Good morning, Beavlettes (important: please read the entire post).
As you might have noticed, features on the site are beginning to break. The Twitter feed is no longer scrolling, for example. There are other issues with security that require fixing. Between fixing the technical issues and creating content, AB is taking up too much of my time. I have many other ventures going on (I run several sites, write books, perform music, daily work, teach guitar lessons, have a patent I’m working on, etc) and recently purchased a house that’s going to demand some time to get where I want it. So, where do I find the time to redesign this site from scratch, which is what it needs, and continue to produce content? I can hire someone; I can do it myself (CS background). But either way it’s time or money, which you all know are two sides of the same coin.
For this reason, I am once again asking for ABers to become Monthly/recurring donors. The Patreon type model where you donate what you can and do it every month (if it’s $1 so be it, but realize PayPal takes 33% of these smaller figures). This method is much better for me than asking for one time donations because I can more reliably budget time and/or hiring someone to do jobs for this site (e.g. I might just hire a programmer to fix this theme if it’s cheaper/less time than redesigning the site myself). I also then don’t have to ask for hosting fees, etc as often. The site would flow more smoothly and on point without these types of interrupting posts. I hate asking for donations and doing so ruins flow, so the Monthly thing just works. I’d also like to pay NiceBeaver for his work. The guy is busting his ass with recruiting info to the point it’s better than all the mainstream sites, and right now I give him half of the yearly donations, which IMO is not just compensation for the work he puts in.
Just saying. Something has to change because my time has become more valuable, the site is breaking before our eyes and needs repair, and we have “staff” (NiceBeav…and OldBeav deserves a bit for his pinch hitting) in addition to myself that should be paid for their effort.
To setup recurring donations: simply hit the donation button, and at the bottom there will be an option to make it recurring Monthly. We have over 350 subscribed members. If each one donated $1 per month we’d be set. So it doesn’t take much. I have no idea how many of those members are active, but even if it’s half we’d be set. If you’re comfortable donating $15 per year instead donate $1 per month and just make it recurring. That is a better model for me because I then know reliably what’s going to be coming in each month and can budget. It is better than one time donations. One time donations are great, but they’re hard to budget.
Also, feel free to go off topic, but don’t ignore the topic. We need action.
This degenerate donated.
Only a one time donation. Which I’m happy to do once a year if necessary.
Really appreciate it.
Speaking of site redesign, give me some ideas for what you want (browse wordpress themes).
I like this minimal design, but this theme has never been updated (since 2009), so it has to go. A lot of the PHP is old and broken. We’re running PHP 5.6 and they’re on 7.3 now. If I update to 7+ the layout breaks because the PHP developers made changes to the language over the years.
This will have to happen in the offseason when football is done because it might take a week or two.
I know this isn’t where web design is going, but keep it clean, minimalist, and loading fast. That’s probably the easiest thing to maintain, too (who has time to mess with images?)
How much monthly does it take to run the site? If your not comfortable answering that’s total fine. Also sent some shekels your way. Hope it helps.
I like the minimalist design personally, no frills site for a no frills athletic program….
The web hosting expenses likely aren’t huge, but they do add up. Likely _at least_ a couple hundred bucks per year. Then there’s all the time and effort put in by angry and nb that deserves to be compensated. I used to operate a site with comparable traffic, and while I did it primarily out of love of the subject and community, I completely understand and agree with angry’s point about it taking time – time which could be spent profitably (and more sanely!) elsewhere.
AB has basically survived on angry’s and NB’s volunteer work. That’s not a sustainable model.
I’m not sure. In the past I ran it as a volunteer/hobby thing so I never looked into it that way; I’d just ask for donations if a big bill (hosting, etc) came in. But now, due to having less time for hobbies, I can’t afford to do that for myself (and I hate not being able to give NB fair compensation). That’s what I’m trying to stress. Scotty is pretty accurate below, and what it costs depends how much you value your time were you to be doing something else. “Opportunity cost” of working here for free doesn’t make sense given what’s been going on lately. I still like running AB but really hope we get monthly donations to keep this going. Short of that I might have to change formats to something like a YT podcast where I get paid for the time put in.
I would like to donate, and would be happy to write a check, but I’m an old guy (nearly as old as OOB) but the only commerce I conduct online, and even then out of necessity, is buying airline tickets. There may be others like me who are either old fogies or averse to on-line commerce who would subscribe the old fashioned way. To protect yourself you’d need to get a p.o. mail box. I know that’s shifting the responsibility but it’s a variation for aging baby-boomers in the AB Nation.
