OceaniaDuck

It is true that there was a plethora of bad coaching decisions and bad breaks that put Cam in the pressure situation to tie up the game. Don't mean to be insensitive to the situation, but bad coaching decisions and bad breaks will happen but you have to convert regardless. Anyways, I'm sure Cam feels worse than any of us. Hope the kid recovers and regains his confidence.

USC is a typical Lincoln Riley coached team - all offense and no defense, and getting exposed by Notre Dame. I actually hope USC does pull out the win to help our SOS.

All disappointment aside, yes we should've taken the FG's when the opportunities presented themselves and also punted on 4th down, but also props to Kalen DeBoer - he is a darn good coach and a winner wherever he goes.

Well, I just remember Stanford vs Colorado. Looked like game was over at halftime and shut tv off, only to be shocked to find out later the Cardinal came back and won the game lol.

IMHO, If we had went for 3, we'd still be down only one score.

Well, we've been in this position several times before, I still have the faith.

I hope that missed opportunity to take the 3 before halftime doesn't become a factor later in the game - although it sure looks like it now. And to rub salt in the wound, both CB's are down. Come on Ducks!

Should've taken the 3. Unfortunately 4th down stop still keeps momentum with UW going into halftime.

Ducks need to definitely make adjustments in secondary. Two easy TD passes for Penix already.

Ducks should have won last year if not for a dirty play by a UW D-lineman injuring Bo Nix. I trust DL and Lupoi will come up with a scheme to slow down the Husky passing attack and put constant pressure on Penix. Still predict a very close one though, a FG or TD (at most) difference either way. Of course, I hope - no, actually I know - OBD will be on the right side of that. Go Ducks!

I think expectations were set too high for Colorado simply because of DS and many, including myself seem to forget that this is a rebuilding year for them. At least the Buffs are showing some fight on the field as compared to the past, where they were apparently just going through the motions. I would give DS probably another 2 years before he can realistically field a contender for a conference title or even the CFP. As an unfortunate caveat, Colorado has to win a couple or at least be very competitive against the better teams out there, or some of the luster may begin to tarnish. When Mike Leach was first hired at Wazzu, expectations were high also in his first year, and I myself thought he would turn Wazzu into an instant winner - Leach ended up going 3-9. It wasn't until maybe his 4th year at Wazzu that he started to field consistently good teams. I guess we all fall for a HC's reputation preceding them and forget that many times, their 1st year on the job is a rebuilding year lol. All that said, my pick is Kansas. Although the chance is remote, I do hope they upset Texas. Nice to see the Jayhawks football program on the rise again. The Jayhawks football program had been awful since Mangino was fired.

IMHO spread is a tad bit high. At most, I think the Ducks win by 10-13 points if they do get the victory. A lot of times, teams can get lulled into playing up or down, depending on who their competition is. For example, you see Georgia maybe just getting by Kent State 39-22, when you know on paper the Dawgs should have absolutely obliterated them, but at the same time the Dawgs demolish OBD 49-3, and I know OBD are much better than Kent State. It would seem that the Dawgs were hyped up to play OBD, while they were sleepwalking through the Kent State game. I think that's why DS says pretty much every game is "personal" - to get his team ready to play despite who the competition is. OBD are a high profile team that the Buffs would really love to beat, and thus CU will especially be hyped up for this game. The Ducks will have to earn this victory, again IMHO. I know OBD definitely have the talent and the coaching to defeat the Buffs, but this will be a hard fought game. I'm glad the game is taking place at Autzen as we need our 12th man - the fans - to help rally OBD to victory. Go Ducks! Of course, I hope I'm wrong and OBD cover the spread and then some.

Bottom line - don't underestimate the Buffs. As the old saying goes, it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. Coach Prime is a master of hyping up his team. We want OBD to be the big dogs - both is size and fight.

Just thought about something. I think Prime with all of his attention grabbing hype and marketing would actually have been a great fit at USC - the LA and Hollywood glitz and glamour added to it would have just killed it when it comes to recruiting as well. At the same time, Lincoln Riley with his use of schematic offensive wizardry would have been a better fit at Colorado. IMHO, LR's brand of offense-focused football is not prototypical USC football, which is a Pro-style offense and solid defense (the jury is still out on USC's D). Just a thought lol.

