Home Football Can Jonathan Smith be Football’s Scott Rueck?

Can Jonathan Smith be Football’s Scott Rueck?

524

I’m curious to hear if you guys see similarities in the two.

To me, there are several:

  • Beav/Oregon ties, so their heart is more in it, and that shows.
  • Both seem like coaches the players like.
  • Both have a vision and confidence in that plan.
  • Intelligent and methodical.
  • Aggressive.

Do you guys see this? Do you see differences in Smith that will result in him not attaining high goals like Rueck?

524 COMMENTS

  1. Within the context of the established OSU narrative, Smith is intended to be the next Mike Riley. The verdict is still out on that, but we should know by mid-way through the next season if he will be successful, even within the limited parameters of that paradigm.

    Of course, what the program needs is a coach with a profile or distinguishing persona that can be translated to recruiting success. By definition this means someone who has been a successful head coach elsewhere. Even within the Riley paradigm Smith lacks that. OSU needed a Beau Baldwin or Les Miles type. In short, the second coming of Dennis Erickson who is confident in his abilities that is translatable to an on-field “swagger,” in the best sense of that word.

    • OSU needed a Beau Baldwin or Les Miles type. In short, the second coming of Dennis Erickson who is confident in his abilities that is translatable to an on-field “swagger,” in the best sense of that word.

      Baldwin is unproven, and Les Miles hasn’t proven anything except at a school where it’s easy to win. I’m not sure that personality is needed. Casey and Rueck didn’t have that personality, and they’re our best coaches in recent history. Smith seems a bit in their mold to me. I don’t like the stink of Riley that’s infected him on some level, but ignoring that, I see similarities to Rueck.

      Ps. We just had a proven guy with swagger in Andersen…that didn’t turn out so well. The Ducks last two guys have had swagger, and that hasn’t worked out too well for them, either.

      I can see Smith being a Billy Snyder type…steady and well respected.

      • Baldwin was successful at a lower level, including a championship I believe, just like Casey and Rueck were. Casey doesn’t have the reputation of an Ericksonesque type of swagger, but having watched him coach in person dozens of times over the last few years he has a focus and demeanor of seriousness that Riley, for example, never showed. One counterfactual analogy. If Casey was coach of the football team, Choukair would never have seen the field again after the Nevada game. He would have gone for 2 pt. conversions or 4th downs or he would have held tryouts. Actually, in a not so counterfactual manner, he would have talked Rutschmann into coming back as a kicker.

        Anderson didn’t have swagger. He talked tough but there was no narrative surrounding him that vested him as a differentiating identity. Here’s what I mean: even when Leach and more recently Miles were out of coaching, you still saw or heard from them in the sport’s media circles.

        • This isn’t women’s hoops with a clean slate or baseball transitioning from that lower level ball, like Rueck and Casey did. Baldwin is pretty well proven by this point. he’s a mediocre coordinator on the FBS level.

          And the 2017 CW Eve Massacre proved what kind of man he is–that who is very far from the prototype of what you’re trying to describe.

      • I think I said this before, I always thought of JS as an Erickson guy with a little touch of MR, we will see how it plays out long term. Also, Rueck and Smith are both short, maybe that’s the secret. Tinkle is tall and has failed so far.

    • “within the context of the established OSU narrative….” Can I get some grey poupon mustard to go along with that “within the context of the established OSU narrative…” Who the crap talks like that and why?

      People that use trendy words or phrases such as “granularity, robust, narrative, etc., etc., etc., sound ridiculous. I get it all the time at work where someone has picked up on the trendy words and it just sounds like they’re trying way too hard to sound intelligent and important.

      This is a blog and not some stuffy Ivy league Board Room meeting. Clear and plain English is something that is so much more enjoyable to read.

      • Oh, I forgot one….and it’s a favorite of mine….”optics”. “The optics regarding this matter are…..” Sheesh, let’s get back to reality and use some plain freaking English instead of this mumbo-jumbo to satisfy a need for attention.

  2. I personally think Smith is the right guy for the head coach position. Not sold on his D coordinator though. Biggest disappointment for me of the season was not stacking the box in the second half of the Oregon game when their QB was hurt. We all saw how bad the Ducks played without him in last year and I just have no idea why they didn’t force that backup QB to throw the ball.

    • I agree with this. So terrible. I was drooling when I saw Herbert was out and never would have thought we couldn’t adjust to run after run. Embarrassing. Next year is a make for break year for Tibesar in my opinion. I’ll give him another year but it better be a lot better.

      • Bray and whoever the DB coach is need to be gone. I’d start with Bray and see if the secondary improves by not always having to clean up because the linebackers can’t tackle. Do they have a safeties coach? They looked decent but that’s not saying much.

      • Seems like Nebraska’s defense improved considerably with Bray gone, although to be fair I don’t know the player turnover from year to year.

    • They run specials all the time. Keep in mind, their goal is to get you to subscribe because subscribing is easy, but canceling is really difficult. Prepare to be put on hold during east coast business hours when you attempt to cancel, and if you dont cancel on time, prepare to have a full year added to your subscription. You’ve been warned

      • I dunno, I tried one of their free trial things back when Anderpants was hired and didn’t have issues cancelling. Then again, that might have been back when it was Scout or Rivals or whatever the old one was? Not sure.

  3. Smith won’t turn into Rueck, but it is because it’s football. Fans are much more impatient with football results than women’s basketball. Harder to keep momentum year after year in football and bball teams can be carried by just a few players.

    I’m optimistic on smith to get the program to at least be going to a bowl game every year. Unsure about a new years day bowl.

  4. I was all in on Smith this year until the CW. He made some boneheaded, not Pettibonehead, decisions that made me raise an eyebrow. The double reverse disaster that killed the momentum we had was the prime example. It was forced, not smart aggression. He will need a long leash to get us out of this tar pit. Still think he is the right guy.

    Tibesar’s D was an F minus. Ironically, my Badger friends are blaming his departure for the poor performance by their D and specifically their LB’s this year. Give him another year and a couple spare bodies along the d line before we pass judgment. If he is driving the recruiting on the defensive side they will probably go after some tall, lean guys with smarts that might have not played LB in HS.

    • This is what shocked me the most also.

      I don’t know the inner workings of the coaches responsibilities but is the entire staff that oblivious to the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents? I understand that Tibesar is new to the PAC 12 but JS has coached against Oregon for years. He knows damn good and well what happened to them the last time Burmeister was in. For him to not demand a defensive adjustment suggests some weakness in the knees. His job is to win college football games. If he has to step over his coordinator to make in game changes then so be it. It’s more than likely that he will never face a more opportune moment to come back and beat an entirely beatable Oregon team and he chose to sit on his hands.

      • One of the duties said to be assigned to smilin’ jack when the consultant thing started was scouting upcoming opponents.
        Just sayin’

        Not that it would take a coach or consultant to know that Burmeister was a proven very poor passer.

    • Smith had several boneheaded moments. The one you mention stands out as does Nevada…(not running it instead of relying on a back kicker).

      I’m not all in on Smith, but I see some similarities to Rueck. I also see some Riley in him…

      • I’m okay with the few boneheaded moments if he learns from them and its his first year so it was going to happen. In previous years, there was at least 10x the boneheaded moments.

      • 3-9 would have had a lot nicer optics than 2-10. Every win is precious for this program right now. You should be able to trust your kicker to hit from 32 yards out, but you can’t with this kicker.

    • He will have these tall and lean freshmen and redshirts to develop at DE and outside backer for next season:
      McCartan 6’5
      Bush 6’7
      Bickler 6’7
      Warrick 6’5
      Sharp 6’5
      Dawkins 6’5

      Plus with a healthy Irvine, Morris and Hicks Onu the defensive backfield should look much better.

    • I expected a little bit more going in and coming out of this CW. It was at our house and we should have been pretty well prepared. It was also Smith’s first as a head coach so it should have meant a little bit more than just your average PAC12 game. This was Oregon; those damned ducks! I just didn’t get that feeling as the camera panned Smith and the sidelines, though. Looking into the stands by the 4th quarter, there weren’t many people left.

      Another thing is, I felt Smith kept Luton in the game well passed his expiration date; how many interceptions does a guy need to throw? I was barely able to watch the game as each offensive series became more cringe-worthy than the last one. The end-zone leap leading to an interception was just a killer!

      I hope to see improvement in the coming year, but understand it may take another couple just to get back to even or better. Many of us have been through this before, with one year flowing into the next, with one unremarkable season following another. I loved Smith as a player and am really pulling for him as our head coach. I guess, though, I wish that maybe OSU hadn’t become his first head coaching position – I want to remember the good things he accomplished like routing Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl and crushing many of our PAC12 rivals. Time will tell if he and his coaching staff can develop the type of players we need to compete.

        • Have you taken the time to rewatch the play? The TE was open as you said but Dye made a hell of an athletic play to jump up and deflect the pass. Colletto didn’t throw it into the defenders arms like some try to make it sound. Oh, and Urban Meyer took out the best QB in the country twice on Saturday to put in a more mobile QB on the goal line. It worked for 6 touchdowns this season but on Saturday Dye made the better play. Keep it in perspective.

          • The whole point of jumping is so you can throw the ball where not even Yao Ming could have got a mitt on it. You have a wide open five yard box to lob an easy pass. There should be no chance for anyone to touch the ball.

            A major screw-up on that play would be an over-throw. An INT is unheard of.

          • I don’t want to see any play that involves Luton running or jumping. Now that you mention it though there was a 6’7 ASU QB back in the day that they used to put into to block field goals. I think Steve Campbell was his name. 6’7 was pretty unusual for a QB 20 years ago. Still a little unusual now I suppose.

  5. I think Tibesar needs to send Bray on his way and coach linebackers himself. You know he wants things done his way anyway, and there’s no amount of coach speak that is going to hide how bad they were.

    • Probably.

      I’m not sure what the whole middle of the D was doing. I’ve seen slower and smaller Dlines get support from slower and smaller backers better than this past year… at OSU. And it wasn’t really all that good then.

  6. I’ve given up predicting these things. I thought the Anderson hire was a great hire and I was excited for the future. Now, thanks to Riley and Anderpants, I am like a dog who has been kicked to many times… I won’t believe it until I see it. But I do like Smith. I think he loves OSU and for that reason alone I don’t believe he is here to use OSU like Riley and Anderpants have… but I could get kicked in the head again, you never know. I think his slow and steady will pan out… just hope I have the patience for it.

    This one thing is true. I would not want to be a D1 football coach in this day and age. It is a new game compared to even 10 years ago and I think being a D1 football coach is a short-lived affair.

    • From the spread, it’s a QB read. It’s pretty much just a numbers game trying to break down the D to a one-on-one situation, with the hope your QB can think on the fly. The only reason it works on the college level is because the Olinemen don’t become ineligible receivers until they’re four yards downfield. The other thing I’ve seen is that apparently college ball not only allows the weak side to be uncovered. It allows it to be empty.

      The pistol allows the RB an extra step to make a read, but at a downhill pace. So holes become bigger by virtue of the momentum of the play. It should not involve an option at the mesh. It should be a bang-bang play… maybe with play action… on 3rd and 56. If you slow it down with some option-fangle-dee-do, you end up running into the back of your Olinemen a lot of the time.

      But the pistol should be one of a variety of formations, not the system. Not a surprise to you all, I think it should be used along with several 21 formations from under C, with two RBs and a FB in rotation. With that personnel, you could potentially run a FB out of the pistol in a 12, or a sneak or dive out of the I. But training personnel in a constant weird fusion where you have WRs trying to block backers and Dlinemen doesn’t allow you to just run the basics well.

      The basics seem like an afterthought that people think should just work because they’re basic. I guess they forget that basic and easy are two different things. You still have to work at the basics.

  7. I can see Smith having a little Casey/Rueck in him, but I also think the football landacape is more competitive than Baseball and WBB.
    Most school’s dont put many resources into winning baseball or wbb since they’re not revenue generating sports. Smith needs his ADs support(and dwindling fanbase) more than the wbb/baseball teams do, and he just doesn’t get the resources to be on par with his peers. That alone will hold him back.

  8. What happened to Isaac Garcia? Couldn’t crack the starting D on this team? Remember how spazzed out we were that we were getting a USC worthy recruit? My concern is that I don’t know how you improve the speed on defense, other than find faster players over the long haul. I’m also sort of wondering if you can teach tackling at this level, if they haven’t already learned?

    On a side note: I think there’s a “Curse of Corey Hall” now in play. His HC at CMU got shit-canned with an 1-11 record. CMU had been decent until Corey and Xavier arrived.

    • Quick scan of stats shows Central Michigan at #36 nationally in total defense.

      #3 in passing yards allowed.

      #19 in defense vs pass.

      #61 in interceptions.

      I don’t think it’s a Cory Hall problem. In fact, I’d say Oregon State has a *lack* of Cory Hall problem.

      But I’m sure that’s all just talent level.

    • They really haven’t been good since Butch Jones. They’ve been teetering on mediocrity for a long time.

      And I think the coach had cancer some years back. I hope he’s not having to deal with that again.

      • No, I think it was just performance. They actually were in bowl games the previous four seasons. Western Kentucky fired their coach after just two seasons. Seems like the AD’s at these non-power 5’s who have success and then regress are quick triggered lately. Bowling Green axed their HC also and they won the MAC in 15. It’s interesting because if you’re really good, you’re going to leave anyway. I guess they can afford to churn until they find a good one.

    • I recall the twitter photo of Isaac Garcia posters covering the bed where he was going to sleep on his official visit. Whatever happened to Christian Wallace – supposedly 4-star – OSU nursed him through his academic difficulties – he’ll at least get a degree, I hope.

  9. Good question…

    I personally know Rueck. We grew up in same neighborhood and went to same HS… he’s a few years older than me but he was a gym rat and a pretty good point guard in the metro league even with his lack of size. His basketball IQ has always been off the charts and from an early age he was surrounded by great high school/college coaches. What separates Scott is his confidence plus a strong belief in his system, his ability to teach his system to his players/assistants, and his ability to build a strong family culture. He truly cares about his players/coaches and knows that if everyone buys in, winning will take care of itself. Before he got the job, I hoped he would be considered for it because I knew how much he wanted the job and there was no doubt in my mind he would be successful… none… granted I don’t think I saw this level of success.

    From a distance, I see similarities in how Casey built the baseball program… confidence, teacher, system, family culture. It’s a formula that you’ll find with many great coaches.