Hey WB.
Is the email you have for this account (comcast address) the best to reach you? If not write me — the contact button on the right.
Btw angry, we haven’t had a soapybeavs update in a long time
Ha, I was just thinking about this the other day. I’m looking for a new beard soap, the company I bought from stopped makeing the stuff I really liked. Now I’m looking for something new.
Soapybeavs is still going as a hobby business. I don’t try to grow it, so it’s really a word of mouth thing. Right now my biggest client is Intel. I sell them several dozen bars per year at Christmas time.
If you guys need something let me know. For beards I like pinetar soap. It takes some getting used to the scent, but once you do, there’s no going back. I’m going to be making a fresh batch of that soon if anyone wants dibs. I should have 10 bars by need weekend. Pine tar is probably the most technically challenging soap to make. The seize time on your batter is only seconds. If you google it you might see the horror photos. I think I make one of the best pinetar bars out there. I’ve been considering specializing in that one bar.
The stuff I was getting was a liquid wash, but they decided to go to bars and didnt make that specific scent anymore. I emailed them twice because of gotten beard butters from them for 4 or 5 years, they never responded. Kind of douchy, but whatever I’ve moved on. If you have a bar of the pine tar not spoken for I’d be intrested in it.
I’d be interested in one of your pine tar bars!
Yeah the liquid soap with jojoba oil is very popular for beards. I’ve tried it and did like it, but I like pinetar better. Wriggs, I will let you know when they’re done. They take 2 weeks to cure after making them, so it might be ~ 1 month.
I’m in for a bar also.
Awesome, sounds good to me I’m in no rush.
Just made a special donation in honor of the lovely Hawaii game ;)
Thanks for running the site, angry and nicebeaver!
That’s funny. Thanks, Scotty.
I remember a few years ago when I asked about donating you (angry) seemed suspicious and gave me the feeling you didn’t trust my intentions. Now you’re like Geldof at Live Aid…”give me the fucking money”!
My how times have changed! Put my donation where it’s needed most.
That Geldof comment/analogy is hilarious. Back then I had more free time, so time here wasn’t as valuable. Maybe I had more paranoia, too (as all Birchers do)? I vaguely remember that discussion.
Thanks, CJ.
Some bad injury news coming out. Yes, players are suspended for the first half but Gumbs out for the season with ACL and Eldridge hurt as well.
Tago out 2 weeks also. Eldridge is an ankle injury.
Luck o David beavs.
Dave’s not here man.
Back to funding — I recommend the recurring — you really don’t miss a buck or two each month, and if enough of us do it, Angry can count on a stable cash flow.
Thanks. It’s really the best method.
Lavaka and Hayes get a half game suspension. Fkn joke imo. This team is bad and neither of those players are going to change your W/L ratio, although Gus is more important. Hayes should be out at least a few games for punching a teammate.
Feel bad for Gumbs. Torn right ACL (his left while at Oklahoma), done for the year.
Luck o da Beavs.
Gumbs walked off the field fine. Very odd it’s season ending. Looks like that ACL is going to be an issue every year, or maybe it never properly healed?
edit: never mind — it was the other ACL.
It’s his other knee :(
Likely it was a partial, but still sucks. Not many are able to play effectively with two repaired ACLs.
Did Hayes play after his punch? Or did they pull him.
5:50 mark Smith says Luton is still the guy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwNnuHTDSDw
Dumb. Wasting a season of development for Gebbia on what exactly?
Bad look for JS imo. It’s a tough decision to bench him now and develop for the future but it’s one you’ve got to make a la Riley with Mannion/Katz.
Thinking JS is going to go down as the worst HC in Beaver history…. Sucks cause I was really rooting for the guy, but he’s Riley all over again.
So Luton won the starting job but should be benched because of a subpar 2nd half and replaced by a guy with no game experience?
This team hasn’t been competitive in years, Luton is gone after this year, what’s the upside of playing Luton and wasting another year of Gebbia’s eligibility? Serious question
They were competitive last game.
Luton has played well for 1.5 games and has not turned the ball over taken excessive sacks. If he struggles against Cal Poly or Stanford, then give Gebbia more game time. After 2 games you can’t determine the season is a lost cause and play only young guys. Smith would lose the team if he started playing for next year in September. They still need to win games for recruiting and fan interest. It’s interesting how many here thought GA lost the team by naming Luton the starter over MM3 and now that Luton has been voted a team captain by his teammates he should be benched after one subpar half. Why no concerns that Smith would lose the team if he benched the guy that won the job and has the respect of his teammates?
