cartm25 No. 1 Share Posted September 23 Some general thoughts about the remaining teams on Oregon's schedule: UCLA - Should be a shellacking similar to what the Beavers received. Michigan State - Still unsure about this team. They make me a little nervous. Don't laugh too quickly at the loss to BC. Boston College has a decent resume (i.e., not a push over). tosu - I hate this team so much. Hope we pound them, but won't know what to expect until game time. tosu will have only played cupcakes leading up to the Oregon game . . . I guess that's true for the Ducks' schedule, too. Purdue - They lost to the Beavers . . . I'll end my analysis there. Illinois - Went toe-to-toe with Nebraska and won. Looks like a solid team not to be underestimated. Michigan - Looks VERY stout defensively, but incredibly one-dimensional on offense. Will be a tough game in Ann Arbor. Maryland - A frisky team that Oregon should handle. Wisconsin - The challenge will be the game location and weather; buckle up. Washington - "Insert Poop Emoji" here. Let's hear your thoughts/opinions about the remaining schedule. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JabbaNoBargain No. 2 Share Posted September 23 (edited) Still hard to imagine more than 2 losses in there. 1 great team, 1-2 good teams. The rest it's mostly too soon to tell definitively, but they probably range from average to terrible IMO. Of the 3 (tOSU, UM, Illinois) really good teams we play, 2 are at home. Wisconsin might improve, but their offense was already challenged before losing their QB. Any losses to the rest of the schedule would be a significant upset. I personally think Wisconsin is on a bad, warm coaches seat type of path. Despite their most recent efforts collectively, not playing Nebraska, Iowa, USC, and PSU this year is an advantage. Those are all probably bottom end of the top half of the conference this year...it feels like we're playing a lot of the bottom half. Edited September 23 by JabbaNoBargain Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 3 Share Posted September 23 I believe in this Duck team continuing to improve, as the upside IS there to contend for a 'Natty, but we still have progress on both sides of the ball to see. In particular, this is one year where instead of preaching "balance" on offense, I really think we should have a 60-40 blend of plays toward passing. Throw long and open the field; throw drags and RB releases to set up the running game. This team could be averaging 40 points or more, as this is the best WR group since 2014-15, and a QB who can throw darts into small windows. This QB/WR combo does not come along often, and we should make hay with it, IMHO. On defense? I think that with B1G foes we should pack the box, and allow the corners/safeties to go one-on-one with B1G WRs. (Well, all but tOSUs) as what I've seen thus far of the other B1G teams are some good squads, but not asture passing offenses. Pack the box, stop the run and they will NOT outscore the Oregon offense. I still think 12-0 or 11-1 is quite possible, now that we have seen some progress. I know....I am a homer, and a cheerleader... 1 1 2 1 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck No. 4 Share Posted September 23 On 9/23/2024 at 10:35 AM, cartm25 said: UCLA - Should be a shellacking similar to what the Beavers received. Michigan State - Still unsure about this team. They make me a little nervous. Don't laugh too quickly at the loss to BC. Boston College has a decent resume (i.e., not a push over). tosu - I hate this team so much. Hope we pound them, but won't know what to expect until game time. tosu will have only played cupcakes leading up to the Oregon game . . . I guess that's true for the Ducks' schedule, too. Purdue - They lost to the Beavers . . . I'll end my analysis there. Illinois - Went toe-to-toe with Nebraska and won. Looks like a solid team not to be underestimated. Michigan - Looks VERY stout defensively, but incredibly one-dimensional on offense. Will be a tough game in Ann Arbor. Maryland - A frisky team that Oregon should handle. Wisconsin - The challenge will be the game location and weather; buckle up. Washington - "Insert Poop Emoji" here. Agree with the Bruins. Every loss to the "Basketball School" hurts. Michigan State makes me remember Vernon Addams to Byron Marshall, but also Mariota in all yellow uniform, and it will always be fun to beat Jonathan. Pur-Don't. The Fighting Illini against the Fighting Ducks should be a good. I thought the whole game that Nebraska looked better, but Illinois won. At Michigan will need the Ducks to play their A Game. If they do. Michigan and their fans will remember the last time Oregon played in, the Big House. Maryland, "It's a trap!" Right after the Michigan game. But I think the Ducks will handle it. Wisconsin. All that stuff about wanting the opponent to be at their best. If the Wisconsin QB is still out, I'm fine. Washington: Time to start another epic winning streak. 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck No. 5 Share Posted September 23 On 9/23/2024 at 10:57 AM, Charles Fischer said: In particular, this is one year where instead of preaching "balance" on offense, I really think we should have a 60-40 blend of plays toward passing. Throw long and open the field; throw drags and RB releases to set up the running game. This team could be averaging 40 points or more, as this is the best WR group since 2014-15, and a QB who can throw darts into small windows. This QB/WR combo does not come along often, and we should make hay with it, IMHO. Absolutely. I had always believed that balance was essential. But then I'd see teams with great passing win and win. A WR from Alabama won a Heisman, DeVonta Smith. The RB corps this year isn't up to standards, but the WR's should be lethal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyToBeADuck No. 6 Share Posted September 23 Talent wise, as long as the O line jells, penalties are reduced and no mistakes, then 12-0 is possible. 