    Time will tell with Smith. He seems to have confidence in himself… hiring Riley is an indication of his self confidence IMO. He seems to have a solid system… at least offensively. He seems to understand the importance of culture and knows what will work in Corvallis but it will ultimately depend on his ability to recruit better talent. I think it’s easier to compete with lesser talent in Basketball and Baseball than in Football so it’s easier to show improvement/hope that you can recruit to. It’s harder in Football because you need to convince 20+ kids every year that there is hope. He’ll need to be an innovative recruiter to have success… and then he’ll need patience from the fanbase, alumni and university to establish himself and grow the program. At this point, I’d say it’s 50/50 at best he’s still the HC in 3 years.

    • Great insight on Rueck. In regards to Smith and recruiting, he’s going to have to take the old Boise St approach and be very good at identifying potential talent in overlooked players. Signing top 30 recruiting classes isn’t realistic any time soon. But if Smith can bring in the right guys and develop them over 4 and 5 years, a consistent top 25 team is possible. And then the recruiting classes will improve much like the Casey and Rueck formulas.

    • Good stuff. Do you see the similarities I’m seeing between the two, or is it a reach?
      Sometimes I fall victim to the “hopium” of Beaver Nation. I’m not sure if I want to see these traits in Smith or they’re actually there. I feel it’s the latter, but I’m biased.

      • Not sure yet. The thing about scott is he grew up rooting for the Beavs. He’s pure blooded Oregonian born and raised. When AC green, Jose Ortiz and GP were rocking Gill, Scott and his family were there. Then he’s a flat out great coach that truly understands the big picture of running a top notch program. The jury is still out on JS. Oregon State football legend, yes but not sure he truly understands how to build top program. Based on his resume, he’s probably a decent xo coach/strategic thinker. And I think he gets the Oregon State culture which has definitely helped Rueck… and Casey. If JS is able to pull this off and gets OSU to a Rose bowl some day then the narrative will be draw parallels between them. Which would be pretty cool.

    • From a distance, I see similarities in how Casey built the baseball program… confidence, teacher, system, family culture. It’s a formula that you’ll find with many great coaches.

      You forgot building and maintenance. Rueck was gifted the building, but he didn’t sit on his hands on the maintenance side. He keeps all channels open and succeeds at community outreach, helping others the way he was helped. Casey had to do the building on his own for a long time. You just naturally understand the maintenance once you know how it’s put together.

      9 can be that way as well, given how well he’s still embedded in OSU’s good graces. Community outreach should be a snap.

      But hiring MR was weak. He had a chance to work here twice previously, saying, “no thanks,” both times… once over the phone.

      ?

      You want to start your head coaching career with that in your ear? That OSU even allows it is beyond the pale.

      • I think Smith was sort of given a second chance to wash his hands clean of Riley, when Smilin’ took that spring league job, but no……he’s kept on as some kind of consultant.

  10. Eggers mentions what I was told a few weeks ago by a “source” that Blount is planning transfer. Also says Luton has applied for a 6th year, although it will be up in the air how the NCAA rules on it. I tend to think he doesn’t meet the criteria, but you never know.
    Without Luton, we’d be extremely thin at QB next year, so for that reason, I hope he gets it. Praying Gebbia lives up to expectations and stays healthy.

    https://pamplinmedia.com/pt/12-sports/413001-312961-kerry-says-beavers-next-season-is-the-offseason

  11. Blount made it official. Will he endure the same roasting as Luton and Colletto on here? Was awarded a scholarship and refused to give up his redshirt when needed last year. Now he transfers when things don’t go his way.

    • Eggers article above makes it sound like Luton has a better chance than I initially thought.

      I think it’s a bit premature on Blount’s part but if they’re thinking Luton probably gets another year and Gebbia is legit then he should probably start shopping around. I’d rather have the depth but he needs to look out for himself.

      • My complaint is he was put on scholarship before last season and Gebbia is an injury away from the job being Blount’s. I’d understand if he was running 3rd string. Luton coming back is a huge long shot. I’m sure there’s more to the story but not a lot/any reaction from his teammates on Twitter yet.

        • I don’t think its that complicated, he was an Andersen guy who is unlikely to start in 2019. Moving on makes tons of sense. He can go to an FCS school and start for 2 years or he can stay at OSU and hope Gebbia sucks/gets hurt. Obvious choice.

          The QB depth chart at OSU is not Blount’s problem. QBs who can start elsewhere (FCS or otherwise) leave when they know they aren’t the guy where they are.Guys with starting experience and film (or recruiting pedigree) that indicates they could start elsewhere simply don’t stick around as back ups anymore. Its the nature of the game in 2018.

          I’d expect a few more transfers announced.

          • I haven’t been shy about my feelings on Blount, he has moxiebut not a p5 skill set. Best or luck to him at the jc school he selects next, and maybe he makes southern oregon in a couple years a la Nick Mitchell

          • 2018?

            Attrition for reasons other than expended eligibility has been going on for decades. There’s no reason to worry about it unless we know the players personally. Life goes on.

    • Roasting. In 2017, when OSU was desperate for QB’s who could play because of injuries including to Luton, Blount insisted on having a red-shirt year. In other words, “I don’t care what the team needs, I’m thinking of my own future.”

  12. Good discussion here, I’m glad Casey was added to the conversation early on.
    I see a lot of similarities between the three, particularly regarding their attachment to OSU, their belief in their system, and the concern each (too soon to be sure of Smith on this) has with family atmosphere and the “whole” person.

    But they certainly are not carbon copies of each other.

    Casey has a trait which stands out; he makes no bones about saying that he hates losing. May have said he hates it more than he loves winning. He has also said that he only becomes friends with players after they graduate.

    The short pair seem more “long term” oriented, more even keeled. Not a bad thing. Don’t get me wrong, both have shown some emotion, just not as habitual as Casey. Of course, the length of Casey’s season allows us to see more of his “in the arena” attitude.

    Here is another similarity: they each seem to have a core compass, a self confidence that goes beyond their professional persona.

    EDIT: Bottom line, it’s the jobs that are different. Smith needs coordinators with Rueck/Casey qualities. The two he has deserve at least another season, but his choice of Riley means he already has one strike.

    • Casey has to continue to be the standard by which coaching deportment and success at OSU is measured. He doesn’t want to just win, he wants to win titles. (Same with Erickson by the way. You NEVER heard Riley talk about conference titles being the goal.) Casey’s favorite saying is “the players make out the line-up.” In a word: accountability. Failure to perform gets you a seat on the bench.

  13. The 2nd half of the Civil War really dampened my belied in Smith. Loading the box and making them beat you with the pass (in addition to trick plays when they weren’t needed blowing up in their face) were mistakes you wouldn’t see pee wee coaches making. It was almost comically incompetent coaching during that game.

    For me, I need to see several quality JC guys (and probably a PAC level QB added to the recruiting class) or I will likely treat 2019 the way I treated 2017 and get an extra dozen rounds of Saturday golf in.

    Even if they manage to get the recruiting class I still need to see some evidence that they know how to game plan because they have not had a single game yet where it appeared to bring their team out ready to roll from the opening kickoff. The in game adjustments had been there (till the CW) but game planning was a disaster all year.

    I hope for the best (and was on the JS bandwagon during the coaching search) but at this point I think we are likely looking for a new coach in 2021.

    • And just to add to that possibly looking at not even being in the PAC (for football) 10 years from now. I truly think the next round of TV negotiations are gonna see consolidation instead of expansion and OSU would be at risk of being left behind if they were winning, a losing OSU program is gone.

        • That will be the entire point, power vs power every week to sell networks

          Networks ain’t paying for an 8 o’clock game between OSU and WSU in the next TV deal.

          They’re gonna want national brands. Football is gonna consolidate. Conferences as we know them today may not exist in big time football come a decade from now.

          • If it’s consolidated, it’s more likely because insurance is increasingly trying to drop football from their NCAA plans. Less exposure means less cost.

            Consolidation will not increase ratings. Most people will tune the sport out. And when Dick the Duck starts collecting his farts in a bag and popping them in everyone’s face because they won seven games, even more will tune out.

            Football is a dying sport. But it’s also the revenue sport. But it’s dying. But it makes money.

          • Couldn’t disagree more.

            If you have USC vs. Alabama followed by Michigan vs. Washington week in and week out people are tuning in.

            And that is what I think happens. And yes it might be separate from the NCAA. But if you think it would hurt ratings you are nuts.

          • It wouldn’t hurt national ratings for those specific games. But it would kill local games, removing eyes from the sport.

            In the end, they would essentially do what boxing did–scramble the viewership in order to create their own promotion. And people wouldn’t be watching because they have some vested interest. They would watch for what I think you’re driving at–more compelling games. That only goes so far when you’re watching a sub-standard product. And even the forced parity would backfire in the end. When the new, smaller power set starts forming its own caste system, non-members filled with ticked-off talent will populate a much larger section of the football landscape than just one or two from this or that conference. And now the new power set has to pay for games that were once freely scheduled because of conference affiliation.

            What AD wants to set a schedule four to seven years out knowing that contingency looms large?

            I like this one.
            https://footballfoundation.org/news/2018/7/24/2017-18-report-amazing-college-football-popularity-highlighted-by-impressive-ratings-and-attendance-data.aspx?path=football

            What it doesn’t do is actually source its data. But some of it can be confirmed here.
            http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/Attendance/2017.pdf

            So there’s no reason to doubt their other numbers. Where there is doubt is the overall attendance numbers for the NCAA as a whole, something not mentioned in the first article. More TV eyes means more TV revenue… and less attendance revenue.

            Now cut 25 or 30 schools loose with your arbitrary consolidation. Those who are left out of the lion’s share of TV money won’t increase attendance, because any games which were once compelling because of history are now non-conference away games for cash.

            Screw that. The only reason I watch bad football is because my “doesn’t rise to the level of bad” football team is playing. If others discover they never really had any skin in the game, they turn off as well. You might as well make them a league of their own. Just rip the band-aid off instead of making people resent you over time.

            If they want to break away from the NCAA, go for it. That makes it more possible for the NCAA to finally construct a playoff and a real championship. As I said above, it would probably be too little too late since decreased revenues for the leftovers will price them out of insurance costs.
            https://www.courthousenews.com/insurer-seeks-dodge-liability-football-injuries/

            But we all know that the NCAA is good with those insurance companies and will get it figured out.
            https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2017/05/03/ncaa-lawsuits-insurance-claims-filed/101252660/

            Right?

      • the future of college football is actually a worthy thread topic. Wall Street Journal had a big spread on this a week ago. Declining attendance, declining participation at the youth level, going to some form of flag football.

        • I think that big of a shift is still quite a few years (decades) off.

          Participation is down but you still have millions of kids playing. And the sport is making changes to make the game more safe. I think as the new tackling techniques become ingrained and other safety measures (elimination the kicking game below college levels for instance) begin to take effect I think we will actually see a bump up in participation. Helmet technology is also improving (market demands being what they are).

          In Oregon kickoffs and punts are disappearing below the varsity level (they are optional as of now but the belief is that they will be gone completely within a few years), varsity will follow suit soon most likely.

          I think some other changes such as eliminating the 3 point stance on the offensive line will be coming next.

          I think the death of the game is greatly exaggerated. Boxing still exists and UFC is still a growing sport so I don’t see football disappearing anytime soon.

          The AAF is gonna be a pro league without kickoffs, if they succeed college and the NFL could quickly follow their lead as well.

          The game will change but its not gonna be flag football anytime soon IMO.

    • Agree. The second half coaching was incredibly bad. I too lost some confidence in JS after watching Ducks run repeatedly with no adjustments… and that trick play was so dumb.

  14. You guys Smith is an awesome part of Beaver history but he’s going to need better coordinators and recruiting otherwise it’s hard to see much more than a mediocre bowl game every few years. With the current staff there is almost no chance of a bowl. We need a reason for mid to high pac12 caliber high school kids to want to be here…

  15. Tried to find as much tape of Gebbia that I could.

    Here’s my take on him,

    Great high school QB. Stats are exactly what you are looking for (though inflated a bit since the WRs he had all committed to D1 schools). He’s got the potential to be a good/great college QB. He’s been through 2 spring practices now and will have a 3rd under his belt soon enough.

    The good stuff – Accurate, mechanics look solid, great release time,

    The ok stuff – Arm strength is adequate, speed is good enough to escape the pocket when needed but not to out run anyone. Needs to add just a little bit more size to his frame (Can’t hurt since he’s not really mobile).

    The bad stuff – he transferred the day after losing the starting job at Nebraska.

    Overall – He’s got a high ceiling, tape says he could be like Jake Browning or Brett Rypien. All had very similar profiles coming out of high school.

    One thing he is not is a QB who can take over a game with his arm, not a pro prospect at this point. He won’t make the impossible throws into coverage, stretch the field vertically or make the defense respect his running. He’ll take what the defense gives. He’s a QB who is going to get his playmakers the ball and let them work. Should be pretty lethal on intermediate routes.

    How he is between the ears is highly questionable. He walked away very quickly from Nebraska after losing the battle in fall camp and would have started this year after their QB got hurt in the first game. A short sighted decision? Can he handle competition?

    The success he has will depend on the playmakers around him. Luckily he’s stepping into a situation where he’ll have a #1 WR Hodgins and a #1 RB Jefferson to help. O-Line play will be critical next year.

    Last thought – really need this guy to live up to his potential.

    • Not gonna make excuses for the kid, but his new head coach was a notorious fuckface who happened to bring “his guy” with him to the new gig.

      Good points, and we’ll find out the hard way, especially if JS happens to pull in another quality QB prospect or two in the interim.

    • here’s another “bad stuff” item. He hangs out with Riley on the sideline every home game. His loyalty as a player would seem to be someone other than the head coach. I would have preferred to see him spend a lot of time with his future fellow players than some “consultant.”

    • Funny, was just thinking today how f’d the rankings are that 4-1 oregon is a top 20 team but 5-1 Oregon State is somewhere around 100.
      Not that I think OSU has proven they need to be higher, but how is the gap between the teams so wide in the rankings?

      • This goes back to not having a sample big enough to make a correct statistical analysis, in this case an ordinal ranking. I would argue there can be no valid rankings until at least one week into the conference slate, but even that leaves us with incomplete information.

    • Crazy, I was checking on his stats a couple of days ago. It looks like he’s not starting this year, they have a transfer from LSU who is playing well. They beat Baylor in their season opener also.

