Money doesn't like Nebraska at Autzen. Opened at -9

Wow. What's this coming to. the West is ablaze, the East about to get hit with another grade 4. Smart move. I sure hope things clear up some by Sat. .01 inches of rain predicted this week, to go along with the snow. Hope they took a tour of the dunes etc. for the oos guys. Florence, I meant. GB is 4 hours away.

Really do hope they took a couple extra hours to show the guys the Oregon coast. Hard not to be inspired by that.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Flo...nY3WAhUP2GMKHY-sD4UQ_AUICygC&biw=1396&bih=690

http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2017/09/as_ducks_prepare_for_nebraska.html

The offense exploded on Saturday but did not get top marks. What do you think?

Grades: Offense

Here is our recap from today's game:


Oregon opens Taggart era with 77-21 blowout win

I've gotten the same question from a number of Nebraska people about what restaurants, bars etc. they should try while here in Eugene. I have my ideas I give them but would like for others to chime in.

If you were having friends/family in Eugene for two nights, where would you tell them to eat/drink?

Thanks for your input!

About three minutes worth from this morning.

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Say's they would owe him $11!m, lol. Didn't see the game, but sounds like they came out good.

https://www.si.com/college-football/2017/09/04/texas-am-regent-wants-kevin-sumlin-fired

Tuesday in Eugene.

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From Eugene today.

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I don't see Dylan Kane on the roster did he transfer or something and whatever happened to Judson?

Look, Southern Utah was not supposed to be a challenge; but for a brief moment they appeared to be having a similar success rate to last seasons Big Sky opponent UC Davis. Then the second half happened.

There were a lot of flaws exposed Saturday. The offensive line, despite all of the successes of the running backs, have a long ways to go. While the staff focused on getting bigger and stronger, in some cases they did so to the detriment of mobility. (On multiple occasions I watched a pulling lineman, sometimes a guard, others a tackle) who were simply unable to move well enough to be a threat as a blocker. In fact, on more than one occasion, I watched the 'pulling lineman' get in the way of the running back, not make it to block anyone and the DL who had been lined up in front of the OL made the play from the backside.

That's all part of the growing pains we should expect to see.

Often in my Fifth Quarter critique, I am very critical. I look not at the niceties of what went right, but try to watch to see where some problems occurred. It's easier to do during a loss as some people find problems when making a negative assessment of a 77-21 win.

So what were some positives?

1) Freshmen: There were so may freshmen making a difference on Saturday it was very impressive. I knew Jordon Scott and Austin Faoliu would be critical. I had reported often about Thomas Graham; I had even mentioned players like Darrian McNeal. So who was I most surprisingly impressed by? Two safeties: Billy Gibson and Nick Pickett. Gibson looked like he could easily be a significant impact player and a freshman All-American if he stays healthy and continues to improve. The other was Nick Pickett. I recognize that injury was the mother of the necessity here, but the fact that someone many had considered a probable red-shirt came in to make an impact was crucial.

2) Royce Freeman and Kani Benoit. These are easy, but clearly the Duck staff wants to use more power running than East-West running and with these two, that makes it more possible. The ability of Benoit to come in and spell Freeman is crucial to long-term success. Plus, it gives some 'thunder' backs reason to believe they are needed.

3) Johnny Johnson III. Yes, I could have put him under #1; but I feel so strongly about his progression that he deserves separate mention. He did not fill up the stat sheet, but he showed why he earned to starting spot opposite Dillon Mitchell. He has tremendous hands and a very good understanding of defenses. Most importantly, though, is that he was a significant force as a blocker. The former three-star who many considered an 'afterthought' in last recruiting class could end up the most important receiver Oregon signed.

4) Coaching. While the number of penalties was about the only thing which the new staff could not change, they made adjustments. This had become a key source of significant fan frustration since Nick Aliotti's retirement; an inability of the defense staff to make adjustments. This staff did and literally shut down the Thunderbirds in the second half. it was nice to see.

5) Development during a blowout. It is easy to 'shut it down' when the backups get into the latter stages of a blowout. We have seen too many instances of Oregon's backups coming in and using three straight up the middle handoffs to try and speed up the clock. You might as well just take a knee three times; it would provide the same value.

To see Taylor Alie actually running the offense; to see the running backs having to read the o-line, block defenders and make moves; to watch the OL have to make OL adjustments, actually pass block in addition to run block were all good things.

(I hope to use the season and additional writings to work past the long, lonely summer of isolation, so I am hoping to bring more public thoughts like this forward. Hope everyone enjoyed week one!)

Coach Taggart met with the media today for this 22 minutes Q&A.

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It's too smokey to go outside, so turned on the 2d half. Fun watching the old school power game. Looks like another good year for Tech. Tenn, like TX, never seems to "do something."

What do you think?

D/ST grades

(I buried this this in an aged thread, but then decided it ought to be its own discussion. A Nebraska preview: )

Huskers could be more physical. They have a new defensive coordinator in Bob Diaco. Riley parted ways with his long-time sidekick Mark Banker.

It's weird about Riley. Football's ultimate nice guy has achieved below the level of predecessor Bo Pelini, who won 9 or 10 games every year but alienated everyone, yet he never makes any of those "hot seat" lists (6-7, won a bowl, 9-4, lost a bowl). With a new quarterback and a new DC this year, he'll be challenged to hit that 9/10 win threshold that Big Red fans expect, with a fervent hope of returning to the glory years of eight conference titles in every decade.and multiple national championships.

