THE PAC 12 THREAD v.3

[trojanfight]

chance allen transferring from oregon to houston. not a big loss doesn't appear

 

[Olyduck]

chance allen transferring from oregon to houston. not a big loss doesn't appear

That one was from a couple days ago tho. and no not really on any of the three as far as its known right now. none really seemed like they would see much time next season.

 

[RegentDenali]

3-star APB Taylor Thomas (Jacksonville, FL) has committed to Oregon St.

They also landed a commit from CB Jay Irvine (Jacksonville, FL).

 

[Louie26]

Louie[/B];6210268]If Oregon doesn't win the North next season, then who will? IMO, Oregon will be the class of the PAC North next season.

Hey is this me posting?

Nice to have another one around!

 

[963BUSC]

3-star APB Taylor Thomas (Jacksonville, FL) has committed to Oregon St.

They also landed a commit from CB Jay Irvine (Jacksonville, FL).

That is 3 out of Florida and 4 out of Texas. I like the reach they are showing in recruiting, looks like Anderson is really stretching out.

 

[mrwallace2ku]

3-star APB Taylor Thomas (Jacksonville, FL) has committed to Oregon St.

They also landed a commit from CB Jay Irvine (Jacksonville, FL).

I guess when ya got 30 open schollie slots to fill...people will come.

#EveryDamDay

 

[Louie26]

I prefer Pink Floyd , Skynard , Rush , Slipknot, Tool, a perfect circle. I do hate pearl jam but I have my reasons

just started listening to them! LOVE their stuff!

 

[NativeWebfoot]

3-star APB Taylor Thomas (Jacksonville, FL) has committed to Oregon St.

They also landed a commit from CB Jay Irvine (Jacksonville, FL).

What I'm seeing and liking is that the recruits appear to be higher ranked than prev recruits. We need those top 5 ranked players instead of the prev [ 50 - unranked ] players. If the new coaching staff knows what to do with these higher talented kids, the Beavs could surprise a few teams and should be back to bowling next season. GO BEAVS ! ! ! !

 

[mrwallace2ku]

What I'm seeing and liking is that the recruits appear to be higher ranked than prev recruits. We need those top 5 ranked players instead of the prev [ 50 - unranked ] players. If the new coaching staff knows what to do with these higher talented kids, the Beavs could surprise a few teams and should be back to bowling next season. GO BEAVS ! ! ! !

Hey Web...I'm getting lonely in those Beav forums...time to bury the Mannion/Vaz hatchet don't cha think?

2 heads always better than one I say.

BTW...

Our new RBs coach is paying divs already with those two above recruits coming from Flo.

anywhoze...

Cheerz!

 

[socaljim242]

Article on ESPN says defense gonna be the problem with Oregon next year not offense.

Even with the loss to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff National Championship presented by AT&T, the Oregon Ducks can lay claim to being a perennial powerhouse. The Ducks have posted 10 or more wins in seven straight seasons, and coach Mark Helfrich's 24-4 record is the best start by a Pac-12 coach in more than 60 years.

As impressive as those achievements are, this program still has to win a national title before it can truly take its place as an elite program.

Losing quarterback Marcus Mariota to the NFL draft will make it harder to reach that goal, but the reality is that Mariota's departure is far from the biggest hurdle the Ducks will face in 2015. Without some significant defensive improvements, this team will be hard pressed to repeat as Pac-12 champion.

Offensive talent won't be an issue

Replacing Mariota, who was arguably the best quarterback in college football history, won't be easy, but the Ducks have a ton of talented players ready to step up.

It starts with running back Royce Freeman, who was the Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year. He set an Oregon record for most rushing yards by a freshman (1,365), led the Pac-12 in total touchdowns (19) and ranked 10th among Power 5 running backs in rushing plays of 10 or more yards against Power 5 teams (35).Freeman is far from the only impact skill position player returning. The Ducks also have Byron Marshall, a hybrid running back/wide receiver who ranked 19th nationally among Power 5 pass-catchers in receiving yards against Power 5 teams (849), and Thomas Tyner, whose 573 rushing yards last season ranked 15th in the Pac-12. All told, the Ducks bring back nine players who caught at least 10 passes last season. They return 72.9 percent of their rushing yards and 90 percent of their receiving yards.