Because Luton and the game context gave Smith every reason to make a change without ”losing the team:”
1) if Luton jumped out of the plane on the way home, he couldn’t have hit water;
2) the D produced 2 TO’s in it’s “best” performance in over a year;
3) UH missed 3 FGs and kept the game within Beaver’s reach.
Insert Gebbia, bench Togiai, insert Musgrave, hand off a bunch, including Pierce(!), UH doesn’t know musgrave, who moves the sticks a few times, win game, go home.
Kick Hayes off team.
Name Gebbia starter, send signal to team that performance, discipline matter, move on. Questions?
ObjCritic for HC.
I mean that is the obvious, logical plan right there.
I wanted Smith in the applicant pool because of his coaching tree: Erickson, Petersen.
I was listening Saturday and it was so obvious ; Luton gave him a gift and he ignored it. I wondered if Smith is identifying with Luton as an “underdog?” Over the 4*?
How did Smith miss it?
And where was the value of the”experience and chemistry” in the second half?!?
And why aren’t people talking here about the “experience “ of the many defensive players? Why Does it only ostensibly matter for QB!?! Explain.
Yes.
Luton should have never been named starter unless the coaches considered this to be a bowl team (it isn’t) and felt Gebbia’s inexperience put those aspirations in jeopardy (it doesn’t). By all accounts, Gebbia played very well in Fall camp and made it a difficult decision.
This isn’t a bowl team, so what is the point of playing Luton? He’s a 6th year Sr with zero NFL potential that isn’t going to help us win any more games this season. He’s irrelevant. We know who he is. We’ve seen it ad-nauseam for 3 years. He’s not the worst QB ever, but he’s just… ok, not good.
We’ve got a young guy on the bench that could be GREAT and help change the trajectory of this program. What’s the point of holding back his development and potentially losing him to transfer?
It’s not because Luton had a bad half. He’s had a bunch of bad half’s. It’s because it makes no sense to play him in the context of developing the talent we have for the future.
Luton is now 2-10 as a starter.
Even if the losses aren’t entirely his fault, which is true, he certainly isn’t “willing” or leading his team to victory. He had a chance to make throws in the 2nd half and win that game despite any and all defensive problems. When I say good QBs mask bad Ds those are the exact moments I’m talking about. We are not a good team, but with a good QB we’d be 1-1 right now and likely 2-1 after Cal Poly. We might very well be 0-3 with Luton at the helm.
“Luton is now 2-10 as a starter.”
Luton vs Gebbia aside, Tom Brady would’ve been near 2-10 as a starter playing with this defense
No, he would have cheated his way to .500.
Translation: “Don’t bother watching us the rest of the season!”
Losing Gumbs is a gut punch. He was the best player on that defense and could actually cause havoc in the opposing teams backfield. That is really gonna hurt.
Yup, I had him as the mvp of he could stay healthy.
Not sure if this is true, but my buddy is adamant Gebbia is going to transfer out… Maybe the USC kid is coming?
Gebbia transfers twice. Seems tough but del Rio did it. Super sucks as he plays next year anyway.
LUTON did, but most of you Homers give him a pass
Lol – he was out of eligibility at the JC level so of course he transferred.
There is no way he is transferring. He would have to sit a year and he’s the starter here next year.
Who is your buddy, and what is his source?
The Luton decision (band name?) was terrible for so many reasons, but this was up there.
His buddy had a kid on the team… Like I said take it with a grain of salt. He spouts off almost as much jack did, so I’m not sure he’s in the know
Would he have to sit again? Or go the Nick Mitchell FCS route? And why do that when it’s obvious JL will get benched, get hurt or leave at the end of the season?
Maybe he doesn’t like Smith or trust the staff has his best interest in mind. Would you?
Serious question to ponder.
Gebbia is a high-academic achiever (one of the reasons I like him). It’s feasible he could be capable of graduating in June.
How much experience and chemistry did Smith have when he took over for the starter?
Different times, offenses, and completion percentage standards but…
Experience and chemistry are like salt and pepper. Need something good to put it on.
Playing Luton is like salting a turd.
Gebbia is going to get his playing time this year. Lutons going to start breaking down, each quarter he is getting worse. Imagine if we didnt have hodgins, he’d have no one to throw too. Not because hes the only good reciever but because luton is looking at him first to get him out of a jam on every pass play. That shit wont fly when league play comes, they’ll just blitz every down or double team hodgins. Then who is he going to throw too. The way it looks is luton will try and force plays to hodgins and start getting picked or over throwing him. I would assume Smith will notice that and put in gebbia. But I wont hold my breath.
