OregonDucks

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.

Glad I didn’t watch.

I can’t fault a kid for wanting to play sooner rather than later. If he didn’t think that he would have a shot at Oregon for 2-3 years, if at all, then I understand his decision. The only question for me is - why did he sign with Oregon in the first place, if his goal was to play right away? Any internet search would have shown him that we have a 5-star transfer QB from UCLA and a 4-star QB who has been on the team for 2 years.

Sorry, sounds like an excuse. Every team has sick players this time of year and like Coach Lanning says “being sick is a choice.” The team was simply unprepared. (See Michael Jordan in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals.)

(Please note, I’m not blaming the coaches and know that they would love every game to be over at halftime. It would cause them less stress, as well.)

We could blow out inferior opponents without revealing too much of the playbook and, if you get a big insurmountable lead, you can rest the starters, which helps with load management. For whatever reason, Oregon just hasn’t been able to keep its foot on the gas (see the 3rd quarter scoring stats).

Well said! Against the best teams, you need the most talent as possible on the field to match up. Oregon needs to find more ways to get the young studs a chance to get that game experience without costing Oregon too much. It’s definitely a balancing act. I’m disappointed that the offense wasn’t able to build more substantial leads the past couple of seasons against the worst teams so that the backup QBs and younger players couldn’t get more reps, like we used to under CK. That pays huge dividends down the road, IMHO.

Sorry the Dawgs lost. As I mentioned before the game, from afar, it really seemed as though Georgia missed its playmakers (TE and WR). Not sure who Georgia loses and has coming in but a complete offensive rebuild might not be necessary. Your defense will always keep you in games.