  16. Any rumors about pierce being frustrated given how quickly Jefferson took over the spotlight and starting role? Had pierce stayed healthy I think he could have had Jefferson’s numbers. run blocking certainly suffered as the year went on. I hope pierce realizes how important he is to the program and that two backs can get a lot of paying time.

    • Smith is going to have his work cut out for him convincing all potential grad transfers to stay. Not sure when Pierce is scheduled to graduate but he’s one I’d be worried about losing.

    • Hard to see Pierce being upset with Jefferson. He should be upset with the coaches for not going heavier with the run throughout the season.

      • Spot on, Bill.

        I’m concerned that the opportunity for two back sets and more reliance on the run game may be even less next season due to losses on the O-line. Jim M. is not only O-line coach, but also RunGame Coord; he is gonna have an opportunity to earn his $$

    • If I were in charge I’d be setting up the offense to feature both backs heavily.

      Rather that means moving to a traditional I-formation offense or not is a question but you should be able to keep 2 good backs happy.

      My preference would be a move to a run/play action based offense but that isn’t the only way to make it happen. Both backs should get 12-20 touches every week though. That should be quite achievable with the right game plan

    • If he’s not going anywhere, what’s the point in reading about it?

      Sorry, can’t click into a Canzano article. It wasn’t that many months ago he devoted an entire year of coverage to tearing apart OSU and Luke Heimlich.
      So now we’ve all forgiven him because he’s going after Larry Scott?
      Pass

      • Because it paints a pretty strong picture of why the PAC is falling behind the other P5 conferences.

        I haven’t “forgiven” anyone.

        If someone writes something worthy of reading I will read it. Its that simple. As a fan of a PAC school this is worth reading in my opinion.

    • Before you jump on Scott you have to remember where the conference was 10 years ago, the Pac-12 deal was considered the best in college sports ($3bil,12 years) and much larger than anyone thought it would be. Google it and read the reaction at the time.

      By 2024 having 100% of the Digital and TV rights will be a huge as Google, Youtube, Facebook..etc are entering the market looking to buy more content.

      Yes, I agree that some of the conferences decisions are awful surrounding officiating, game times, …etc, but I don’t question the financial spend, because all the conference members are in a better financial place because of the TV deal Scott negotiated. Other conferences have use that deal as a benchmark and 7 year later the deal doesn’t look as good. Think about the NFL and the Earl Thomas situation. Great Contract at the time for Thomas, but as other players use it as a benchmark ,the same deal is now under market value.

      • The TV deal isn’t even the issue.

        The conference paying nearly 7 million to rent its offices while the Big Ten pays less than 1.4 million for offices in 2 cities including New York and the SEC pays less than 400 thousand for offices in Birmingham is an issue

        Scott earning 4.8 million while Delaney earns 2.4 million and Sankey 1.9 million is an issue

        Paying the top administrators over 8 million total while the SEC and Big Ten less than half that for their top administrators is an issue

        Back to the TV deal, for that kind of investment Scott and the other top administrators should have been smart enough to realize their TV deal wouldn’t be good.

        Comparing it to Earl Thomas who was making 77% of what the top safety made and was still in the top 5% of total safeties as far as earning is simply silly. It would essentially be as if Thomas was making 2 million right now. Thomas’s deal is barely below market value. And if that was the case then Thomas’s agent should be fired just like Scott should be fired.

        Sorry but those are all unacceptable. The PAC 12 might as while be FIFA at this point.

        • I’d also argue Scott failed at expansion. Oklahoma was still willing to come without Texas but Scott said no? Utterly stupid choice.

          Taking Colorado made sense but instead of taking Utah why didn’t Scott have the same vision that Bob Bowlsby had and instead of forcing expansion into a market they originally didn’t want (PAC 16 did not include Utah) Scott should have pushed for a championship game without 12 teams. I have no problem with taking Utah but it shows his lack of vision and creativity.

          Failing to get a conference champs only or larger playoff that guaranteed the PAC champ a seat was a failure.

          Allowing the Big Ten and SEC to get a 2nd access Bowl (Orange Bowl) while failing to get a 2nd access Bowl for the PAC was a failure (the Big 12 and PAC wanted a 7th New Years Bowl to provide the same access the SEC/Big Ten are getting but gave up very quickly instead of forcing the issue).

          There are so many failures that even if the TV deal is seen as a great success the failures still far outweigh the successes.

          • Whoa, there!

            Let’s save the false Bowlsby praise and recognize that conference is an absolute mess run by the networks. If they’ve taken that money and installed infrastructure for digital access, then they’ll have leverage on the next contract Texas agrees to… like Texas has now.

            Administrative costs and overhead are legitimate concerns.

          • I don’t recall “praising” Bowlsby. I brought up 1 example where he had enough vision to know you didn’t have to go to 12 teams to get a championship game.

            The highest paid commissioner by a lot (Scott) should have had a similar ability to see that possibility if the leader of the Big 12 did.

            If Bowlsby is a lousy commissioner than that is simply a bigger indictment of Scott for not even having the vision Bowlsby had.

          • You make it sound like Bowlsby had a choice… or any decision to make, for that matter.

            If you want to read numbers with at least some context but still compare our apples with SEC oranges, read Wilner.

            Dolphin Boy is a waste of space.

          • They (the Big 12) did have a choice, they could have expanded instead of pushing for the rule change.

            There were plenty of schools interested some of which add as much if not more value than Utah added to the PAC.

            You know, the same choice the PAC under Scott made.

            Or are you claiming the PAC just really really really wanted Utah (even though they ignored them until the Texas deal fell through)?

          • You’ve provided some numbers. But you’ve provided none of them in context. You want to compare apples to oranges, but you don’t even know you’re doing it.

            Or you do know it, and you don’t care about integrity?

            The mission of the Pac Network is not to be a revenue producing entity. That it does is gravy. It is there to provide exposure for all (or as many as possible) the sports and athletes. Do you think an uptick in WBB across the board in the conference is just because the Pac hit a lucky streak in coaching hires? The same is happening for all the other sports. And they’re all getting better.

            The PTN is meeting all its stated objectives. They have one highly publicized carriage dispute. But I’m fine with them telling ATT to go fuck itself… and then telling them to do it again with wireless coverages.

            I’m also fine with revenue distributions being more than we were told they were going to be. I’m okay with digital distribution in China… and not necessarily because it’s in China.
            https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattrybaltowski/2018/07/08/pac-12-eyes-2024-tv-negotiations-after-league-extends-unprecedented-streak-in-directors-cup/#5579ceb41217

          • What the hell are you even talking about? Did you even read my posts? Because very little of my complaints about Scott have anything to do with the network and/or TV deal. Go back and try reading my posts again and get back to me about “context”

            Sorry but “context” doesn’t explain away paying Larry Scott more than double what the SEC pays its commissioner. It just doesn’t. And if you think it does that is a you problem.

            That said, if the networks are meeting their objective than their objective is stupid.

          • How is the network’s objective stupid?

            Its objective is to increase exposure for the “non-revenue” sports. It has done that. We get to see more of our athletes in more events than any conference even dreams about. They choose to share FBS and MBB, so they can maximize profit. Meanwhile, we are laying the foundation for the future, one in which we own the means of production… also something no other conference can dream about.

            Do you think the media centers on our campus just appeared because it sounded like a good idea? It did. But come on. This is OSU. Until we were given a mandate and the promise of future revenues, we were going to put up with Snell Hall for those services.

            If only the building of infrastructure included a little demo in the budget….

            Anyway, the money is secondary for now. In playing the long game, we are light years ahead of any other conference in being able to take advantage of the very near future. The reason the China deal is impressively progressive is because of the format, not the geography. It expires when our TV deal expires. When it does, we will have experience dealing with one of the largest tech companies in the world distributing our product. The geography is only important because it’s an emerging market, and we’re first. But we’re working on beta deliveries of product we own while other conferences are acting as if the idea doesn’t exist.

            To be fair, they know it exists. They’re just the networks’ bitches and have no say about it until they’re free from their deals. Those conferences who kept pace with us by spending their money wisely or already had considerable infrastructure in place will be able to adapt. Those that did not don’t even know how far behind they are.

            When it comes to Scott’s pay, how much do you think he should get? What does a conference commissioner do? Do you think Greg Sankey should make as much as Mike Slive did, just because he’s the SEC commish?

            No other commish has to run a network, let alone runs one for a handy profit while exposing the nation to our “non-revenue” sports (a seed that has immensely upped the exposure and recruiting for those programs, with untapped revenue streams in the future). But, like Mike Slive recognized, in a supply-side world, people don’t have a choice to watch anything but what they’re given. There is now a vacuum created by the “revenue” sports. It’s so ingrained in our own AD’s head that he doesn’t even see a path to sustainability for sports without football.

            How did we end up with that guy?

            It’s as if people don’t look up the numbers. The collective viewership for “non-revenue” sports is greater than the viewership for college football (all of it, not just FBS). Wouldn’t it be a smart thing to recognize that market as under-served? Isn’t there revenue to be had there?

            Why would we pay twice as much as the SEC does for a newbie who inherited everything, hasn’t done much besides lead the charge against player benefits and compensation, and doesn’t do half the job our commish does?

            I’m not arguing with the number itself being excessive. But if you want comparative salaries, I think you lose that argument pretty handily. If you want to play the comparative game, Devany should be paid more, but all other salaries appear to be in line with what they have done and are expected to do. I also agree those salaries should be scaled downward as a whole.

            Why should the Pac have offices that house all operations (that we, and no other conference has, let alone owns) in the heart of the digital world? Maybe that has something to do with vision? Come on! How hard is this stuff? You’re bragging about the B1G running an office of three people out of Midtown and a real one out of a strip mall in Illinois being less expensive?

            Wtf, man?

          • I’ll also point out that the B1G and Pac still get paid for the convoluted existence that is the college football playoff thingy, even if they don’t have to take any of their distributions and spend it on a team participating in that clown show.

          • And I haven’t even touched on the FIFA/IOC/FBS bowl structure comparisons.

            I’m not saying there aren’t some inefficiencies. And I’ll never miss a chance to hammer on overpaid administrators. But if you only look at the money without context in the here and now, you’re grossly misinforming anyone who listens to your case.

            Oklahoma, btw, has nothing to offer the Pac alone, besides sports. If you think tying yourself to a bandwagon brand mitigates the costs of travel to a remote, small market with mediocre to poor academic vision is a good decision, so be it. But the numbers say New Mexico is closer, has a larger market and offers an immense wealth of academic study. Biting the Okie bullet without having Texas in tow is a non-starter.

            Texas wasn’t going to give up the hastily formed Longhorn Network deal created by a panicked ESPN. The Pac wasn’t going to kneel before any one school.

            Was it a failure?

          • Its stupid because if the revenue sports lose value (and PAC football/basketball has lost value) than the non revenue sports are in trouble long term too.

            So I simply disagree with your assessment that somehow by sacrificing football/basketball (which is rather unintentionally or not what the PAC has basically done) you are gonna end up light years ahead.

            And I am not “bragging” about anything. Its almost as if you lack reading comprehension skills. But good on you I guess.

          • On not taking Oklahoma. Again, its the long game. If you take Oklahoma the Big 12 implodes and it forces the hand of Texas.

            And yes, having a national sports brand is worth all those other things. At least if part of your conference goal is athletic success.

            You sound almost as if you wan the PAC to go the way of the Ivy’s which honestly I could probably get behind but that is not the current mission of the conference.

          • You were boasting smaller numbers from someone else to make a claim of inefficiency with your target. It failed.

            We didn’t sacrifice football and hoops. This is what any TV deal would look like. We don’t get prime EST and CST slots because nobody wants to watch sub-standard product when they don’t care about the teams involved. I haven’t watched an SEC game in years. I didn’t even know the B1G Network wasn’t on my TV package this past football season. ACC? Who’s in their conference now?

            I’ll watch hoops if it’s on. But I’m not going to sit down for any live games unless it’s my team… or the one before it. Anymore, I just set the DVR and watch it when I feel like it. The goal is to have a distribution deal where I can, as a consumer, watch anything I want, whenever I want, on whatever platform I want… while allowing the schools themselves to schedule games.

            The reality for those conferences who eschewed that decision for short-term profits will be that they are way way behind us. And they made an explicit decision to sacrifice their “non-revenue” sports, not just one as perceived by the short-sighted.

            If you really wanted to make a case for the short-term, you could probably say this is the right time to have a lull in those sports. Efforts applied now will have us at the top of the heap come 2023-24, when our new deal is up for negotiation.

            We can revisit that hypothesis in a couple years… When Chip Kelly is making all our lives a living hell… again. And I can see USC rehiring Carroll just to stick it in the NCAA’s eye. They’re that kind of people.

            As far as the conference vision, it’s been stable for a long time. We share. But sharing means you have to have something to contribute. That there was instability enough that we would accept the Okie schools and a market smaller than New Mexico’s market… just to get Texas….

            That should tell you what would happen if Okie left. Texas is the 800 pound gorilla. Okie would be lost without them… especially in a world where they don’t even get to travel to Texas to play games anymore.

            Stop thinking about the short-term cash. It’s a boring and shallow argument. The Pac wants to attract future champions and leaders. Some of those people are athletes in college who don’t play revenue sports. Where do you think Nikegon would be now if they were dumb enough to get rid of T&F at the wrong time?

            I hate Lynn Snyder.

          • It failed to you and only you.

            Guess what? You aren’t the smartest guy in the room just because you think you are.

            You like Scott, you like the deal, you think the PAC is being ran great. Cool.

            That is not a fact because you believe it, it’s your opinion. An opinion I do not share.

            So keep pretending your opinion is fact, at least I can admit my opinion is an opinion. You might want to try doing the same sometime.

          • And just to add onto your stability argument. I think that is unlikely to continue because if I am USC, Washington, Oregon, and Stanford and I am ready to leave the PAC and join up with Texas and Oklahoma tomorrow.

            Find 2-4 more schools, build a new conference. Get a better TV deal for all sports then the PAC gets now and not just join the SEC/Big Ten but likely surpass them in per school revenue.

            And again, just because you claim I am thinking short term doesn’t mean I am. Try again.

          • I corrected your poor numbers and backed it up with more numbers.

            You have yet to hear my opinion on any of it, whether I like or dislike any of it. I’m too busy correcting your weak argument.

            So… for the record… I don’t really know Larry Scott, so I can’t say whether or not I like him. What I do is give him his due after looking at the numbers. You cherry-picked some round numbers and tried to stick them in a triangle hole. Then you started crying about how circles suck, therefore, Larry Scott sucks.

