USC @ Ducks - GAME THREAD

[Natebishop3]

After 12+ hours to calm down......

A) Can we stop the nonesense about how good the Duck defense is? They are really pretty mediocre.

B) Is there a reason so many college coaches neglect special teams/the kicking game?

C) When you play for the tie instead of the win, the football gods tend to kick you in the cajones.

From what I understand, and someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I have heard that some coaches don't like to "waste" scholarships on kickers. The thing is, Oregon has historically been a VERY good special teams school. We've put a fair number of kickers in the NFL, and some of them have turned out to be some of the best kickers in the country. Maldonado is probably the worst kicker I've seen in a Duck uniform in my lifetime.

 

[Sinobas]

After 12+ hours to calm down......

A) Can we stop the nonesense about how good the Duck defense is? They are really pretty mediocre.

B) Is there a reason so many college coaches neglect special teams/the kicking game?

C) When you play for the tie instead of the win, the football gods tend to kick you in the cajones.

A) Their corners looked horrible last week, but you had a great QB/WR tandem.
B) We just wound up with a horrible kicker. The Ducks don't attempt many FGs and tend to always be way ahead. Beard was a decent kicker but got injured. But yes, it certainly came to bite us in the butt.
C)Yep. The Ducks were rolling. If they had more time, they probably would have gotten the TD. I"m not sure if they were intentionally trying to milk it down and score so USC would have no time left, but it certainly did not work.

 

[Sinobas]

Did you just call the Rose Bowl "2nd tier"? Man, what a spoiled lot we have become...

NC is first tier, Rose Bowl is 2nd tier. I personally would rather see them win the rose bowl then get their ass kicked in the NC.

 

[Wheels]

alright. Just got home from our weekend at Autzen, and the wife spending money today, so thought I'd give my thoughts.

1) Autzen stadium... you took it to a new level last night. Holy CRAP! That 2nd half was the most electric atmosphere I have been a part of. There were two guys in Ohio State gear behind me last night, and as they walked in I could overhear them saying "This stadium is built really weird, but cool at the same time... I just dont see how it could get anywhere near as loud as the horseshoe." I didnt say anything, I thought I'd let them hear for themselves. In between timeouts I could hear them talking about how impressed they were. Talked to them after the heartbreaking loss for a few minutes, asking them what brought them out here. Turns out that they are writing a book called Highway to Gameday 2011 and are hitchhiking around the country to what they feel is the best game of each week. Highway to Gameday 2011 Facebook page I dont know how they are doing this with little to know money but it was pretty interesting to hear about nonetheless. They were pretty classy guys, and came away mighty impressed and had some great things to say about the Autzen atmosphere. They gave me their card when I asked about the name of the book, so I think I'll check it out when it comes out.

just saw this tweet from the dudes about an hour ago

Highway2Gameday Highway2Gameday
Oregon-USC game in Eugene was AWESOME!! Autzen Stadium is soooo loud. Definitely one of top 3 loudest. Hard to beat that level of noise!!

2) Yes Maldonado missed the kick. But seriously I know its easy to blame it on the last play. But that loss is just as much on LaMichael's fumble at the end of the half. Chip's clock management was also to blame. Countless dropped passes. Oh and maybe a little Frakking credit to USC. They played a hell of a game for 3 Quarters.

3) I found it ironic that the whole ride down 750 the game when going position by position of USC vs Oregon, that when it came to coaching it was talked about how much of a mismatch Head Coaching is (it is) yet it was Chip who had some questionable stuff that hurt us.

4) Marqise Lee... holy crap does he drop anything?! Thank goodness USC didnt get him and DAT in last years class. Facing him and Woods for at least another year will not be fun.

5) I hope Stuckey and Jordan are ok. Anyone read anything about their injuries? They are a pretty big part of our defense.

I'll probably think of more later... my head still hurts from the lack of oxygen to the brain, from all the yelling last night. Especially in the 4th quarter.

 

[Wheels]

"Oh hi guys, I remember missing a few big kicks early in my career... I turned out to be decent"

to this

 

[Wheels]

for the record, I'm not saying that Maldonado will be the kicker that Serna was. But good Lord.

 

[ABM]

for the record, I'm not saying that Maldonado will be the kicker that Serna was. But good Lord.

My heartfelt prayers went out to you last night.

 

[Wheels]

My heartfelt prayers went out to you last night.

lol well thank you but its the first time I have left Autzen disappointed so I cant complain too much. And sometimes memories are made even in bad situations. It truly was the Autzen Zoo last night, and that 4th quarter was the most electric atmosphere I have ever been a part of. I will never forget how rocking that place was.

Also during the 3rd quarter when things were looking extra bleak. I remember standing there arms folded just watching the Defense play while being deflated. I heard a distinctive "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" (I see you reading this SLY and keep the orgasm jokes to yourself) to my left and I looked over and it was Mrs Wheels yelling as loud as she could, and making as much noise as she could. I know its a stupid moment, and I'm probably being a sentimental wimpy little

... but I was DAMN proud to be married to that woman then and there

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

I was rooting for the Duckies to come back and get the win. Sucks!!