A couple of highly ranked recruits are committed for 2015 too. That group includes Taj Griffin, an early enrollee who is the No. 4-ranked running back in ESPN's 2015 recruiting rankings, and Malik Lovette, the No. 17 athlete who could end up as a full-time running back.

Get back to Chip Kelly's formula
The most notable change since Helfrich took over as coach has been the move away from one of Chip Kelly's key philosophies. In 2014, the Ducks continued to play the fast-paced portion of Kelly's offensive system, as according to ESPN Stats & Information their 21.6 seconds of possession per play ranked as the sixth-lowest mark among Power 5 teams.

Where the change occurred is in the pass-to-run ratio. Last season, Oregon had its lowest per game rushing yardage (234.5) and highest per game passing yardage (312.5) since Kelly took over as offensive coordinator in 2007.

The change is understandable given Mariota's skill set, and it did lead to an increase in expected points added. This ESPN Stats & Info statistic measures the scoreboard impact of plays based on a wide variety of game situation elements.

The Ducks offense posted a superb 23.0 EPA in games against Power 5 teams last season, a mark that was the highest of the Kelly-Helfrich era, but it was only 1.4 points higher than what the team posted in 2013 (21.6) and only 3.1 points higher than the 2012 mark (19.9).

To put some additional perspective on those numbers, the 2012 and 2013 clubs both placed in the top five in EPA among teams in major conferences in games against major conference foes. Even if a return to the Kelly run-first offense, which would be strongly recommended given Oregon's depth of ball-carrying talent, puts the Ducks back to their former EPA production level, this will still be one of the best offenses in college football.

Defense was mediocre even before the Ohio State game

The problem for Oregon is that its defensive woes did not begin against Ohio State.

This becomes evident when noting the collection of mediocre statistics this platoon had posted prior to the game against the Buckeyes.

Coming into that contest, Oregon's defense ranked 36th among the 65 Power 5 teams in opponent Total QBR (46.1), 42nd in yards allowed per game (424.8), 30th in yards allowed per rush (4.2), 41st in percentage of rush plays that gained 5 or more yards (40.2 percent), 48th in sack percentage (5.4 percent), 52nd in first downs allowed per game (23.2) and 36th in opponent third-down conversion rate (41.4 percent).

Huge defensive personnel losses
The Ducks will be hard pressed to improve on those numbers given the volume of impactful personnel losses they have on that side of the ball.

Oregon is losing two of its top pass-rushers (Arik Armstead and Tony Washington), an All-Pac-12-caliber cornerback (Ifo Ekpre-Olomu), its top interceptor and tackler (Erick Dargan, who had a Pac-12-leading seven picks to go along with 95 tackles) and its second-leading tackler (Derrick Malone Jr., 85 tackles). The departures also hit the team from a depth perspective, as Oregon loses six of its top 10 tacklers and 10 of its 13 interceptions.

Recruiting has not replenished the defensive talent well

As noted above, Oregon's recruiting has been strong in the skill positions, but it hasn't held up quite as well on defense. This is especially true in the front seven.

"On defense, Oregon has hit with a number of individual guys over the past few years, but they haven't been nearly as successful at defensive line or linebacker as they have been with other positions such as running back or cornerback," ESPN Pac-12 recruiting reporter Erik McKinney said. "Going back to the 2011 class -- the one that featured Mariota and Ekpre-Olomu -- if you look at the top five prospects signed each year, including the 2015 class, just six of the 25 players play on the defensive side of the ball."

McKinney went on to note that Oregon did land a potentially elite, immediate impact defensive lineman in Canton Kaumatule for this class but that the Ducks were going to have to cover a hole in their 2013 recruiting when they didn't sign a single defensive lineman. (Torrodney Prevot signed as a defensive end but ended up playing as an outside linebacker.)

