OregonDucks

“I should have fired myself…” — Coach Gundy

I hope Dante Moore is okay.

I may be in the minority, but I personally don’t want to see the Buckeyes in the playoffs again, after the past few games…

Oregon Ducks 5-star TE Kendre Harrison dazzles with one-handed TD catch https://duckswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/ducks/football/2025/08/30/oregon-ducks-kendre-harrison-one-handed-touchdown/85910558007/ Yes, please…

Congratulations on the National Championship and huge win on Saturday! I can’t stand ESPN or the other cable TV sports networks, and no longer watch them except during the games. The commentators are all over the top and to get paid you need to be outrageous/controversial (see Steven A. and the dude on College GameDay). ESPN/ABC has always drooled over the SEC (it’s a large $$$ investment for them), even though the B1G has been the dominant football conference the past few years (they can’t and won’t ever admit it). I said on another thread that although the Buckeyes appear to have an awesome defense (maybe the best in college football), I was underwhelmed by Arch Manning, after all the hype (certainly not his fault, as it’s a product of his last name). You would expect an elite QB to have a few drives and make some key plays (Texas’s defense certainly played good enough to win the game or at least give them a chance). Perhaps he’ll end up as the best QB in college football but he has some work to do and there is probably a reason that he didn’t play much last season. Good luck this season. I hope that the Ducks and Bucks both go undefeated and meet up in the conference championship game.

One thing that really bothered me during the Texas vs. Ohio State game is the officiating. It was an SEC crew since the game was a non-conference road game and I believe that they were favoring Texas (at least early). Anyone else think a conference officials would subconsciously favor their highly ranked team, especially the #1 team in the country given they are employed by that conference (and not college football)? Why can’t they use another conference’s officials for the big games, like they do for the bowls/playoffs? I understand letting the players play physical but there was a PI penalty not called where Jeremiah Smith was hit before the ball arrived and I believe that the CB also had a hold of his jersey. I don’t mind allowing hand checking/physical play but you cannot hit a receiver BEFORE the ball arrives and that should be allowed to be challenged. Although Ohio State has a really good defense, Arch Manning was overhyped. There is probably a reason he didn’t play much last year. I’m not saying that he can’t become an elite QB but with all the hype, I expected more.

I think the opposite since both those Universities would fit in better with the B1G from an academic and athletic perspective but I guess we’ll see. If the B1G wants to continue to compete with the SEC in football and bring in huge dollars then they should look to add the ACC football powerhouses - Clemson and FSU (and perhaps Miami).

It appears that that is one way the coaches plan to use Jordan Davison this year. I wouldn’t mind seeing Sadiq used in that role either. I was extremely impressed with Oregon’s RB depth but Jordan stood out and I can’t wait to see more of what he can do.

Maybe but that Miami team was filthy.

I thought the same thing on Saturday. I really like Klatt and respect him but Gus is over the top and his schtick is old. To me, it’s not authentic and all about him/his brand. It does nothing to enhance the viewing experience.

When people say arm talent, I think they are talking about Dante’s efficient throwing motion/quick release, accuracy/ball placement and touch. He also throws a pretty, catchable ball. I don’t know how anyone can say he has more arm talent than Justin Herbert. That dude has an absolute cannon, even in the NFL. However, Dante has the talent to be a future starting QB in the NFL. I’ll be fun watching him continue to develop but I liked what I saw on Saturday.

I hope that Emmanuel Pregnon is okay and will not miss more than a couple of games, at most. The replay looked bad but I was encouraged that he came back to the sideline in uniform with his helmet.

I also don’t believe that Oregon showed much in the game against Montana State. They didn’t need to. We were content to spread the ball around and give everyone touches. I think the rotation will shrink and we’ll see some players start to emerge as the go to playmakers. It’s clear that Coach Stein plans to feature Kenyon Sadiq heavily in the offense this year and I expect to see him lined up all over the field to create match up problems for the defense. The same applies to Dakorien Moore - he’s too talented not to get the ball in his hands. I wonder what other players will emerge especially from the talented stable of running backs (note: I NEED to see more Jordan Davidson, especially in short yardage or goal-line situations)?

I agree that the freshman and other underclassman looked more mature and ready to contribute immediately than prior classes (there were always exceptions). It’s probably a combination of the level of talent and coaching they’ve received along the way. Now it was against an overmatched opponent so I am looking forward to seeing how they do as the level of competition increases. Mr. FishDuck, you had an article a couple of weeks ago that questioned whether there would be a big falloff after this season due to players we will be losing due to graduation or departures for the NFL. I think we all feel a lot better after seeing the young, uber talented players littered across the roster on Saturday. Oregon has NEVER had this much talent and depth on its roster (e.g., running backs, wide receivers, QBs, defensive line). The future is damn bright in Eugene. Go Ducks!!!

