I came up with this idea while thinking that StS would make a better WR than QB, and how to get McMaryion and him on the field using all of their skills. Turns out it’s an actual offense. Check out this link.

But how great would it be to have MM and StS both in the backfield at the same time? The permutations become vast.

For those who have been at practice — any indication GA is considering something like this? We know he mentioned both QBs would play, but did that sly fox mean at the same time? Now that would be something.

One thing that’s frustrating is that many OSU fans claimed they hated Oregon’s offense and didn’t want to copy the Ducks. Now everyone loves that GA runs a very similar offense. Running a system with two QBs who can read option would distinguish OSU from the Ducks, and almost every other team in America. I doubt it happens, but StS does make it possible and intriguing. Hopefully they at least install that formation with a few variations. At worst, it should be a trick play option. I think there is great possibility and the next logical step on offense now that the mobile QB is old hat.

I’m starting to get tired of this guy’s attitude, and he hasn’t even played a game yet. If you want to cop an attitude that you’re great, then you need to back it up. This guy can’t beat out MM, yet he’s talking like he’s Johnny U.

You still gotta compete,” Collins said after being notified of Baldwin’s announcement following the scrimmage. “You still gotta go out there. You still gotta play. For me, it’s whatever. His decision is his decision. I’m still me. I can’t let nothing faze me. I just gotta go out there and play.”

Highly disturbing stuff.

“For me, it’s whatever.” Really? The starting job is whatever? A coach acknowledging you’re not good enough to win the job is whatever? I haven’t read any MM quotes, but my guess is they’re polar opposite, probably talking about doing what is best for the team, etc. Being a real leader and sportsman. Collins, meanwhile, is moping here with “whatevers”.

“His decision is his decision.” — This seems like dissing the coach. He shows no respect. He doesn’t call Baldwin by name, and there’s disdain in the tone. You can tell Collins thinks he is entitled to the job. Again, do we have any MM quotes? I bet they are the opposite.

“I’m still me.” — No shit, Einstein? Of course you’re still you. Or does he mean he is still SethTheGreat, despite his inability to win the job? Narcissism much? Comes off as extremely selfish.

It’s not just these quotes. I was getting this vibe from the media day interviews and said it then. But people said to give him a chance, etc. I’ve been trying, but I’m just about done with this guy’s shtick.

Silverstream, who was at practice, confirmed my hunch:

I agree. Collins comes off as immature and me-first. Two confirming observations from yesterday’s scrimmage. On one play, late in the scrimmage, Collins was running towards the end zone, when the whistle blew (to prevent contact with the QB). Collins continued to run, and then vaulted high into the end zone (over no defender — it was a pure showboat vault). On another occasion, Collins overthrew a received, and then stared downfield towards the receiver, with his hands stretched out (more or less calling out his receiver, despite the problem being his own overthrow). Yes, Collins has a lot of talent. But these kinds of shenanigans are going to get old fast, and he’s going to lose the support of his teammates and coaches if he keeps it up. I think Andersen knows that Collins is a bit of a head-case, and he’s trying to be careful, to change Collins’ attitude without losing him. But at some point Andersen is going to say “enough is enough” if this keeps up.

I’m starting to get tired of this guy rapidly. I don’t care if he’s a good running threat (his only real talent, despite this misconception that he’s highly talented — again, I think this comes from him hurdling and jumping). Last I checked, none of the Super Bowl QBs ever hurdled a guy. A great QB has a consistent release point, performs in the clutch, cool under pressure, minimizes mistakes, controls the offense and takes what is given, etc etc. They don’t try to make “me” plays, “wow” plays, etc.

Sorry dudes, I’ve had company.

General thread until I can catch up in a few days. I did catch the news that MM and Collins both will play. Seems smart, honestly, since they can both make the team better. I see MM getting most of the snaps and Collins coming in on run/pass downs to utilize his wheels.  This is actually ideal, so props to Andersen for having the guts to go with two.

More to come tomorrow or Monday.

Some material is coming through on twitter.

“Zero separation at the quarterback position” – coach Andersen

Rathbone has some periscope video up.

From what I saw:

Nick Mitchell looked very bad, but part of that was the supporting cast. He was throwing to #15 (Tanner Sanders?) several times, and one was a drop, and the other an interception by Shawn Wilson on a double coverage, who made a nice ball-hawking play. Mitchell later throws into double coverage again, this time incomplete. Even if you want to blame the cast, and there is truth to that, Mitchell still has the funky delivery where he jump throws, he has a weak arm, made poor decisions, and on run plays, he didn’t look fully committed to selling the fake.

Tanner Sanders looked really bad, too. He does not look like a D1 tight end at this point.

A guy who stood out to me: Darrell Garrettson. He was only 3-6, I believe, but he also threw a 20 yard pass that Brent Vanderveen dropped. The pass was slightly short and BV had to go to the ground for it, so it could have been on Garrettson.  This play was especially troubling because #49 was covering BV, and that turns out to be a LB named David Henry. He is listed at 6’0, but he looks more like 5’2 and chubby/maladroit. Henry looks awful; I’m not sure if he’s a walk-on or what. But Garrettson had moxie and poise. He was very good at selling the run and much quicker with the decision and fake compared to the other QBs. He needs to work on accuracy, though. This seems like his weakness. Garrettson was out there with Sanders and Shane Wallen, so not exacty a lot of weapons. He hit BV for a touchdown. BV looked good at TE, but he needs to add about 15lbs, imo, to be effective as a blocker.

Seth Collins — mostly hands off in the footage. There’s a lot of standing around. For all the talk of getting plays in quickly, I didn’t see that in this footage. In general, a lot of confusion when he is in there. At one point, Ryan Nall says to hold up. They run the play anyway, and Nall gets stuffed. In the red zone drill, Collins throws a pass from the 5 yard line that the awful David Henry tips, and X. Crawford intercepts it. If Seth is getting defended by David Henry and Crawford, that doesn’t bode well for him vs legit defenses. Collins looks best on run plays. He’s got a good ball fake and follows through with the run well even when handing off to the back.

Marcus McMaryion — During that same red zone drill, MM hits Drew Kell for a touchdown. It’s a short pass, and Kell breaks a tackle before rumbling into the end zone. There is not much MM footage on the tape, but the few plays show he’s composed, takes what the D gives, has  good ball fake, and looked poised.

Ryan Nall — a huge disappointment in this footage. He’s running slow and hesitant, and on one play when Collins drops back to pass, he doesn’t even block. The D was swarming him. He should be better than this.

The defense looked pretty good considering there were a lot of scrubs out there. The offense did not look like Pac-12 football, but I didn’t recognize half the guys on the field, so it could be the byproduct of that. Overall, I was not impressed, and based on this footage, they have a long way to go, and 5 wins is optimistic. Now, don’t get too down, because this was only 14 minutes of film and half the starters appear to be out. Hopefully I can get some of the later scrimmages once the starters get more time and compare.