It is a distraction. If the bookies knew, then the locker room knew. No way around it. It did affect the offense, just by knowing. It is the new world order (chaos) of college football. Love it or hate it, it is a new wrinkle for sure.
FWIW, it think it hit the ducks last year too with the Miami rumors.
I think the Miami thing was a bigger impact... Mario physically left his team. He was the head coach and it signaled to the roster that the rest of the season wasn't the focus.
I certainly agree that Mario had a bigger impact. But it isn't like we are talking a GA, or even a position coach. KD was given most of the credit for their wins this season. Something like that does have an impact on the team.
All that said, the blame for the Beaver loss, if there should be any, needs to be squarely on the defense.
I think Lincoln Riley is a Cristobal look alike. He was carried by a great qb and can't coach and make gametime adjustments. When Williams is gone USC will be right back where they started. Mediocre at best.
He won a lot of shootouts in the B12 and was exposed as was the case this season, come bowl time.
He is a decent recruiter but finishing with the #15 CLASS signed before the Cotton Bowl fiasco with the Hollywood sales pitch and the move to the B1G is, IMO, underwhelming recruiting. Let's see where the class ranks after next signing day and after portal picking is over.
USC loss to Tulane....hahahahahah....oh my, next year predictions....USC loss....hahahahahahahaha. I think...hahahahahahaha....oh my i fell off my chair laughing at USC and their QB with his $50K NIL ear rings to make any....hahahahahahaha....predictions.
No compliment & no hate in any way, shape or form. Sometimes it's easier to develop a "bunker mentality" & blame the response to others' revelry on "envy and jealousy", when in fact it's the general satisfaction of seeing unwarranted arrogance & unsubstantiated hubris put back into its place.
When quiet confidence crosses over to the realm of loud conceit, it had better be backed up by succesful outcomes when the results truly matter. In its biggest games this year, the juggernaut that is USC failed spectacularly. I think most non-USC fan bases are weary of hearing how great USC is and do enjoy seeing the USC fan base chastened & humbled in defeat as it retreats into its bunker...
You do realize your own personal perceptions (bias) have manufactured your own reality, right? Statements like "unwarranted hubris" are not fact but rather distant judgements formed over time. USC fans, players, alumni are labeled this way for one reason: they're a proud program with a storied past that other people want for their own. Opposing fan bases, of course, wish the worst on USC, get more motivated to beat them than any other opponent, and relish in their losses. It's a worn out canard that I've experienced as a fan for 50+ years. It goes with the territory and sorry to burst your bubble, but is painfully predictable. 11 national titles and an all-time top ten winning percentage will draw that from others.
The problem with your argument is that you are retreating to history to support your position for the current team. The unwarranted hubris is the fact that you think the "proud program" & its history ("11 national titles and an all-time top ten winning percentage...") have absolutely any bearing on the evaluation of this year's USC team's performance. It does not.
Ronnie Lott, Junior Seau & Tony Boselli weren't on USC's defense leading you to a national championship. Reggie Bush & Anthony Davis weren''t running the ball & doing the same for you this year. The Greats of USC past weren't there to make the present of USC Great [or any better than what it was]. So nobody outside of myopic USC fans care about USC's history when evaluating this year's team's results.
This year's USC team will be evaluated solely based upon the results it earned. Great offense when Caleb Williams wasn't injured plus a bottom-quarter defense that flopped in the big moments. No national championship. No CFP berth. Not even a conference championship.
As far as the notion of "wait until next year when we fix the defense"...let's just see how that pans out before any proclamations are made. Just like mutual fund disclaimers: past performance is no guarantee of future results...
Spot on but none of the past negates AD Bohn and Carol Folt lying in the present. It does not negate Carol Folt being the leader of the group opposed to the Pac-12 expanding to the Pac-20 after OK/TX to SEC announcement.
Then Folt and Bohn, after lying, beat their respective chest about the great deal they pulled off moving to the B1G ,whose commissioner also lied; in his case to the Pac-12 and ACC commissioners.
Perhaps this acceptable behavior in today's world? At age 75 I think this behavior stinks to high heaven. Just move already along with your QB who paints insulting statements on his fingernails.
