1 of 1- DucksReign
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Conversation with a luckeye fan!
I am getting my car serviced and a guy who sees my Oregon hat comes up and introduces himself(he worked at the place) as an Ohio State alum / fan...turns out he wrestled there for 4-years; later helped coach in the wrestling program and then got into strength and conditioning training for which he worked with the football team...all in the 1980's.
Very nice man and we had a good conversation about the football game this past season and the National Championship Game with Mariota as the QB.
The ONLY part of the conversation which hurt so to speak is when he noted by the end of the season their QB was playing great(Oregon was his second college start) to which I replied, "Yeah unfortunately that game was the best game of the season for our QB and head coach! It was never as good again from start to finish of a game."
He noted how "You guys beat us without Thibodeaux!"
Then he said how worried he was for the Rose Bowl after Utah beat us twice quite handily.
It occurred to me his PERCEPTION of Oregon was MUCH BETTER than reality.
I will always believe Cristobal sabotaged what could have been much more successful season by how he handled the QB situation.
- DuckInTheMountains
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Re: Conversation with a luckeye fan!
Thanks for the story, pretty cool. Why "luckeye"? Not heard that one before. I don't think they win because of luck, primarily. But anyway, you don't get this kind of story at O-Live or the other outlets, and it's fun to read stuff like this.
I was always unsure whether the QB situation was mishandled or not. I always thought maybe the young guys really weren't that good after all.
I changed my mind in the first Utah game. When your senior QB is a deer in the headlights and is obviously going to be unable to make any plays, and you are down big half way through the third, you put in the young guy and see if he can make something happen. AB was no Spencer Rattler, but even he got benched when he wasn't making anything happen -- and Oklahoma came back and got the win with the freshman. So why couldn't we at least try that?
I still don't know how badly MC handled it because I don't know how good our young guys really are. Maybe we wouldn't have been any better if they'd played. But he sent them the message that "I think you are worthless" when he wouldn't put them in for someone who clearly was worthless in the circumstance. And that's a pretty sad thing to do. In that case, you tell the senior, "Sorry, it's obviously not your day, let's let the kid get some reps." You don't destroy the morale of the young QBs. But that's what he did, and for what?
- Jiffy Jeff
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Re: Conversation with a luckeye fan!
It may be my tin foil hat fitting too tight, but I think that MC was in preliiminary talks with Miami before the season started and the Ohio St game was the audition for the 'Canes job. From there MC mailed it in as the wheels to dump Diaz and hire MC were in full motion from that point. The results on the field reflected it.
Regarding the QB situation, this could have been handled differently IMO, but that does not mean it would have been "better." Duck fans navigated times with QB's such as Pete Nelson, Bob Brothers, Ryan Perry-Smith, Jason Fife and Jeff Lockie where you just had to go with the best knife in the drawer with results that varied. I think the mistake we made last year was the desire to lump AB in with the company of Musgrave, Smith, Harrington, Mariota and Herbert when the truth was otherwise. That leaves the sting of "What if?" with the rest of the QB's in the room, and that is that.
- DucksReign
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Re: Conversation with a luckeye fan!
Cristobal has the most bizarre approach to the QB position of any head coach I have ever seen.
Basically once he decides on a starter, that is it for the season...no changes and absolute bare minimum substitutions. Only the starter being carried off the field in a stretcher can change that dynamic.
He operated this way for 4 consecutive seasons i.e. Basically only played Herbert; then Shough and then Brown. He won't even bring in another QB for one series / possession.
I honestly believe he has no clue / idea how to develop a QB. Since he is not throwing the ball with any regularity, he simply needs the QB to hand the ball off. That and his "process" and "physicality" mantra is his offense. And as Mycah Pittman said on why he left Oregon, "It is never going to change."
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