            Did he sleep with your sister?

            You’re stuck in someone else’s argument. Think for yourself.
            https://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/news/2018/06/20/pac-12-networks-wants-to-exploit-reach-of-digital.html

          • Whatever, I have realized you have no interest in an actual discussion or back and forth. You just want everyone to agree with you.

            Its clear when you say things like “who’s even in the ACC?”

            You know what? I can name every ACC school but unlike you I don’t think my viewing habits are the same as everyone else’s.

            It’s easier to just stop here. So believe whatever numbers you want, believe the PAC is the most amazingly ran conference in the history of the world. Honestly, I don’t care what you think. You win.

            I will allow you to have the last word I know you desperately need to have. Cheers.

          • ^^This link should tell you what I’ve been saying all along.

            When it comes to a new media deal in 2023-24, not owning your own product means you need whomever does own it to negotiate for you. You can’t simply walk up to Amazon and say, “Hi. We have sports. Wanna put it on your platform for a pretty penny?”

            They’d say, “Sure, we’ll pay this much for that product. Just upload it here.”

            Then you’d say, “Huh? Upload? Aren’t you going to run the cameras and schedule everything for us… like the last guy did?”

            You’d get laughed out of the room.

            Ooh!

            I don’t know what will happen to TV time-outs when there is no TV. I would hate to see those go away during our weekly 1:00 to 3:30 pm games. I don’t know know if I can handle the same amount of action over a lesser period of time.

          • And I absolutely made my own argument, you just chose to ignore it. Like you always do.

            Really?

            Who did you source at the beginning? Whose cherry-picked numbers are you running through this pseudo-logic? Just because I won’t go to the Groanian for anything anymore doesn’t mean there aren’t other sites who won’t try to use that same source as something legitimate, using the same pseudo-logic and exact same numbers without context in support. Some of them don’t even bother to repeat the talking points. They just blockquote his tripe and say, “What he said.”

            It’s especially boring since Wilner is all over this stuff and still can’t see the forest for the trees. But at least he sometimes points out real inefficiencies. Dolphin Boy wouldn’t know right from wrong if it hit him in the face. And then all we’d be arguing about is how it’s my opinion that right isn’t wrong, because right hit Dolphin Boy in the face… following an article written by Dolphin Boy about how right is wrong for hitting him in the face.

            So yeah… if that’s thinking for yourself, I apologize.

          • If there is one critique I do have, it’s that Scott wasn’t as prescient as he could have been. It is a start-up, after all. You can’t go from a zero market with all that upside to a salable product overnight. I’m not saying the spending didn’t need to happen to create the infrastructure of the secondary channels. That’s the biggest complaint from anyone screaming about the money. That money still needed to be spent.

            But the secondary channels should have been a give-away to distributors of the primary channel as an app, free to their subscribers. And it should be a stand-alone app for anyone who wants to pay a nominal fee for online access alone.

            They missed how mobile it would go and how quickly it would escalate. They could have squeezed a little more money out of the first tier rights and run ads about this “free” app for all other content from different regions within the Pac.

            IME, when you have what you think is a salable product on a start-up, you have to let people sample the product… and let other people know that it’s cool… and so on. When the next negotiations come around, you then have a salable product with both infrastructure and demand to add to a package deal or use as leverage.

            My thought is that Scott might or might not have seen this, but it didn’t matter. The Pac regents are an extremely conservative group. They probably told him to make a deal that would create the infrastructure necessary, get the product out, and clear X dollars for the schools. And that’s what has happened.

            But you can’t compare the PTN to a licensing deal or a minority equity partnership. Licensing deals are where ideas go to die. They’ll make you rich, but they won’t make you wealthy.

        • How?

          We’re the only conference who owns our own network. The B1G Network’s structure isn’t as conservative, but they retain some leverage, even if they don’t control the operation. Still, they’re dependent on distribution means other than themselves, which puts them way behind for the next step in distribution when it comes to leverage.

          • Just the whole timing of it. By the time the deal expires the spending bonanza will be over. These smaller sports networks are in trouble, they keep laying people off.

          • I don’t know what the upcoming rounds will yield. But it will be relative. We’ll see what the B1G does a year ahead of us.But you can’t say the timing is why it sucks.

            Does Drew Brees’ contract suck because Garoppolo, Ryan, Stafford, Cousins and Carr all make more than him? Or is it right for him, and he’ll figure out how to budget on a measly $25m per year?

            It’s like nobody here remembers Tom Hansen and how it used to be… with our lack of airports and talents and all those excuses.

          • Here’s a more compact summation…
            https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2016/9/28/13082418/pac-12-network-college-conference-television-revenue-future

            … from two years ago.

            We’re way beyond that now. Everyone’s been so distracted by the media constantly whining about money and Directv, that it’s just created a negative feedback loop. There are many people who don’t pay attention to the distractions and look at the nuts and bolts. They know what has been invested and how that positions any enterprise for future success–gravy in the up years, sustainability in the down years.

            Other conferences have to begin that process now, or they lose out in all years going forward. That means they need to retain part of their distributions to invest in an infrastructure that won’t be used as intended until they can claw back equity from what are now looking like lousy deals. The cost of that infrastructure now will be more than we spent, as well.

            I think the B1G has positioned itself well. But even that was by accident. Delany wanted more money until 2032. They would have banked a lot. But they would have spent more before they knew what hit them with the transitional sourcing of events. By shortening the contract and retaining half their equity, they will have less distance to cover once they’re free.

            Just wait until we start arguing about how esports shouldn’t be allowed as official “sports” in the NCAA… and then receive distributions from those events and say, “Hmmm… maybe I don’t hate it that much. To each their own.”

          • I think Brees was fine making a bit less than those guys so the Saints could add other talent though. But if what he was after was the most money possible then yes I would say the agents responsibility is to look at every team in the league in terms of cap space and determine the best length of contract in order to maximize money.

          • If he is in it to maximize money, he wouldn’t be on the Saints anymore.

            So maybe money isn’t all there is to a decision. Maybe those who chase the money are the fools… who sometimes luck into playing with those who are paid in satisfaction.

  17. USC has fired 4 assistant coaches in the last month and are parting ways with the QB coach soon. And Clay Helton’s job is stable for another year according to their AD.
    Despite all of this, USC’s recruiting class will be way more talented than ours come signing day, on paper.
    Can’t imagine Helton has a better year next year with all of this turnover. What are they thinking?

  18. This weeks Dam Podcast was probably on of the better ones they’ve done. Angie seems a lot more comfortable being critical of things than she was when Riley was in charge. I mean that in a good way. Greaves also had more insight this week and less ranting. He seems to know there are a faction of players who haven’t completely bought in yet and are more interested in the parties. He also defended Tibesar some and said it was likely Hughes Murray that should have been aware that adjustments were made in the 2nd half. Personally, I felt Hughes Murray and Willis were the 2 biggest disappointments on defense this year. Hard to tell if it was a lack of coaching/understanding of the system or something else.

    • I posted this several times within the past two weeks. Hopefully, the situation improves to where she can come back next season and play. It’s precautionary move at this point in time and only time will tell if she’s able to play next season.

      I saw on another website that shall remain unnamed, that a Duck fan by the name of Klaystriplestho was sort of celebrating that she has a serious enough health issue to cause her to redshirt this season. According to what he posted, he has visited this site, and I’m guessing more than once, to spew his garbage. He still thinks I post to the unnamed website, but what he fails to understand is I have been permanently banned by the POS unnamed site. The guy is a fool and douche bag but he thrives on living his life that way.

      I’m sure we’ll see more of his douche bagginess on this site. Too bad to because the guy is a complete ass-clown.

  19. Interesting that it is still mum on the reason for the redshirt. I suspect it may turn into a medical retirement if some of the rumors have any validity.

  20. Early signing period a few weeks away. Will the Beav coaches wait for the chips to fall (coaching changes to occur, players to miss out on their “dream school”) and swoop in for some additional commits? I’m trying to think of who we picked up later in the recruiting cycle last year. Maybe Stewart and a few others.

    After listening to the Dam podcast it seems like it starts upfront with the D-line especially when a team runs it down your throat and you can’t do anything to stop it. Getting off blocks and allowing the lbs and cbs to do their job. We need some big guys that can play right away.

    • The whole D needs a talent upgrade, but the D line must be a priority. We also need a speed upgrade in the defensive backfield. Hopefully they get their targets signed early to avoid the last minute pick offs when better program’s plan A guys fall through.

    • I haven’t tracked the numbers very closely, so these numbers are all squishy.
      Current class for early signing period has 17 total: 13 verbals ready to sign with the 4 transfers
      (I don’t know if either Roberts or Gebbia are considered 2018 or 2019 guys, so give or take 2 there)

      We probably want to leave 1 or 2 spots open at the end of the late signing period, in order to leave room for any other late transfers during the offseason. Nice to have that flexibility.

      So, if we do plan to take 23 and we currently have 17(or 15?), then it looks like we have anywhere from 6 to 8 spots left to fill. I don’t think we fill all of them by the early signing period, but a few guys I think we have a shot to still land this month are:

      OL:
      Siale Liku – OL/DL (primarily OL)
      Sataoa Laumea – (OL)
      Jason Rodriguez(outside shot)

      DL:
      Ray Vohasek – JC DE
      Jordan Whittley – JC DT
      Simon Sandberg – JC DE
      Dylan Hall – DE
      Deion Harry – DL (not likely)
      Nick Figueroa – JC DE (not likely)
      Datona Jackson – JC DT(not likely)
      Amiri Johnson – (not likely)
      Myles Tapusoa – JC DT (very unlikely, as he verbally pledged to UA yesterday, but was supposed to visit OSU this upcoming weekend)

      OTHER:
      Akili Arnold – CB (teammates with Jojo Forest)
      Zach Larrier – ATH (has played some QB, but probably a CB/S candidate)
      Cade Brownholtz – TE/DE – possible walk-on unless we still have a scholarship available

      QB?? Do the Beavs decide to pursue a 2019 QB now that Blount has transferred? I still think there’s a chance they do. Not sounding good for Eget, as I don’t think our staff is high enough on him to offer the scholarship. Might be a position to watch as the coaching carousel turns. I keep thinking we somehow flip one of the ASU QBs. Do they really need two in this class? Or maybe the USC guy now that they have flipped their staff? Thisis where leaving 1 or 2 open scholarships could come in handy.

      I think we’ll fill another 3-5 spots by the early signing period and then leave the late signing period to pick up anybody who we can.

      To me, the strength of this class is by far the transfers we picked up. Not sure if this class as a whole really comes close to measuring up to any other Pac 12 teams. UCLA and Utah always come through late and pick up some nice players. I expect that to happen again.

      That’s about all the time I’m going to spend on this topic before the early signing period. Unless we get some super duper surprise visitors between now and then, it’s mostly going to just be JC guys you hear about, plus a couple of highschool guys whose names you’re already familiar with and current verbal commits.

      You can always check out the “lists” on the twitter account to see who I think will be visiting each week. I have 6 guys(7 if you include Tapusoa) listed for the upcoming weekend, so far.

      https://twitter.com/BeavRecruiting/lists/visitors-12-01-weekend/members

      • One thing I do sort of like about the recruits Smith is going after is even though most don’t have many P5 offers many do have academy and/or Ivy offers which does indicate he seems to be focusing on what appear to be smart hard working kids which increases the odds that they develop.

        Still need multiple JC/grad transfers to make the jump this program needs to make though.

        The Beavs couldn’t fill Reser for the Civil War, if they don’t get a bowl in 2019 I don’t see any fans being left.

        • Lots of Riley recruits had similar offer lists.

          When Andersen came in, he remarked on how small, slow, and weak they all were. Then Andersen’s tenure happened.

      • Looks like I should gave added TE Kyle Patterson to the list of hopefuls, although i think he ends up at UA. Coaches visited him tonight.

        Also. Brownholtz is an OLB, but currently no offer

  21. Does anybody know if the Ideation team has hired a new graphic designer to replace Robert Judin, who took a job with Miami back in October?

    I really think that’s a big piece missing from recruiting as we head toward signing day. The designs coming out since then have been pretty vanilla. Judin at least took some risks and had a consistent look with all of his designs, which recruits would often share on social media. Helps to advertise the brand. But lately it’s been really quiet on that front. Bad timing to lose your head designer.

        • Dude that’s rough, I went through the same thing a couple years ago with my little (she was the runt) pit. Except it wasn’t on the paw. She had breast cancer ( well the dog equivalent of it). I couldn’t afford the surgery ($5k) to try and save her. So I just took care of her and told myself when she starts acting like she’s suffering I’ll have her put down. Well guess what, pits don’t show pain unless it’s really bad. One day I got home from work and and she had passed away. Found her curled up in a ball on her princess blanket. I still beat myself up for letting her suffer. I haven’t gotten another dog since then and doubt I ever will. You did everything you could for your pup try and take solace in that.

          • Dude that’s so hard to know. Every breed is different and every individual dog is different too. I really struggled with it also, it’s so hard in the moment to judge when the right time is.

            I’m definitely getting another Rottweiler, my family is so used to having one that we feel naked now. There’s something so comforting knowing that there’s no chance that there’s going to be someone in my house when I come home or if if I’m not there family is safe. She was pure German Rottweiler and her instincts and loyalty were absolutely amazing.

          • Sorry to learn of your loss. As you said, every breed, every dog is different; same applies to families, you’ve made the right decisions for yours.

          • Every breed and individual is different. I lost my last German last month. The old boy was 15 and couldn’t climb stairs anymore. I thought I wouldn’t cry. I’m trying not to now. We lost his sister last year.

            Now I have a mopey Aussie/Border and Border/Golden. And Basker (who is tall and lean at 140 pounds… think he’s Lab/Malinois) is really needy. So we’re probably going to go the same route as last time with the Germans and get a couple siblings.

            Empty nest affects the whole house.

          • Jack did you have German Shepherds? The wife wants to get another GSD also. There’s just no other way to react when they pass. They become such a constant ingrained part of the family that it affects everyone.

          • Yeah.

            I’ve apparently had them long enough for GSD to become the handle for them. The first time I saw that, I couldn’t figure out what it was.

            Annie was sable, and Gus was orange. I wanted to name them Benny and Bernice. Wife wouldn’t let me.

        • Sorry to hear that. I just got one recently. He is six months and already the best dog I have ever had. I’ll keep in my mind how lucky I am.