Luton VS Gebbia is pretty far down the list of issues holding this team back.
In game coaching decisions
Penalties
Fighting
D line
LB depth
DB play
TE play
O line depth
Kicking
In no particular order those are bigger concerns than who the QB is after week 2
I guess but on our final drive the QB could have won the game despite all that, and he didn’t.
Reverend Beav is so obsessed with a shitty 6th year senior, he can’t get over it.. Lol. Seriously what is the upside of playing a guy who has 1 p5 win? I recommend re watching the last two losses and tell me who fucked up. Luton
Because I don’t follow the herd mentality here does not make me obsessed with Luton. I’m in favor of seeing Gebbia if Luton struggles this week or next but Luton is not the reason we’re 0-2.
Do you prefer a site where you say Luton sucks, you get 7 up votes and there are no other posts for hours? That would be worse than the bystander effect for Angry.
Speaking of the bystander effect, I saw less bystander D vs Hawaii. It was there but not as bad. I guess that was our massive week 1 to week 2 improvement.
The defense actually did something they made some stops and got some turnovers. Finally. At least they improved from last game. The offense regressed and it’s on the coaches.
There is very little creativity in the offensive playcalling. We have playmakers at the wide receiver and running back positions; why doesn’t Lindgren ever call wide receiver or half back screens? OSU often runs an inside zone, the defenders then stack the box, and Luton cannot reliably complete passes down the field. Last game the Hawaii linebackers were blitzing on third down often.
Fly sweeps, running the ball from the wildcat on second and short, triple option with Gebbia… there’s so much potential with the offense and the Beavs are squandering it. I’m glad that there’s a mix in tempo with the offense, because that worked in the first half when the playcalling was original.
Defense did a good job, considering Moore and Gumbs were out.
I wrote Jack again tonight. Or the ghost of Jack. It’s weird to think of my email sitting in his inbox, unread, for eternity…
Fingers crossed that he’s not a ghost…
Setup a donation.
Appreciate all the good analysis and quality content posted on here from the AB team: Angry, OOB, and NiceBeaver. Keep it up guys!
Happy to support ya.
Recurring! Very nice. Thanks.
Its looking more and more like we made a humongus mistake in selecting Smith over Beau Baldwin. Does anyone in their right mind think Baldwin would have selected Luton to start over over Gebbia.
Luton is a statue behind the center with no ability to do anything other than pass. Never saw a designed quarterback play called in the entire game last weekend, or even a scramble for a first down. We will never go anywhere without at least the semblance of a dual threat QB.
I don’t blame Luton for being gun shy to run, not after getting half killed aqainst Washington State a couple of years ago. But feeling sorry for him is not going to help this team get better. We need to go with a young talented gunslinger who has running ability and a chip on his shoulder to prove himself. We must give Gebbia an opportunity right now to turn things around before it is too late and this season, let alone the next several seasons, are entirely lost.
Smith’s failure to exert himself as the coach at this critical time reveals his timidity and lack of confidence to take the reins. We don’t have time to mess around anymore.
I’d like to make a post about these some day. A@A is going to claim that I’m guilty of the Dunning-Kruger effect. Preemptively eliminating that “joke.” But anyway, all humans suffer from this, so I wonder how they are effecting Smith’s (seemingly poor) decisions.
https://humanhow.com/en/list-of-cognitive-biases-with-examples/
Listened a little bit beyond the segment about Luton being Qb in the video above, where i think it’s Angie who asks Smith about the decision to fake punt on 4th down in our own territory. Smith goes on about being aggressive and football being a risk/reward game and that’s what he loves about the game…and we knew our D could hold them to 3, and we knew with 3 timeouts left we “could do some things” when we got the ball back.
That whole explanation was so frustrating for me to listen to.
For one, it sounds like Riley when he says we knew we “could do some things”
Two, risk/reward is a tool you should use to assess the best decision for the best outcome. High risk/low reward is the wrong decision 9 out of 10 times. Why not play the percentages and realize if you gift the opponent 3 pts in a tie game with under 4 minutes left, you’ll have a lower probability of winning?
Third, If you have faith in your defense being able to force a field goal, then you should have faith you’ll be able to punt the ball downfield and force a stop to get the ball back in equal or better field position. And who knows, they could muff the punt. Just dumb to gift points. Sounds more to me like he didn’t have faith in the defense getting a stop and didn’t think they’d have time to come back down and tie it later. At least that I could have believed.
Fourth, if your reasoning for faking the punt there was being aggressive, why did they settle for a 50+ yard Choukair field goal on the next drive to tie? Where did the aggressiveness go?
None of that sequence of the Q&A computed for me. When a coach statys talking in circles like that, it really sounds to me like they’re in over their head and not ready to run a team.
And this was the 2nd time they went for it on 4th down in our own territory on that same drive. They were fortunate to earn the 1st down the previous attempt so nobody questions it.
Man, and then later he talks about how Luton locked in on Hodgins when other guys were open and how he really should be looking at those other guys when they’re open.
No shit. We’ve been saying that for how many years?
He sounds like he’s telling us reasons why Jake isn’t the right QB, while also telling us Jake is the guy. Earlier he also said something about Jale having an off game and how sometimes you dont have your best game, but you have to play through it. This was against a terrible Hawaii defense. It wont get easier in league play. This wasnt a team that forces you to have a bad game.
Hodgins is great, but you’ve gotta be able to make other reads when they start throwing double coverage at him.
I know Gebbia only played one drive against Ok State, but if you go back to that drive, he really spread the ball around(and successfully led a scoring drive). He better get at least half of the reps this upcoming week. If Luton is a starting calibur QB, we should be up by a comfortable margin by halftime and Gebbia should get reps. If Luton isnt a starting calibur QB, he shouldn’t be on the field for 4 quarters against Cal Poly anyway.
This weekend is their best chance to give Gebbia a meaningful opportunity to gain experience. If lack of experience is his main knock, get him some freaking experience.
Have you seen that Millennial “Can’t get a job without experience, can’t get experience without a job” meme?
I havent but will look it up.
I was just reading that Humanhow article you linked and noticed some of the decision making Smith talked about in the video fit some of the cognitive biases listed, like Affect Heuristic and Decision Fatigue.
Smith went with his gut on the 4th down fake punt rather than weighing the actual risk/reward appropriately. And he’s probably just overwhelmed.
It’s an interesting read
Yes, bias is one of the most fascinating subjects. I hope to make a post about it soon. Everyone should read that just for their day to day life.
Also, check out the “Pain of paying” one. That could explain why people are hesitant to do the recurring payment and instead opt for the one time.
That was going around 60 years ago, and probably before that; the Millennials didn’t come up with it, but maybe they first called it a “meme.”
Impossible……….they invented everything.
Spread the ball around in all 3 of his completions
Angry, A new monthly contribution from an OLD supporter. Keep up the good work and THANK YOU to nice beaver,
I paid up.
My hope is that Smith is counting on being able to win easy vs Cal Poly with Luton starting. Then using the bye week to install Gebby for the PAC schedule, thereby bringing some unknown into PAC week 1 and stacking the deck for a win. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a transition to Gebby during the Cal Poly game though.
“Stacking the deck for a win.” Lol.
The QB situation is a good example of prioritizing the short-term over the long-term.
Smith’s not planning for the future. His future at OSU isn’t certain. He doesn’t have the time horizon we do because he could be fired 13 months from now and the next few years of OSU football wouldn’t matter to him. He feels pressure to show some kind of improvement in W-L, so in a QB competition that he feels is a toss-up, he went with “intangibles” that he thinks are immediately beneficial over potential, which may take months to translate into results.
He didn’t help himself with the terrible Year 1. He has to show some progress in the form of wins in Year 2, otherwise he’ll be on the hot seat going into Year 3 and recruiting suffers because you can’t sell the “improving program” vision when you showed no improvement in Years 1-2. If we can’t win 3 games this year, Year 3 will just be a formality.
Still, we have plenty of other problems to fix (e.g. the defense is still giving up as many yards per game as last year). I still maintain that there wouldn’t be enough variability in QB performance between the two to impact our results.
It would be interesting at some point mid-year to evaluate how much progress has been made compared to where GA left things. JS did inherit a program in terrible shape, so that has to be taken into consideration.
I don’t think Jonathan is close to being on the hot seat. Vegas didn’t expect anything from OSU this year. Our schedule is not friendly. And there is no way in hell we run the QB of our best team of all time out of town after 2 or even 3 seasons.
I think its time to see Gebbia too but I don’t think its right to rip on Luton. Ol’ Lute hasn’t even thrown a pick this year. He hasn’t imploded, just hasn’t taken advantage of some opportunities, and he’s relying on Isiah too much.
Of course he’s not on the hot seat now, but it doesn’t take a giant mental leap to imagine he will be soon. What does OSU tell fans after a possible 1-win season?
Luton’s fine. My problem isn’t with him. It’s with the team not making any visible progress over last year.
I was watching the Army/Michigan game this last weekend. As a buddy of mine put it, if the Beavs had Army’s defense they would be a very good team. Luton on the Beavs just isn’t getting it done. You combine that with a below average (not as terrible as last year) defense, special teams that seems to stink, and some inexperience coaching moves there is a very small margin for error.
I haven’t seen much said about special teams. There is the kickoff coverage that Hawaii exploited and then Beavs finally kicked it short. Those are big field position battles that make a difference.
On the Gebbia transfer front, maybe he sees Gulbranson coming in and the whispers of the Beavs going after other transfers and feels left out. Gulbranson has been lighting it up.
I don’t think Luton is the short term answer either. Nobody explains why Luton’s “experience” and “chemistry” weren’t the positive difference in the second half. Is there real chemistry, or just a reliance on Hodgins? An argument can be made that if Gebbia is simply going to throw to the open man instead of rely on Hodgins that the team will benefit.
You want to help the D? Convert third downs when you have the ball. Luton still isn’t reliable in that aspect.
You want to help the D? Use more Pierce. That’s no knock on Jefferson, who is great, but Pierce has shown in disparate examples of Ohio State and Hawaii that give him a few carries and he’s an impact player. Give Pierce more second half carries at Hawaii and its likely a different outcome.
Gebbia is the short term answer with a run-heavy offense and near and the long term answer with an offense that becomes progressively balanced.
Well put…
Exactly…….Give Pierce more second half carries at Hawaii and its likely a different outcome.
We need an Angrybeavs fundraising drive like OPB has. Different tiers of rewards:
$5 – anonymous avatar in your posts become South Park American instead of South Park Canadian
$20 – bar of soapybeavs
$50 – tweet on @BeavRecruiting
$100 – nuke a comment of your choosing (limited quantities available, as Jack only has so many thousands of posts)
We can do something like that.
Also something like a topic selection of your choice.
Is this weeks game going to be on MySpace, AOL or Facebook?
I heard it’s on Friendster.
Per a university release all Oregon State football games going forward will be streamed on pornhub due to the amount of ass rape being administered by the opponent.
Ed Ray was quoted “Our opponents better “bring their A game cause they’re gonna rape our butts”
Hi Angry…. Just set up a reoccurring monthly donation. Hope your request for some financial support is fulfilled.
Kick me an email with a secure mailing address and I’ll also send a gift card for some Starbucks.
I was in the “Let’s give the 12th year senior a shot to see if the game has slowed down and he lives up to his measurables” camp. I hoped everything had clicked, that he’d have a Moore style senior year, lead us to a bowl game and have a Disney movie finish/opportunity to carry a clip board for a couple years in the league.
It’s become clear already that the game hasn’t slowed down, and he won’t be leading us to a bowl game. He still locks onto his primary and rarely scans through progression, so he won’t sniff the NFL. That’s a must for a “Pocket Passer” and if he isn’t doing it by his 6th year he will never cut it.
The Hawaii game wasn’t a “bad game” for Jake, it was an average game. A power 5 qb should beat Hawaii on an average day. Especially when our D held them to 31 at home (double especially considering the shitty field position they were up against multiple times from coaching mistakes.) He’s had somewhere between 1 and 3 good games in total as a player for OSU. Between our receiving and RB core we have a power 5 offense with a Mid-major QB. The experiment needs to end.
Unless Gebbia is unlikable and will tear apart the team, it seems he should be given the Cal Poly game as an opportunity to prove himself. At this point the season isn’t lost but we need to sell the future. Showing high calibur recruits that better talent will play over experience ie: early playing time is the main thing that will sell. Even if Gebbia is a dickhead (which I’ve seen no indication, just a hypothetical) but leads the team to victory they’ll embrace him. Winning fixes almost all problems.
One last point on Luton: I understand it’s his life and he only has a small portion of it left for football, but with his past injuries at this point he should probably hang it up and focus on the future. Another concussion or spinal injury could ruin his life, and he’s proven football will not be his profession. Unless it’s in a coaching capacity.
Snaps sent your way hombre
Thanks, boss!
Moore was a 4-star UCLA recruit who everyone in the PAC wanted, though. He’s very different than Luton in pedigree. Not that that’s the end all, be all, but if other teams in your conference want nothing to do with a player the odds are that player isn’t good, not that he’s good and everyone missed (though this does happen occasionally). If anything Gebbia is closer to Moore in that he can throw, run a bit, was a 4-star via a highly rated school, and everyone wanted him.