Unless Alabama is now 8-4 because they have to replace Mercer or Western Kentucky with a Texas, Ole Miss, Florida, et al. (Alabama did lose to Vanderbilt, a bad Oklahoma team and a mediocre Michigan team last season so there are very few gimmes, especially on the road, in conference play.)

LOL. Oregon football enters the 2025-26 season as the defending B1G football champion. In fact, Oregon has never lost a B1G conference football game and has never finished lower than first place in the conference. I know that doesn’t make any difference heading into this season but no other B1G team (including the mighty Buckeyes or Wolverines) can say this and it’s hilarious that Oregon can make that claim after the B1G nearly passed on the University of Oregon during conference realignment in favor of the LA schools. Go Ducks. Defend that B1G football title!!! Back-to-back champions sounds nice.

Thank you for the really early look ahead. As you admitted in the article, we don’t know how the talented younger players fit in to the playing rotation or how the players on the NFL fence will perform and be evaluated. Hopefully, some of the talented underclassman come on hard this year and make a significant impact or at least show flashes of their potential for next year. IMO, the biggest determining factor for 2026 will be how our QB develops this year and whether he returns in 2026. I’m assuming that whomever the QB is this year will have some growing pains (hopefully it doesn’t cost Oregon too dearly). However, if they improve steadily throughout the year and are one, if not the top QB, by the end of the season and they decide to return in 2026 to make a run at another national championship that could cause a lot of the players on the NFL fence to come back to Eugene, as well as attract some transfers and high school studs.

If Oregon can’t beat Montana State with their second or third string QB, I would be concerned about this season.

I can understand why you and other don’t like/respect Jim Harbaugh (JH). However, as a Ducks and Niners fan, I believe he is one of the best football coaches in the game. He has won everywhere he has been, including Stanford. JH brought the Niners to the brink of the Super Bowl championship. Hopefully he can help Justin Herbert win one with the Chargers. However, JH has a very abrasive personality and is extremely competitive (I used to love watching the hate between him and Pete Carroll LOL). I don’t doubt that he knowingly cheated but it was probably just a matter of time before he wore out his welcome in Michigan.

My issue is the inconsistency and lack of transparency. The NCAA should have clear and consistent penalties for the severity of the infraction applied equally across all member institutions (take the college team name/mascot out of the equation). Would Texas have received the death penalty, if it did what SMU did? Alabama? Ohio State? Notre Dame? USC?

FYI, both John McKay and John Robinson are Oregon Ducks and played football in Eugene, Oregon.

I don’t like the idea of automatic qualifiers and believe that you should put the “best” or most “deserving” teams in the playoff field. However, I do believe that you have to weigh the strength of schedule when deciding who the most deserving teams are because college schedules are not balanced. The college basketball tries to do this and football should be no different.

“The SEC is different. The Big Ten, you’ve just got your big three: Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon. That’s it. Penn State? They’re mediocre.”

“Oh, and how about this: The playoff would have featured its first four-loss teams. Auburn (2016), Stanford (2017) and Texas (2018) were four-loss teams ranked high enough to crack a 16-team playoff.” I really hate the direction college football is headed. It’s all about $$$ - rivalries, tradition, the pageantry and fans be damned. 1) Start playing games on Thursdays, Fridays, early and late night. 2) Break up traditional conferences and consolidate regardless of geography and traditional rivalries all for TV money. 3) Allow boosters to pay college athletes an unlimited amount of money to come to and remain at their schools. 4) Set up a transfer portal to create an unrestricted free agency for every athlete, every year. 5) Expand the playoffs watering down the regular season even more. Now it’ll be like every other professional season. Four-loss teams making the playoff - give me a break. If you lose a quarter of your games, you don’t deserve to go to the playoffs. I’d rather they throw in some mid-majors instead, just to make things interesting. At this rate, I’ll start to look for other things to occupy my Thursday nights, Friday nights and Saturday from 9am PT to after midnight.

My heart goes out to the young man. This will be a big blow to the talented, but unproven Oregon receiver room. I was hoping that ES was going to have his “breakout” season in 2025-26, improving his consistency and getting 1,000+ receiving yards this season before being selected in the 2026 NFL Draft. I hope he keeps his head up and continues to be a leader on the team as he works through the grueling rehab ahead.