CFP QF: #5 Oregon v #4 Texas Tech (Jan. 1, Thu, 9 AM ESPN)

[droop10]

I don’t think it’s worth making any inferences based on bowl game results. These aren’t serious games. Most are just fun exhibition games with a lot of guys seeing playing time that typically wouldn’t. I mean, we’re trying to infer Houston is good because they eeked out a 3 point win against a 7-5 LSU team playing a number of backups, including their QB, and using an interim head coach?

Georgia Tech’s OC didn’t stick around for the bowl game, and he was a big reason for their success. Georgia Tech’s defense is horrid, so they were always going to need to rely on their offense to win.

I think Texas Tech is absolutely a dangerous team and can win, but none of that is based on how these random bowl games are going. They dominated a bad conference.

[StevensTechU]

Van Buren replaced the "starter" at LSU several games ago. He is the starter. Houston is 10-3.

Suggesting Georgia Tech is a different team because their OC is gone when they ran the same offense with the same guys in the bowl is a bit of a leap, in my opinion. It really diminishes the other 50 or so people who play a role in the offensive output, including the head coach, two deep, support staff, position coaches, and so on.

Ultimately, if Oregon blows TTU out then everyone will see it as evidence that Texas Tech sucks and played in a glorified Mountain West and so forth. If Texas Tech kicks our teeth in, then then Ducks were terrible and played nobody. That's how this all goes.

[droop10]

I’m not saying Nussmeier is good by any means, but he was sitting out the end of the year to get healthy after dealing with an abdominal strain. Van Buren wasn’t starting due to beating him out (aside, remember when he was committed to the Ducks until right before signing day? Always interesting to see what happens with some of those guys).

I’m not crediting Faulkner entirely, but losing your playcaller will certainly impact offensive crispness, particularly when you have a first time playcaller filling in. I wouldn’t have felt as good about the Ducks chances had Stein not stuck around for the playoff, despite fans’ insistence that he is not a good OC.

I also think there’s a lot to be said about motivation in these games. At the end of the day, nothing about these games changes my mind about how difficult Tech will be. I think they’re a really good team in a bad conference. I’m worried most about how the Ducks handle that talented front 7. It’s a pick ‘em game for me. I do think the Ducks have significantly more depth and should win, but we’ll see if it plays out that way. I think it all hinges on how they handle Tech’s pass rush.

[greenyellow]

[UofDuck]

Iapani is such a great listen.

[Phalanx]

I’m not crediting Faulkner entirely, but losing your playcaller will certainly impact offensive crispness, particularly when you have a first time playcaller filling in. I wouldn’t have felt as good about the Ducks chances had Stein not stuck around for the playoff, despite fans’ insistence that he is not a good OC.

Yeah, put me in the column with those that think Georgia Tech might have missed their Broyles Award semifinalist offensive coordinator at some point during a scoreless second half of their bowl game.

[pezsez1]

Stein is a good enough OC that I'm glad he stuck around. This isn't the right time for coaching upheaval.

[Greenblood]

Per OLive, Evan Stewart officially out for Orange Bowl. I wouldn't call that surprising.

[alxtw]

Per OLive, Evan Stewart officially out for Orange Bowl. I wouldn't call that surprising.

It doesn't sound like he'll make it back this season. And even if he does make it back, he'll be dusting off the rust against elite defenses...It was nice getting Dakorien and GBJ back against JMU, so they could ease back into live games.

[OregonFan4Life]

Per OLive, Evan Stewart officially out for Orange Bowl. I wouldn't call that surprising.

I wonder if he’s transferring.


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[squintsdd]

Per OLive, Evan Stewart officially out for Orange Bowl. I wouldn't call that surprising.

I wonder if he’s transferring.


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That seems like a silly thought. Why would he transfer?

[greenyellow]

Hard to tell if Dan is being serious here or not about why Stewart is listed as out. Would be funny if he is indeed messing with the media and Texas Tech.

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[greenyellow]

[bdkipe]

Does anyone else’s feelings jump from one end of the spectrum to the other hourly on this game?

I’ll spend 3 hours completely confident in our ability to win this came, then 90 minutes of dread, then an hour of confidence, then an hour of thinking we are cooked…

The logical side of me is all over The Ducks. We have won in every way and style imaginable this year. We have won shootouts, we have won in bad weather phone booth slogs, we have come from behind, and we’ve ran away. We’ve pretty much taken every team we play out of what they wanted to do offensively (even Indiana was held well under their averages) and forced them to be uncomfortable (even Indiana had to patiently dink and dunk their way down the field with zero errors other than the Finney pick-6).

Indiana is the #1 team in the country and we were right there with them, despite Dante regressing to his UCLA freshman self and playing with doubt for 95% of the game.

Then there is part of me that always has had his heart broken….every…time.

Is it kickoff yet?

[OregonFan4Life]

Does anyone else’s feelings jump from one end of the spectrum to the other hourly on this game?

I’ll spend 3 hours completely confident in our ability to win this came, then 90 minutes of dread, then an hour of confidence, then an hour of thinking we are cooked…

The logical side of me is all over The Ducks. We have won in every way and style imaginable this year. We have won shootouts, we have won in bad weather phone booth slogs, we have come from behind, and we’ve ran away. We’ve pretty much taken every team we play out of what they wanted to do offensively (even Indiana was held well under their averages) and forced them to be uncomfortable (even Indiana had to patiently dink and dunk their way down the field with zero errors other than the Finney pick-6).

Indiana is the #1 team in the country and we were right there with them, despite Dante regressing to his UCLA freshman self and playing with doubt for 95% of the game.

Then there is part of me that always has had his heart broken….every…time.

Is it kickoff yet?

I’m never pessimistic/negative and I never doubt Oregon.


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