spartan2785

Very much appreciate not having a 9:00 game. Thank you to the football gods (which of course means the TV execs).

I think part of it is the structure of the defense, the first priority as I have read it with the Mint defense is shutting down the short-intermediate passing game, we don't really stack the box quite as much as other teams do. Wisconsin has some decent O-linemen, they will win a battle or two, and I think their freshman RB had some juice. Our run defense wasn't what I would term bad in this game, it was just a little inconsistent. The LBs can sometimes make the wrong read and get out of position. Our line is very good, I'm not quite ready to call it great, the LBs are simply good, but the secondary is elite imo, and it will get better next year even with replacing some guys as I think we have incredible amount of depth there. I think it's hard to judge our defense, they haven't played many teams that have a pulse offensively. They played well against Indiana and Penn St. who despite their issues have NFL players on the roster and were in a much better head space during our game with them. Rutgers and Northwestern are difficult to judge compared to the rest of the nation. In general I struggle at times to compare B1G teams with the rest of the nation, there is such a divide between the haves (Indiana, OSU, Oregon) and everyone else. The Iowa game will tell us a lot I think about where we are as a team since that team is starting to figure it out it seems, I'm hopeful we'll put in a B+ or above effort.

I'm going to say it, it is a nightmare if it happens, it's not THE nightmare, but it's certainly something I don't want to see. That program doesn't deserve it compared to us, they haven't suffered all the times we have come so close only to come up jusssssttttt short. It would be a joke to see a program come out of nowhere, whereas we have been scrapping for it for 25 years. We are now probably the biggest program to not have won it. We are the most successful program this century to not have won a title. It would devastate me to see Indiana just waltz in and win it. The good news is that it isn't happening, the win against us was not flukey, but I don't think that team will be able to overcome the talent gap over the course of three games in the playoff. Indiana's entire season was their game against us, they got us, I'm confident we'll beat them if we get another shot at them.

Stanford loss isn't a big deal, it's an exhibition, I do like that teams are now playing these types of exhibitions instead of playing Willamette or Southern Oregon. Oregon will be a weird team, I'm not really sure how all the pieces fit together, I'm honestly not expecting a whole lot from Stewart or Pryor, we seem to once again not have a very good 3 points shooting team. Shelsted and Bittle can hit from deep, but I'm not seeing anyone else that will be able to hit 3s on a consistent basis to help open up the lane. I'm pretty worried we'll see what we've seen for a lot years, teams sagging off, and we'll just start firing up bricks.

There is nothing more that I like to see from an offense than a big bruising running back that will punish a defense for 4 quarters. You just know you are getting positive yards while softening up the D for either a big run where the RB breaks a tackle and is gone, or setting it up for the change of pace back to break one on the outside. I have been crying out for a back like Davison since we had Freeman. I always feel like you need that 225+ bruiser. Davison has become my favorite offensive player this year with his ability to either run the ball up the middle with authority or being a blocking back to free up his RB teammate. He should be getting 15 carriers at a minimum each game.

Certainly will take the win, the weather was horrible, but we have to be better on offense, Moore has to read the defense better, our O-line has to be more consistent, Stein has to have better game plans. Defense was fine, this Wisconsin team is an abomination on offense, I would like to see us hold the running game better, but it is what it is. Should drop in the polls. I see about 3-4 SEC teams that will beat us if we play them, disappointing, but this was step back compared to the previous week, Wisconsin is bad team, and we struggled in this game, even if it never seemed like Wisconsin had a serious chance.

Obviously a much better drive, Davison should be the featured back, he's the one that is most consistently getting decent yardage. Hill used as a change of pace. If we have 20 rushes I would be giving 13 to Davison, 5 to Hill and two to Whittington. This half though is still throughly frustrating to watch, if Wisconsin had a decent QB we would be in major trouble right now.

Now our defensive line it getting blown off the snap, it's not a good look.

I'm extremely confident it will get better, but this is awful and has to be called out, we aren't ready to play on offense, that's on the coaches.

Atrocious offense right now, this is a bad team we are playing right now, and we are getting beat everywhere.