    • Thanks guys.

      She was 11. She got bone cancer in her foot. The vet told me they should operate on it and remove the bone up to the wrist. That made it so much worse and it spread so fast after that. So, public service message, if your dog has a tumor in her foot you might consider just leaving it alone.

      • Yeah, that’s rough. Sorry bro.

        We had a dog with cancer in one of her rear legs and the thing grew as big as a ham hock. When she only had the strength to get up and great us at the door and spent the rest of the day sleeping we knew it was time. We had a vet come administer at home, she hated going to the vet.

        She was able to spend her last day meeting a new friend, and we all sat with her on the floor with her, giving her pets and love, and crying.

        RIP WFO pup.

        • Yeah I had the local vet come out too so she could be comfortable at home. She sat up and gave her last woof at the vet when he came in. Rott til the end.

      • Along with my completely unresearched Nike shoes wearers seem to have more foot and ankle injuries (and
        now just when Big G was getting his game together), I believe there is data, somewhere, that dogs who run around on chemically fertilized lawns – particularly soon after application – have an elevated incidence of foot cancer.

        • I never fertilize my lawn but I have sprayed weed killer on the gravel in front of my shop. I’ve tried every other thing to keep the grass from growing there and nothing actually works that I have found. I’ve only sprayed it maybe 5-6 times in the last 10 years but it’s possible that that would be enough, and I have already thought about it.

          • Not that you want to get into a discussion on weed control, but try saturating the area with white vinegar a few times throughout the year, especially when it’s not rainy. Will mess with the soil’s ph enough to prevent grass from growing, and it’s cheaper/safer than weed killer

          • I tried the vinegar/Dawn combo in the dead of summer and the results were negligible. Never real thought about spraying enough to change the pH. That might work. Hell, broadcasting salt might work too?

          • Two cups of cheapo table salt to one gallon of vinegar… shake/dissolve the salt before you add the dawn. Then spray it once a month. By spring that patch will be sterile.

            Vinegar and dawn is for spot-weeding when dry between plants and in areas you want to replant within a week or two.

          • This might be coincidence, but I also spray to sterilize around buildings, because I hate vegetation within about a foot of structures (and posts). I’m anal that way because of drainage and invasive tendencies in plants… or too lazy to whack or pull grass/weeds a mower won’t get… or both. Plus, it gives the cats a free run at vermin or away from a challenge.

            But I’ve only had rare sightings of ants, and I’ve never seen termites near a structure.

    • Sorry WFO. Wish there were words but I know first hand there isn’t. Still miss my lab Bella who we had for 14 years. I have two new knuckleheads @itsmiaandsophia now but thought after the last one I may never get anymore because it was a hard loss. Hang in there.

  22. Luck o the Beavs strikes again. Just when the MBB team is off to a 5-1 start and, record wise, is the top team in the Pac, Big G goes down with a stress fracture in his foot. Out possibly 4-6 weeks based on early reports, although when has an OSU athlete ever come back from a foot injury within the estimated timetable?

      • Narrow shoes would be the most common cause of most metatarsal fractures (usually in use with new activity which stresses the foot), followed by a cavus foot.

        It’s not hard to follow. The foot will condition itself over time in any shoe, but if the toe box doesn’t allow proper splay, the force (on especially the fifth metatarsal) will be both amplified and unnatural. It does also weaken or alter your gait and everything associated with it, because the foot bones are connected to the ankle bones and tissues and all that.

  23. duck fans seem to think Jim Leavitt is soon to be gone. Interviewed with Texas Tech today and possibly Colorado already. Add to that Bill Snyder possibly retiring from KSU (Where Leavitt has an out clause in his contract to take the job with no buyout) and you start to understand why duck recruits are starting to look around. always fun to watch the annual crumbling of the duck recruiting classes after their fans get their hopes up that this will be the year they’re a top 5 team.

    tee-hee…..

  24. Wow, the Pac 12 is going to take it in the shorts once again with the New Year’s Six bowl games. With the latest rankings the SEC is guaranteed 4 spots with 2 three loss teams ranked ahead of Wazzu. Wazzu is at 13 and needs to be in the top 12 for the Pac to get a 2nd slot. The real or imagined Pac 12 weakness is costing member schools money. However, a UW loss on Friday may allow Wazzu to slip into the 12th spot but I have a feeling the committee will ensure the Pac doesn’t get that 2nd spot.

    https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-bowl-projections-new-college-football-playoff-rankings-shake-up-predictions/

    • The loss to Auburn by U-Dub in the season opener was a disaster.
      The reality is that if USC sucks, it kills the perception of the conference.
      Wazzu was a great story, but they could not close the deal. Lots of mediocre teams that beat each other.

  25. If Jack and youngorst could get a room, it’d be appreciated.

    Signed,

    Everyone else

    Two homos with boners they both think are the biggest in their county

  26. Brohm stays at Purdue. BTN money wins out over the hometown and alma mater. Hmmm…
    Triple option master Paul Johnson retires at G Tech.

  27. Reports say Matt Wells of Utah State is on the verge of getting the Texas Tech job. Wonder if GA would return to Utah State if that job opens up. If he does, I hope they are on a future schedule for us.

  28. Saw the portland baseball diamond project has announced the site of their new proposed stadium. Down in the industrial area right on the river, just north of the freemont bridge. I saw Blues Traveler play a concert on that same site about 2 decades ago.
    Anyway, drawings make it look cool. Hope they figure out a way to bring MLB to town so i can have that option for entertainment in the Summer time.

  29. If leavitt leaves, is it because of the strength coach hype guy that follows crystobal everywhere including into the shitter. Or is he just looking for another pay bump by teasing a good time.

    • And a fair amount Utah State fans wanting Gary to come back. It would be interesting to see if he could put a staff together and have success again or did he just catch lightning in a bottle with Chuckie Keeton and parlay that into 2 power 5 jobs.

      • Looking only at the 2012 USU stats, one could conclude that the defense was also quite good, with a pair of stud linebackers and several future nfl contributors. Kerwynn Williams also contributed 1500 yards rushing from the backfield. Looks like a pretty complete team on paper; the schedule didn’t hurt. How he managed that after watching his coaching at OSU…seems like there was a bit of luck involved, and/or he was in a much better mental state then.

    • We will be elite in football again,” Hocutt said. “I guarantee you, we will be elite in football again. This program has been there before and we’ll get there again.
      –Kirby Hocutt

      Is he referring to the last time they won their conference… in the 1950s?

      Or is he talking about the one year in their history they finished top ten… in one of the polls–1965?

  30. Sounds like the Beavs are pretty interested in 2019 kicker Jeffery Nelson from Clackamas. Should be visiting in home in the next week or so and from there, possibly a campus visit will be set up. Still not sure if they plan to use a scholarship or offer a PWO, but it’s at least good to hear they are trying to address the kicker position issues we saw this year by bringing in someone maybe a year earlier than they originally intended.
    A positive for Nelson is he’s versatile and can also punt and hold for kickers.

        • I agree with your sentiment. Offering a guy you think is one of the top 25 or so kickers in the nation a scholarship is a great move IMO. OSU isn’t going to get a top kicker to agree to a PWO unless they are really overlooked. It is such an important position if you can lock it down for 4 years it is worth the scholarship in my eyes.

          • The best osu kickers have all started as pwo.

            Choukair is on scholarship. Locked in for one more year. Coaches aren’t going to use two scholarships on kickers.

          • Just looking at the scoring stats over the last couple of decades at OSU, you’ll see the kicker is regulalry the top or 2nd place point scorer on the team, even in years where we had Quizz or Cooks getting a majority of the offensive touches. This year Chokair had a below average season by kicking standards but was responsible for nearly as many points as Jermar Jefferson, one of the top RBs in the conference(72 vs 71)

            In my opinion kickers aren’t valued enough and really should be one of the more highly recruited positions on a team after QB. Plus there’s hidden value in having good kickoffs too, just for field position sake.

            (Scroll down and click on “show scoring”)
            https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/oregon-state/2018.html

    • It’s a terrible look. They should use a tiebreaker, head to head or flip a coin so somebody gets a home game. This game feels and looks like a low level bowl game.

      • And having a Friday night game only emphasizes how poorly the PAC 12 is perceived among the conferences.Kind of like the Rose Bowl is lessened as well. PAC 12 isn’t on equal footing with the other conferences as long as ESPN determines who gets hyped and covered. Huge problem when SEC, ACC, BIG10 all have direct deals with ESPN, but PAC12 can’t even get a cable deal done.

        PAC12 is like the 2nd rate opener at a rock concert. Few who attend really care about the opening act, and very few east of Denver care about the PAC12.

        • Look, Woodie Dixon tried to make sure USC wins every game and stays in the playoff hunt, but everyone got upset about some “officiating scandal”. Now everyone is upset that the P-12 is not relevant. Fuck, you can’t have it both ways. Commish Scott is trying dammit!

        • The Pac has a cable deal, one with ESPN.

          What you need to do is complain to the viewers on the East Coast about not wanting to watch a sucky level of football involving teams they don’t care about. They’ll watch sucky football if it’s Bama v. Clemson, because they can relate to those teams maybe indirectly through conference affiliations. But they won’t watch that same sucky football between two undefeated West Coast teams.

          Why would they?

          I think some of you overestimate the general population’s stupidity. While recent events show there is a broad swath of it in places that heavily watch college football, it alone is not enough to make people care about bad football when it’s not their own team or some team with whom their team is associated.

          I watched four minutes of the Pac 12 CG last night. I saw a 3-3 game (in the late 3rd) turn into a 10-3 game because a WR couldn’t catch an easy ball. I just found out ten minutes ago who won.

          If I don’t care about bad football, why do any of you think someone on the East Coast would care about it?

    • Is there any hope of reviving this still born pac championship game?

      A league championship game on Friday evening, in an area likely in rush hour traffic, with tarped out sections and an empty stadium…its like saying “Look how irrelevant we are! Even we don’t care!”

      I like the idea of somebody getting another home game…

      Have it on a Saturday, 1 or 2 pm so people can get to it, TAILGATE,….get home at a decent time…

      Also, how about distributing league awards there?

    • From the S-F Gate write up of the game:

      “With little to spark cheers during the game, the loudest reaction from the crowd, which was about half the size of the 35,134 announced, came after the final horn. When Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott took the microphone to congratulate Washington on its conference championship, the fans unleashed a chorus of boos.”

      https://www.sfgate.com/collegesports/article/No-10-Washington-beats-No-17-Utah-for-Pac-12-13436105.php#item-85307-tbla-5

    • I don’t think I need to tell vets how Trump’s Admin is fucking over vets right now. They’re chiseling, just like that fuckstick who is POTUS has done all his life.

      They’re not even his promises, these laws passed by people who supposedly cared about vets. But he can’t even bother to pay the bills. He’s a fucking derelict.

      Dood deserves to be treated like he treats others.

          • cj is so stupid that he thinks Dumbshit is smart… because he inherited hundreds of millions of dollars from Daddy… and got bailed out to the tune of tens of millions of dollars by Daddy and hundreds of millions by the taxpayers… and stiffed hard-working trades and vendors for legit work over a couple decades.

            Dumbshit is a chiseler, straight up chiseler. He’s a thief, a liar and one of the most entitled and corrupt pieces of shit to ever walk the earth. If you followed the pablum he calls advice in his books, you would also fail as a human, just as he has done time after time after time. Never mind the business side, at which he is an abject failure and a chiseler. He’s, at best, the fungus that grows on loser’s crotches… except he’s rich because of Daddy’s money.

            There is nobody lower on the evolutionary totem than he is. Even someone so completely star-struck by the pile of worm dung as cj might be is just a dummy, not the scum that this pseudo-man is. Pity cj. Know that Dumbshit is just a putrid pile of shit who will live out his days in the just humiliation and disgrace that he finally deserves.

            If moron sycophants like cj want to share in that humiliation, stupidity, disgrace and overall loser-dom, they’re welcome to continue doing so. But they’re no longer the really stupid jokes they were a couple years ago. They are now making a conscious choice to be fucksticks who hate America… and really hates veterans.

            If you don’t know that Dumbshit’s administration is chiseling vets like he has done every working man and woman who has ever had the misfortune to sign a contract with the piece of shit, then you must not be a vet.

            They not only chiseled the vets this last time, which was against the law and an example of really really poor management. They told vets they fucked over that they just weren’t going to pay them what their mismanagement fucked up. They were just going to act as if their piss-poor management didn’t run several good men and women into the ground with missed bills and rents.

            Hey cj, you come with me to these outreach activities and tell those vets who got evicted because the FUCKING FUCKSTICK DUMBSHIT CHISELING POTUS couldn’t be bothered to get what those people earned FOR THIS GOD DAMNED COUNTRY, including losers like you, to them in the simplest of ways, through roper management.

            Fuck you, cj. You sit on your ass, never knowing or wanting to know why you have it so easy. But this fucking piece of shit you worship is lower than low, always has been, always will be. And if you want to associate with that, so are you.

          • I don’t give two shits what you like, scotty.

            And neither does Dumbshit, even though you think he does… because he says he does.

            If he’s not in my life 24/7, I don’t think about him. Someone made the decision to put him in my life 24/7. Those morons get to live with that decision, and I get to hear them whine about how they don’t want that responsibility any more, like any loser would do.

            Suck it up, buttercup. This is the world you chose, and I’m not going to cheat you out of any of it.

      • Just like obama for 8 years and bush for 8 years and clinton for 8 years and bush 1 for 4 years and reagan for 8 years and so on. I love how you blame 40+ years of shitty vet service on trump and his administration. Fucking clown shoes.

        • You’re way wrong on this. Those pols, even idiot boy, only had to press the buttons that made the vets whole.

          Dumshit’s admin is actively chiseling vets… not paying them benefits… telling them they won’t pay them retro-actively after not paying them… cutting benefits… absolutely fucking them over actively. This isn’t just a matter of showing how much America loves war but ignores the consequences. This is a matter of a fuckstick POTUS actively fucking vets. And the mismanagement is only on top of the conscious choices they make to fuck vets.

          This goes way beyond the complete lack of respect he showed on Veterans Day. He has picked a war he is going to losein spectacular fashion.

          It’s not news to anyone who has been forced to read or listen to the words or actions the piece of shit has dropped over the decades. He truly hates vets and the military.

          I just figured he wouldn’t hire so many incapable people to not run some of the easiest aspects of government/

          • Lol, And all that never happened under any other president. Apparently you dont know about Shinseki and his “delay them til they’re dead” policy. And hes the tip of the iceberg.

