Ceiling

[Quietduck]

Ok, what is our ceiling height for this year. With as many freshmen players we have played and the huge jump freshmen make once they get experience where do we stop? Also, does the offense or defense grow more over the next 5 games.

[GrandpaDuck]

Undefeated number 2 rated team in country's ceiling is National Championship.

[whosyourwally]

I expect the defense to show some volatility based on the schemes and situations they encounter.
I think our offensive ceiling is several stories up. I look at the difference between the first and second half of the PSU game as a microcosm of this offense’s trajectory and the coaching staff’s trust in their ability to open things up.

Behind that sentiment, I think the offensive scheming is just ahead of the D staff’s ability to game plan and adapt in-game.

[OregonFan4Life]

I mean, do we still know? How good is Penn State? We are just getting started with conference play, it’s early. But ducks should beat Indiana by at least 2 scores IMO and if they don’t that shows me the ceiling isn’t national championship level.

[GrantDuck]

How I see our ceiling:

1. Mixon/Devon Jackson/Bryce B keep improving. Clearly our weakest position right now based on Penn State. Mixon is a first year starter and D Jax is coming off injuries and not trusting his go button.
2. World keeps improving in his pass sets/anchor. HE has some good reps and bad, but we're going to need him against elite DE's in the playoff to be more consistent. We missed some things downfield against Penn State because Dante got flushed on that side.
3. Hill/Davison continue to learn the offense so we can play them in more situations and keep the offense unpredictable.
4. Stay Healthy!

If those things happen, I think it's between Oregon, Ohio State, Miami, and maybe 1-2 SEC teams for the title.

[dthomas=ddixon]

I don’t see why we shouldn’t set our sites on the national championship. This team is really young and will likely get better as the season goes on. I do think the OL needs to improve in order to actually get to the title game and win. They are the weak unit on offense and will hold us back until they gel and play more consistently.

[OregonFan4Life]

Apparently Penn State wasn’t that good after all, so now the question is once again how good is Oregon, nobody really knows at this point.

[UOducksTK1]

Apparently Penn State wasn’t that good after all, so now the question is once again how good is Oregon, nobody really knows at this point.

Hopefully just a fluke showing for Penn State.

There’s still a reasonable chance they win the rest of their games except against Ohio State. 9-3 finish is realistic, still a top 20 win for ducks in such scenario.

[dthomas=ddixon]

Apparently Penn State wasn’t that good after all, so now the question is once again how good is Oregon, nobody really knows at this point.

I think it has a lot more to do with hangover from their game against Oregon, and having to travel to the west coast to play an 0-4 team that just fired their HC. Penn St. is a good team, and played like it last week.

[OregonFan4Life]

Apparently Penn State wasn’t that good after all, so now the question is once again how good is Oregon, nobody really knows at this point.

I think it has a lot more to do with hangover from their game against Oregon, and having to travel to the west coast to play an 0-4 team that just fired their HC. Penn St. is a good team, and played like it last week.

Yeah that could be true I think this does make me a little more unsure of this team’s chances of winning a natty though. This has been a weird year of college football and I could see teams like Indiana, Texas Tech, and A&M win their conferences when historically they don’t get close.

[JIDuck97]

Is Oregon Shang Tsung this season?

[dthomas=ddixon]

Apparently Penn State wasn’t that good after all, so now the question is once again how good is Oregon, nobody really knows at this point.

I think it has a lot more to do with hangover from their game against Oregon, and having to travel to the west coast to play an 0-4 team that just fired their HC. Penn St. is a good team, and played like it last week.

Yeah that could be true I think this does make me a little more unsure of this team’s chances of winning a natty though. This has been a weird year of college football and I could see teams like Indiana, Texas Tech, and A&M win their conferences when historically they don’t get close.

Fair enough. For me, the significance of that win had a lot to do with Oregon playing well in what is easily one of the most intimidating environments in the country.

I do think Penn St was overrated and got way too much offseason hype for a team that got worse but that was still a great win though that proved a lot about this Duck team, in my mind.

[rsbgduck]

Apparently Penn State wasn’t that good after all, so now the question is once again how good is Oregon, nobody really knows at this point.

PENN ST. is a good team with some very good talent that hasn’t come together as a team. What happened with UCLA is a perfect example of what coaches and pundits talk about when saying don’t let a loss last week be the reason for a loss this week. You take an emotionally, physically demanding draining game last week, all the media and fan noise this week, travel across the country, play an early game against a 0-4 team who just fired the head coach, not a single player on that team could start for PSU, hell they probably don’t make the two deep and it’s a disaster waiting to happen. All the things I just listed are nothing but excuses, but at the same time a reality. PSU’s loss against UCLA is 100% on the coaching staff and the team’s culture in the locker room. They have arguably the 2 best running backs in the country with what should be a great online, an above average receiving core with a 5 yr QB. The D was supposed to be just as stacked to complement the O and they brought in one of the best DC in the country to make sure the talent was utilized correctly. PSU’s issue isn’t talent it’s coaching and culture, it has been for 15yrs. Franklin can build a team he just can’t get them to play as a team.