 

[Ghost Pepper]

Sorry my Duck family but it's time for Alioto to be replaced! Bend don't break defense for two years has failed. If this team doesn't have a two touchdown lead our defense is a monster liability out there. For the Ducks to win a national championship which is the goal here, it's time to get nasty and get the kind of size in the secondary we need to achieve SEC dominance. 5'9 DB's and SF's are going to cut it any longer! We need the Ellis McCarthy's on the DL and the Shaq Thompsons in the secondary and with the loss to USC at home in the invincible Autzen, we might as well have gift wrapped them for that idiot Kiffin. Size and speed grow of the trees in the south I know I'm southern, let's go get some of these kids. Not every kid is going to play for Bama or LSU and Chip can coach them up here. Size and speed can't be taught and USC showed to the nation how to beat the Ducks. Attack the secondary with the long ball and use big recievers. That was the game Ducks! SO let's fix this defense, and get that national championhsip next year!!! OOOOKAY?!!

 

[RR7]

Size and speed can't be taught and USC showed to the nation how to beat the Ducks. Attack the secondary with the long ball and use big recievers. That was the game Ducks! SO let's fix this defense, and get that national championhsip next year!!! OOOOKAY?!!

6'1" isn't really a "big" WR.

 

[Wheels]

6'1" isn't really a "big" WR.

yeah I didnt get that either. How about change it to "Elite level WR's" your WR stable is very impressive! Woods, Lee, Farmer... I thank God you didnt get DAT to go with that.

Whats the Deal with Farmer by the way? I just looked him up and he has 3 catches this year? Is he just buried on the depth chart or has he not looked that good as a FR?

 

[oldmangrouch]

Sorry my Duck family but it's time for Alioto to be replaced! Bend don't break defense for two years has failed. If this team doesn't have a two touchdown lead our defense is a monster liability out there. For the Ducks to win a national championship which is the goal here, it's time to get nasty and get the kind of size in the secondary we need to achieve SEC dominance. 5'9 DB's and SF's are going to cut it any longer! We need the Ellis McCarthy's on the DL and the Shaq Thompsons in the secondary and with the loss to USC at home in the invincible Autzen, we might as well have gift wrapped them for that idiot Kiffin. Size and speed grow of the trees in the south I know I'm southern, let's go get some of these kids. Not every kid is going to play for Bama or LSU and Chip can coach them up here. Size and speed can't be taught and USC showed to the nation how to beat the Ducks. Attack the secondary with the long ball and use big recievers. That was the game Ducks! SO let's fix this defense, and get that national championhsip next year!!! OOOOKAY?!!

I'm *almost* there. Overall, the Duck D has been a neutral factor this season (eg they helped win the Stanford game before getting embarassed by USC). Let's see how these next 3 games play out. If the Ducks get crushed in the Rose Bowl (or worse yet, don't even get there) - then it is time to make big changes.

 

[Ed O]

Sorry my Duck family but it's time for Alioto to be replaced! Bend don't break defense for two years has failed. If this team doesn't have a two touchdown lead our defense is a monster liability out there. For the Ducks to win a national championship which is the goal here, it's time to get nasty and get the kind of size in the secondary we need to achieve SEC dominance. 5'9 DB's and SF's are going to cut it any longer! We need the Ellis McCarthy's on the DL and the Shaq Thompsons in the secondary and with the loss to USC at home in the invincible Autzen, we might as well have gift wrapped them for that idiot Kiffin. Size and speed grow of the trees in the south I know I'm southern, let's go get some of these kids. Not every kid is going to play for Bama or LSU and Chip can coach them up here. Size and speed can't be taught and USC showed to the nation how to beat the Ducks. Attack the secondary with the long ball and use big recievers. That was the game Ducks! SO let's fix this defense, and get that national championhsip next year!!! OOOOKAY?!!

I don't buy this. The defense played quite well against UW and Stanford and, because they had one bad game, it's time for big changes? I don't buy it.

The defense even played pretty well against Auburn and LSU, IMO--LSU got lots of their points off of turnovers deep in Ducks territory.

Do we want better players on defense? Big, physical guys who are extremely skilled? Of course.

Do we need to dump our coaches to do this? Heck, no!

Ed O.

 

[Ghost Pepper]

6'1 with great speed and skill will win the battle against 5'9.... There is no way anyone can watch the USC game and not see a glaring hole in the secondary with size. USC ran a passing clinic out there! How many first downs did they convert? Not to mention that their O line pushed our defensive line all over the place. As for Alioto, he has a major say in who gets recruited to "HIS" defense and he's picking undersized guys at positions that really matter. His finesse style of defense doesn't work against the top five teams in the nation. Oregon is now in a place where those are the teams we can and should be beating. We only have one player on our whole team recruited past Texas and that's Dungy's kid. We need to expand our recruiting and get that size and speed, that is in abundance in Florida and most of the south. Why should LSU, Bama and Texas get all the talent? We are national players now too!!