I didn’t realize it until I looked it up just now, but Gebbia had an Alabama offer out of HS.
Yeah he had a ton of prestigious offers and for good reason. The guy needs to start this week and give the season some hope.
Here’s the plan:
Run the ball down Cal Poly’s throat and put the game out of reach by halftime. Put in Gebbia for the second half and let him run through the play book. Everybody sees how much better he is, he stays in the rest of the year.
Ah, wishful thinking is fun.
So for anyone who donated: make a list here of topics you’d like covered in the future. I can work through them over time.
Listened to the press conference again, I’m struck by the compliments Smith gave out. Tibs, Lindgren, and Blue, among the staff all received kudos. Several players, including even Lavaka and Hayes also got some form of “atta boy”. Only Togiai was called out, and he still got credit for a good work ethic.
While some coaches go too negative, seems to me Smith errs on the other side. A balancing act probably only learned by experience. Still, hearing that guys have a “good work ethic” and that they “deserve to play” (repeatedly said of Luton and Jefferson) is getting old given the bottom line results. (understand, I think Jefferson is great but that AP “deserves” to get carries as well, and not just 1 for every 3 by Jermar as is the record so far.)
WRT Luton/Gebbia, isn’t it time for the aggressive Mr. Smith to gamble that some players are “gamers” and some are great “practice/work ethic” guys? Luton’s performance in the second half vs Hawaii isn’t the only indication that he isn’t the “gamer” needed, there is also the second quarter the previous week.
You can’t deny that Luton has some guts; coming back from that spinal injury and all. Still, I’m now wondering if he was voted Captain and mentioned confidently by a few teammates at least partially out of sympathy. Maybe Smith is influenced by, not only that 6’7″ stat, but some sympathy as well.
Are there some knocks on Pierce for pass blocking or pass catching? I’m wondering why he isn’t used more?
I get that Jefferson is great, but unless Pierce has blocking/catching issues, it doesn’t seem like they’re using him enough and getting the most effective balance. And I can’t see leapfrogging Baylor ahead of Pierce, which seemed to be the case in game 1(?).
The OC is supposed to favor using multiple backs, but Smith talks like you can’t take carries away from Jefferson given his production but I don’t think that’s true.
In Jefferson and Pierce OSU is fortunate to have one of the best backfields in the country but they need to refine how they use them and get the most out of them.
Actually, AP is considered a very good pass catcher out of the backfield.
It was especially frustrating to see Jefferson somewhat gimpy in the second half while AP sat, if the two aren’t gonna be on the field at the same time (wing T ??), at least don’t over use one at the expense of the other.
So far this season JJ has 47 carries for a 5.7yd avg while AP has 15 for an avg of 8.8.
AP was one of my favorite GA recruits. I remember writing something like he reminded me of an SEC type back. He’s actually slimmed down a little since then (or at least he looks leaner…not sure his exact weight then vs now).
Anyone who’s played competitive sports at least through high school knows that there’s a big difference between Practice Allstars and Gammers. Being able to figure who falls into what category can make or break a coach. My guess is Luton, Champ and Togai are all the former. Guys who excel when there’s no real pressure (not going full speed, no pressure of actually getting hit, etc…) but mentally fade do to fear (could be fear of letting people down, getting hurt, etc…) when under the bright lights. Gamers on the other hand practice at regular speed but have another gear once under pressure.
I’ve felt very good overall about the Smith hire, but am now noticing a potential chink in the armor. One that could lead to his downfall: which is getting the right players on the field.
Getting the right players on the field should be the easiest part of the job, too. Getting great players in the program is the hardest part.
Luton looked out of it on that final drive. The camera zoomed in on his eyes pre-snap and he looked like a deer in headlights. I knew then he wouldn’t be winning the game. The thing is, a good QB would have won the game there despite all the flaws leading up to that moment.
In theory yeah, but some guys preform so much better in practice that it’s almost impossible to not start them.
They have to play themselves out of a job on game-day. Hopefully Luton is close, and Irish is close to passing Champ (or Bradford Healthy.)
Champ is fine as a niche returner. But not a starting WR. And Togai: his game drop percentage has to be one of the worst we’ve ever had. I get he’s athletic and a tough cover, but stone hands fo sho. As a TE your’re supposed to be this huge dude with huge hands who catches everything you touch. Next
I think the starting WRs should be Hodgins, Taylor, Irish. Flemings can be a in 4WR sets, kick returns, punt returns. Musgrove would be an upgrade at TE, at least as a receiver. Gebbia at QB an upgrade. With that personnel we’d win some games. Might be a learning curve, which is why it should start vs Cal Poly. Having lived near San Luis Obispo for a decade and spending a lot of time up there, their program isn’t a joke. It is a perfect time to play these younger guys because Cal Poly is decent yet not PAC level talent.
