Ducks Attack Message Board Forum

So a couple weeks removed now, how are we feeling about that Oklahoma state result? Ok State is just good I guess? But they still lost to Tulsa and we looked bad. Hard to reconcile

Welcome to the board. Traveling 2200 miles for a 9 a.m. kickoff that then got delayed for hours as the September day got hotter and hotter did not provide for ideal conditions in the first place. Also Okie State was a lot better at QB than was expected, and that new QB probably had an adjustment game vs Tulsa as well. I still think it was a highly winnable game, but the Ducks as a team were ridiculously out of sorts, particularly Dante who seemed completely off his game, or he left his game in 2025. We really haven't seen him play a good game this season yet, so not sure what is going on with him. Raiola seemed to come in and hit the ground running vs USC, and you can chalk that up to whatever you want, but it proves that the offense can move the ball with a competent quarterback.

I think the team as a whole was forced to wake up as a result of that game and Coach Lanning has done a great job helping them to stop buying into the hype. Well...that and there is less hype now to buy into.

The UCLA game will tell us more. I don't expect to beat Ohio State at their place, but it would be nice to finish 10-2 and firing on all cylinders in time for the playoffs. That is, unless five 9-3 SEC teams are chosen instead.

Welcome!

And agree with Phalanx. Early season loss to OK State is OK if that was an anomaly. And honestly it's still hard to tell. Our defense still hasn't look particularly strong in any game outside of Portland State. And offensively with Moore, we just weren't at our normal levels. Are things different with Raiola? This UCLA game will surely give us more data, which we are desparate for at this point lol!

I still think the biggest reason we lost the Oklahoma State game was vanilla playcalling. The coaching staff seemed to think that would be an easy win (as did most folks) and it clearly wasn't. Against Portland State (a far weaker opponent) the Ducks had clearly opened the playbook far more than they did against Okla St., and against USC they were incredibly aggressive. I'm thinking maybe that will prove to be a watershed moment for Lanning as a coach... hopefully the end of "vanilla" playcalling which is about as useful in the big picture as trying to hide injury news.