A man and a woman's word used to matter in this world.
You can't leave gracefully. You have to tell the rest of the conference how special you are to be moving away from a 'bad conference' that you helped pollute for years under Clay Helton.
Statements like "unwarranted hubris" are not fact but rather distant judgements formed over time. USC fans, players, alumni are labeled this way for one reason: they're a proud program with a storied past that other people want for their own.
REALLY?
Once again alumni seem to think that only reason people detest SC is because they win football games. I detest Penn State not JUST because they win football games but because Joe Paterno and the administration looked the other way while Jerry Sandusky abused children and of course many of those people paid with their jobs....just as the USC administration paid with their jobs and a billion dollars for covering up the scandals at Keck and looked the other way while Tyndell abused women. Throw in its racist past and football cheating and phony sports admission scandals and much more, and many of us that lived in LA or went to other schools detest USC because of the whole package as USC is the most scandal ridden institution in America...so it is just NOT football, but the whole package that makes many of us ill, and laugh ourselves silly when we see the football program humiliated as it is scant payback for it intuitional sins.
Scott, I neither envy nor am I jealous of USC. Oregon has performed well in its own right long enough.
I have to admit I too laughed at the USC fiasco.
USC lived dangerously all year, with close wins over UCLA, OSU and Arizona. Utah simply obliterated them in the Conf Championship game.
USC could easily have suffered 4 or 5 regular season losses, but to their credit pulled them out.
Once they got into the Conf title game and bowl game, they were both outplayed and out coached.
Go back and look at Riley's last year at Oklahoma. He had a handful of close wins against mediocre opponents that skewed the overall picture. He was consistently outcoached and won on sheer talent.
Ridiculous, Jack. Utah was losing to USC when Caleb Williams suffered a serious injury. Not just losing a key player, USC lost their best player--the best player in CFB! Tell me, Jack: did Whittingham get outcoached by Franklin/Penn St when Rising went down? I guess by your logic, yes.
Btw, why bring up "close games" as a criticism? It's a competitive conference. USC won them. Like you said, that's "to their credit." They lost to ONE school all conference season!
USC lost both games to Utah, including one with Caleb was just fine.
and Williams was out there playing football, Scott, in the championship game. Just as Bo Nix was out there playing football against Utah with a serious injury and won.
We don't need to play the "by your logic" nonsensical game of gaslighting, Scott. Whittingham beat USC in both games-one with Caleb playing at 100% and one when he was injured but still playing.
Why bring up the close games. Because Riley often struggles against teams with much weaker talent (in particular in the Big 12), barely scraping by. That is coaching and that was the beef against him by a number of UO fans (I live in Dallas).
Scott…be careful with the “lefthanded compliment” as you run the risk of offending those in the Southpaw community. They are likely to see your innocent comment as a microaggrssion.
I'm sorry but KD saying that he wasn't distracted does not resolve the question of whether or not he was distracted. I would want to know what other coaches and players say in private. I'm not saying that KD is lying to you but that we each have a skewed perception of our own capabilities and actions. No doubt that a team that cannot stop the run in that situation has the bulk of the responsibility, but Oregon used its offense all year as part of its defense (keeping its actual defense off the field).
Most used car salesmen do not make the bank Dilly is making at ASU.
If other programs do not want any of your assistant coaches are they worth a darn to begin with?
The EARLY SIGNING DATE is what drives much of this in-season poaching. Either allow a HS kid to sign anytime during his senior year in HS or eliminate the early signing date.
100% agree that early signing date drives most of this. I lean towards eliminating it. I get why they did it, but the unintended negative affects of the early period are starting to demand it's removal.
Beaver fan here that lives in Pasadena. My only comment is I hope the PAC 10/12 sends a different school to the Rose Bowl next year. I’ve been to last two Rose Bowls and seeing Utah wilt after their star QB gets hurt two years in a row is No Bueno.
Feel so bad for Rising getting hurt in back to back Rose Bowls but Utah should not have played SC for the title. That should have been UW and likely would have been UW if both SC and Utah did not miss UW in the regular season and UW didn't mess the bed at ASU.
