DUCKS ON THE WAY DOWN?

A few topical thoughts on Sports that might be worth a cup of coffee....(maybe).

Why is the statistic ”TD Passes” viewed as an indicator of a QB’s performance? I have never understood why the location of a pass should be relevant. For example, If you move the ball 79 yards down the field on 5 straight pass plays and on your last play you give it to your running back for a 1 yard touchdown run .....why is that given less weight than a team that runs the ball (no passes) down to the 5 yard line and then the QB makes a 5 yard TD pass?

It seems totally irrelevant and arbitrary..unlike completion % and yardage...and, perhaps most of all...interceptions....THAT is a very telling statistic for a QB...but TD’s?? I don’t see it.

University of Oregon Football disaster:

How can one of the top college football programs over the last 15 years...and the 3rd winningest college football program in the lat 10 years be stuck with NO quality quarterbacks just a year after going to the national championship game and having their QB, Marcus Mariota, win the Heisman Trophy? The Oregon Ducks have had the most explosive and innovative offense in college football in the last 6 years and yet their head coach and recruiting staff were not able to get a top high school QB prospect to commit. Instead, their starting quarterback for the season was a transfer from Easter Washington....a guy who wasn’t able to even practice until a few weeks before the season due to eligibility issues. Now, I suspect a school like the Citadel, or even University of Colorado to have challenges like this....but The University of Oregon? I don’t think there is a Pac 12 school with a poorer starting QB than Oregon....look at CAL...Jaret Goff is close to being a Heisman candidate....Utah’s QB is outstanding, Cody Kessler from USC is a definite Heisman candidate.....Stanford’s Kevin Hogan is a probable high NFL draft pick...Helfrich is fast on his way to turning “wine” into “water.”

Oregon should have had their ”pick of the litter” given their success, offensive prowess, and the fact that their QB had just won a Heisman and was the 2nd overall pick in the NFL draft......

And another thing with Oregon.....why do they not have the ability to get defensive players to commit to their program? It is inexcusable...they have been scored on at will so far in the first 5 games of this season...they have given up an average of 37.4 points per game...and two of their five opponents have been Division II. They gave up 62 points to University of Utah.

I blame two people in particular..I blame Mark Helfrich first for his inability to recruit his own players (Chip Kelly recruited all of the present remaining talent, including Mariota) and I blame the Athletic Director for allowing such an inexperienced and unproved coach in Helfrich to take over a national power football program. Oregon after Chip Kelly, like USC after Pete Carrol, deserved a top notch proven head football coach. USC went the disastrous route of hiring Lane Kiffin...and U of O went the equally disastrous route of hiring Mark Helfrich....an offensive coordinator position is much different than a head coaching position....they require totally different skill sets.

I see Oregon as finishing in the middle of the Pac 12 race (at best) this year and I don’t see Oregon as returning to a position of preeminence until they are ready to get a top level college coach and recruiter.

and, btw, I am a huge U of O football fan and have been for years....

my opinions only...