Picked this off a Duck blog

love the tude they have about Les ! I guess they missed the memo for Nick and Urban !!





by PaulSF on Jan 18, 2011 3:59 PM PST in Oregon Ducks Football

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Quarterback Daryle Hawkins is poised for a breakout year in 2011...at wide receiver.


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For me, the heartbreak and disappointment following last Monday's game was relatively short-lived and has been swiftly replaced by optimism for the 2011 season. The Ducks are poised to start the year ranked in the top 5 (for the first time ever, by the way) and return a core nucleus of playmakers on both sides of the ball. Questions still surround the departing offensive linemen and arguably the best linebacking core in school history, but there's a lot to be optimistic about, particularly with the intangibles (special teams, quarterback, coaching staff, etc.). And because it's never too early to make outlandish and bold predictions, here are 5 for the 2011 season:
1. Oregon will beat LSU in Dallas to start the season.

Right now, it seems like this game is more or less a toss-up. But after closer examination, it's looking like Oregon's to lose. To start with, in addition to the departure of several senior defensive standouts (Lazarius Levingston, Drake Nevis, and Kelvin Sheppard), the Bayou Bengals lose All-American cornerback Patrick Peterson and leading rusher Stevan Ridley to the NFL Draft, as well as their offensive coordinator to Maryland (whom we're all familiar with...and no, Crowton haters, getting rid of your coordinator, no matter who he is, isn't an advantage in the season's first game). Oh, and they didn't lose certifiably insane head coach Les Miles to Michigan. Just ask yourself this question: Who wins the coaching duel between Chip Kelly and the Mad Hatter? That's like asking who's smarter: Stephen Hawking or Paris Hilton? Advantage: Oregon.

this is just to funny - read it !!! - he is talking about a extra 3 lbs per lineman


5. Oregon's offensive line will be bigger and better.

The Ducks lose three key starters (center Jordan Holmes, tackle Bo Thran and guard C.E. Kaiser) from a unit that was arguably the most efficient in the country, finishing fourth in the country in rushing yards per game while giving up only 10 sacks all season. But after getting absolutely dominated by a bigger, faster and more athletic Auburn front seven in the BCS National Championship Game, much has been made of their size (or lack thereof). The three needing to be replaced weigh an average of 290 pounds. Replace those three with Darrion Weems, Nick Cody and Ryan Clanton (a combined 293) and add a few pounds to Carson York, and the Ducks have a chance to be bigger...and potentially better. In fact, of the 4 senior offensive linemen graduating, only one (Holmes) is 300 or more pounds, and two of the other three weigh less than 285. This unit also has arguably the best offensive line coach in the conference, which makes for vast and fast game-to-game improvements.

His creditbility went out the window with these comments. A coach that is 0-2 in bowl games, only been a coach for several years, and has not won a national championship is in no way, shape or form better than the Mad Hatter. Reality should hit in due time.

I think college football fans that look at the facts (maybe) would see how well coached the LSU football team was in 2010. Les won me for life last year and we schooled Bama in the second half last year and Bama fans will tell you that. You would be a very stupid football fan not to respect the coaching job Les and his staff did in 2010 and if you are part of the group that only wants to talk about the Tenn game you are being very shallow. We played one of the worst games that I have seen a Les Miles coached team play in that game. It happens - ask Nick about Monroe in 2007!

To be making fun of Les after his 6 years of success at LSU is just being stupid ! That goes for LSU folk also. :milesmic::milesmic::milesmic:

We can't run from the Ole Miss crazy or the Tenn crazy but those 2 games do not make Les a joke or a Mad Hatter.

I agree, off days do occur from time to time. It's very diffucult to remain 100% all of the time. Our 2 championships we still lost 3 games total those seasons. Also the undefeated regular season patriots lost the super bowl. The list goes on.

On another note I think the Mad Hatter nickname comes from his risky play calling at times not really a joke at him being stupid. I think the nickname is a good one.

It wasn't risky, it was smart football.



that is why coach does not like the nick name and I agree !

How many times have they beat Boise??? When did they last TAKE them off their schedule for ..........................what reason?

I've enjoyed reading this thread. But this thread just proves even more my opinion of how little the PAC-10/12 fans and other fans outside the SEC pay attention to college football in general.

I heard it all the way up to last year's NCG about how many points Oregon's offense was going to "hang" on Auburn. Much like how many points the OU offense was going to "hang" on Florida the year they played in the NCG. And much like how tOSU was going to "dominate" LSU in 2007 etc. It never ends. Yet the SEC defenses just keep pluggin' along.

The bottom line is this. The SEC defense's is what has been the backbone of the BCS dominance over the last 13 years. It's not impossible to score on "us" but it is very apparent that SEC defenses have been a thorn in the side of BCS opponents. "They" can throw all the regular stats out "they" want against what "they" deem "like" defenses but one thing is for sure. When "they've" gotten on the field against the real thing it's been proven "our" defenses have been more than "they" can handle.

Oregon has one helluva an offense. I do not doubt that one bit. And to win against the 2011 version of the LSU defense they better not allow LSU to turn it into a "physical" game because Oregon will get monkey raped......err Tiger raped. And if LSU wants to win this game they better not allow this game to get into a track meet. I think LSU's offense will be much improved under Kragthorpe but I'm not sure it will be improved enough where they can get into a fast break type game and expect to win.

I'll stick by my prediction. Close game for 2 1/2 quarters then LSU pulls away. Too much talent, too much combination of big, fast and powerful for Oregon to last a full 4 quarters. LSU pulls away late and scores 24 holding oregon to less than 16 pts.

Who said you were a push over?

I started this convo with you after to posted that you cannot see why we on this board think we will keep you to a low, reasonable score.....

I then proceeded to explain my case about how the talent gap between the SEC and PAC10 is to much of a difference to compare games from Stanford to LSU...

No one here thinks we will blow Oregon away. In fact, if you polled majority of the posters would agree that LSU will win based on Line play and a steady stream of running.

We will have one of, if not the, best Olines in the SEC this year, and that is huge in this league. We will also have, IMO, some of the best DE's this year on D. I also am very confident in the Freaks ability and sure he will make a few plays in the Oregon game. Our secondary WILL be the best in the SEC, though, Bama could make a strong case also.

Yea, we lost PP, but b/c we had PP, the guys that started/played on the other side saw some serious PT. They are very good. We will also have a key starter back from injury that hurt us down the stretch in Taylor.

While, you lost a Key CB who was probably a top 10-15 NFL pick and 2 key lineman.....

Yea, we think we will win in the trenches....