I’m okay. I have seen a lot of bad Oregon football in my 52 years. This is still a good team. They just made a lot of mistakes in a game where you needed to be close to perfect to win. Indiana plays so clean and disciplined. Mendoza was almost perfect. Hats off to them and I hope they beat the brakes off of Miami. We will get them next year.

I understand why even devoted fans feel that they need to take a break, that it is too emotionally exhausting to deal with repeated disappointment. I deal with disappointment by attempting to analyze what happened. Those who just want to flush it can stop reading here.

So, what happened and why? IU was given three touchdowns in the first half. Once they had that large a lead, they could play the game on their terms. If they had not been given those gifts, what would have happened?

Joel Klatt's analysis seems right in retrospect. One key to victory was winning on first down. Oregon was winning on first down on both sides of the ball early in the game. On offense, the Ducks had manageable third down conversions, and Stein had appropriate plays to accomplish that. On defense, the Ducks brought in Wyatt as a speed rusher on third and long he had immediately created havoc. If that could have been sustained, we had a good chance of success.

Dante responded fairly well after the first interception. My recollection is that the miscue with the running back was the backbreaker. Did this result from the running back injuries, or because Stein was exhausted by multi-tasking? Was it just random bad luck? Was it simply the Hoosiers' year?

There is much more to be said, but those are some preliminary thoughts.

10 hours ago, Wood Duck said:

The performances of some of the freshmen in this game give me hope for the future.

I just hope the incoming coordinators can exceed the ones they're replacing.

Thanks Wood Duck! I feel that our offensive coordinator did not prepare well for these last two games. I take hope that the new coordinator for the offense takes a long hard look at the game plans, go to the doctor, and grow from the hard lessons from this season.

Grew up in Eugene since the 2nd grade in elementary school and graduated from Oregon. So, long time Duck fan. I will always be a Duck fan! I'm so happy for the 27-3 Ducks under Coach Lanning's leadership!

Rich Brooks on Twitter/X:

"That was a tough way to end a great season. Injuries and portal issues along with coaches moving on. Coach Lanning had a great year and will continue to build championship football for Oregon."

12 hours ago, 1Ducker1 said:

Cig and his team are FREAKS!! Maybe from another planet?

Helps having the best QB in football but they did only beat OSU by 3. Miami beat them by 10.

3 hours ago, TheRunningDuck said:

Having sat in Autzen in the late sixties and seventies there is no way I would complain about this. Go Ducks.

A bag over your head then? Or maybe a baggie in your pocket? I remember those days through the haze.

14 hours ago, Charles Fischer said:

As much as I despise Beavis, one thing I admire about so many of their fans is that they are loyal-no-matter-how-much losing they do.

We have to be real here Charles....The Beaver fans are just excited that enough players show up so they can play the game. They know they aren't going to beat South Albany HS, but at least there will be a game to disrupt the monotony of living in Corvallis.

Thank you, I'll be here all day....please tips your servers.

2 hours ago, Triphibius said:

IU was given three touchdowns in the first half.

Never let it be said that Oregonians aren't generous!

I still care, I care a lot. Enough to be disgusted with that performance and that means the defense too!

Go Ducks....

Judging by how many OR fans were in attendance I'm wondering how many fans we even have...

Edited 11 hours ago11 hr by anyotherduck

Always a fan. My wife said Lanning looked terrified walking out the tunnel. Smart guy. Too many injuries and distractions for us this year.

Indiana outplayed, out coached and (inexplicably) out-talented everyone this year. Period. Not only this but Indiana also has fans who care enough to show up while Oregon does not. Would Oregon fans have traveled to Miami next week?

Now let's see who's the biggest petulant-sideline-pant-sh!tter, Mario or Cig. We know damn well for sure who will win so may as well make it interesting.

My username says it all.

Seriously though. I always thought this was something of a rebuilding year. The team outperformed my expectations by getting into the playoffs. I happy we made it this far. Doubly true considering the coordinators were preoccupied with their new teams and the long list of injuries.

That doesn't mean there aren't questions to be asked and improvements to be made. What would it take for OBD to stay healthy through a playoff run? OBD has lost to two games in two years where they seemed out of their league vs Ohio State and Indiana. What are the commonalities there? Do people perceive DL as Penn St. did James Franklin --a great coach who can't quite win the big games? Why are we constantly lead by portal quarterbacks? What happens to the high schoolers we draft, do we improve our own? Do the transfers continue to improve once they arrive? Are the other teams more motivated (I vote yes to this one)?