11-1 is probable with tOSU game. It's winnable for the Ducks. Howrver, a well played game with a close loss could happen. 10-2 would be a let down because the Ducks have the fire power to out score every remaining team. And that includes a one dimensional Michigan. Time for OBD's to play like a team thay can win a Natty. GO DUCKS....... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solar No. 7 Share Posted September 23 Michigan State looks much like Oregon State did when Smith arrived, just starting from a higher floor. Their defense is not good. The QB is elite but inexperienced and not getting much help from the rest of the offense. They should be about the same as UCLA, maybe a little worse. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan2785 No. 8 Share Posted September 23 I think we should go 11-1 if we can stay healthy on the O-line and it develops a bit more and gets the depth expected with the return of Bedford and Iuli. 12-0 is a possibility, 10-2 would be a little disappointing and probably means we don't have a significant win on the schedule. 9-3 is still a completely inexcusable result unless we have massive injury issues. I think tOSU is a better team right now, but the game is at Autzen, and we have the better QB. Michigan is such a weird game I think. It's a team that has a winning mentality, they might be finding their identity now, but the lack of a competent QB is startling bad. That defense though if healthy is good enough to beat anyone I think on their day. Games that give me a little pause are Illinois and Wisconsin, but really I don't see a lot out there that we shouldn't be able to handle. Indiana and Nebraska would frighten me a ton if we had to go on the road to them, but we miss them, and Illinois' ceiling is not quite where I would be that concern since it's at home. Wisconsin I'll without judgement until we see the backup play a bit, UCLA we should smash, Purdue......hahahahahahahaha! Maryland doesn't have Tua's brother anymore and it's at home, lastly UW I think it's going to get smashed by us considering the last two years and they are significantly worse. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuckFan93 No. 9 Share Posted September 23 My fingers are crossed for 1 loss in the remaining schedule, either to tOSU, or some sort of a letdown game that we unfortunately always have. The beatdown of rodents was definitely encouraging, but the trip to UCLA will tell us for sure if OBD has fixed the most glaring problems. Assuming we perform this week, 11-1 will be most likely. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 10 Share Posted September 23 Both Maryland and Wisconsin are idle the Saturday before the Ducks game. Maryland will be OBD's 6th conference game in a row; Wisconsin the 8th game in a row. Michigan, game 7, has an excellent D-line and a shutdown corner. November in Michigan and Wisconsin means a chance of bad to very bad weather. Simply having to travel to Michigan and Wisconsin in November is difficult on its own. No. 19 Illinois is 4-0 and one of two teams in the nation with wins over, at the time, top 25 teams. This Saturday's game at No. 9 Penn State should be very interesting. 4-0 Indiana, Duke, Pitt, and 3-0 Rutgers are not ranked. 3-1 Nebraska loses to a top 25 team in OT and drops out of the top 25. 3-1 A+M beats Bowling Green by 6 points and moves up a spot to No. 24. It's the AP and not the Committee but I do not expect B1G teams to have the same margin for error as SEC teams. 3-1 Sparty, about to host No. 3 Ohio State, needs QB Chiles to stop throwing the ball to the other team. 3 Ints in every game so far. MSU on Friday night before tOSU visits Eugene is a dangerous 'looking-ahead' game. Oregon played inexplicably bad football vs Idaho and Boise and defeated a mediocre Beavers team. OBD is ranked 107th in the nation in big-yardage, chunk plays. Does anyone have a handle on this Ducks team from the coaching on down? UCLA is not good but -24.5 seems like a generous spread with Dan + friends having to play on a short week vs Sparty and likely looking to rest starting players. 12-0 would not surprise me but neither would 9-3. No other team in CFB faces an 8-game, Power 4 grind with 2 of the last 3 games requiring travel to Eastern and Central time zones. RUIN the BRUINS! 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KCDuck1 No. 11 Share Posted September 24 All, Be careful spreading what Coach Saban has called "rat poison" on our boards before the UCLA game. Is UCLA a BB school? Yes, but the FB team's backs are to the wall. OBD's should paste the Bruins, but our team has to recognize the danger that speculation and UCLA poses. I agree a lot is going on in every players life, but every Duck player has to show up as a "Gamer", and not as a certain star player; show up as as a "Fightin' Duck" Gamer! The Ducks cannot take it easy through most of the 3rd quarter - I would say through the whole game. Yes, the coaches may want to rest some players, but let's win the game in a typical "Fightin' Ducks" style before the team relaxes. OBDs should make a statement in LA - for recruiting, for dominance. OBD are still hunting for D-Linemen, and there are still several high uncommitted 4-stars in the area; and next year's Top HS Receiver recruit is there. Win the damned game, Ducks - win it in "Fightin' Ducks" style! VR, KCDuck1 "Win, Ducks, Win!" 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...