I would like to see Moore start to actually look to become more a gunslinger, he's too conservative, that last throw was an atrocious decision, no chance to get the first down, he looks scared to make a decision.

Always excited for Ducks basketball. No idea how the season will go, we'll be reliant on Bittle and Shelsted. We need both players to be just a little more consistent, we'll need better shooting from our role players. I'm excited to see how the international players do, that's something a bit new for this team. Seems like Wei Lin will at the very least be exciting to watch, feels like he could offer a new element with his ability to create.

I've always been a bit surprised at the lack of investments from some schools in the B1G. I get that for some of these schools have other sports like basketball or hockey that are very important to their fanbases, but for instance a school like Minnesota, which is a massive institution just doesn't seem to have a lot of money in football. It took them forever to get their own stadium, and while Minnesota isn't exactly swarming with recruits, it is the only game in town. Wisconsin I wouldn't include in the disappointing programs since for much of this century they have been in and around a top 25 program, classic school that once ever 5 years had a really good team, you could probably include Iowa in this. Illinois is another one, massive school, only state school that has major college football, St. Louis, Chicagoland, you can't find the talent or the money to make that next jump? I know in this case Notre Dame is huge contributor to this, but I feel like if there was the commitment to football that is another program that could be much better. Maryland should be better as a program, you have D.C, Baltimore, Virginia, close to New Jersey as well for a recruiting bed, I'm sure there is some money in that alumni base (heck Scott Van Pelt should have tons from ESPN😂). You will always have basement dwellers, but a few of these programs have to be considered underachieving overall. Funnily enough the one program I would not expect to be better is Indiana. You have Notre Dame in the state, and your entire state is traditionally obsessed with basketball. I do think when you talk about Oregon, we are unique in college football, and while our athletic department should be praised for its ability to maximize our strengths, nobody else has the benefit of being Nike's testbed for innovations, nobody has our branding, and nobody has the single donor like Phil Knight. We are one single donor away from being right where OSU and WSU are now. Credit Oregon for making the hiring choices, the innovations, the marketing, all of that, but none of it happens without Uncle Phil. Anyone of the universities mentioned above could have been us if they had a figure and company behind them (Maryland has UnderArmor...but c'mon that's not the same as Nike)

This is the answer. If we want to look back wistfully, then the answer is poaching Texas and Oklahoma when we might have had the chance. We should have done whatever we needed to do to make that happen. With those two we are better conference than what the B1G was and almost is now. Our TV deal would have been competitive with the B1G and SEC I believe with those two. We would have had substantially more teams in the old 4 team playoff, and most likely a couple national titles. In some ways I do miss the old Pac-12, I miss more consistent schedule for the non-football sports, I miss having a variety of start times for football games instead of the constant 12 or 9 start times. I certainly don't think anyone should wish the league had survived on the 30 million that was offered (at least from Oregon's perspective). I don't like what has happened in a lot of ways, I don't like that OSU and WSU were left behind, I don't like the idea of Cal and Stanford being in the ACC, those 4 university deserved better than what happened to them, you might disagree, but each had their history that deserved better respect, there is no reason Rutgers, Northwestern, Vandy, or Mississippi St. somehow deserve more than those institutions when it comes to sports. It's of course just the way things have turned out, but it isn't right in my view, especially when you consider what college sports can mean to a community.

A non 12:30 Kickoff!!!! Finally something different, it got a bit ridiculous having the game at the same time over and over again.

I am surprised it was that much of a dominating performance. I thought we would probably win a route, but after the first possession it was just one way traffic the entire way, I also was surprised to see Rutgers have no success at all in the passing game, they have good receivers and a decent QB, but it was just stifled for the entire night. Great job by everyone.

I think the problem is largely Stein being very predictable, he doesn't adjust very quickly, he gets stubborn in his philosophy, he doesn't set up plays very well for later, a great example of this is the lack of fake screens to open up the go route on the outside, we were excellent at this during the Kelly and Helfrich years.