          • Shinseki resigned within about a month of an investigation into the Arizona VA that fucked over vets then tried to cover it up… because they knew it was wrong.

            What Dumbshit is doing with his admin is similar to what that Zony VA did, only they’re implementing it everywhere as a matter of policy. There is no cover-up, and there are no resignations because they are actively fucking vets as a matter of policy. Congress has written and passed some really shitty bills in favor of these “policies.” Vets are being made homeless by these actions, and nobody fucking cares.

            Old Bonespur is touting these shitty policies as something great, and then his policy is to not even fund those really shitty policies. And when he’s called on it, he says, “Okay, you got me. But I’m not paying back anything owed from when I didn’t pay you what you earned by law. That’s just too complicated to go back and do now.”

            And nobody cares. I get weaker than weak whataboutisms from you, and apparently bad breath is a thing that is supposed to be an insult that means something other than a reason to brush.

  31. Announcer lobbying for the committee to put UCF in the playoff. Give me a break, way to reward a putrid schedule. If there were 8 teams, sure, but top 4? No.

    • They should have been in it last year instead of Clemson because they had playmakers on defense. This year I don’t see them beating any of the top six.

      I would like to see them play Florida in the Fiesta; that would fill the seats.

  32. Bulldogs whip Broncos in OT. McM options to Rivers for the win.

    Oh yeah, phils phonies drop second in a row, this one to Houston.

    • duck fans have their panties in a bunch tonight as the over hyped douche bags lose another. Klay errr beans is really pissed as he’s throwing heavy tantrums after the beavs wins today. Another loss couldn’t have happened to a more deserving duck fan.

    • Which honestly just demonstrates that the committee remains gutless.

      Seriously, why even have a committee if they aren’t actually gonna make difficult calls?

      Evidence suggests Georgia is better than Oklahoma. I think its likely Oklahoma is better than Notre Dame.

      Whatever, it should be these 8:

      Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Central Florida, Washington

      And honestly if they aren’t going to go to an 8 team system I’d rather just return to the 1980’s beauty pageant. That was great because it actually made conference championships matter and made college football unique.

      • Georgia lost. If that does not matter, why play the game? I liked the old bowl system and the dream of a Rose Bowl for one of my schools that suck at football.

        • #4 Georgia lost to #1 Alabama by 7 points.

          Isn’t that what you would expect the #4 team to do when playing the #1 team?

          If a team drops in the rankings for doing exactly what you would expect to happen than what is the point of having rankings?

          Do you think Oklahoma would have beat Alabama? Do you think Georgia would have beat Texas?

          If you answer yes to both those questions (and I do) then Georgia should not drop below Oklahoma based on the results of yesterday. Not if you think your rankings of 1 week ago were correct.

          Basically you are rewarding Oklahoma because they didn’t have to play Alabama. And penalizing Georgia because they didn’t get to play Texas.

          • They lost. In their Conf. Championship game. Lost. Why not just put in the top four SEC teams in? They are the best. Paul Finbaum said so. Maybe he should pick the teams by himself?
            Perhaps they should do this for the Final Four in basketball? If any of the four top seeds lose, a group has the power to put them in, because they should have won. And they were better, even though they lost.

          • Cool story…

            Again, the rules don’t say “top 4 conference champs”

            Its “best 4 teams”

            If that is the committee’s job than Georgia should be there.

            And you Final Four comparison is nonsense. That committee’s job is the to seed 34 conference champs along with the 34 best non conference champs and then have them play for the title. Completely different job.

            So is you Paul Finbaum argument, he isn’t the committee. Again, a committee was formed and their job was to put the best 4 in. Last week they said Georgia was amongst that group. Nothing that happened yesterday provided evidence that they were actually wrong last week. Georgia did exactly what you’d expect the 4th best team to do vs. the best team. If the committee was right last week, Georgia should be in. They just should.

            Look, if you want to argue it should be top 4 conference champs, I’d be on your side.

            But if the job is to take the “best” 4 teams then a committee with balls would have put Georgia in because the evidence says Georgia is better. Simple as that.

          • Of course there is a simple solution to this.

            Like the basketball committee, the committee shouldn’t release rankings until the season is over. Then they could argue that they think Oklahoma is better than Georgia.

            But making that argument now (based on the multiple weeks of rankings they’d already released) is an obvious lie. The committee clearly thinks Georgia is the better team but decided they couldn’t take a 2 loss team over a 1 loss team.

            In other words, instead of doing the job they claim they are doing and taking the 4 “best” teams they gave in to pressure and took the 4 most “deserving” teams.

            That is a different thing. And I have no problem with it. But it is not what they claim they are doing.

          • For the record, my main gripe is I’d like consistency:

            When they put 1 loss Ohio State in over 1 loss Baylor/TCU they used the conference champ vs. co-conference champ argument
            When they put 1 loss Ohio State in over 2 loss Penn State they used the “best” team argument
            When they put 1 loss Alabama in over 2 loss Ohio State they used the “best” team argument

            Now that they are putting a 1 loss Oklahoma team in over a 2 loss Georgia team they are back to making the “conference champ” argument.

            I’d like a committee with have some consistency:

            If it is a debate of “deserving” then it should have been Penn State a couple years ago over Ohio State.
            If it is a debate of “best” then it should be Georgia over Oklahoma this year.

            Consistency would be nice. That is all I am saying.
            If it is

          • For the record, my main gripe is I’d like consistency

            They’ve been consistent. If there are less than 4 undefeated champions (or ND), the next slot goes to whomever will draw the most TV revenues.

            If there are more than 4 undefeated champions (or ND), the tie-breaker will go to whomever will draw the most TV revenues.

            Our problem is we didn’t have the foresight 40 years ago to start graduating 15k people per year to increase our future TV market value.

  33. Your perspective is all wrong. It isn’t about on field play anymore. It is only about $$$$ for ESPN/SEC hype machine. No amount of subterfuge and “impartial committees” will change the influence that TV $ and SEC rabid fanbases have towards “Who is in?”. Strength of schedule isn’t factored unless it is to keep UCF out, 8 SEC conference games =9 PAC12 conference games, SEC gets a pass for the first 2 losses, all perception is based on recruiting rankings over-rules on field results.

    Uneven conference schedules, non-conference neutral site games, ESPN recruiting rankings, talent perception over-rides actual losses are all flaws if you don’t credit UCF and penalize Georgia in this case.

    Forget OU, OSU, Georgia and UW. UCF should have been the 4th team. UCF is talented and undefeated in a 2 year run. 27-0, and Herbstriet is saying they just need to win another big bowl game against a P5 school to “continue building their brand”, then maybe they get a shot next year. What a pile of garbage the system is. Telling a team that has gone undefeated for 2 solid seasons, no matter the conference, to just keep winning, then you can play with the real teams is ridiculous.

    It is obvious hypocrisy for the powers that be to penalize UCF for their schedule, while over-crediting SEC teams for gaming the schedule yearly, and getting bonus pts for playing SEC teams as well.

    This is a fraudulent borderline WWF made for tv event because it is not a playoff anymore than the bowl system was, but it is touted as a playoff with “best”, rather than “deserving” or ‘”confernce champions”. “Best” allows for all of the debate over “who” with the constant drumbeat of SEC greatness as the baseline of the discussion.

    In addition, SEC honks say “win a championship if you want to stop the SEC dominance but the catch is that SEC has twice the chance of every other conference each year.

      • Exactly. Putting UCF in would teach everyone to go join the weakest conference they can find and not schedule and tough OoC games, since going undefeated is more important than playing teams with an actual pulse.

      • Then let them get destroyed by Alabama and prove it. I think it is just as valid to consider why they are good, is because they have recruited kids that may have been going to FSU/ Fla in past decades, but are now at UCF.

        No business based on what?
        Talent? Scheme? Fanbase? Record? History? Pedigree? Nostalgia? Viewer interest?Schedule?Big Money Donors?Branding?Merchandise Sales?Bad losses? Quality wins? Head to head wins? Conference champs?

        You are making a flat proclamation about a team that has gone 27-0 over 2 years. I think undefeated is undefeated and they should be in, otherwise it is all just a good ole boy money grab disguised as true competition, and ESPN is the wizard manipulating the entire charade through games featured, players featured, and tv contracts with specific conference. ESPN will make business decisions based on driving their own revenue streams as much a s they can, and that means selling out for the SEC as much as possible, in my view.

        • No business based on schedule and quality wins. Their best win is against a Cincinnati team that barely beat a bad UCLA team (and that UCLA team was HORRIBLE at the start of the year when they played.)
          The team is not 27-0 over two years, the program is. Different years, different teams. This year’s team deserves no collective credit for last year’s accomplishments.

        • Sorry but UCF is playing at a lower level of football. Just because they aren’t officially separate divisions doesn’t mean they aren’t separate divisions.

          They don’t even have their starting QB anymore.

          Undefeated is NOT undefeated.

          If UCF like teams starting getting in than I support OSU going independent and scheduling 10 MAC/Sunbelt schools each year.

          • Mac/Sunbelt scheduling is what 1/3 of SEC schedule is already. WHy do they get credit for such an unbalanced schedule then? Because ESPN hypes the heck out the entire conference and they front load wins for a bunch of top 20 match-ups because over half of the conference is in the top 20 pre-season and it takes at least 3 losses for any SEC team to get bumped out of the top 20. It is a circular reasoning of strength of schedule set up by hype, recruiting, and preseason rankings.

            I think anybody who goes undefeated has accomplished something. I don’t downplay it.

            Teams are still in conferences and the whole thing will get ripped apart with major restructuring of conferences soon enough. In the meantime, reward the teams that actually accomplish wins on the field.

            Herbstriet insisted that they must continue to win in order to build a brand worthy of getting a bid. He is apparently dangling a carrot they will never catch, if 27-0 isn’t enough of a build-up for a program to merit consideration. They beat a great Auburn team last year didn’t they?

            Tennessee won 2 conference games and will be numbered among the SEC teams going to bowl games. How good are they? Better than UCF because they lost to 6 SEC teams?

            I just refuse to believe that the SEC is so much better than other teams. We aren’t in the era of 100+ scholarships anymore, the talent has been spread around and I think more teams are able to compete, but the narrative continues to be blue blood programs are the only ones allowed to play.

          • You can believe whatever you want. But the numbers do not back up your belief.

            SEC was 7-3 in OOC games vs. Power 5 teams.

            No other conference was over .500.

            PAC: 4-5
            Big Ten: 6-7
            Big 12: 4-6
            ACC: 3-6

            And note, 2 of the 3 losses the SEC took vs. P5 teams were vs. Clemson. The other loss was vs. West Virginia.

            So like it or not, the numbers do in fact say that the SEC is that much better.

            Sorry.

            And if UCF were playing Tennessee at a neutral site right now (again UCF is without their starting QB); yes I bet Tennessee would have a very good chance of winning that game. But even if Tennessee might lose that game.

            At a minimum Alabama, Georgia, LSU, and Florida would all be double digit favorites vs. UCF right now.

            UCF has no business in a 4 team playoff. Any argument that they do is not based on any reasonable use of the available data. Without their QB I don’t even think that UCF would win a G5 4 team tournament.

          • Sorry, just realized my numbers were from September so only 1 of those losses was to Clemson. I will look for updated numbers. But they will still show that the SEC is in fact dominate whenever they go outside of their conference for games.

            It is hype based on reality. Sorry.

          • Who were the P5 teams, though?

            Big difference between an SEC team beating say, the Beavs, versus a legit P5 team.

            Also curious how weak the SEC OOC schedule was vs other conferences. Haven’t looked this year, but they notoriously under-schedule vs all the directional schools in the South. If it’s weaker than the other conferences, their undefeated/low losses aren’t as impressive.

            Just cursory eyeballing the SEC, their lines (both) are much better than the Pac-12. Their QB play is generally worse. Running backs bigger but slower. Secondaries are about the same. Big difference is in the lines. They do have an advantage there. Must be all that Southern cooking. Eating vegan diets in the West doesn’t cut it. Come on, Beavs, have a “how I learned to love da fried chicken” moment.

          • The link has the actual games.

            Obviously we all know UW lost to Auburn.

            I know non-SEC fans really want to believe that its just hype but its not. The SEC (like all conferences) is definitely top heavy but its top heavy with 4-5 really good teams while most conferences have at best 2-3.

            But again, the argument isn’t that the SEC is better than everyone else, the argument is rather Georgia is better than Oklahoma, Ohio State, and Central Florida. And I’d strongly argue that they are.

          • Good data. I concede the point of SEC vs OOC P5 schools. How many are home games etc is the follow up question of course. But I’ll refrain.
            Angry makes a good point of who the match-ups are, but it is all scheduled out so far, it may be moot. Nonetheless, I’ll maintain a strong dislike of the SEC, and a healthy disdain for the current concept of “Best” over “Undefeated”.

            I think the debate must be between conference champs at least and not allow the discussion to automatically include a team that couldn’t win their own division let alone their conference.

            PAC12 needs to have USC dominant to even get any national respect. If they aren’t great, PAC12 is 5th best conference automatically. If USC is great, PAC12 is 3rd best conference. I forget that I root for a school that doesn’t really care in a conference that doesn’t really care. Pretty soon, I shouldn’t really care either, which is what it looked like at Levi Stadium on Friday night for UW and Utah fans. Nobody really cared, nor did the refs, or even Larry Scott. The booing was nice though.

          • It’s cool to want it to be conference champs, that would be my preference too but that is not what it is.

            And I don’t think the 13 person committee should get to decide what their task is. We’ve been told by those in charge of the committee that the committees job is to select the 4 best teams. If that is their job, that is what they need to do even if it is not the popular decision.

            If the people in charge don’t want that to be their job then the people in charge need to change the rules to conference champs, undefeated teams are in, 2 loss teams are eliminated, or whatever else they want the committee to do. But as long as the people in charge say the committee is supposed to pick the “best 4 teams” than that is what the committee needs to do.

          • What most Power 5 teams call “cupcakes”, UCF calls “conference schedule”. Everyone has crappy teams on their schedule, but when crappy teams are practically your ENTIRE schedule, that shouldn’t be rewarded.

          • 9-3 vs. other P5 conferences, only losses to Clemson twice and WV once. Vanderbilt also lost to Notre Dame so 9-4 including that. 3 of the 4 OOC losses the conference took vs. P5 schools are against teams that haven’t lost to anyone.