Riley is a decent man who teaches well and relates well to players, but he's not the guy to bring back the glory. He lacks the drive and vision for that task, conditioned by years of doing something with less.

Last year NU started better but finished the season losing four of six.. They won their first 7 and reached #7 in the country before falling to #11 Wisconsin at Camp Randall, 23-17 in overtime. The next week Riley's squad got crushed by Ohio State at the Horseshoe 62-3. They beat Minnesota and Maryland at home, then stumbled on the road at Iowa in their regular season finale, losing 40-10. Tennessee ran all over them in the Music City Bowl in Nashville, 38-24. Vol quarterback Josh Dobbs ran for three touchdowns and 118 yards and threw for 291 yards and another score

In short, Coach Jiminy Christmas has not fielded a good road team. They tend to win the easy ones and struggle in big games, good for about one surprise a year.

Interestingly, they beat Wyoming last season in a tune-up at Lincoln, 52-17.

This Husker team has good talent at receiver in Stanley Morgan Jr. and De’Mornay Pierson-El. Four of five starters return on the offensive line. At quarterback,Tulane transfer Tanner Lee is decent but he's no Justin Herbert (6-4, 220, 23 career TDs, 21 INTs for the Green Wave).

Lead running back Terrell Newby has graduated, so they're looking to rely on a committee of .Devine Ozigbo, Tre Bryant and Mikale Wilbon, who combined for 501 yards last season.

Like Jim Leavitt, Diaco is installing a base 3-4 defense. He has a couple of 300-pounders to anchor the 3-front. The linebackers are inexperienced, but the secondary is the strength of the team. It features Joshua Kalu, Aaron Williams and Kieron Williams. Kalu is one of the best safeties in the country.

Banker's last defense allowed 23.9 points and 363 yards per game.

A lot has been written about the composition of the crowd for NU at UO. Some have said that Big Red fans have been snatching up tickets in the secondary market, even going as far as buying season tickets to attend one game. The speculation is that Autzen could look like a Rose Bowl with as many as 20,000 of the spectators in Cornhusker Red. How real is that concern, and will it change the noise level or reduce the home field advantage?

I wrote an analysis piece about tonight's game and why it is worth watching for Duck fans.

Taggart era begins tonight

I'd be surprised if he doesn't land somewhere soon

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Coach Taggart was a fairly happy man after the Ducks big win.

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Why does anyone who watches UCLA call Oregon "soft?"

I could swear I read/heard this somewhere recently, but can't find it. Anyone know if it's true? Maybe it wasn't the final cut, but it sure sounded like it.

The Ducks opened the Willie Taggart era with the most points scored by Oregon in the modern era (post World War II). The last time the Ducks scored more than 77 points was a 97-0 win over Willamette in 1916.

· SR RB Royce Freeman had game-highs in rushing yards (150), carries (23) and touchdowns (4). As a result, he moved into seventh on the Pac-12’s all-time rushing list with 4,296 yards and his 48 rushing scores place him in a tie for fifth in conference history with Arizona’s Ka’Deem Carey (2011-13) and UCLA’s Skip Hicks (1993-97).

· Freeman moved past Kenjon Barner (2009-12) on UO’s total touchdown list with 52, six shy of LaMichael James’ (2009-11) school mark. Freeman’s 100-yard rushing effort was the 23rd of his career, three in back of James.

· Freeman passed Jonathan Stewart (2005-07) and Sean Burwell (1990-93) on the Ducks’ career list for all-purpose yards and now ranks fifth with 4,996.

· The Ducks set a new Autzen Stadium record with nine rushing touchdowns. The previous mark was seven, achieved on four previous occasions.

· SR RB Kani Benoit had the first multiple-touchdown game of his career, scoring on runs of 10, 29 and 1 yards. He finished with 107 rushing yards on seven carries, breaking the 100-yard plateau for the second time in his career.

· SO WR Brenden Schooler, a starter at safety last season and the first true freshman in team history to lead the squad in interceptions (4), made two catches for 12 yards in his debut on offense. UO’s third-leading tackler a year ago (74 TT) also recorded one tackle on special teams.

· SO WR Malik Lovette, who started at cornerback in the Ducks’ most recent game - the 2016 Civil War - made the first reception of his career, a 27-yard grab in the first quarter.

· JR CB Ugochukwu Amadi recorded his third career interception and first since 2015.


· SO LB Troy Dye had the second interception of this career. He also had a team-high 10 tackles - the sixth double-digit tackle game of his career.

· JR RB Tony Brooks-James returned the games’s opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. It was his first career return TD and the fifth of 100+ yards in UO history. SR WR Charles Nelson had 100-yard kickoff returns in 2015 and 2016. The last time Oregon started the season with a touchdown on the opening kickoff was 1997, when Saladin McCullough ran one back 93 yards to the house.

· With a pari of pass breakups, SR CB Arrion Springs moved into ninth on Oregon’s career list with 27.

· Nine true freshmen made their collegiate debuts for the Ducks: S Billy Gibson, CB Thomas Graham, NG Austin Faliu, WR Johnny Johnson III, CB Deommodore Lenoir, WR Darrian McNeal, S Nick Pickett, NG Jordon Scott, P Adam Stack.

· Saturday’s game marked only the fifth time in Autzen Stadium history that the temperature was 90 degrees or higher at kickoff (90). The warmest temperature for an Autzen kick was 91 vs. Michigan State on Sept. 6, 2014.