ESPN’s College GameDay crew weighs in on No. 9 Oregon vs. No. 10 UCLA
The eyes of the college football world will be fixed on Eugene this weekend as the No. 9 Oregon Ducks get set to host the No. 10 UCLA Bruins in a top-10 Pac-12 matchup that will go a long way in determining the power balance out west, and could potentially play a role in the College Football Playoff, as well.
In order to properly set the stage for this matchup, ESPN sent their flagship show, College GameDay, to Eugene to give the right publicity to the game.
While the set is going up on Oregon’s campus media members were allowed the opportunity to speak to some of the members of the show and get a feel for their early thoughts on the matchup. Here are some of the best quotes that we got on Friday:
Rece Davis on being back in Eugene
Question: What’s it like being back in Eugene with the GameDay crew?
Davis: “It’s one of our favorite stops to come for College GameDay. It’s been a few years since we’ve been here and you know to have them in the top 10, big game like this and I love doing the show in the dark in the morning. It’s a unique setting and the Oregon fans and students always come out and support the show. So it’s a it’s great to be back. We’re looking forward to the show. Looking forward to the game on Saturday.”
Rece Davis on the early morning show
Question: With the show starting at 6 a.m. out on the west coast, it’s dark when you guys start. What is that feeling like for you guys?
Davis: “It’s gratifying. I mean, it really is. To denote that they want to spend some time with us and celebrate their school, their team, their program, and their passion, have a little fun, and maybe wear a toga — apparently, the university has endorsed that for tomorrow morning. So I think you know, it’s really gratifying because, you know, we feel like we have responsibility to the sport and to the show to uphold a certain standard. We understand that. Yes, they’re coming here to see the show, but they’re also coming here because they’re proud of their school. And they’re proud of their team and they want to show their support. So we’re glad to be able to tap into that and to see him come out in the wee hours although you know, college kids that age can keep some unique hours. So maybe it’s not early to them. Maybe it’s just late, you know, so either way, we’re happy.”
David Pollack on Dan Lanning
Question: What are your early impressions of Dan Lanning?
Pollack: “I obviously, from Georgia, know Dan Lanning. I was there you know right outside of Athens so I know Dan well and I’m happy for him. That dude is a different bird. Now he’s competitive as crap and everything so I think he’ll do great. He’s already done great. I wondered, you know, West Coast ties, but I think he’s done a great job already, great staff. The first game did not look good, but since then, it’s obviously gotten a lot better.”
David Pollack on Lanning's growth
Question: How have you seen Lanning grow as a coach this season at Oregon?
Pollack: “Dan don’t panic at nothing. I mean, Dan’s even-keeled. He’s gonna do things the right way. And I think everything takes time but I think he did a good job of addressing some needs in the transfer portal and bringing guys in. Gonzo is a stud. I mean, he’s a baller, he’ll be called upon big this week with Bobo. I think Bobo is a stud for UCLA. And like that could be a good matchup to highlight but I think he’ll continue to get dudes like that. Dan knows how to recruit. He’s gonna put money into it and when you come to visit this campus, like all you gotta do is get people on campus. I mean, there’s nobody in the Pac 12 I think they can offer what Oregon has to offer. It’s just, it’s unique. It’s the facilities are just silly good. So I think I think that’s why I think Dan, I know what kind of recruiter he is and how hungry he is. So he’ll accomplish those things.”
David Pollack on Georgia game
Question: What have you seen from Oregon since that Georgia game? What’s allowed them to bounce back and find success?
Pollack: “You’re not playing Georgia. I mean, that helps. I mean, I don’t look at Oregon and say they’re a top-10 team yet. They’ve got to prove that to me. I think they can prove it to me this week. Washington State’s the best win. I mean, it’s not been a murderer’s row by any stretch. But Bo Nix is the difference. Like it’s not a downfield passing attack. It’s a dink and dunk. It’s him running the football, so I think this offense has found a rhythm and found who they are and what they are, and they’ve done a great job and Bo’s done a great job. I think not playing Georgia helps not playing that competition. He’s done a better job with just putting up points and coming up clutch against Washington state when you needed to score and you needed to put drives together.”
Rece Davis on the top stories
Question: College GameDay often follows the best stories in the nation. What are you guys looking at the most closely this weekend?