            From your source, the 9 wins are as follows:
            Louisville x 2
            Miami
            FlaSt
            GaTech
            KState
            TTech
            Purdue
            UW

            While the losses were quality, you can’t say that of most of the wins. The conference records of the non-con opponents in those wins combined was 30-46. The conference record of the SEC winners of those games was 42-30.

          • Jack’s data illustrates Angry’s point regarding which SEC teams play other conferences. The stronger SEC teams played weaker non-con opponents. It’s an obvious skew, the data is incomplete.

          • Take away the one win that can easily be called quality (UW @ Auburn), and the numbers go to 23-44 and 39-25 for the remaining 8 games.

          • The numbers also say the SEC played 13 of 56 non-con games against P5 or Notre Dame. That means they played 74.4% of their games against what the talking heads would call “quality” opposition. And that’s with us assuming every P5 team and Notre Dame are all equal. So if the discussion is just a flat run at conference versus conference with no context in the numbers, that’s what we’re looking at with the SEC.

            SEC: 74.4%
            Pac: 81.3%
            B1G: 83.3%
            ACC: 77.4%
            Big12: 83.3%

            So I guess that means SOS means nothing in any of these calculations for the committee.

          • If UCF like teams starting getting in than I support OSU going independent and scheduling 10 MAC/Sunbelt schools each year.

            Everyone knows about the scheduling meaning everything for “wins.” The problem you will have is finding enough money to outbid SEC schools who want to schedule the little sisters of the poor.

            Since you’re going to willingly give up all TV revenues, how are you going to pay any team enough to be a body bag at Reser? Are you going to count on the revenues from home attendance versus the likes of PSU and SJSU?

            Where are you even going with this argument? You’ve clearly not thought it through… well… thought about it past the shallowness of it all.

          • There just aren’t that many quality wins in all of the 2018 non-con schedules.
            Auburn over UW
            Maryland over Texas
            Duke over Northwestern
            Notre Dame over Michigan and (because it was away) Northwestern

            That’s it.

            Except for Clemson being on the top of the heap and Duke being a Jeckyll and Hyde this year, the ACC just got pummeled by everyone.

            Everything else is pretty much meh.

    • If all D-1 conferences are not “eligible” for the playoff, then it isn’t a legitimate playoff for a legitimate champion. All the metrics used to select the four teams are highly subjective, save one, wins vs losses.
      UCF met the basic metric for inclusion, they won all of their games. UCF can not control the overall quality of their in conference opponents, they can only control their own program, and win games. Only one team really has control over it’s opponents is Notre Dame, but even they have a slate of “traditions” that set Navy, USC, Stanford in every schedule.

      SEC teams are good. It is a “higher level”, at least at the top. But, they also feast on more cupcakes than Homer Simpson. OSU would have been 3-9 playing Alabama’s schedule… and we are terrible.

      The notion that including them into the playoff would entice Power 5 teams to slide into lower conferences is fucking asinine! For any team that wants to blot a P5 conference, 20 teams would be clamoring to take their place. In turn they would lose tens of millions of dollars in revenue sharing and earned each year. Think it is hard to fill a stadium for the USC game? Try replacing them with Idaho. We see some pretty stupid ideas on this board, mostly from Jack… but, that one is #1 with authority.

      • Have I shared ideas, or are you talking about my commentary about the crook we have ostensibly leading this country?

        I’m surprised Dumbshit didn’t complain about GHW Bush’s death taking the spotlight off him. like he does everything else.

        • I mean… this is representative of you:
          https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1069584730880974849

          It just all becomes one surreal game of, “How can we be more stupid today than we were yesterday.”
          https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45930206

          Shall we praise Jesus with an Easter Egg Roll at the tippy-top shape house or building with no real name?
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i1ytSNX900

          He is truly the dumbest shit to ever occupy the Tippy-Top-Shaped Office.

          • It really is fish in a barrel. Now we know why the comedians are all complaining. They can’t top a narcissistic septuagenarian infantilized by a cult and enabled by opportunists.

            That used to be the finish material… the extreme joke of such silliness, it would end a set. Now it’s just every day, in your face.

          • Meanwhile, the Fed got bullied into missing a crucial hike, and now the 10-2 is at 11 points. We were headed to inversion either way with this extremely liberal fiscal policy of tax cuts and arbitrary spending hikes. But it could have been mitigated by using the tools at our disposal properly.

            If you think the quants are freaking out today, just wait until an inversion. Then watch for the recession with the potential for a depression with Dumbshit in charge. Everybody wants regulation on quants… except for the people who take campaign money from them and have run Congress and the WH for the last 22 years.

            The Contract with America, btw, did have one very good policy point that was enacted in the form of the Farm Bill. But then Monsanto and ADM started lobbying and giving campaign money to those pols, and that legislation was overturned.

            Oh well. Send my friends and family off to die in foreign lands. Hide behind the flag. Scream about bogeywomen, Wash, rinse, spin… repeat.

            You can’t knock the classics.

      • Central Florida is “eligible” they just aren’t 1 of the best 4 teams which is who the committee is suppose to pick.

        Not being amongst the 4 best teams is different than “not eligible”

  34. You can get a taste of Canzano’s PAC12/Larry Scott expose’ without clicking the big slimy O.

    From The Scoop:

    …Pac-12 leadership has a lot of questions to answer; and it isn’t hard to envision sweeping changes coming at the top of the conference….In Canzano’s summary piece, former Utah athletic director Chris Hill, who spent 31 years with the University, is “publicly calling for an internal investigation into the conference’s expenditures.” Can you imagine an athletics director for a major public university feeling the need to call for an investigation into his own conference’s finances? Action needs to be taken…

    http://footballscoop.com/news/former-pac-12-ad-calling-investigation-conference-spending/

    • One of our tailgating crew is a prep baseball coach. I may see him at the NCAA Volleyball match Friday. I’ll ask I run into him. Had not heard of him. I know the locals have been pissed about the SEC cherry picking the high end players, so I may get some grief now that Da Beavs are doing it.
      AJ Lattery
      AJ LatteryAJ LatteryAJ LatteryAJ Lattery
      COMMITMENT
      OREGON STATE
      AJ LATTERY
      CLASS OF 2019 / RHP

      Rankings are only available to PBR Premium Content Subscribers.

      LOG IN SUBSCRIBE TO PBR PLUS

      PLAYER INFORMATION
      GRADUATING CLASS: 2019
      PRIMARY POSITION: RHP SECONDARY POSITION: 1B
      HIGH SCHOOL: PRIOR LAKE STATE: MN
      SUMMER TEAM: MINNESOTA MASH
      HEIGHT: 6-6 WEIGHT: 225LBS
      BAT/THROW: R/R
      STATISTICS
      PITCHING
      MAX FASTBALL: 90 FASTBALL: 87-89
      CURVEBALL: 70-72 CHANGEUP: 79-81

      • “the locals have been pissed about the SEC cherry picking the high end players, so I may get some grief now that Da Beavs are doing it.”

        Should teams be cherry picking the crappy players?

  35. Btw happy for UCF. They can play some unmotivated team in a bowl game and pretend they won the National Championship again. It’s cute :-)

    • I don’t have a dog in this fight, but a check of last year’s results say that UCF beat an Auburn team that beat Alabama then lost in their Conference title game. They had two losses(Clemson and LSU) in the regular season.

      That’s a pretty good win.

      • That is a good win, but it was last year. Different team. Also after the playoff selections were made, so that couldn’t count toward their playoff resume.

        I’m amazed how much some people want to encourage schools to schedule the weakest possible schedule since going unbeaten during the regular season is all that matters, apparently. That would be horrible for college football. We’d lose a lot of great games and matchups. (Beavs would be a hot scheduling commodity though!)

        • What you say would be horrible for college football already happened circa 2000.

          It’s called SEC scheduling.

          There used to be compelling (stop calling them good… they’re not good) games on TV all the time. Then the SEC figured out less losses meant more bowls, which meant more money.

          The only way to entice them to schedule anything remotely compelling is to pay them a ton of money for a neutral site game.

          • You are correct. 8 conf. games with a virtual bye the second to last week where they play schools like Bob’s College of Autobody Repair and School for the Blind. And not even the main campus.

  36. ND gets rewarded for not playing a Conf. Champ. game. Plus SC and Tree suck this year. I hope Clemson obliterates them and OU wins it all.

  37. We had a discussion around scheduling awhile back. I think Angry was on the side of just scheduling 3 patsies, because there really is no upside to scheduling Ohio states, other than the revenue you earn for taking a beating. As dar as bowl consideration goes, you might as well schedule bowling green, san jose state and portland state every year. 3 (hopefully) guaranteed wins help you more than guaranteed losses. I dont blame SEC teams for scheduling 4 non con games. Why make the road more difficult than it has to be.
    Pac 12 doesnt do itself any favors having 9 conference games and a north vs south title game. Either cut the conference title game, or cut out a conference regular season game

    • Some will say playing Ohio states gives us the benefit of making games and trips more interesting for the fans, so more fans will buy tickets, etc.
      I just dont see it though, i think our fans would be more likely to tune into the 2nd half of the season if we were bowl eligible, regardless of opponent, vs when we start a season 1-5 and all hope is pretty much lost by midseason. Hell, we cant even fill reser for a civil war game. At least if we were in the hunt for win #6 that day, people might actually give a shit.

    • The only true champion will ever be a champion of champions, not the complete bullshit we have now… which is only slightly better than the complete bullshit we had for 17 years before that.

      It was better when we had two different “national champions” subjectively chosen by biased groups. At least they didn’t construct some bullshit money-grab to show some pretense for naming a champion.

      • I shouldn’t even say that.

        Bama going last year was a complete joke. They weren’t even the best team in their division.

        Fun fact about Bama’s 2017 season up to the loss that made them also-rans in their own division:
        Except for Derek Mason (Vandy), every P5 team they played either had a first year coach or fired their head coach during or after the season.

        Why do they even play games during some pretend season? They’re meaningless.

    • It doesn’t have to be a race to the bottom. Your points about interest in Beaver football are appropriate, given where the program is at. That the SECs approach is to schedule relatively weaker non-con opponents and less conference games is intuitively egregious and perhaps statistically as well (I’m not Nate silver, but it seems like that approach conference-wide could skew even SRS and SOS measurements)

      • If the other conferences don’t join the race to the bottom that the SEC is doing with its 4 sap schedule and 8 conferences games, the selection committee could omit a cheap win from each SEC team and omit a quality loss from other conferences that schedule like real men. Imagine the swing there.

        Of course then there’s the question of why you prevent 5-7 teams from your own conference from attending bowl games when you are competing against SEC scheduling. This isn’t a vacuum, this is war.

      • If they were full qualifiers coming out of high school, they can enroll winter term. Otherwise, they have to complete their 2 years of JC coursework.

        • What he said.

          We currently have 2 JC guys as part of this class. VanDerLaan and Whittley. I think both will be coming in December (not 100% sure about Vanderlaan, but he was a full qualifier as a 16 year old high school senior, so he would be eligible to come right away without finishing his 2 year degree)

    • Eldridge redshirted, then started at center in 2016 and 2017, but was injured all of 2018.
      So he could potentially apply for a medical hardship to get a year back, in addition to being a grad transfer candidate this year. Would be nice to get a 2 year starter with 2 years remaining eligibility to replace Houston.

      • I don’t know how you get this info, but it it truly appreciated by this Beav fan. How does that work as a transfer, is he allowed to do an official visit? Was his injury serious enough where he won’t be cleared to practice Spring/Fall?

        Also, where do you think we stand with Siale Liku?

        • I don’t think a player can take additional official visits if they already used their initial 5 allotted visits earlier in their recruiting. On 247 it says Eldridge visited Arizona, but I don’t see any others listed, so it’s possible he has some remaining, so I think he would be eligible to take one still.
          Don’t know injury severity. Sumlin doesn’t discuss injuries so it wasn’t talked about much this year. It was a knee injury, from what I’ve read, but really don’t know anything else.

          With Liku, I think we’re in really good shape. I’ll make another post with a quick recap of our current class. my last post I neglected to include Josh Gray and Riley Sharp, so our remaining numbers are a little tighter than what I was thinking.

  38. Current class as of today:
    20 total(12 HS freshman, 6 transfers 1 2018 freshman, 1 mission freshman)

    Offense-
    QB- Gebbia(transfer Soph)
    WR-Lindsay(transfer Soph), Gould(frosh)
    TE-Musgrave(frosh)
    RB-Madison(frosh)
    OL-VanDerLaan(JC transfer Soph), Gray(2018 frosh)

    Defense-
    DB-Russell(frosh), Forest(frosh), Austin(frosh)
    LB-Roberts(transfer soph), Sharp(mission frosh), Franke(frosh), Erhart(frosh), Speights(frosh)
    DE-Gumbs(transfer soph), Hennessy(frosh), Stover(frosh)
    DT-Bennett(frosh), Whittley(JC transfer junior)

    I do think we’ll add freshman LIku to the OL group, so I’m counting our class as 21 total right now, so we can still add another 4 players to this class. Not sure how many of those would happen by the early signing period, but hopefully the rest of the current verbal commitments sign in December so we don’t have much work to focus on recruiting for the Feb signing period.

    I think we’ll take another TE if the right one comes along, and another OL and DL guy. From there, I’m hopeful we find a freshman QB because we’re pretty thin now, especially if Luton doesn’t get a 6th year. Wouldn’t surprise me if we kept 2 spots open for off season transfer opportunities too.

  39. Our FB schedule for 2019 is out.

    8/30 OKState-home(friday, week 0)
    9/7 Hawaii-away
    9/14 Cal Poly-home
    9/21 (bye)
    9/28 Stanford-home
    10/5 UCLA-away
    10/12 Utah-home
    10/19 Cal-away
    10/26 (bye)
    11/2 Arizona-away
    11/8 UW-home(friday)
    11/16 ASU-home
    11/23 WSU-away
    11/30 Civil War-away

    If we’re serious about trying to make a bowl this year, we should be adding an extra home game, since we’re traveling to Hawaii and we have 2 bye weeks. Shouldn’t that be a given, considering how the schedule lays out for us?
    Lots of home games early in the season too, which is nice to help potentially build some momentum. I also could see us losing every game on that schedule if our D doesn’t make huge strides this offseason. Imagine triple-option Cal Poly ramming it down our throats.

    • Its utterly stupid to not be playing a 13th games. Schedule a low level MWC, Sunbelt, MAC, or even a 2nd FCS school in week 0 prior to the OSU game and you still get 2 byes plus some important information heading into that OSU game.

