I'm only a casual observer of the Ducks. I had heard the Huskies shellacked them but hadn't seen them play all year, and didn't realize they were 0-3 in conference until yesterday. Frankly I was shocked last night to see just how far they've fallen. I mean they did some good things but they did not, obviously, simply outclass us with scheme and athletes like they have for most of the last 8 years or so. What happened?

1. Poor recruiting or guys not panning out at the QB position? In that offense, the QB is the straw that stirs the drink. After that long line of guys who killed us (Masoli, Dixon, Mariota, Adams), I was starting to think they could plug in anyone and that their system allowed them to be successful. Hopefully, that is not the case, and they are subject to dry spells just like the rest of us. This new guy might prove to be good but he's obviously still learning.
2. Helfrich is not a good coach? Seems like a nice guy but that doesn't mean much.
3. Poor defensive recruiting or guys not panning out? They are terrible against the run. In fact, WE looked like the better run defense. The skinny true frosh safety was impressive as an open field tackler, but that in itself is something of an indictment: why was he making so many tackles from 20 yards deep and why is a skinny true frosh starting at safety?
4. I know it's hard to tell if you are just watching the ball, as I was, but their OL seemed not to play well. Is it a problem for them? Bad recruiting, or guys not panning out?

I know the Ducks are now water under the bridge for us but I'm curious about what happened, and maybe have a bit of schadenfreude. i would love to see a shift in the conference balance of power. I was getting really sick of their bandwagon fans.

Honestly, I think there is something in team/coaching culture that has died and that stupid luxury spa aspect of their facilities.

Do you want to foster an environment of working hard and overcoming adversity to win, do you think that is what the trappings of the lifestyles of the rich and famous of that facility engenders?

I haven't watched a lot of OR play this year, but was expecting a strong run game, but as usual we made the opposing team look great in the air.

Yes, Oregon is that bad this year. Basically 2 things happened:
1. Their offense system is predicated on having a good QB who can make reads, throw the ball, and run with it when given the opportunity. Marcus Mariotta was superb at this and took the Ducks to a high level. Vern Adams came and and also did well - but when he was injured, the Ducks sputtered. Now Adams is gone, and Oregon's new QB is not up to the level of Adams or Mariotta, and their offense can't deal with the result.

2. In years past the Ducks defense has been pretty dam' good. This year their D went into the toilet - why, I don't know.

rkt88edmo;842749104 said:

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Honestly, I think there is something in team/coaching culture that has died and that stupid luxury spa aspect of their facilities.

Do you want to foster an environment of working hard and overcoming adversity to win, do you think that is what the trappings of the lifestyles of the rich and famous of that facility engenders?

I haven't watched a lot of OR play this year, but was expecting a strong run game, but as usual we made the opposing team look great in the air.

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I think there's probably something to that.
If you are able to recruit super talented spoiled entitled kids, then you're probably still be fine.

If you make some recruiting mistakes and just end up getting spoiled entitled kids, then you're in trouble. Especially if you start losing.

Royce Freeman is clearly hurt. He looked slow and tentative. This is not the kid I remember ripping through defenses last year.

The immediate causes are injuries, especially on defense, and the inability to develop a QB. The frosh kid looks like he might be a keeper, or that could be just our defense. Also, IMO, the retirement of their long time DC has hurt their defense, which when they were winning big was very underrated.

Sebastabear;842749394 said:

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Royce Freeman is clearly hurt. He looked slow and tentative. This is not the kid I remember ripping through defenses last year.

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True. Last year I thought he was the most physically talented back in the conference. Last night, a shell of that.

1. They aren't unique any longer. Remember when they were basically the only team to play at pace? Now everyone does this.
2. The offense is not as dynamic and effective as it used to be.
3. The top 2 items used to create situations where they were always playing ahead. This made it easier on their D.
4. They are incredibly undisciplined
5. They are prone to giving up / heart issues
6. Many of the above indicate poor coaching. They miss Kelly; Helfrich is not Chip.
7. We didn't realize how good Marriota is. They miss him.

It isn't recruiting. They have more than enough talent to be better than this.

3 DC's/scheme changes over 4 -5 yrs has killed recruiting for them...

and some wonder about CAL's defense woes .


side note the ducks are about uniforms/nike at the end of day.

need a clear leader like Kelly to make things go

Speaking of potential DC replacements for us...Brady Hole should be available at the end of the year...or before. Has there ever been a coach whose career has gone in the shitter faster than Brady's?

chip kelly left /end story

When Mariota got hurt even back in 2013 and 2014, you could tell they were no longer as dominant a team as they were during the Kelly years. Recruiting has really dropped off as other teams in conference have upgraded facilities and coaching staffs. They've also been hit with more injuries then normal. All that spells trouble in Eugene.