Utah also received a scheduling break by playing hapless CU before the title game while SC played a Notre Dame team that will finish in the top 20. On the road? Utah lost to both UCLA and Oregon and was not in either game.
UW at season's end was playing the best overall ball in the conference. Far better than UW showed in the Alamo Bowl.
Final OP Committee Poll with 10-3 Utah at 8 and 10-2 UW at 12 was IMO baffling.
If you do win the conference a guy like Phillips has to play ball. Does PSU score that long TD pass if Phillip's is playing?
That Pac-12 scheduling would favor one team over another? Nothing to see here, move right along.
In regards to the conference being competitive I hope this is the case John, but will the conference schedules be better balanced?
OR ST, USC, Utah and UW will all be ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll and Oregon plays all 4 plus having to trip to Tempe to play its former O coordinator.
Will SC/UCLA in 2023 still have the benefit of playing both CAL and Stanford in a carry over from the old division schedule? If so, why should the conference do any favors for 2 departing LA teams?
The SEC schedule has been out for weeks. Once again the Pac-12, looking at you GK and Merton Hanks, drags its feet. These folks have access to computers with scheduling algorithms, no?
While I’m a duck fan, I think OSU played the best at the end of the season, and with the addition of DJU will find that more ‘air’ time will better balance their O. That being said, I hope the Duck defense improves and Nix stays healthy which could sum up another 10+ winning season.
John, what are your thoughts on USC QB CW’s “manicure messages”? Personally, I find it rather obnoxious and immature, maybe even unsportsmanlike conduct?
I agree. Good post. I have been wanting to ask Canzano why he Voted for Williams to be Heisman. I believe that character counts for a lot and like you I found the finger nail messages offensive and the fact is when you say F. CK Utah that is a form of hate speech, Williams needs to recognize that. . And you're right that is unsportsmanlike conduct and the officials should be flagging that And the coaches should not be allowing it.
Don't disagree with all of it, but 1) he is a kid. And 2) his coaches could have handled it and didn't. I think his spectacular talent can make us forget how young he is.
What is so funny to me and it is hardly ever mentioned here is this.
These coaches get paid so much they just don’t really have any personal/financial consequences. They live a great life just having fun and blowing off the the chatter.
Doubtful. They don’t have the talent, particularly at WR. And defense has fallen off. Frankly, Rising seemed to performed better in their 2 matchups, IIRC.
Williams at OSU could be a playoff team, even though talent level isn’t great. They’re the best coached and most balanced team in league it appears.
Thanks John. As you noted and the stats showed it was not the O that was the problem for the Ducks in 2022. It was the D and a few baffling in-game coaching decisions.
If Grinch goes and Riley replaces him with a better DC I like SC to win the Pac-12 in 2023 (although I will not be happy with said result.)
Ducks play OR ST and SC at home next season and UW and Utah on the road. Oregon also has to play vs Dilly in Tempe. I think the Ducks will have the most difficult conference SOS next season.
And at Texas Tech will not be close to a cakewalk OOC game. The TT O is going to put a ton of pressure on the Duck's D. And you know Shough will be FIRED UP to beat the Ducks.
I predict the Beavs will do the unthinkable and win in Autzen next year. Each year Beavs keep breaking long standing barriers, and this is one I think is ripe for happening.
If so Beavs have a fairly easy schedule next year, compared to this year's schedule... so it does set them up for being at the Rose Bowl.... though I could see a "strength of schedule" being argued against them being in the CFP.
He was great at Washington State. For just 1 year he was a co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State; it wasn't his show. At Oklahoma he walked into a defense that wasn't even top 100 in passing or scoring defense. He got the defense to 9th in passing, 9th in rushing, and 29th in total defense. At USC he inherited the 103rd scoring defense nationally.
It takes time to build defensive personnel, coaching staffs and culture. I think he just needs time, he's barely getting started.
Yet, his D's at OK failed time after time in the postseason and often failed in spectacular fashion.
When he put up those numbers in the B12 the only team with a roster strength equal to or better than OK was a rudderless TX team. He plays 'effete' D. When SC was good under McKay, Robinson and Pete Carroll it played smash mouth in your face D.
Could be a tough year for usc next year as they lose some key offensive linemen. I am not impressed with Lincoln Riley's in-game management or his defense. Same for Lanning at Oregon. I think their inexperience is and will still be a factor.
The Beavers. And I'm a Duck. If Oregon State had a quarterback anything like they usually have, they might well have made the playoffs. They lost to USC and Utah in close games--and without much threat at QB. It was their only missing piece. U-man under Smith? He'll be better than he was at Clemson -- and that's about all the Beavers need.
That was heavily dependent on the four interceptions thrown by out QBs. Take those out of play, or at least limit them to one or two, and the score all of a sudden becomes very close.
That game was lost mainly by two things:
1. QB interceptions (two by Nolan who had lost his nerve after throwing 4 in the SC game; and then Gulbranson was coming into his very first game and made a lot of errors... he improved drastically as the season went on)
2. Lindgren was still trying to force offensive plays that he wanted, instead of plays his QB was capable of doing. This was frustrating in the middle of the season, but towards the end, Lindgren came around and improved drastically with calls that fit the players instead of the reverse
Utah won, and did so decisively, so I am not trying to talk in "what-ifs" my only point is the Beavs were a different team at the end of the season then at the time Utes played them, and the domination that happened during the game probably would not have happened with better QB play... which could make a major difference when they meet next year.
You completely missed my point... it was not to discuss final results, but having a more competent/skilled QB makes the 2023 OSU / Utes game (if Rising stays) far more competitive than it would look by the score of the 2022 game
It's hard to tell at this point but I think the entire Pac-12 is going to be better next year with maybe Stanford and Cal being the weak sisters again. Not sure about Washington State or Utah without Rising.
I like the Beavers next year...I love a team that lines up and runs right over you and says stop me....and now they have a QB...watch out..next season will be no place for the weak-hearthed in the Pac-12
It is a distraction. If the bookies knew, then the locker room knew. No way around it. It did affect the offense, just by knowing. It is the new world order (chaos) of college football. Love it or hate it, it is a new wrinkle for sure.
FWIW, it think it hit the ducks last year too with the Miami rumors.
I think the Miami thing was a bigger impact... Mario physically left his team. He was the head coach and it signaled to the roster that the rest of the season wasn't the focus.
Mario left the team halfway through the Season when he knew he was leaving
I certainly agree that Mario had a bigger impact. But it isn't like we are talking a GA, or even a position coach. KD was given most of the credit for their wins this season. Something like that does have an impact on the team.
All that said, the blame for the Beaver loss, if there should be any, needs to be squarely on the defense.
I agree that he could be a distraction even if he, personally, was not distracted. Good point.
Dilly was distracted and it's OK... There's no way you can't be in that situation.
It doesn't appear to have effected much other than a couple of play calls in the
red zone which cost the Ducks.
Irregardless of distractions and distortions, Oregon State was the better team. True UofO fans acknowledge that reality.
In my somewhat jaded opinion, I believe Washington was playing the PAC12’s best ball at the end of the season. Looking forward to the ‘23 season 💪🏼
Enjoyed PAC12 SoCal’s post-season’s record…looking forward to a repeat before the door hits ‘em in the *ss 😎
GO DAWGS
I think Lincoln Riley is a Cristobal look alike. He was carried by a great qb and can't coach and make gametime adjustments. When Williams is gone USC will be right back where they started. Mediocre at best.
Yes but he has 14 bathrooms in his house!
Did ok recruiting QB at Oklahoma, bet he continues....
Same story when he was at OK: All O; No D.
He won a lot of shootouts in the B12 and was exposed as was the case this season, come bowl time.
He is a decent recruiter but finishing with the #15 CLASS signed before the Cotton Bowl fiasco with the Hollywood sales pitch and the move to the B1G is, IMO, underwhelming recruiting. Let's see where the class ranks after next signing day and after portal picking is over.
USC loss to Tulane....hahahahahah....oh my, next year predictions....USC loss....hahahahahahahaha. I think...hahahahahahaha....oh my i fell off my chair laughing at USC and their QB with his $50K NIL ear rings to make any....hahahahahahaha....predictions.
Envy and jealousy are awful taskmasters...but I guess to be hated is a lefthanded compliment?
No compliment & no hate in any way, shape or form. Sometimes it's easier to develop a "bunker mentality" & blame the response to others' revelry on "envy and jealousy", when in fact it's the general satisfaction of seeing unwarranted arrogance & unsubstantiated hubris put back into its place.
When quiet confidence crosses over to the realm of loud conceit, it had better be backed up by succesful outcomes when the results truly matter. In its biggest games this year, the juggernaut that is USC failed spectacularly. I think most non-USC fan bases are weary of hearing how great USC is and do enjoy seeing the USC fan base chastened & humbled in defeat as it retreats into its bunker...
You do realize your own personal perceptions (bias) have manufactured your own reality, right? Statements like "unwarranted hubris" are not fact but rather distant judgements formed over time. USC fans, players, alumni are labeled this way for one reason: they're a proud program with a storied past that other people want for their own. Opposing fan bases, of course, wish the worst on USC, get more motivated to beat them than any other opponent, and relish in their losses. It's a worn out canard that I've experienced as a fan for 50+ years. It goes with the territory and sorry to burst your bubble, but is painfully predictable. 11 national titles and an all-time top ten winning percentage will draw that from others.
The problem with your argument is that you are retreating to history to support your position for the current team. The unwarranted hubris is the fact that you think the "proud program" & its history ("11 national titles and an all-time top ten winning percentage...") have absolutely any bearing on the evaluation of this year's USC team's performance. It does not.
Ronnie Lott, Junior Seau & Tony Boselli weren't on USC's defense leading you to a national championship. Reggie Bush & Anthony Davis weren''t running the ball & doing the same for you this year. The Greats of USC past weren't there to make the present of USC Great [or any better than what it was]. So nobody outside of myopic USC fans care about USC's history when evaluating this year's team's results.
This year's USC team will be evaluated solely based upon the results it earned. Great offense when Caleb Williams wasn't injured plus a bottom-quarter defense that flopped in the big moments. No national championship. No CFP berth. Not even a conference championship.
As far as the notion of "wait until next year when we fix the defense"...let's just see how that pans out before any proclamations are made. Just like mutual fund disclaimers: past performance is no guarantee of future results...
Tony Boselli didn't play defense--he was an OT. Besides that, you know your USC history pretty well!
Spot on but none of the past negates AD Bohn and Carol Folt lying in the present. It does not negate Carol Folt being the leader of the group opposed to the Pac-12 expanding to the Pac-20 after OK/TX to SEC announcement.
Then Folt and Bohn, after lying, beat their respective chest about the great deal they pulled off moving to the B1G ,whose commissioner also lied; in his case to the Pac-12 and ACC commissioners.
Perhaps this acceptable behavior in today's world? At age 75 I think this behavior stinks to high heaven. Just move already along with your QB who paints insulting statements on his fingernails.
A man and a woman's word used to matter in this world.
You can't leave gracefully. You have to tell the rest of the conference how special you are to be moving away from a 'bad conference' that you helped pollute for years under Clay Helton.
Good riddance.
Statements like "unwarranted hubris" are not fact but rather distant judgements formed over time. USC fans, players, alumni are labeled this way for one reason: they're a proud program with a storied past that other people want for their own.
REALLY?
Once again alumni seem to think that only reason people detest SC is because they win football games. I detest Penn State not JUST because they win football games but because Joe Paterno and the administration looked the other way while Jerry Sandusky abused children and of course many of those people paid with their jobs....just as the USC administration paid with their jobs and a billion dollars for covering up the scandals at Keck and looked the other way while Tyndell abused women. Throw in its racist past and football cheating and phony sports admission scandals and much more, and many of us that lived in LA or went to other schools detest USC because of the whole package as USC is the most scandal ridden institution in America...so it is just NOT football, but the whole package that makes many of us ill, and laugh ourselves silly when we see the football program humiliated as it is scant payback for it intuitional sins.
Well said and absolutely spot on . It’s not the players. It’s the fans.
Scott, I neither envy nor am I jealous of USC. Oregon has performed well in its own right long enough.
I have to admit I too laughed at the USC fiasco.
USC lived dangerously all year, with close wins over UCLA, OSU and Arizona. Utah simply obliterated them in the Conf Championship game.
USC could easily have suffered 4 or 5 regular season losses, but to their credit pulled them out.
Once they got into the Conf title game and bowl game, they were both outplayed and out coached.
Go back and look at Riley's last year at Oklahoma. He had a handful of close wins against mediocre opponents that skewed the overall picture. He was consistently outcoached and won on sheer talent.
Interesthing that all 4 'Bolters,' SC, UCLA, OK and TX all lost its respective bowl game.
Riley has a bad bowl game record including the Cotton melt down.
Ridiculous, Jack. Utah was losing to USC when Caleb Williams suffered a serious injury. Not just losing a key player, USC lost their best player--the best player in CFB! Tell me, Jack: did Whittingham get outcoached by Franklin/Penn St when Rising went down? I guess by your logic, yes.
Btw, why bring up "close games" as a criticism? It's a competitive conference. USC won them. Like you said, that's "to their credit." They lost to ONE school all conference season!
At least UTAH scored in the 4th with a back up QB and did not have FU on their fingernails.
And Utah won a game this year with the backup QB playing the entire game
USC lost both games to Utah, including one with Caleb was just fine.
and Williams was out there playing football, Scott, in the championship game. Just as Bo Nix was out there playing football against Utah with a serious injury and won.
We don't need to play the "by your logic" nonsensical game of gaslighting, Scott. Whittingham beat USC in both games-one with Caleb playing at 100% and one when he was injured but still playing.
Why bring up the close games. Because Riley often struggles against teams with much weaker talent (in particular in the Big 12), barely scraping by. That is coaching and that was the beef against him by a number of UO fans (I live in Dallas).
Scott, given that I was not drinking, I'm not quite sure what the intent of your utterly immature post was.
You disagree and when called on it, simply throw out an insult. I am done wasting time on you.
Scott…be careful with the “lefthanded compliment” as you run the risk of offending those in the Southpaw community. They are likely to see your innocent comment as a microaggrssion.
I'm sorry but KD saying that he wasn't distracted does not resolve the question of whether or not he was distracted. I would want to know what other coaches and players say in private. I'm not saying that KD is lying to you but that we each have a skewed perception of our own capabilities and actions. No doubt that a team that cannot stop the run in that situation has the bulk of the responsibility, but Oregon used its offense all year as part of its defense (keeping its actual defense off the field).
I dunno. The words are one thing. But the yardage and stats support them.
His response sounds more like a used car salesmen trying to explain why the rebuilt transmission is a good thing.
He was defensive, yes. But I think he probably felt attacked.
Most used car salesmen do not make the bank Dilly is making at ASU.
If other programs do not want any of your assistant coaches are they worth a darn to begin with?
The EARLY SIGNING DATE is what drives much of this in-season poaching. Either allow a HS kid to sign anytime during his senior year in HS or eliminate the early signing date.
100% agree that early signing date drives most of this. I lean towards eliminating it. I get why they did it, but the unintended negative affects of the early period are starting to demand it's removal.
FWIW - On3 Pac-12 transfer portal top 25 team rankings to date:
1. ASU - Dilly not Dallying
2. CU - Neon shining bright in Boulder
4. UCLA - I could care less
7. UW - Among others, good replacement RB coming in.
9. SC SEE: UCLA comment.
Just missing the cut, Oregon at 26.
Beaver fan here that lives in Pasadena. My only comment is I hope the PAC 10/12 sends a different school to the Rose Bowl next year. I’ve been to last two Rose Bowls and seeing Utah wilt after their star QB gets hurt two years in a row is No Bueno.
I think 2023 is going to be an epic race.
Feel so bad for Rising getting hurt in back to back Rose Bowls but Utah should not have played SC for the title. That should have been UW and likely would have been UW if both SC and Utah did not miss UW in the regular season and UW didn't mess the bed at ASU.
Utah also received a scheduling break by playing hapless CU before the title game while SC played a Notre Dame team that will finish in the top 20. On the road? Utah lost to both UCLA and Oregon and was not in either game.
UW at season's end was playing the best overall ball in the conference. Far better than UW showed in the Alamo Bowl.
Final OP Committee Poll with 10-3 Utah at 8 and 10-2 UW at 12 was IMO baffling.
If you do win the conference a guy like Phillips has to play ball. Does PSU score that long TD pass if Phillip's is playing?
That Pac-12 scheduling would favor one team over another? Nothing to see here, move right along.
In regards to the conference being competitive I hope this is the case John, but will the conference schedules be better balanced?
OR ST, USC, Utah and UW will all be ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll and Oregon plays all 4 plus having to trip to Tempe to play its former O coordinator.
Will SC/UCLA in 2023 still have the benefit of playing both CAL and Stanford in a carry over from the old division schedule? If so, why should the conference do any favors for 2 departing LA teams?
The SEC schedule has been out for weeks. Once again the Pac-12, looking at you GK and Merton Hanks, drags its feet. These folks have access to computers with scheduling algorithms, no?
While I’m a duck fan, I think OSU played the best at the end of the season, and with the addition of DJU will find that more ‘air’ time will better balance their O. That being said, I hope the Duck defense improves and Nix stays healthy which could sum up another 10+ winning season.
John, what are your thoughts on USC QB CW’s “manicure messages”? Personally, I find it rather obnoxious and immature, maybe even unsportsmanlike conduct?
I don't like the messages on the fingernails. Not classy.
I agree. Good post. I have been wanting to ask Canzano why he Voted for Williams to be Heisman. I believe that character counts for a lot and like you I found the finger nail messages offensive and the fact is when you say F. CK Utah that is a form of hate speech, Williams needs to recognize that. . And you're right that is unsportsmanlike conduct and the officials should be flagging that And the coaches should not be allowing it.
Don't disagree with all of it, but 1) he is a kid. And 2) his coaches could have handled it and didn't. I think his spectacular talent can make us forget how young he is.
'Kids' his age have been going tits up in the Mideast since Obama's first term as president.
If he doesn't understand basic civility and sportsmanship by now who will teach him? His coaches who allowed this kind of behavior.
What is so funny to me and it is hardly ever mentioned here is this.
These coaches get paid so much they just don’t really have any personal/financial consequences. They live a great life just having fun and blowing off the the chatter.
They love their life
And many when they fail get more money than they did when working.
Would we all agree that if Caleb Williams transfers to Utah that Utah would compete for the Natty?
Doubtful. They don’t have the talent, particularly at WR. And defense has fallen off. Frankly, Rising seemed to performed better in their 2 matchups, IIRC.
Williams at OSU could be a playoff team, even though talent level isn’t great. They’re the best coached and most balanced team in league it appears.
Jim? OR ST was beat up in SLC this season.
USC will be over rated like Oklahoma is every year, then will get embarrassed by some unranked garbage team.
Thanks John. As you noted and the stats showed it was not the O that was the problem for the Ducks in 2022. It was the D and a few baffling in-game coaching decisions.
If Grinch goes and Riley replaces him with a better DC I like SC to win the Pac-12 in 2023 (although I will not be happy with said result.)
Ducks play OR ST and SC at home next season and UW and Utah on the road. Oregon also has to play vs Dilly in Tempe. I think the Ducks will have the most difficult conference SOS next season.
And at Texas Tech will not be close to a cakewalk OOC game. The TT O is going to put a ton of pressure on the Duck's D. And you know Shough will be FIRED UP to beat the Ducks.
I predict the Beavs will do the unthinkable and win in Autzen next year. Each year Beavs keep breaking long standing barriers, and this is one I think is ripe for happening.
If so Beavs have a fairly easy schedule next year, compared to this year's schedule... so it does set them up for being at the Rose Bowl.... though I could see a "strength of schedule" being argued against them being in the CFP.
Not a USC fan, but Grinch just needs some time. He's a good DC.
He was very good at WA ST but not very good at OH ST and then under Riley at OK his Ds were often bowl game boat raced.
He was great at Washington State. For just 1 year he was a co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State; it wasn't his show. At Oklahoma he walked into a defense that wasn't even top 100 in passing or scoring defense. He got the defense to 9th in passing, 9th in rushing, and 29th in total defense. At USC he inherited the 103rd scoring defense nationally.
It takes time to build defensive personnel, coaching staffs and culture. I think he just needs time, he's barely getting started.
Yet, his D's at OK failed time after time in the postseason and often failed in spectacular fashion.
When he put up those numbers in the B12 the only team with a roster strength equal to or better than OK was a rudderless TX team. He plays 'effete' D. When SC was good under McKay, Robinson and Pete Carroll it played smash mouth in your face D.
Could be a tough year for usc next year as they lose some key offensive linemen. I am not impressed with Lincoln Riley's in-game management or his defense. Same for Lanning at Oregon. I think their inexperience is and will still be a factor.
I think Williams will have all the fire power he and Riley need on O but will the SC D improve?
Lincoln Riley inexperienced? He took 4 teams to the PO and this season was 1 game away from going to the PO>
The Beavers. And I'm a Duck. If Oregon State had a quarterback anything like they usually have, they might well have made the playoffs. They lost to USC and Utah in close games--and without much threat at QB. It was their only missing piece. U-man under Smith? He'll be better than he was at Clemson -- and that's about all the Beavers need.
Utah beat Oregon St by 26 points. Not close at all.
Mark, thank you. I stand corrected. I meant Washington and USC. Good grief.
Mark, thank you. I stand corrected. I meant Washington and USC. Good grief.
I was wondering about that comment.
That was heavily dependent on the four interceptions thrown by out QBs. Take those out of play, or at least limit them to one or two, and the score all of a sudden becomes very close.
That game was lost mainly by two things:
1. QB interceptions (two by Nolan who had lost his nerve after throwing 4 in the SC game; and then Gulbranson was coming into his very first game and made a lot of errors... he improved drastically as the season went on)
2. Lindgren was still trying to force offensive plays that he wanted, instead of plays his QB was capable of doing. This was frustrating in the middle of the season, but towards the end, Lindgren came around and improved drastically with calls that fit the players instead of the reverse
Utah won, and did so decisively, so I am not trying to talk in "what-ifs" my only point is the Beavs were a different team at the end of the season then at the time Utes played them, and the domination that happened during the game probably would not have happened with better QB play... which could make a major difference when they meet next year.
Take away 4 TOs from any team that ever lost a game and the final results will often be different.
OR ST in that game, was out of it from the jump.
The conference schedule is the way the cookie crumbles.
You completely missed my point... it was not to discuss final results, but having a more competent/skilled QB makes the 2023 OSU / Utes game (if Rising stays) far more competitive than it would look by the score of the 2022 game
OK my friend. I don't believe I completely missed your point but if I did so I apologize.
Clearly, the Ducks benefitted from Rising being hurt in 2022.
I hope Rising is good to go all out for the Utes in 2023.
Drex said Utah, but I assume he meant the three point loss to Washington.
It's hard to tell at this point but I think the entire Pac-12 is going to be better next year with maybe Stanford and Cal being the weak sisters again. Not sure about Washington State or Utah without Rising.
I like the Beavers next year...I love a team that lines up and runs right over you and says stop me....and now they have a QB...watch out..next season will be no place for the weak-hearthed in the Pac-12
Oregon is recruiting some depth on defense and those coaches will have a year to implement their schemes with their players.
When do the ducks ever have a dominating defense?
When Nick Alliotti shut down CAM and the Auburn O in the BCS title game?
When the Oregon D shut down a very good K ST O in the Fiesta Bowl?
When the Oregon D made the undefeated Seminoles and its Heisman winner QB look like chumps in the inaugural PO game?
When the Oregon D completely stifled Utah this season?
They've had some decent defenses over the years, including most recently the 2019 defense, which was solid.
Come on, Beavs are ok but nothing great. Ducks scored 31 in first 3 quarters with a lame qb. They played a Florida team missing 20 + players.