      Its really makes no sense at all. The Oregon State athletic department is a joke at this point.

      • Agree that we should add a 13th game, but I think OkState is technically week 0, so I don’t know that we could schedule a game earlier than that. But 2 bye weeks, despite being the new standard apparently, gives us a good spot to fit another game in.
        Especially since we have 2 Friday home games this year, which is an FU to fans. Most fans outside of Corvallis won’t be able to make those games without taking a day off from work. Season ticket sales will go down again if a majority of fans will only be able to attend 4 home games.

        And I agree with your last statement. Our AD continues to be a joke.

        • Seems like every year, there are a handful of teams that have to cancel a game due to hurricanes or some other event. We should be ready to offer our October bye week up as an alternative date for a team that has a game cancelled, if they also have a bye week that week.

        • The OSU game is Labor Day weekend which is week 1. Week 0 is the week before. Arizona plays Hawaii on August 24th. Oregon State is eligible play that week too.

          • Well shit, we have no excuses. I see Arizona isn’t playing a 13th game either, and they have 3 bye weeks this upcoming season.

            Some people argue 13 games is too much for our players and we need those bye weeks, but they’re not considering every bowl team plays 13 games, and the 2 conference championship teams play 14. We’ve had it easy at oregon state with only playing 12 games every season and skipping out on bowl games. 13 isn’t going to kill us.

          • We should invite Arizona up on 9/21 since we both have byes. Fins an equitable way to split gate revenue and call it a non-league game.

        • Since they’re FCS, I don’t think we can count that game in our win total since we already have Cal Poly…..although, if you think about it…..there’s no guarantee we would win both FCS games, so we might not run into that problem anyway.

          • If you play 13 games you need to be 7-6 to go bowling rather you play 1 or 2 FCS schools. In such a case where you play 2 FCS schools the NCAA would consider you 6-6 for Bowl eligibility purposes so playing a 2nd FCS school doesn’t really help or hurt bowl chances.

            I like the idea of playing a game prior to Oklahoma State simply because you learn so much from game 1. I’d rather that be a warm up type game instead of your biggest OOC game.

          • Well, let’s get off our lazy asses and play some week zero football! Portland State? Idaho? Weber State? Southern Utah? S?a?c?r?a?m?e?n?t?o? ?S?t?a?t?e??(nevermind) Any takers?

          • But the optics will be there with another win. People are shallow, especially college football die-hards. They’ll get an explanation about how that game doesn’t count, then they’ll still say 8-5 instead of 7-5 for any discussions they have… until their team is up for a bowl bid against ours. Then you’d see them whip out how it doesn’t count, and why are we scheduling cupcakes in the middle of the season and blah blah blah.

            What it would provide is a home game between two road dates. Walking wounded can still rest. Even if it’s a wash financially for the program, it provides another opportunity for the AD to hit up donors… another opportunity for vendors and labor to make some change… a slight opportunity to run reps at a game pace with varying personnel groups not seen since the first FCS game.

            It also provides a crucial home date where there are none for a month before the early signing period. Although, football isn’t there just to give PSAs from other sports something to do on an OV.

            And you’re correct. If we lose the first FCS game, the second would count as a win toward our total. But I’m not too worried about that contingency.

            There are more pros than cons, by far.

            We’re not going to outbid anyone for any FBS cupcakes, even if we could find any with

          • Don’t want a week 0 game. It would tell oSu more about us than they could even dream of knowing before they need to make adjustments against us. Keeping it under wraps until it’s sprung on them is our best chance to compete to start the year.

          • This is super secret, so don’t tell anyone.

            I heard we’re going to implement a double flea-flicker with a reverse in between… out of the wild beaver. It’ll be better than the Triple Lindy we saw in the CW. It’ll be a Quadruple Lindy.

    • It’s interesting in 2006, one of MR’s best seasons they went for the 13 games and it worked out well with a win over a ranked Hawaii team. Then in 2014, they did not do it and I remember MR and BDC getting some shit about it and not really coming up with a coherent answer as to why they passed. They finished 5-7, so it didn’t matter in the end.

  40. So there’s actually a “Cheez-It” bowl…..and a “Red Box Bowl” in which U Knight will play…

    Wow, college bowl season just keeps getting better….

    • The GOP abandoned following the will of the voters long ago. Nothing they do to maintain their grip on power surprises me.

      We have a system that requires compromise and 1 party that views compromise as weakness. Its why the system is broken.

      And anyone that says its equal on both sides isn’t paying attention or has an agenda. Democrats are far from perfect but they want to govern and try to compromise even when they probably shouldn’t (for example Obamacare factually has more Republican ideas in it than Democratic ideas but once the Democrats decided to support it; it instantly became evil to Republicans).

      Party over country, party of the people, stay in power at any and all costs. That might as while be the GOP mantra of today.

      • Yeah. And they are going to Gerrymander the shit out of every State they lost. They can’t win an election on issues, so they have to win on corrupting the entirety of Democracy (/the Republic). It’s really worrisome. When was the last time they won a populate vote, Reagan?

        Supreme Court is the biggest problem. Trump will be gone in less than two years, but his judges might sit another 50, and Ginsburg looks near death, so he might get a 3rd. That is a serious problem for America if we have the worst President in history electing 3 judges.

        I’m a moderate, FWIW. Voted Obama and then Trump. But I’m objective, and both had major issues, Big difference between a moderate like myself and a party-liner is I just admit when I’m wrong and move on/try to find who is best next cycle. Party-liners try to justify his amoral behavior.

        Trump is the worst I’ve ever seen, and by everything I have read about some of the other contenders for worst Prez ever, he has them beaten.

        • I am glad you are able to see the error but I honestly don’t know how anyone couldn’t see that Trump was gonna be a disaster long before he ever got into office.

          I understand the arguments against Hillary but can’t for the life of me figure out how anyone could possibly have ever thought Trump would be better.

          I saw this disaster coming from miles away.

          FYI, I am far from convinced Trump will be gone in 2020. Not only do I think he can win re-election but I think he probably will. And frankly even if he doesn’t he will not be able to accept said results and will claim massive election fraud followed by possibly having to be forcibly removed from office.

          I don’t think it is even close to as ugly as it will get. And I think all of it was obvious since prefer Trump even decided to run which is what bothers me so much.

          Reasonable smart conservatives like John Kasich are being purged and turning the GOP into nothing but a white nationalist party. That never ends well.

          • I voted Trump for two reasons:

            1. Thought he would be better economically — he hasn’t been unless you’re rich.
            2. I was sick of the “regressive left” and their message trying to control me/tell me what to say, think etc, and all the shame.
            Oh, and:
            3. I lived in California, so it didn’t matter. Forgot this one.

            If I lived in a swing State, I would have thought longer and harder about it, but I went with the seemingly better economic pick and the backlash against the regressive left. The regressive left is a huge huge problem. If Trump is in the picture in 2020 it will be because of them. They are a big reason, along with the rust belt falling for the bait, that he won.

            I like some ideas on each side, but the alt-right and regressive-left are both horrible. Both are infiltrating more into the mainstream message of each party. That is scary. Extremism is growing.

          • I am not going to argue that there is not a regressive left, I might argue its not as mainstream as you indicate but I’ll cede the point.

            Either way, the regressive left was not on the ticket but the alt-right was. Its one thing to dislike extremism on both sides; it is different to actually vote for the extremist.

            Anyway. It’s over now and I’d argue America has gone over the cliff so whatever…..

            Back to the Beavs….

          • Regressive left is an oxymoron.

            It would be accurate as a relative term if someone from today’s GOP used it to describe, say, Chuckie Schumer. He would be both to the left and supportive of regressive legislation, minus any votes against extremism or covered by political expediency in an election cycle. HRC would be even more to the right of him… even more regressive.

            Talking about re-instating the republic by clawing back democracy from corporate interests is a progressive ideal, as is providing for the equitable safety, security and welfare of all citizens.

            So who are you talking about?

          • nm…

            I see you guys are engrossed with convoluted language because of the culture wars… specifically a term created by conflating a straw man with another straw man.

            Wake me when you’ve had your fun with that nonsense.

          • I think a general rule is not to vote for someone who clearly wants authority but not the appurtenant responsibility, Trump has never had to take responsibility for his decisions; bailed out by dad’s wealth time and again.

            Voting for trump is incredibly short-sighted, he’s a threat to American democracy and he’ll sacrifice it for even the appearance that he’s a winner. His election is mostly the desperate act of insecure, wealthy or under/educated caucasians who see their grandchildren will not be the majority, are scared shitless, and who don’t unferstand their grand children’s best hope – like everyone else’s – are things like trustworthy voting systems with access for all citizens, a free press…

            MAGA is just MAWA.

          • And on Cue, Flynn is now both a convicted criminal and a snitch 24 months after leading chants of “lock her up.” You couldn’t write this shit in Hollywood.

            Agree, OC. 

          • ** unferstand their grand children’s best hope – like everyone else’s – are things like trustworthy voting systems with access for all citizens, a free press…**

            This is a good statement OC.

            Can we all agree that this country needs a modern, encrypted digital voting system across the board? Just run it through the post office or some other federal agency, anyone who wants to vote head in and re-register and as long as you’re not dead and you’re actually a citizen the whole thing could be instant and digital. None of this hanging chad finding votes in the trunk bullshit anymore, it just casts a pall over the entire process. No more recounts or pissing and moaning after the fact.

          • Blockchain will fix voting over the next few years.
            Look into Matrix…better version of Etherium, which can already do smart contracts.

          • Very similar mentalities. The management styles were different (congenial micromanagement where decisions were informed by a trusted few… all others be damned v. chaotic corruption and outright lies that happen to be the last words/ideas in Dumbshit’s ear), but the stubbornness in adherence to poor decisions made by a cabal-like group is an apt comparison.

            The difference, of course, is that Carter was an honest man who actually was intelligent. Dumbshit is neither. Therefore, the same mistakes are magnified by his gross incompetence and mismanagement.

            Is it a coincidence that Dumbshit may reset the blame on himself for anything “Iran” going forward?

          • The neo-cons began the process in 1968, but it wasn’t until this that they scored their first SCOTUS win. It’s what caused rate and inflation turmoil in the late 70s.

  41. Yeah, I think a general recruiting thread is about all that really makes sense.

    Unless we want to discuss the larger PAC 12 issues that led to a 10-2 WSU getting left out of the New Years Six. I believe it is the first time a 2 loss power 5 team failed to earn a bid in any of the 6 bowls. That is a big issue for the conference right now.

    • It’s because of TV. You’ve been told this. Why do you not understand it? Rank the TV markets for the three at-large bids. USC and UCLA are the only teams who would get an at-large in a similar situation.

      It’s a negative feedback loop that can only be broken by the largest of the West Coast markets. Over-rank the teams that are most watched at the beginning. Sprinkle in some more realistic hopefuls who will play the most watched, so that the most watched will be even more watched, as well as being able to boast about how they’ve beaten more ranked teams. Fudge the metrics (that aren’t at all clear anyway) so the most watched teams filter upward, even when they lose.

      Claim that’s the “best” that can be seen, and eat it up.

      You think the Alamo Bowl is happy they got IowaSt and Wazzu? If there weren’t those affiliations, that game would be PennSt v. aTm in a heartbeat.

      • Solution: Leach to usc, phantom PI’s save the freshman qb and the pac12 from postseason irrelevance. Or Helton adopts the chair raid (did the pac office not communicate this? Outrage!).

      • Guess what Jack?

        The Fiesta did not want OSU in 2000
        The Orange did not want want Stanford in 2010

        It is almost as if quality leadership can lobby and/or pass rules that prevent their schools from getting hosed.

        Odd I know.

        • heh heh…

          This is quite possibly the first time I’ve seen or heard anyone say Tom Hansen was quality leadership.

          You’re (again) comparing apples to oranges… and completely ignoring my previous point about TV.

          If there is a subjective decision to be made, it will be made in favor of the larger TV market… always. This one involves your complaint that a small market team who placed second in their division is somehow getting shafted by Larry Scott not making them as attractive to at-large bowls as other divisional also-rans from other conferences. The numbers have always been biased to the east for various reasons–time differences, population centers, alumni bases, etc. But it really got bad once Mack Brown lobbied pollsters for his team to get the Rose Bowl back in 2004 or so. Ever since then, the numbers have run eastward.

          • It’s all Larry Scott’s fault.
            http://www.espn.com/college-football/bowls04/news/story?id=1939419

            It has nothing to do with a loss of integrity in something that pretends to adhere to the principles of sportsmanship while really just chasing profits.

            I posit this event was a major factor in Aaron Rodgers dropping to 24 in the draft. He spoke about it in real time. He was not happy. Tedford couldn’t be as blunt, because he was still bound by the pretense of sportsmanship, even in the face of none. That Cal team went on to play a dispirited Holiday Bowl against a middling team that could at least take advantage of that condition. The combined effect of this was the talking heads deciding that Alex Smith was a waaaayyy better QB pick.

            It was as if they were ignoring the very tape they were showing and just blurting out some weird analysis contrary to it. People jumped on me for being biased, because I was a Pac 10 guy and spent the previous draft lead-up trying to get it through their thick skulls that Steven Jackson was an infinitely better RB than both Chris Perry and Kevin Jones.

            Nope. They just weren’t going to buy it. Rodgers ad Jackson will fail at the NFL, because what I see and can objectively gauge then explain with numbers is just a highly biased opinion from some Pac homer.

            Ignore at your leisure. But don’t get upset when I call those who ignore, ignorant.

  42. Never mind, did some research not the first time a 2 loss P5 team was left out but it is the first time a conference had a 2 loss team left out without already having at least 2 teams in those bowls.

    So there is that.

  43. any auto mechanics in this forum?

    Curious if somebody would know the answer to this question?
    Have to swap out an alternator on my Tacoma-6cyl. Stock alternator is 100amp, but they also sell a 130amp which is recommended for vehicles with the stock “towing package.” I do not have the towing package.

    Of course, the 130amp is cheaper than the 100amp, so I’m tempted to use it instead, but does anybody know if that extra 30amp would require an upgrade in wiring too? or should the stock wiring be able to handle both types of alternators?

    It’s my understanding the extra 30amps won’t really affect performance, since the truck will use what it needs, but my main concern is making sure the 100 and 130 could be swapped for each other without any other modifications.

    thanks in advance if you have any input

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here