I'm sure they know it, it wasn't like this is what they wanted to happen, but in the end it's a bit of a zero sum game, either you have the horses or you do not, and if you don't have the talent than you have to find ways to get around that schematically. I'm sure the coaches are very aware that the talent has to start picking up, last year was improvement recruiting wise on the line, this year they have good start, hopefully by next year or the year after we'll see this bear fruit. I guess when it comes to QBs, I trust the coaches, if they felt like getting transfer was the key to winning a championship I'm sure they would do it, they had confidence in Moore, he's been great so far other than this last weekend, I still don't think it's a given that Nix or Gabriel would have been significantly better. I don't really think any coach out there has a policy that they will always bring in a transfer QB, they look at their roster and decide who would be the best fit for the program. Sometimes that means bringing a guy who has two years left, sometimes one, sometimes it's a guy who has been learning the system and was a 5 star QB who everyone in the building said was ready to be Heisman candidate. I know this....if we are known to only play transfer QBs, you can say goodbye to any chance of recruiting 5 star QBs as freshman, not a single one will be willing to wait their turn to eventually sit behind whoever is comes in the summer, and if they do come, they'll be transferring within 2 years at a minimum. That does not mean that the coaches can't decide that the 5 star who came in is automatically dialed in to play.

We were forced into taking transfer OL because we didn't recruit the position well enough or develop the talent we did have over the last 2-3 years. Big time programs don't rely on 3 transfers on the offensive line. If you need a guy to fill in a hole it's fine, but you have to develop the talent yourself if you want a dominant offensive line, the data back this up. The question over transfer QBs is one where I wonder why any QB would come here if all we do is start transfer QBs, if we develop the rep that we only start transfer QBs, why would any incoming freshman come here? What would be the point? Lanning believed in Moore, it's not a guarantee that Nix or Gabriel would have won that game, it's not a guarantee that either one would have beat Penn St.

Yeah, the O-line recruiting has been sub-par for several years now, we also have developed the talent we do have, it's hard for lines to come together when you have 3 guys who are completely new to the program. We're just not that good in the trenches, D-line is good but not elite, and the linebackers are again good but not outstanding. A lot of the warning signs were there, even if we do go undefeated I would say we should be left out, we won't have a single good win on the season. Really disappointing to see.

Was Joey Harrington ever a guest picker? Sort of wish the guest picker could be more local legends than just nationally known. I'm sure the crowd would love a LaMichael James or Luke Jackson or even a Cole Hocker.

I'll be honest I feel horrible for the Beavs, I know plenty of great Beaver fans I feel really bad for them and the school. Great campus (better than Oregon in my opinion), Corvallis is a good small college town. I totally understood the anger from them and WSU, I understand the money grabs they made, and most of it was justified in my opinion, they were simply trying to survive as an athletic program. I'm not going to say that Oregon should have done anything to save them or other elements of the old Pac-12 or its members, but I find what is happening to the Beavs to be really really sad. It's absolute free for all in athletics now, nobody is doing anything for others, it's always about what is best for ourselves. It is what it is now, there is no loyalty, it is mostly if not purely about money, college sports is simply not what it once was. Oregon State is probably one of the best examples out there of the casualties of this new world. I know a lot of people on here make fun of OSU, and maybe it comes from people that you know, but to me it's just sad, Oregon is above making fun of that program from what my point of view, it's just rubbing it in at this point. I think of it like Michigan making fun of Central Michigan.

Very "meh", whatever, the thing that annoys me about being asked to wear yellow is that it's later in the season and I don't have any yellow sweatshirts or jackets, so with the weather I'm most likely not going to buy an overpriced piece of clothing at the Duck Store just to fit into the crowd.

You're right Charles, I do remember that now that you mentioned it, I don't think (I could be totally wrong) we used it quite as much in a single game as we did against PSU, correct me if I'm wrong.

Unfortunately I think Miami is for real, I don't see another loss on their schedule, I certainly don't see two losses. It will be interesting to see who they play in the ACC title game, if they play Georgia Tech I think the Yellow Jackets could upset them. They'll be in the playoff this year. One thing is that I don't think Cristobal is getting in the way of his OC this year, I could be wrong, but that team look like a legit top 5 team. Hope I'm wrong and Charles is right though!