn’t see him start to reach his potential until his senior season. Following that logic, I’m recruiting high school offensive lineman, defensive lineman and linebackers; and relying more heavily on the portal for QBs, WRs and DBs…

Thanks for the article. To answer your question: ”Has Oregon’s habit of snagging premier-talent transfers become TOO MUCH of an impact over the players the Ducks’ have recruited? Will players like Thieneman be the reason some players in the future DON’T commit to Oregon?” I would say “no” (although some coaches will certainly try to use it against Oregon on the recruiting trail). Top high school athletes usually have self-confidence in abundance. They have been told how amazing they are since middle school and have always been the best on their team, district and state, appearing in all conference lists, winning individual awards and attending all star games. They are showered with praise on social and traditional media. The top college coaches in the country are blowing up their phones and visiting their games/homes trying to get them to their programs.They believe that they are the best and will beat out anyone on the roster to star at the next level before going to the NFL. It’s why recruits continued to sign with USC under Carroll, Alabama under Saban and now Georgia under Smart, despite those teams being loaded with 5-star talent and future NFL players across the roster. Those teams were successful because they brought in the best talent to compete against one another every day. “Iron sharpens iron.” Just because you were the starter last year doesn’t mean that you’ll automatically be the starter next year. You have to work to get better or someone will take your spot. It’s a way to get the most out of the player’s talent and prepare them for life in the NFL. Another question worth pondering - if Oregon’s coaches felt they had a future superstar freshman/ sophomore on the roster (like a Patrick Chung), would they have still recruited Dillon Thieneman or focused elsewhere? Just my thought. Go Ducks!!!

The first round of the playoffs should start the weekend after the conference championship games (which are only in existence due to the additional TV revenue and should be eliminated, as there is often no point and it gives teams that don’t participate- Ohio State/Tennessee extra rest over those teams that did and lost). This would also give the teams that earned a bye a bigger advantage and allow us to wrap up the college football season with the Championship Game on January 1st, as Coach Lanning has suggested.

Nope. I stopped watching it years ago.