"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
Hey, you're the one who wanted the simple explanation.
There is no simple explanation, but the talent gap is at least a real thing that can be measured.
Some of this is just perception. You already acknowledged your suspicion of late that Utah wasn't as good as our ranking. Utah is the #31 team in the nation according to Sagarin. Oregon is #55. That's not a sure thing kind of difference. (By the way, Sagarin currently has Oregon as the #1 SOS in the nation.)
Here's the scorboard (during Oregon's dismal 4-7 season)):
http://www.espn.com/college-sports/f...483/class/2017
Occam's razor. Here, as usual, the simple explanation is the right one.
It's been that way year after year for a long time. Check out 2015, their national championship game season. Seven ESPN 300s including one five star. Utah signed its first ESPN 300 last season; this season it has one. Would you trade classes with Oregon? Anyone would.
IF our players are as good as Oregon's, there is only one reason; they were coached up. The coaches did it. You're a mensch but don't be irrational. Clearly the Utes have been contenders but only because of our coaches.
UNLESS, you can criticize their recruiting. Can they recruit better?
One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike -- and yet it is the most precious thing we have.
--Albert Einstein
The fact that life evolved out of nearly nothing, some 10 billion years after the universe evolved out of literally nothing, is a fact so staggering that I would be mad to attempt words to do it justice.
--Richard Dawkins
Be kind to all, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.
--Philo
Talent surely was a factor but I don't think it tells the whole story. Here's how Oregon ranks statistically in the PAC-12 in some key areas:
Scoring defense 11
Total defense 12
Rushing defense 11
Pass defense 11
Pass defense efficiency 11
http://pac-12.com/content/football-statistics
Against other PAC-12 teams with similar conference rankings we have fared quite well. (Arizona, Arizona State, Cal). No, statistics don't tell the whole story either, but the team laid an egg against Oregon. They were not powerless to do otherwise.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
No doubt. The Utes could have won, and they lost on a last play hell of a catch in the corner of the end zone.
The question is not should they or could they have one this game. The answer is certainly YES! Sancho and I are reasponding to the cries, sky is falling, fire Whit!
The issue, Mr. Federalist society, is what are the odds we would do better or worse with someone else. And remember something we all learned from the tech stock market bubble--in life, there is no floor. There is no bottom. Even UW went 0-13.
One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike -- and yet it is the most precious thing we have.
--Albert Einstein
The fact that life evolved out of nearly nothing, some 10 billion years after the universe evolved out of literally nothing, is a fact so staggering that I would be mad to attempt words to do it justice.
--Richard Dawkins
Be kind to all, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.
--Philo
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
I think it just takes longer to move up than any of us want. Teams like Utah can move up in recruiting, but it happens very slowly and requires a prolonged era of success (or a miracle coaching hire, I suppose).
We've always known that we have a few built-in advantages that recruiting rankings don't necessarily measure well like the Polynesian pipeline and the LDS pipeline (including the advantages of having returned missionaries on the field). BYU has similar advantages, and they, like us, generally are better than the recruiting rankings would predict.
One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike -- and yet it is the most precious thing we have.
--Albert Einstein
The fact that life evolved out of nearly nothing, some 10 billion years after the universe evolved out of literally nothing, is a fact so staggering that I would be mad to attempt words to do it justice.
--Richard Dawkins
Be kind to all, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.
--Philo
One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike -- and yet it is the most precious thing we have.
--Albert Einstein
The fact that life evolved out of nearly nothing, some 10 billion years after the universe evolved out of literally nothing, is a fact so staggering that I would be mad to attempt words to do it justice.
--Richard Dawkins
Be kind to all, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.
--Philo
I should have added "for the most part," which is what I meant. The Cal loss was terrible but quite different from Oregon, which was a total collapse (for example, there was nothing in the Cal game comparable to the 250 yards in offense the Ducks ran up in the 4th quarter).
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
Those cries are silly. We need Whit to stay.
No disagreement there. I don't belong to the Federalist Society, BTW, although I think it's a fine organization.The issue, Mr. Federalist society, is what are the odds we would do better or worse with someone else. And remember something we all learned from the tech stock market bubble--in life, there is no floor. There is no bottom. Even UW went 0-13.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
Oregon hired a new defensive coordinator, who changed the defensive scheme. The Ducks have a lot of young, talented players who struggled to master the new scheme, while they also suffered injuries. Playing a top 20 opponent motivated a team with, what, 9-10 games of experience. Utah let that team hang around long enough to get momentum. Instead of being on the verge of collapse, the Ducks found even more motivation in the adversity they experienced during the game.
I have never liked the argument that Team A should never lose to Team B. For one, there is a reason they play the game. Second, even if that was a valid statement in the MWC/WAC days, it clearly is not valid, from my perspective, in a P5 conference.
"It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant