The Week That Was

 

Obviously a rough week following Oregon’s 41-21 loss to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. Not going to do a full-blown recap, but plan to touch on a few points below before looking ahead to the 2025 roster and more.

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Impact of Time Off: In conversations with people around the program, as well as those outside like Coach Saban, it is clear that the extra time off was not the advantage it was intended to be. The rust factor was evident, one that teams often had faced with these types of layoffs. The difference was that only one team had it. While Ohio State had a tune up game to get rolling, Dan and his staff struggled to keep the mojo rolling with so much time off. The calendar is really challenging with multiple stretches of time with no practice, and players also going home right as you ramp up for game week. I will get into more details another time, but hopefully the staff can find a way to manage this better until the calendar gets fixed. 

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OL Struggles: Rust or not, it’s hard to win a football game when you rush for negative yardage, and our OL picked a bad time to revert to some of the struggles from week 1 and 2. The right side of our OL specifically was under siege the entire game, and the lack of run game limited any illusion of balance that we could offer. Ohio State was able to play two high safeties and drop 6-7 most of the night, leaving Gabriel with very little space to attack even when we blocked things up.

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Seeding Frustrations: Obviously have harped on this piece to death, and although you’ll never hear a word from Dan, I’m glad some national guys like Klatt have said their piece. It just really is too bad that we picked the only year in CFB history where it hasn’t mattered to go 13-0. If that’s the Ohio State team we would have faced in the title team, so be it. No matter that, it’s rough watching the Penn State’s of the world walt to the semifinals after losing to us in a game that allegedly mattered. 

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Similar Attack to UW 2023: More concerningly moving forward, we’re starting to see some similarities between offenses that have had success on us in the last two years. Just like UW 2023, and elements of PSU in the CCG, we saw Ohio State have a ton of success with outside run, and attacking our safeties and nickel from the slot. Each also found success with tempo, and catching is not completely set or in a bad look. I hope our young staff can go into the lab this offseason and continue to address some of these commonalities. 

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Team Update

 

Stewart: Big time to have him back, and I think the Dante Moore piece was a big sell for him. I expect we’ll see a heavier dose of down the field opportunities for Stewart. I love the way this room is set up with veterans Stewart, Lowe and Benson, and then some young guns ready to roll with Dakorien Moore and Jeremiah McClellan. Hoping Kasper can bounce back from his foot issues as the staff really saw an opportunity for him in the RZ. 

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James: He was in discussions to come back, and we probably could have gotten him with a big $$ to return. I think it’s best for him to go now, and the staff really likes Hughes. 

 

Portal Loses: We’ve gone another year without losing a starter. Huge credit to Dan and Marshall. They’ll be one more portal entrant soon on the DL, but I doubt it will come as a huge shock given the depth there. 

 

Ify: Have heard rave reviews coming out of camp and as you’ll see by my depth chart below, I expect he’ll be a big contributor next year.

 

Young Standouts: Other names that keep coming up in conversations as early contributors next year will be: Tionne Gray, Aydin Breland, Brayden Platt, Jerry Mixon, Roger Saleapaga, Jeremiah McClellan.

 

Conerly: Didn’t lose him for lack of effort or $$. Hard to turn down top 20 NFL money. 

 

Novo/QB: Novo is staying and plans to compete for the starting job. Staff feels confident they could compete for the Big 10 title next year with either Dante or Austin. 

 

Pellum: Off-field issues have been the story here. I’m sure more info will come out soon, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he plays nowhere for a bit. He’s got some off-field things to handle, and it’s best for both parties here. 

 

Moore:  I know that many of you have seen the social media from teammates and others in anticipation of Dante leading the team next year. I can confirm that the hype is real and the bar is high for what he will do for our offensive options. Coupled with Stewart returning and receivers coming in, the vertical game should open up.

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Early Depth Chart Look Ahead:

 

QB: Moore, Novosad 

RB: Hughes, Whittington, Riggs 

TE: Sadiq, Johnson, Saleapaga

X: Stewart, Dickey/Benson

Slot: Moore, Lowe 

Z: Kasper/Jmac, Benson

LT: World, Addison

LG: Pregnon(Hopefully) Iuli, Rogers 

C: Poncho, Brooks

RG: Iuli, Bedford

RT: Harkey, Ferguson

 

Edge: Matayo, Rushing 

DT: Washington, Gray 

DT: Alexander, Breland 

Edge: Tuioti, Purchase 

ILB: Boettcher, Platt 

ILB: Jackson, Mixon

Star: Austin, Brew 

S: Theineman, Lopa 

S: Flowers/Woodyard 

CB: Johnson/Sione/Florence 

CB: Ify, Offord/Fields

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Recruiting Update​

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Hughes: Staff really likes his run style and feels he can walk right in and be a good player in the B10. I think they’d ideally pair him with another proven guy, but may have to wait until the spring window to make that happen. Given the injuries and attrition at the position, it would surprise me if we went into 2025 with Hughes and Riggs as 1-2. 

 

Benson: Depth piece to begin. He has all the traits to be a helpful contributor, but we aren’t relying on that to make or break our year. He adds a floor to the room, but my $$ is on Moore, McClellan etc. to pass him come fall camp.

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More Targets: I have heard of at least two more portal targets on the defensive side and am working to confirm details. One is a Safety already in the portal and another is a LB that’s not in yet. I am working to confirm the timelines of each given the return of Boettcher and the commitment of Dillon Theineman. My $$ now is that we don’t take either. 

 

Pregnon: I like our position today, but if Tennessee or Texas decides to go big time $$, I’ll change my tune. Plans to visit both, but our familiarity is working in our favor. He regrets not committing to us out of Wyoming so hopefully the second time's the charm. 

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Your $$ at Work​​

Due to the big jump in subscribers during the season, we are working with the staff to determine where funding is needed and how we can support the retention and acquisition of athletes. 

 

A huge thank you to everyone who took a chance and joined our group, and we’ve got exciting plans for the next few months. Stay tuned to your email soon for further updates.

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What’s to Come at DR​​

Right now, our focus is on continued subscriber growth and benefits at each tier. We are working to finalize and confirm a few virtual and live events for subscribers at certain levels, and also looking at how we can continue to integrate current DR athletes into the Ducks Rising Community!