Yes, Nate is a nice guy, but PLEASE DON'T START HIM.

Oh no, this conversation again.

Let’s trust the coaches to put the best QB in as our starter.

Also,

And forget about Tennessee, those guys may have had some times the past few years but this is still SEC talent in their house, with 100,000+ screaming UT fans. The overall defensive speed of their entire unit will be faster, by a few notches I’d guess, than UCLA’s last year.

UCLA beat Tennessee last year in Tennessee … before Tennessee lost every nearly starter

Panic!

One game does not make a quarterback. A small sample size is no way to judge performance.

Nate Costa was 9/17 for 82 yds at a 4.8 avg with one TD and one INT. He rushed 6 times for -18 yds, a 7 yard run was his longest.

and against WSU (I know, I know … but still) Costa was 7/9 for 80 yards with an 8.9 yard average and 0 TDs and 0 INTs while rushing 6 times for 26 yards … one of those runs being this gritty run which, I don’t know about you, but it helps me feel better about his knee

Beyond the small sample size problems, I think that everyone is flipping over the UCLA game in general. If possible, I recommend that you go back and really break down the tape, because statistics really don’t tell anything about that game.

Costa made a number of nice plays, and was working with a very limited playbook, for good reason. It was his first start ever, on the road, and the coaching staff played a very conservative game, which only increased in the second half.

It’s just very tough to get any real sense of him as a QB from that game.

Masoli was crap for three games last year. Boise was pathetic. Purdue and Utah were really bad. All of those games were probably worse than Costa’s performance againt Utah.

Need I remind you that Costa was recruited as a spread QB. Yes, he’s had a couple of knee injuries, which has slowed down his mobility some, but he still knows the system. Keep in mind that UCLA game was his first significant playing time ever.

I think we all know that Thomas is the starter in 2011. But that’s not necessairly a reason to start him now. This should be a great season, and I want whoever is going to win the most games to be the starter. Whether that be Costa or Thomas, I trust Chip Kelly to make that decision.

We’ve seen each play about a game and/or a quarter or so and the spring game, that’s it.

I do not want to talk about this anymore. I want to watch football. Now.

Everyone just go away, leave me a lone, LEAVE ME ALONE.

As a whole, the Ducks nearly broke offensive historic records by netting 303 total yards

TMML.

How old did you say you were?

“He doesn’t need to be the Joey Harrington of the program (not this year just yet) where the guys really lean on him to make plays and rally everyone, rather, Darron needs to distribute the ball like Kenya Wilkins in a point guard role and let his playmakers do their thing, and occasionally make a few nice runs off the read option to keep defenses honest.”

And you think that Costa is somehow incapable of doing this? And you base this off of one game? In the Spring Game Costa ran the read option very well on a few occasions.

Kneejerk!

acl tears and knee repairs typically need two years to repair and be back to 100%, and this is now the third year. second, costa was time as being faster than thomas (i know it was like .05 seconds different, so basically they’re the same speed). third, costa was not getting first team reps during UCLA week.

I was very critical of Costa’s performance at UCLA. It wasn’t necessarily because the final numbers were so underwhelming, but because he didn’t look like he had a lot of upside as a QB. I don’t really care for his throwing motion, and even though he has more speed than people give him credit for, he’s not going to put that many moves on a defender or truck anybody like Masoli.

That being said, we haven’t seen him play in a situation where he’s been given the reins over the offense. Kelly asked him to be a game manager when he played last year. That’s not indicative of his ability to lead the team this year.

The only real performance I’ve seen from either of these QBs is in the Spring game this year, and that’s not really an accurate guage either. But if I WAS using that as a measuring stick, there’s not much that separated Costa from Thomas. If anything, it reinforced my prior opinions: Thomas is talented but inconsistent, while Costa might have less upside but is more accurate. I can’t say I’m ready to give Thomas the job based on the evidence we have.

Several months ago, my outlook was similar that taken by WDCD. The UCLA game wasn’t pretty, though I understand that it didn’t need to be. I have reservations about Costa’s ability to win a conference championship. However, I feel the same reservations about Thomas.

Neither guy is proven. It’s human nature to be apprehensive until we have more to go on.

His spring game performance did a lot to make me more comfortable with Costa. I don’t recall the stats, but I felt Costa looked a little more seasoned. To his credit, Thomas played far better than he did in the 2009 spring game. The continued maturation of both QBs should be a potential warm-fuzzy for us this season.

I know this much. Not one of us on this blog are qualified to be Oregon’s head coach or offensive coordinator. A couple guys in the athletic department get paid a lot of our Oregon tax dollars to figure this out and get it right. You can bet they’re going to lean heavily on competition days to determine which QB can be most productive against the first-team defense. They’ll be asked to execute long drives with little time, stick it in the end zone with seconds left, maintain possession with a two-point lead, etc., etc.

Nate and Darron will do their best and the coaches will make the best decision they can…with a lot more information and film to review than last year’s UCLA game or the second half against Boise State two seasons ago.

I believe there is a segment of Duck fans – and I’m one of them – who look at Thomas and see the possibility of Dixonesque performances. We want to WILL Thomas to that next level as a more accurate passer and a more heady leader on the field. His day will come. If that day is Sept. 4th, so be it. If it’s mid-season, then I’m thankful that we have the depth. If it’s next year, I’m cool with that too.

Until that day happens, I trust the coaches. I’m not going to pull my hair out over the question of who will start at QB any more.

NEXT ISSUE: Has ATQ jumped the shark?

and that gives him the benifit of the doubt as a possible ass kicking QB. He and we played might conservative in the UCLA game but he is a good football player. Both he and Thomas will be ready to play.

Another thing I like about Kelly is he won’t put a guy in there because of sentiment or presser from outside sources.

I’m with both of you guys on this. And to the original post, YES Costa saved the Rose Bowl by catching and placing that extra point in the waning seconds of the Arizona game, possibly the play of the year in the most unheralded fashion. Costa and Thomas will both be ready to play, and to echo what was just said Kelly is not the type to fold under pressure of what booster/alumni/local-national media are calling for, but he’ll put the guy in there who gives the Ducks the best shot at a victory.

Well after the debauchery of yesterdays slug fest, I felt like this guy at work:

Everyone threw out some good thoughts and made solid arguments. I threw up a shoddy post without really thinking it through much, on a hot button issue right now amongst Oregon faithful. Even better, to further obscure things I put up the first pictures found on the 2 guys, ironically countering the very argument I was attempting to make.

Having said all, that it’s Pac-10 Media Day – FINALLY! Looking forward to hearing Brandon Bair and Chip later this afternoon. Maybe more than our guys, I’m looking to see if Lane keeps his mouth shut, or if he does what he did at the SEC media day last year and run his mouth. USC has had a serious black cloud come over that program in the past few weeks, so I’d be real shocked if he took some shots at any of his conference brethren. I do know that Quiz Rodgers is the player representative for OSU, I hope they have enough phone books in the Rose Bowl to put on his chair so he can see over the table and microphone.

look at what he did in only a weeks worth of preperation. Solid stats and a W that is all that matters. It dosen’t matter how we get there. If Costa is the starter he will be fine. Our offense will slightly less mobile because of Costa’s knee situation, but they will just use one of the 19 RBs that we have and utilized the TAZR position more.

Nice reference…were Chris Paul, Derek Fisher, John Wall, Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, etc like too shitty?

Been catching up on sleep, (had a busy summer)
Wow… This took me like 20 minutes to read all these.
Based on what I’VE seen out of both the quarterbacks,
both having little playing time, Costa having more, I believe that Costa brings cosistancy. I don’t quite see the broken play- 30 Yard passes or runs quite yet, but I believe there’s ability for them.
Career stats for Costa and Thomas— (Keep in mind the playing time.)
Costa: 25-38, 270 Yards, 1TD and 1INT.
Thomas 16-33 268 Yards, 3TD and 1INT.
Now, back to big plays.. Here’s one I saw live with some of the AtQ guys.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77VNkMVXCqY&feature=related
If you see, when DT hands it off to Kenjon Barner, KB throws it back and it’s off to the side. DT recovers, picks it up and just CHUCKS it right before the defender gets to him.
Now I understand that the spring game isn’t as high powered, or high stress.. Whatever you want to call it, but I believe Costa brings efficiency, and CONSISTENCY to the team, but DT brings the possibility of making huge exciting plays..
I mean, as of now, we haven’t seen as much of DT as we have of Costa.
I just don’t know.
Please don’t rape my face for posting this.