As for UW and Stanford.... does anyone here really think those two teams could hang with Bama or LSU for a half let alone a whole game? Well in order for the national trophy to come to Autzen we need to be able to, and not with miracle comebacks!

Alioto has been at Oregon how many years? How many national championships? How about bowl wins in the last 3 years since Chip took over? We ALL know it's not the offense!!

The stars were all aligned in Autzen for Oregon to go to #2 in the BCS with OSU and the Sooners both losing... Our defense got worked! Sorry I want the best for the Ducks and I see our defense as the weak link... 3 huge bowl games in a row with losses makes a statement, to voters, recruits and the nation. We need to improve!

 

[Natebishop3]

yeah I didnt get that either. How about change it to "Elite level WR's" your WR stable is very impressive! Woods, Lee, Farmer... I thank God you didnt get DAT to go with that.

Whats the Deal with Farmer by the way? I just looked him up and he has 3 catches this year? Is he just buried on the depth chart or has he not looked that good as a FR?

He has been battling injuries, or at least that's what they said on the broadcast.

 

[Wheels]

He has been battling injuries, or at least that's what they said on the broadcast.

thanks

 

[RR7]

Great skill and speed will win out against inferior skill and speed, of course. To say it is simply big WRs versus size of Ducks CBs is false, though. 5'10, 5'11 and 6'0 CBs is pretty standard in college and pros, I would say.

Robey on USC is smaller than all of the Ducks' CBs.

As for LSU, they start a corner who goes 5'9 175. he must suck too, huh.



Farmer, like Nate said, little injuries, trying out at RB as wella s WR, just to look to get him more touches. Can' wait for next season, though, with him, Woods and Lee all returning. Might be enough to convince barkley to come back.

 

[Ghost Pepper]

Shaq Thompson who still has Oregon a top of his list is the perfect size 6'2 /210 corner ..... that's who we need....

As for LSU's corner that is 5'9... yes he's undersized too and tall fast recievers will give him fits.

You saw the USC game, how is this hard to figure out?

We can improve, why are ya fighting what you can clearly see?

 

[MrSelfDestruct]

Shaq Thompson who still has Oregon a top of his list is the perfect size 6'2 /210 corner ..... that's who we need....

As for LSU's corner that is 5'9... yes he's undersized too and tall fast recievers will give him fits.

You saw the USC game, how is this hard to figure out?

We can improve, why are ya fighting what you can clearly see?

Unfortunately, Oregon is out apparently for Shaq. Read this on twitter yesterday:

"Inna Lazarev
Oregon Ducks out for No. 1 safety Shaq Thompson. Says Eugene is too small for him. New favorites are as follows: 1. Cal 2. Washington 3. ASU
20 Nov via web"

It's about half-way down the page but I saw it retweeted by Rob Moseley (@duckfootball)

http://twitter.com/#!/InnaLazarev

 

[Natebishop3]

Unfortunately, Oregon is out apparently for Shaq. Read this on twitter yesterday:

"Inna Lazarev
Oregon Ducks out for No. 1 safety Shaq Thompson. Says Eugene is too small for him. New favorites are as follows: 1. Cal 2. Washington 3. ASU
20 Nov via web"

It's about half-way down the page but I saw it retweeted by Rob Moseley (@duckfootball)

http://twitter.com/#!/InnaLazarev

That's too bad.

 

[MickZagger]

The Ducks have had lousy corners since after the Harrington days. The best tandem was the Rashad Bauman and Steve Smith days. Since then its been blah. Safeties on the other hand. A long line of great safeties going back to Chad Cota.

Recruiting needs is size on the line and better corners.

 

[Wheels]

The Ducks have had lousy corners since after the Harrington days. The best tandem was the Rashad Bauman and Steve Smith days. Since then its been blah. Safeties on the other hand. A long line of great safeties going back to Chad Cota.

Recruiting needs is size on the line and better corners.

This tandem was pretty decent.

-

 

[Wheels]

also I'm pretty high on our corners actually. They just need some seasoning.

 

[MickZagger]

I guess you're right about Thurmond and Byrd. Both those guys had good size.

The young corner I'm big on is Ekpre-Olomu. I've seen him be a lockdown defender a few times as just a true frosh.

Pac-12 is a conference that you need solid corners. Many good quarterbacks in this league year after year.

 

[Wheels]

I LOVE Ifo. That dude does not get manhandled very easy. He can hold his own with physical WR's in flashes.

 

[Wheels]

also Thurmond was 166lbs in high school according to Rivals.

 

[MickZagger]

also Thurmond was 166lbs in high school according to Rivals.

I'm talking 6'0" bodies.

Ideal corner IMO is 5'11" to 6'0" range.

 

[Wheels]

gotcha

 

[Natebishop3]

I'm talking 6'0" bodies.

Ideal corner IMO is 5'11" to 6'0" range.

Dudes that size seem to play WR.