We'll see... I expect Texas to run on us. A high scoring affair is the special of the day. Our defense is really a crap-shoot...literally. 7. Valero Alamo Bowl, Dec. 30 (ESPN, 6:45 p.m. ET): No. 10 Oregon (10-2) vs. Texas (8-4) The Longhorns couldn't keep up with Baylor's fast-paced spread attack in a 30-10 loss on Saturday. Now, UT will have to prepare for the Ducks' high-octane offense, which plays just as fast. Will Texas coach Mack Brown still be around to see it? Does he really want to watch what happens? http://espn.go.com/college-football/bowls13/story/_/id/10112150/every-bowl-game-ranked-1-35
I see this game as a test for both Helfrich and Alliotti. Alliotti has to prove he can coach a defense with a lot of talented players to make a better effort to stop the run. Helfrich needs to prove he can make a team who doesn't want to be there ready to play hard.
Helfrich better find his inner Chip in a hurry, because if this team shows up apathetic against Texas, many will start questioning if he's got the leadership to run this team. Coaching and leading are very different strengths! I'm sensing the players are viewing him as more one of them rather than their put on a pedestal coach like Chip. This would also explain why he suspended Brown for a ridiculous reason to prove to the players, he's the boss! I hope our offense shows up huge for this game and our defense does what it has been doing. We win by 17 and Nick steps down and we hire a real DC in the offseason. Best thing that can happen for Oregon.
for 2 years straight you called for Chip's head, now you're praising him and calling for Nick's head in every other post. In the unlikely scenario that the Ducks were to lose their lauded DC, which coach's head are you going to be relentlessly calling for next season football genius? STOMP
Stomp, Merry Xmas to you too "Genius"! Once again I ask you to refrain from attacking posters you've never met, or mentally assessing people with your sarcastic, aggressive, degradation posts which clearly disqualify you from any legitimate thought! This is a football board, please keep it to that! Cheers! John Chavis, and Bud Foster are two that I take a hard look at for DC's. We have the money to get them here. LSU and Va Tech aren't going to win the big one as long as Bama and FSU stay loaded and Oregon's D would be upgraded vastly with either.
Whatever, endlessly calling for the heads of the guys responsible for Oregon's rise is ridiculous. So sorry that it chafes you that someone counters this silly nonsense on a message board. If/when Nick decides to hang it up (hopefully after another decade of dominance), my guess at the favorite to replace him is John Neal. Many on this board are probably at least as big of Trailblazer fans as Duck fans. Over the last 82 games, the coaches you continually call to be fired have led the Ducks to a 67-15 record... and thats with starting 1-3 in the first four of that span when the wheels fell off the end of the 2007 season with Dixon blowing out his knee. 67-15 would be tied for 6th best record in NBA history and better then the Blazers have ever done. http://www.landofbasketball.com/statistics/best_seasons.htm STOMP
Stomp, The problem is in vision and clarity here. You think we'll get to the next level the way it has been, I think we'll be the bridesmaid forever until our defense becomes " Shock and Awe" vs "bend don't break"! Phil's money and the type of players Oregon is now recruiting and the national brand Oregon has become I think supports big results vs tenure. If your coaches have longevity and success like Gary, Don and Steve great! But if your DC can't make adjustments or refuses to with the kind of huge talent we have on the D line than there's a problem. Stanford was not a great offense, great offensive line? Yes! AZ was not a good team, great running back? Absolutely! OSU is an awful running team, we made them look like rock stars at civil war, why? Aliotti can't figure out the adjustments or wont. Whichever, we're in the Alamo bowl and not the national championship because our defense can't stop a runny nose right now! This is not my opinion, the is an agreed upon fact nationally rendered by paid analysts who for the most part have all played big time football. Now you've said a few times I've asked for coaches heads. I've never said once Chip Kelly can't coach, I would have like to see him use Colt a bit more last year, but so did everybody that watched the Ducks play. My beef with him was the off the field issues, which he was clearly the go to man for. No ifs ands or buts on that! Please try not to mix the two as a way to fit your argument, k? As for the bowl, this is a calling card game for Nick. If he fails again, it will be clear our defensive scheme isn't working, or he's not getting the attention of the defense or their full effort. Whatever it may be, at the level Oregon is aspiring to play at these days, a weak defense wont cut it! Please note, in no section of my response to you have I been sarcastic, rude, patronizing or attacking. Just football! Thank you!
The fantastic thing about being a fan, and one who actually support the team with his time and money, is that I get to have an opinion about the team and coaching staff. Right now, my opinion of the team is high. The HC, not so much. Do I reserve the right to change my opinion...yup.
Congrats on convincing yourself you're part of the mainstream and not the lunatic fringe. But unfortunately repeating nonsense over and over doesn't make it any more true let alone a fact. Several times you've sited the laughable Bleacher Report as a reputable source which speaks for itself. I'll site the most widely read journalists who cover the Pac 12 ESPN's Ted Miller and Kevin Gemmell (among reputable media types) who've recently sited NA as one of the best DCs in college football. I'll also site David Shaw, Jim Mora, Justin Wilcox... hell, just about every Pac 12 coach thats ever offered their opinion. I'll site consistently fielding one the leading D's in the conference in key stats like yards per play and points per game. I'll site a dominate win-loss record that he's largely responsible for. I'll site Has the D looked bad the last month of the season? Of course. Be it injuries, talent, coaching or ??? something hasn't been working of late. I find it incredibly unlikely that the schemes they've successfully employed suddenly no longer work. For whatever reason, the new LBs have not been getting the job done. They've been out of position far too often and RBs have run through their tackles with regularity as well. Of course the new guys were replacing established elite talents, but they've not cut it. blah blah blah, your entire time here you've constantly beat the drums to get rid of the people who are responsible for Oregon's amazing success. Good thing Stotts won last night or he should be fired eh? 19-4 is the best start in Blazer franchise history, but it's just barely ahead of the record the Ducks (and Aliotti) have accomplished over the past 82 games. this board has been around for years before you graced us with your silly theories repeated ad nausea on firing Chip, Oregon's tiny D, schoolgirl crushes on AA & his BFF Eddie Vanderdoes, and now this. During that span the rest of the posters combined haven't called me half the names that you have let alone told the entire board off in a drama queen exit following last season, so lets drop the magnanimous act okay? It's as fake as your facts. STOMP
Stomp- Once again I'm talking about football and you're talking about "me" an anonymous poster you've never met! If you'd like to discuss football that's fine, but I will not be part of your daily character assassinations. Go Ducks!
walking down the street with my girl today and what did I spot? The world headquarters of the big time football paid announcers at Bleacher Report... too funny STOMP