It looks to me like Oregon is 97% of the way there, but that last 3% is the toughest.

22 minutes ago, Fair Weather Duck said:

My username says it all.

....

It looks to me like Oregon is 97% of the way there, but that last 3% is the toughest.

hahaha, I see what you did there. Mine says it too - but I did pick IU to win yesterday, by half of the points though ☹️

Agree with your 97% comment as well. We had been closer to the Natty twice before this year, so we still need to get back to at least that final game. As succucessful as OBD has been, it's just frustrating that we can't seem to get there. Being frustrated and disheartened doesn't make me less of a Duck fan. But having been a Duck fan for nearly 40 years does make me a sarcastic realist sometimes...

We will heal and hope OBD and Lanning will sooner. Go Ducks!

Edited 10 hours ago10 hr by DuckFan93

Not going anywhere, season tickets already renewed. That said, another 13-win season that feels hollow because we played so poorly in our last game and got blown out is tough to take. Sure there are some mitigating factors this year with the coordinators and some of the players out the door, then to cap it off, the injuries piled up in an alarming fashion. "Next man up" only buys you so much and while the team has adapted to injured personnel admirably, the final wave of injuries was probably just too much for the team to handle. I still don't understand how we lapsed so badly on our fundamentals, though, especially basic ball handling. We still had a shot without the four turnovers/28 gifted points.

What leaves me disillusioned however, is the current state of college football, particularly the calendar. Coaches should not be allowed to take new jobs until their season is finished and players entering the portal should not be forced to abandon their team in the middle of a playoff run. College football has always been dysfunctional, but right now it is broken and on the verge of collapse despite all the $billions being made. For criminy sakes just do something to save the best sport in the world IMHO. Rant over, go Ducks.

3 hours ago, anyotherduck said:

Always a fan. My wife said Lanning looked terrified walking out the tunnel. Smart guy. Too many injuries and distractions for us this year.

Indiana outplayed, out coached and (inexplicably) out-talented everyone this year. Period. Not only this but Indiana also has fans who care enough to show up while Oregon does not. Would Oregon fans have traveled to Miami next week?

Now let's see who's the biggest petulant-sideline-pant-sh!tter, Mario or Cig. We know damn well for sure who will win so may as well make it interesting.

Your wife is right. When I saw Lanning's eyes as he came out of the tunnel, I thought, 'this does not bode well.' He did not look anything like his normal steely-eyed self. There was kind of a glaze there. Who knows, maybe he was under the weather.

But regarding our fan attendance, yes, it was disappointing to see. But we also have to remember that Indiana has never "been there," so they have a lot of pent-up demand.

After decades of roaming in the college football desert, when we finally made it to the Rose Bowl in January 1995, we had a great crowd there.

And for a couple decades after that, I attended a large percentage of our away games, and bowl games. But after a lot of years, and after sinking so much cash into traveling and attending, all while not winning the big one, things do change for a lot of people.

And, as I've gotten older, for me, priorities have simply shifted as well.

But, regarding the bandwagon fan question, I suppose I've been a bandwagon fan now for 52 straight years, and will continue to be one. And while many of you put the "fanatic" back into the word "fan," that's just not me anymore.

Edited 8 hours ago8 hr by Desert Duck

Addressing two themes of high interest.

1) The lack of Duck butts at the game. The vast majority of Duck fans are not sitting under the roof in club seats at Autzen.

Going beyond the cost of season tickets for most is a major budget consideration, especially if tickets, flights, hotels and car rentals are involved for more than one game. The inequity of geographic game location for west coast fans is obvious. Indiana fans had an 8 drive to the game.

That’s unlikely to change unless markets like Las Vegas, San Francisco and Seattle are willing to ante up to join the circus.

2) Lots of stars vs less stars. As pointed out by others, what Cignetti has put together at Indiana isn’t so much about stars as it is about his eye for developed players from other programs willing to transfer to his.

Dan’s budget allows him to recruit top drawer, and he does a great job at getting some of the best high school talent in both athletic ability and attitude. But, the motivational edge is always going to go to, as Mendoza put it, “the misfits” whose “strong culture and unity” gives them a ‘Dirty Dozen’ mentality that doesn’t require bulletin board material in order to make them want to show up at every game, and show the world the true value of stars.

Dan too gets developed players to transfer, Thieneman and Canady being good examples. But, if there is anything to be learned from Cignetti’s focused strategy, it is a possible sea change in emphasis away from high school starry-eyes to developed players ready to prove themselves on the biggest stage, irregardless of stars.