Togai = Oh Bum Watch Em part 2. Coaches too stubborn to put him at DE, where he belongs and where we have a great need.
Spot on
JS’s mantra should be, “Best player will play, Experience and Tenure don’t matter.” But instead, we have, “Best practice player will play, Experience, Tenure, and trying to get a QB to the NFL this year is priority 1.”
Putting in Gebbia during Cal Poly early will actually help the team with the mindset of, “We’re going to start Luton, and the first 3 and out or turnover in the game, Gebbia goes in next series. If he gets us in FG range or a TD, he plays the rest of the game and we rest Luton.
Ironically, the longest recurring donor just cancelled his recurring.
Jack’s wife cleaning up his financial affairs?
That’s an excellent thesis.
Jack had a wife? Some woman actually put up with his bullshit?!?!?!?
That poor woman.
Speaking of poor women, Whiskey met a wonderful gal in October 2017. We’re getting married in Reno on Halloween.
Proof that there’s someone out there for everyone since she tolerates this asshole.
Wow, nice man.
Congrats.
OT-
https://www.wweek.com/news/2019/09/09/oregons-public-records-czar-abruptly-resigns-after-just-18-months-on-the-job/
https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2019/09/a-federal-investigation-into-nike-just-do-it-steve-duin.html
Wouldn’t be much of a stretch for these to be related to each other.
Sorry angry, due to the whole death thing, I don’t have access to my bank account. Man it’s hot down here and the only thing on TV are early/mid 80s beaver football games.
I’m sure those 2015-2019 Beaver football games will be on in syndication down there soon enough
Coast Guard flyover is a cool idea for this weekend
Angry, wanted to do a monthly recurring payment. Anyway to not use PayPal?
Yes, you click the donate button, and under the “recurring payment” option you can use a debit or credit card. It’s a second button right under the PayPal option. Thanks, buddy.
GA was shamed for bringing in his guy, Luton, to takeover. Smith brings in his guy, Gebbia, but Luton beats him out and is named the starter. Now Smith is shamed here. You can’t have it both ways. At least Smith is more concerned with winning than playing “his guy”. Which is why I believe he will replace Luton with Gebbia when he believes Gebbia gives us the best chance of winning.
I see what you did there.
Nobody “shamed” anyone, for one, but you’ve convoluted coaches playing worse players (Luton over McM, Luton over Gebbia ) which is a personnel decision with the coaches bringing in their personal recruits.
The bottom line is both of those coaches played the worse QB. GA paid for it big time. If he played McM there’s a very good chance that regime would have looked different. Smith is making the same error. Luton has been a big problem for this program, though ultimately that’s on GA.
What’s Luton’s W-L record? How high is he ceiling for the program?
This is comical. Unless other areas of the team improve significantly we’ll be having these same conversations next year. I’ll be defending Gebbia, and you all will be pining for the true freshman to play because Gebbia isn’t winning games either.
Probably not, because Gebbia will graduate and transfer to Fresno State just before the season starts and proceed to light the Mountain West on fire for the next 2 seasons, and we’ll be forced to start the true freshman with no depth to back him up.
His*
Donation sent, long time reader, limited comments. Living outside of Oregon this is my go to site for beaver news. Love the no frills format, hopefully it can continue.
Extremely generous donation, thank you.
I’m extremely fortunate to be in a position to contribute, whether it goes to the site, you or NB its well worth it. I look at it as past due membership dues, if i wasn’t getting my beaver info here I’d be over paying for worse content on some other site. Thank you for all your work.
Thank you Ackrite(and everybody else who has been able to contribute)
And thank you Angry, for keeping this pirate ship floating over the past decade.
I think I started reading this site around the time when OSU was first recruiting Thomas Tyner. It’s been a good ride so far. We even have seen a few wins during that span. Long live the AB community.
https://youtu.be/PjDBTCLbuFA
I told all you guys years ago that LAVAKA sucks. I made a name for myself flat backing that tub of lard. Still can’t believe he made D1 let alone a starter. His cool guy shuffle step bullshit move was the laughing stock of our league back then. He’s always been light in the loafers. The fact that he threw those punk ass punches into a helmet shows exactly the kind of person he is lol good luck with that guy! You could line me up on tons of fun right now and I would shove his fat ass flat on his back just like middle and high school and I’ve had zero training!