Yeah, I wish DL chose better words when asked about Colorado. DS is a trash talker himself, but throughout his playing and coaching career, was able to back up his talk. Fortunately, the Oregon/Colorado game is at Autzen, so I guess that helps somewhat. Like another poster stated, Oregon just needs to focus and execute, as we all know DS will use what DL said as a rallying cry to his team. OBD definitely have the talent to win this game, but it's not going to be a cakewalk as in the past. Go Ducks!

Oh no - I hope this isn't true. And if it isn't, DL needs to hold a press conference debunking this as this can be a major distraction during the season.

As coach Bobby Bowden once told an angry opponent after a blowout victory at Florida State: “It's your job to keep the score down, not mine.” This. At least Canzano to his credit mentioned the above in his article. Not to say that we shouldn't practice good sportsmanship, but as other posters were saying, the bench was practically emptied in the latter stages of the game but PSU still couldn't stop them. And less points were actually scored by the Ducks in the 2nd half. What's next? Getting random fans in the stands to suit up and play in an effort to not score? Don't get me wrong, I was actually feeling bad for the PSU football players and coaching staff as the game wore on. But at the same time you cannot dampen the enthusiasm of the Duck 3rd stringer who actually got out on the field and wanted to make a big play. Also read the article by Goe. I don't know if he was at any of the Duck games against B1G opponents, but the Ducks are capable of holding their own against them. Even during the lean times way back, when the Ducks demolished Iowa 44-6, beat a decent Illinois team at the time and rocked Michigan 39-7 in THEIR house. Not to mention some of the Rose Bowl victories and other regular season victories against B1G teams.

We'll see. Of course I hope OBD wins, but some teams play up and down depending on who their competition is. I'm sure TT will be fired up when the Ducks come into their house. Ducks just need to focus and execute and all the rest will fall into place. I'm sure DL will have them prepared.

Honestly, I'm just sad for what the college football landscape has become. I honestly hope now that ESPN, Fox and all the other players that caused this whole realignment chaos go belly up and the whole thing implodes. This is just crazy. Then maybe everyone can come back home and the PAC rises again like the Phoenix coming out of the ashes.

I guess in a sense, these revelations do kind of absolve GK. Now the onus falls of course still on LS and whoever was driving the $50 million price tag that caused the whole deal to fall apart.

At first I thought this was a joke, only to cringe when I realized this was actually for real lol!

That kind of reminds me of the old antics of the U of Miami, which according to a 30 for 30 ESPN episode, were responsible for the NCAA creating all of the excessive celebration and other sportsmanship rules in college football today. In a morbid sort of way, the antics of U of Miami players back in the day certainly made college football interesting and hilarious to watch lol.

I just hope the PAC-4, or at least two members of the PAC-4 for now, end up in the B1G to create a West coast pod of the conference as many have suggested. Thus that would hopefully reduce the necessity of lengthy travel and keep some of the old rivalries alive. IMHO, the excitement of playing intriguing new opponents and being in a new conference would soon be replaced by fatigue at the thought of having to travel long distances, perhaps even being away for awhile when playing against opponents on the East coast and probably even some players who want to minimize grueling travel schedules entering the transfer portal. All members of the PAC-4 have good academics, especially of course Cal and Stanford, if that's a primary concern of the B1G.

If I'm not mistaken, wasn't there a clause in the alliance that each conference made a promise not to poach teams from the other respective conferences?

Excellent article. Everything that was said but I also believe the dismantling process of the PAC-12 began when USC was placed under excessive and unreasonable sanctions by the NCAA for the so-called Reggie Bush scandal. Love them or hate them, I believe USC was dealt an unfair hand. I did actually read the NCAA report, and the impression I got was the investigation was more about bringing down USC football rather than following the spirit of NCAA rules and regulations. Couple that with the investigation being conducted by Paul Dee, who ironically ran one of the dirtiest college football programs at the time, and IMO the integrity of the investigation was questionable. In the early 2000s. USC was a juggernaut, and was elevating all of West Coast football at the time creating a truly fascinating bi-coastal dynamic. But the horribly misguided sanctions against USC obliterated this resurgence and sucked all the air out of the room outside of the SEC. PAC-12 football has just never really been the same afterwards. Don't get me wrong, I love my Ducks, but like it or not, USC served as one of the main flag-bearers of the PAC-12 conference, and a good USC football team was also good for the entire conference.