OregonDucks

Previewing and Picking Oregon vs. Michigan State on the Autzen Audibles Podcast

I was shocked that a Kirby Smart coached team would come out so flat against a top team. Credit to Georgia for battling back to make it a game.

To the coaches’ credit, they made changes to the OL during the second half of the BSU game and it has improved the OL play drastically. Of course, the real test will be against the top B1G teams.

This is one of the things that I was concerned about before Oregon was invited to the B1G. The SEC and B1G can now set the agenda for college football and carve out an even bigger piece of the financial pie for themselves, backed by ESPN and Fox. I'm thankful that Oregon will have a seat at the table.

HUGE GAME but the boys need to take care of business on Friday night first...

On the bright side, Oregon played nearly flawless football in the second half against Oregon State and the first half against UCLA. We were one pass away from going up 35-3 against UCLA, on the road, entering halftime. Our defense was dominant, albeit against a bad football team, and our offense showed some of their big play ability. The offensive line has improved significantly since they found the starting group in the second half of the Boise State game. If Oregon can put it all together for a full 60 minutes, consistently, we will be a very dangerous football team. Jonathan Smith said that Oregon has really improved from week 1 to week 4, particularly on defense.

Coach Lanning on whether Terrance Ferguson will play vs. Michigan State: “He practiced today. He’ll be ready to roll.” MSN WWW.MSN.COM

Ducks vs Them | 2024 Oregon Football Game 4 | “Once Upon A Time”

It all comes down to expectations. Many expected Oregon to compete for the B1G championship, earn a spot in the college football playoffs and even be a contender for the national championship this season (ESPN Gameday's Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard picked Oregon to win the NC and Nick Saban predicated Oregon would lose to Georgia in the NC game). The University of Oregon Athletic Department leaned into those expectations with pre-season marketing activities. This team has talent but has not put it all together for a full 60 minutes, even against weaker competition like Idaho, Oregon State and UCLA. Meanwhile, I have been watching other top college football teams dominate (e.g., Texas, Tennessee, Ohio State) or play close games against top competition (e.g., Alabama, Georgia). Right now, I do not believe that Oregon could compete with those teams. However, it's a long season and Oregon could/should get better. Based on my observations, I believe that Oregon is appropriately ranked but has a lot of work to do, if we want to be a national title contender.

Oregon has grass practice fields which I’m sure helps the prep. For whatever reason, UCLA’s turf wasn’t very good last night. It’s usually a really solid surface. Perhaps they’ve gotten more rain than normal?

My favorite play was the fake speed option, where DG backed up and hit Tez downfield. You know that UCLA saw and worked on that play from the Oregon State game. It was great to see Will Stein set up a defense and I hope that he is saving a fake WR bubble screen for Ohio State.

UCLA defenders were also grabbing and holding onto receiver's legs after the play. One when Tez was down and the other one where Holden had to kick to get his leg back. Not sure what they are teaching or instructing down at UCLA. Glad none of the wide receivers were injured.

This was my thought as well. Why potentially burn a redshift to hand the ball off or kneel? If we are going to play Dante Moore, give him the opportunity to run the offense and throw the football.

The question is - will the new "Pac-12" be able to give them the resources they need to elevate their program?

I may be in the minority but I think it was a good no call. The defensive back was going for the ball and it looked like an inadvertent collision. That said, I didn't like the UCLA defensive back's reaction when a player is down, clearly injured and UCLA's defense was playing dirty all night.

The Ducks played nearly a perfect 1st half and were one throw away from going up 35-3. The defense played extremely well and I'm glad to see the defensive line finally wreck havoc in the backfield. I'm at a loss for what happened in the 2nd half but the Ducks will need to put together a complete game against Ohio State in 2 weeks; otherwise, that game could get ugly.

I would be surprised if Ferguson plays against Michigan State, especially with the short week.

It seemed as though UCLA was successfully picking on a certain CB. Wonder if we’ll see some of the other talented CBs on the roster given more playing time.

Only an 81.6% completion percentage?!!!

I disagree. DG has proven that he can win the “big game.”

Much needed drive there. Let’s put the game away D.

UCLA has been picking on Reed all night. Like to see some other CBs rotate in.

The offense has disappeared. The WR screen/bubble passes are not working (is Dudwig back). Need to run the ball and throw the intermediate passes.

Well, we’ll have to agree to disagree. Washington’s 0-12 season is as much as I have enjoyed a college football season. Oregon at its worse never managed that feat.

What was DG looking at? That’s a true freshman mistake.