The bottom line

The Kelly/Helfrich Ducks have always been offensive-centric, so a disparity in offensive and defensive talent levels is not a guarantee that this club is going to suddenly drop out of contention.

Having noted this, the Buckeyes showed the world the type of football that it takes to nullify Oregon's offensive advantages. Add that blueprint to what could be a declining defense and the Ducks' return to the top of the Pac-12 may be short-lived.

 

[socaljim242]

Four * Taeon Mason DB de commits from USC after an in home visit from Washington State. He hasn't commited to Washington State yet.
Could be a sign USC has some big fish on the line (Iman?). Or was impressed with a promise of quick playing time. Either way it's a pretty good player for WSU if they get him.

 

[WABLTY]

It just means he was told gray shirt or find another scholarship. USC is confident they've got Biggie Marshall and need room for Gustin, Masina and the Serra kids. I expect you'll see another one or two of their guys that aren't so highly sought after cut out as well or have to wait on the scholarship.

 

[socaljim242]

It just means he was told gray shirt or find another scholarship. USC is confident they've got Biggie Marshall and need room for Gustin, Masina and the Serra kids. I expect you'll see another one or two of their guys that aren't so highly sought after cut out as well or have to wait on the scholarship.

I dont think the grey shirt. They haven't since Petes been gone (scholly limits) and when Pete was here they were usually under the maximum.

 

[WABLTY]

I dont think the grey shirt. They haven't since Petes been gone (scholly limits) and when Pete was here they were usually under the maximum.

Or blueshirt or whatever. It's basically the same thing. Wait a semester or start as a walk on and then immediately get a scholarship as soon as practice starts. Just a different way to game scholarship limits. SC offered Jay Jay Wilson a blueshirt last Friday and supposedly they're going to other people in the class. I expect you'll see USC doing things a bit differently with scholarship restrictions off.

 

[TROJAN-MAN]

Four * Taeon Mason DB de commits from USC after an in home visit from Washington State. He hasn't commited to Washington State yet.
Could be a sign USC has some big fish on the line (Iman?). Or was impressed with a promise of quick playing time. Either way it's a pretty good player for WSU if they get him.

Scouts is projecting that USC will sign:

Inman Marshall

Osa Masina

Rasheed Green

Porter Gustin

John Houston

 

[socaljim242]

Or blueshirt or whatever. It's basically the same thing. Wait a semester or start as a walk on and then immediately get a scholarship as soon as practice starts. Just a different way to game scholarship limits. SC offered Jay Jay Wilson a blueshirt last Friday and supposedly they're going to other people in the class. I expect you'll see USC doing things a bit differently with scholarship restrictions off.

I know what it is I'm just telling you other than a no star kicker I haven't heard of USC grey or blue shirting anyone since 1996. Before then I don't think I followed recruiting like we do today. I heard of Jay Jay and a possible move like that but I dont know why a kid would take it if other schools are offering scholarships.But if a kid really wants to go there I guess it's his choice.

 

[socaljim242]

Scouts is projecting that USC will sign:

Inman Marshall

Osa Masina

Rasheed Green

Porter Gustin

John Houston

Thats a #1 class if they do come and add to what is already the #3 class in the country. All 5* players right?
You put Iman on one side and Adoree on the other. Wow , shut down corners on both sides.

 

[TROJAN-MAN]

Thats a #1 class if they do come and add to what is already the #3 class in the country. All 5* players right?
You put Iman on one side and Adoree on the other. Wow , shut down corners on both sides.

247sports.com is pretty much saying same with the addition to 6.5 280 DL Kevin Scott added.. That would be the cap to a bad ass class

 

[socaljim242]

Rahsead Johnson decides to transfer from USC. Washington fans should know his name from what I'm reading he commited and decomitted a few times to them. That's usually the beginning of the end for players. Rarely does all this movement work out for the kids.

 

[Ironbreaker]

Hey is this me posting?

Nice to have another one around!

If you take ten seconds to read other posts on the matter, you'll see where I clearly stated who will win the north imo.

I could repeat myself over and over for oregone fans, but it's an exercise in futility.