Screw Thomas or Costa, START BUCHANAN.

.. they were playing a “soft prevent defense”.

Let’s analyze this theory.

Why do you play a “soft prevent defense”?

— It’s a way to trade yards for time off the clock.. you let the other team complete short stuff, but sit back in zones and don’t give up quick touchdowns.

Why did fBSU play this style of defense?

— Because they were ahead 37-13 going into the 4th quarter, and wanted to preclude any possibility of a 24-point comeback.

How did this work out for them?

On the first series of the 4th quarter (actually started at the end of the 3rd), Patrick Chung ran a kickoff back to the fBSU 36. Thomas came into the game for the first time. The drive stalled and Evensen missed a FG.
fBSU punted on the next series. Oregon got the ball at their 22.
Thomas moves the team 78 yards in 4 plays — Dickson for 41, incomplete, JWill for 13, Maehl for 24 and the TD.
fBSU went 3 and out next series, punted short, Oregon got the ball at the fBSU 42.
Thomas moves the team 58 yards in 6 plays — incomplete, Scott for 18, incomplete, Maehl for 22, JWill for -1, Dickson for 19 and the TD (PAT failed). Score is now 37-26; we’re within 11 with 7 minutes left.
fBSU fumbles on their next series. a PI call on fBSU gives them a first at the fBSU 45. Thomas gets a 1st on a pass to Scott, but a sack, two misses and a turnover on downs gives the ball back.
Another 3-and-out for fBSU.
Next series is a disaster; we get the ball at midfield, but Thomas overthrows Maehl, then there’s a false start, then Blount drops a pass, and Thomas throws a pick. Not much time left now, and fBSU enters clock-drain mode.
Run, timeout, run, timeout, run, timeout, fBSU misses FG. We get the ball on our 21 with 3:26 left and no timeouts.
(Now, this is where you would expect a “prevent defense” to earn its keep; your opponent has 80 yards to move, and no timeouts left, and you lead by 11, meaning the opponent needs two scores.. just slow them down enough and you’re fine).
The drive: pass to Dickson for 4, Dickson for 16, incomplete, to Scott for 13, incomplete, to JWill for 20, a personal foul on the D puts the ball on the 13; incomplete to Maehl, a PI call on Scott’s man and we’re at the 7, and Dickson gets the TD pass. The drive took 1:19 against an allegedly high-quality defense that would have been predicated on allowing short gains but keeping the receivers inbounds and making the time drain away.
The 2pt attempt failed, so, down 5, the only chance is an onside kick.. which we don’t get, and with no timeouts, BSU just runs a few ground plays and it’s over.

**

Yes, fBSU won, but.. How’d that “prevent defense” work out?

You can make the case that this game was lost by the special teams — we left at least 3 pts off the board by missing PATs, either kicking or running, and in a 5 point game that’s huge.

I’m not suggesting that this was a typical game situation. My point is that the fBSU defensive philosophy at that point of the game was to ensure that Oregon (a) did not score quickly, and (2) had to run time off the clock when they did.

First TD took 60 seconds.
The second, 94 seconds.
The third, 79 seconds.

DT, as a freshman, had the ability and wherewithal to put 3 TDs on the board in less than 4 minutes of field time, against a defense that was designed not to allow him to do that. I don’t know if that makes him this year’s QB — I like Costa and want him to get a fair shot — but it’s pretty clear that based on the one game, DT can perform quite admirably in a pressure situation. And, he’s had almost 2 full years in the program to sharpen the skills since then.