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Well well well, I got to see some extended footage that has my heart aflutter even though my mind says no. The eyeball test says no, we are not elite one bit. But...I saw some flashes I didn't expect watching the ESPN Gamecast description of the game( instead of the real game). First of all, I can see why DL thinks the OL can be fixed. They were massively experimenting. I saw at least five different OL lineups. Nothing super encouraging, but now I understand why the offense looks so disjointed. There were enough blown assignments, that a mean and nasty professor would go pure sadistic on "student Lanning ". That tells me they feel confident enough to horse around against a much inferior team to find the dudes that are going to play come conference time. That might have been a huge mistake, but now I get it- Lanning is looking for six or seven guys on the OL that can get the team to the playoffs and beyond. The defense. My biggest concern - which I felt after the Spring Game - are the inside linebackers. They're not big enough and they're not fast enough. They do a decent job in spite of it, but I think OBD need more NFL caliber talent. I'd put Jackson inside, but that's not going to happen. He IS prototype though, like we see at Georgia, Michigan and Ohio State every year. I think the secondary is better, but the guys still cover the QB instead of their assignments. Muhammad got beat for a TD because he didn't get the safety help he deserved. The safety is supposed to assist on that olay- the QB had no business having an option to throw to that post corner route. The safety should have been there on the post part of it alone, which would have allowed Muhammad to seal off the corner part of the route. That can be fixed, but the coaches need to change their philosophy on how to cover receivers. Some people have derided Whittington a bit. He's fine. He's not as big as James, so he can't break tackles as well. If the OL gets straight, he will be deadly. Same for Gabriel. Though he is waiting for receivers to get open too often ( he needs to throw them open - for those of you that don't know that term, it means to anticipate the spot his receivers will get open and throw to that spot before the receivers turn to look for the ball). The OL... I think the right combo is there. I think Lanning may be experimenting too much. They need to gel, like now. They need time to clean up the confusion. Also, the TEs are missing lead blocks. There are too many blown assignments going on, and not just the penalties. Guys are a step slow, and even the RBs are blowing pass block assignments. My thoughts on that are set the platoon, and get to work on communication and situation assignments. If DG gets another second and a half, this offense will blow the doors open passing the ball. If the TEs clean up a bit on their motion blocking, the OL can lead the RB well down-field. I saw enough of that to grasp why DL thinks it's fixable. Now will that happen? I don't know. This is the part where DL's learning curve has to kick in. He is thinking potential and process too much. My mind says the eval period is over, and it's time to position the best player in his best role, and demand some results. And I'd scrap some strategy assignments. For example, one time the LT was assigned to block inside and the Center was supposed to cover the edge, AND the RB completely skipped by the DE and gave him a free look at DG. That's got to stop. That particular Center isn't quick enough to get outside, and the RB needs to be assigned to the DE. I see potential here. Which would get me fired lol. But the talent actually exists. Everywhere. The big question is "will the coaches take our advice". RLMAO. Seriously though, is the staff flexible enough to tweak their system to fit the talent they have? I think they're giving this team too much to think about and execute given their respective struggles. It just might be time to keep things simple add strategies once the team executes the simple things first What do you think?

Is it just me, or does anyone else think Brandon Dorlus is an interior line specialist instead of a defensive end? I have seen a serious drop in production from him. He s looks out of position often, and hasn't really been an impact to me this season. In years past, he was a beast inside. I'm just not impressed with Dorlus this year. Am I want off base here? I'm seeing a "Fat Mac" kind of mistake moving him to DE so he could raise his NFL stock. He definitely has not created many havoc plays like he used to. I'm curious to hear your opinions about Brandon Dorlus.

Posted for Jon Joseph at his request. QUESTION - The Pac-12 media rights come up for bid after those of the SEC and the B1G. ESPN has already agreed to pay the SEC $300M+ per annum for the same rights that CBS was paying the conference $55M per annum. I believe that FOX will go big with the B1G and perhaps elbow ESPN out of any B1G broadcast rights. What will be left over for the Pac-12 and functionally insolvent network? I think George Kliavkoff is the perfect man to look outside the box. Convince Amazon, now in bed with the NFL and /or other 'streaming networks' to become the lead Pac-12 broadcaster. Kick off one game Friday at 5 Pacific/ 8 Eastern. Kick off two games Saturday at 9AM Pacific/Noon Eastern. Kick off all but 2 of the remaining games at Noon Pacific/ 3 Eastern. Kick off the last two games at 3:30 Pacific/ 6:30 Eastern. Stream these games from completion through the following Thursday. Use common sense when scheduling the games to get 'attractive' games in each time slot. Have half the teams bye in week 5 and the other half in week 6. Doing the same 'media thing' and expecting different viewership results will not allow the Pac-12 to close the financial gap between it and the B1G and the SEC. Does the above make sense to you?

I believe this was for the sake of argument only, but it was mentioned. From Saturday Down South : "Look, Bennett is a great story. He’s fun to watch. But does Georgia beat Alabama or Ohio State or Oregon – teams that can score points on the Georgia defense — with Bennett?" The lead story is about Lane Kiffin (think he'd go back to USC?), with some after thought discussion. In any event, My take? If Brown can complete passes like he did against Ohio State ( to loosen things up for a very strong running game), we'll be able to run the ball on playoff teams (if we reach the playoffs). Now I imagine Morehead will install plenty of screens if he faced the Bulldogs ( inside, and those dreaded bubble screens), and I sure hope he uses plenty of jet motion against Georgia. But let's get past Utah first. Again, loosen up the box, ground and pound. And if Brown can hit a couple of deep shots....

One bullet is loaded into the revolver. The cylinder is spun. Where did it stop before being pointed at our collective heads? The trigger is pulled - only to hear a metal on metal click. What if? As the season has progressed for Duck's football, I feel an ominous sense of peril. The source of my fear is the total reliance of Duck Football on Anthony Brown. I get it that Brown is a sixth-year college QB. I know that he started and was a proficient starter at Boston college where he was good, but never great. I get it, and agree that his experience and earned leadership made Brown the best choice to lead the Ducks when the season began. I cannot imagine that ten games into the season, with a 5* and two 4* recruit Freshmen, one with a redshirt year under his belt, that other Duck QB's have not all been given significant game action snaps. Anthony Brown is a planned rusher. He rushed 29 times in the past two games alone. He has no lifeline or net under him in the case of injury. He is exposed to potential injury every snap; hand-off, pass, or rush. Frightening. Anthony Brown as the sole playing Duck Quaterback is Russian Roulette. Do you feel the tension as the Ducks move closer to the North Title, PAC12 Championship game, a New Years bowl game, or the CFB Championship Playoff games? I was taught to hedge my bets. Coaches Cristobal and Moorhead have gone "all in" and bet the house on Anthony Brown. Will the Ducks survive? An injury to Brown, and the Ducks are wounded, maybe fatally.

College football fans had to stay up until 1 last night to see the Ducks drama filled victory. At those point, I believe all the contenders deserve equal treatment when it comes to exposure. I believe the Utah game should be on at 11 or 12:30 this week. In fact, I don't believe Oregon should be on cable the rest of the year. Same for Cinci and Oklahoma State of course ( who would be the other teams robbed off exposure- we KNOW the Irish will get maximum exposure). ABC baby. The main event, not the lower card entry. WE KNOW OHIO STATE IS GOING TO GET EXPOSURE. Cristobal should be given the chance to show his program is ready for the prime time. Thoughts?

We are back to Oregon before Chip Kelly transformed football. Solid Defense...an Offense that does just enough. Until we face elite teams. I think the title of this article is correct. Not sure USC gets the next Nick Saban or Urban Meyer though. https://trojanswire.usatoday.com/2021/10/16/oregon-is-not-becoming-a-superpower-the-right-usc-hire-changes-everything/

One thing I can say about Cristobal is his teams perform well in big games (win or lose, they play far better when something is on the line). I felt strange the week the team traveled to Columbus. They seemed too relaxed. As if they hadn't played Fresno State the week before. Then they played lights out for three quarters. Does this team know how good they are? Or was the Ohio State game a fluke? Are they confident they could beat the Buckeyes again? Who are the 2021 Ducks? Playoff contender or flash in the pan?

I could have handled an ugly win last week. But to see so much hot dog behavior and lackluster effort still has me fuming. Brown really can't deliver us a title, but his poor performance was minimal compared to the sheer lack of will to bury the Cardinal like we should have (despite his limited skills). Thoughts?

So, I’ve seen enough of the Fiesta Bowl to get a sense of my take on the 2020 season. I’ve scoured the roster, including the 2021 Class. I believe we have a sense of who our Head Coach is. So my question today is: As an overall organization, Coaches, players, administration-do we have what it takes to make a real run this year, next or 2023- when every player is a Mario Cristobal recruited player? I’m all about now. In 2018, I said we could beat Auburn. I said last year we could beat Ohio State. I say we have enough talent (coaches and players) to beat the Buckeyes for the first time in our history. So where do you stand? What is your vision of a true contender this year? Next, and 2023. Does MC have to get over himself and let his staff excel? Do the players have to play out of their minds with great direction from the staff? Do the coaches mold their respective scheme to the talent base of the players? Do we have the juice? If not, why not. If so, how could that be? And what do YOU want to see (scheme, talent, effort...whatever matters to you most)? I’ll share my thoughts once the posts pile up (I believe most of you know how much of a homer I am-I savor the brilliance you all bring to the table). Carpe Diem

What if the coaching staff was NFL elite caliber. Could we win a Natty? What if we had our current staff and NFL caliber talent on every unit. Would we claim our first title? In my mind, Chip’s best teams were SEC elite caliber (all 3 of them). But Helf had better talent (sans injuries in the title game). What if we had every star aligned? Every planet in the solar system lined up. Would we win it all? What I’m really interested in knowing from this group of knights at the round table is: what is it really going to take to win a title? And what can make it happen this year?