DucksReign wrote:

oldretiredguy wrote:

Log haulin wrote:

Oregon has nothing to lose against tOSU. MC might want to recognize that. Open the play book and let the chips fall where they may. MC called timeout before the first play of his career at Oregon and hasn't really gotten much better since. Disturbing. Defensively play man and let the big three wreak havoc on the QB. Put Sewell on the RB. Let it ride.

I'm all for turning it loose, but I'm just not sure MC is willing to do that. I think there will be a better game plan, but I'm not sure it will make a difference. If AB struggles again, will MC make a change? If he does struggle but stays in, then it will be telling who starts the next game. I guess we'll see how this goes, but having to come from behind to beat Fresno isn't a good look. OTOH, how would you like to be a husky fan right now
 

This is MC's first P5 head coaching position and he talks the talk but the bottom line he manages games scared. He fears both failure and success so he remains stuck in neutral.

This is Saban's third P5 head coaching job and I imagine long after Mario has departed Oregon and is in another head coaching position, he will look back at his time at Oregon and realize how he allowed his fears to limit his efforts.

My opinion is that the guy doesn't really know how to coach during games. I think he's s l o w at making in game decisions. Maybe indecisive. But he has to be the alpha male running the team. He will be gone in 2 years is my guess and we will see him either as an assistant or coaching a lower level team.

Last edited by radar1 (9/06/2021 3:22 pm)

radar1 wrote:

Here's this weeks question. How many 3,4 and 5 star recruits does it take for Cristobal to handily beat a Mountain West team?? Fresno St is a decent team, but beating them by 1 TD is not going to take us to the promised land even if its the 1st week. I know some will say look at Oklahoma vs Tulane--well OK is not OK either.

tOSU looked beatable, unfortunately not by the Ducks. Cristobal is going to start taking some heat. First game and thats the main theme here. Maybe premature after first game, hopefully MC erases this narrative next week.

DuckInTheMountains wrote:

My view, for what it's worth, is that Fresno State is not just a Mountain West team, they are the worst kind to face your first week.  Five points:
1. They returned virtually all their starters so they knew exactly what they were going to do.
2. They got to play a warmup game first, so knocked any rust off before facing us while we were still rusty.
3. They returned a quite good front seven, which makes it hard for a rusty offense to get going.
4. They have a very good QB which makes it hard for even a very good defense to completely dominate for the whole game.
5. They had nothing to lose and a chance to make their whole season.

We didn't play well, obviously, but that was not an easy first assignment.  Even so, things were rolling but the heart went out of the team when their talisman got hurt.  KT stays healthy and it's a blowout, IMO.  Obviously, great teams have to learn to adjust or they won't be great teams, and we aren't one.  We might be later in the year but we aren't yet.  

Is that on the coaches?  Probably.  The players weren't prepared mentally for adversity, and the coaches didn't have the game plan or the emotional moxie to pull them out of it.  But I didn't see anything that tells me this can't be a very, very good team, and very quickly.  Whether they will be or not, of course, remains to be seen, but for me it's not all doom and gloom.

I have plenty of faith in the players although Im not an AB fan. The coaching and play calling is very suspect--just look what Tyler Shough did for Texas Tech,and what Justin Herbert did for the Chargers. The coaches are not making any in game adjustments at all nor are they using players to their potential.--thats not a good thing.
I do think we will beat Stony Brook.

Last edited by radar1 (9/06/2021 5:21 pm)

oldretiredguy wrote:

Xlnt points, and welcome aboard! No question we have a lot of talent, much of it young. We seem to lack a leader on the team right now..a veteran who takes charge of the locker room. KT seems to be a guy who could be that, but he'll be gone after this year. My hope would be one of the younger kids step up..especially if it's at the QB position. We'll see how the team responds to playing in front of 104,000 screaming fanatics . Go Ducks!
 

Thanks for the welcome, and good thoughts.  Noah Sewell might be the leader of the defense next year.  But who on offense?  It usually has to be the QB unless it's a dominant RB or dominant lineman (LT or C), sometimes a lineman can lead the charge and pancake some dudes to set that tone.  But it usually needs to be the QB.  And I didn't see a team following a QB on Saturday.