Davis: “It’s the first top-10 matchup in the Pac-12 Since 2016, which was the last time they had a playoff team out of the Pac-12. I think with the storyline of where UCLA’s headed and not only with this season, but long term with the BIG Ten; Oregon’s resurgence after you know sort of being left on the side of the road after the Georgia game is really interesting. And to me personally having grown up in Alabama, and really understanding the emotional connection that Bo Nix had with his school and to have him somewhere else… You know, I’ve been selling to our guys all week that to me, this is one of the most fascinating stories in college football, and I think maybe you have to grow up in that environment. I was just talking to Justin Herbert’s dad. It’s not unlike Justin growing up here and always this was his place, right? For Bo, that was Auburn. I mean, there’s the pictures of him with Cam Newton. His dad was a terrific player. You know, he could have been highly recruited, I’m sure he was but everybody knew there was no real recruitment because he’s an Auburn guy. You cut him open, little orange and blue Tigers hop out, you know, that’s him. And for him to come across the country and come here and to be enjoying this success that he has after the Georgia game to me is fascinating. And then obviously, no matter how long Chip’s gone, because of what he accomplished here — and I know he’s been back here a couple of times — he hasn’t won yet. But you know, it’ll I think it’s really always interesting whenever he comes back.”
Rece Davis on Sabrina Ionescu
Question: With Sabrina Ionescu announced as the guest picker, what made you guys go with that choice in Eugene?
Davis: “There are four or five people that I think that Oregon sports fans revere you know. Whether it’s Steve Prefontaine, Phil Knight for obvious reasons, Marcus (Mariota), and Sabrina (Ionesco). And you know, she’s a big star, very important at Oregon culturally, and, you know, she wanted to do it. She’s a big part of this. She’s a big star and I think it’s, you know, it’s a great opportunity for us. We’re happy to have her.”
Rece Davis on ceiling for Oregon
Question: What do you think the ceiling is for this Oregon team if they beat UCLA?
Davis: “Now this is not going to make me popular in Eugene and I want to be popular in Eugene. I want to be liked here, but I’m going to be consistent. Absent everybody coming up with some type of awful albatross around their neck, I don’t see Oregon making the playoffs even if they went out because in 2016 I said Penn State shouldn’t go with a 49-10 loss to Michigan on the resume. 2017 Ohio State had a 31-point loss to Iowa. And I think there’s too much I think that’s a bridge too far and a 4-team field. So I think Oregon is playing for the Pac-12 championship and that’s kind of the ceiling. Absent everybody or two or three teams winding up with similar type albatrosses then obviously the equation changes. But that’s still pretty good. I mean, still playing for that, playing for the Rose Bowl and playing, maybe everybody’s going to screw up and it makes that not seem so bad because you have you have some time and space between that loss. But I do think it’s important to have this type of matchup and UCLA is still certainly in the mix and you know, who knows maybe this is the first of two meetings between these two depending on everything else goes.”
David Pollack on Pac-12 team in the CFP
Question: Do you think that the Pac-12 can get a team into the College Football Playoff this year?
Pollack: “100% I think. I mean, I think UCLA they’ve already beaten Utah. They beat Oregon, and they beat USC? I think they’ll be in a good situation to be in the playoffs. Because again, we got a bunch of undefeated teams and I don’t think it’s going to continue to happen. And I think the Big-12 is the most competitive conference top to bottom like week in and week out. TCU this week playing Kansas State I think there’s a good chance they could lose that game like it’s just going to be competitive games week in and week out. So that conference I think is going to beat each other up. The SEC, you know, Georgia, Tennessee and Bama are gonna play each other at some point again. Georgia definitely plays Tennessee and then Bama and Georgia gonna play, or Tennessee and Bama are gonna play again. Clemson, do they run the table? They obviously got games in front of Syracuse starting with this week. This is the first time in a while that we’ve been to week 8 and we have at least one team for every conference alive. And that’s pretty cool. Usually, we’ve already killed the Pac-12. I mean, at this point, like in the last couple years, the Pac-12 hasn’t been competitive enough to where you point to a team and you can find it so I think it’s cool. I think there’s more parity in college football than there’s been and I don’t even think it’s just Bama, Georgia, Ohio State. I feel like there are a lot more teams that can be competitive and I think the transfer portal has changed college football. I mean y’all are obviously, if you look down the road at Southern Cal, I call them Transfer Porter University. I mean, that’s what they’ve as much as they brought in.
David Pollack on Oregon ceiling
Question: Do you think that Oregon can get into the CFP if they win this week?
Pollack: “I think they would have to have a lot of help, a lot of people lose because you didn’t get beat, you got hit upside the head with a frying pan. So you got beat to a pulp. There was nothing about that hat was pretty so I think you’d have to win. You’d have to win convincingly the rest of the season and you’d have to get a shoot-ton of help to get that and to get in that conversation.”
Rece Davis on Dan Lanning
Question: What have your impressions been of Dan Lanning so far this season?
Davis: “I think he’s done a really good job especially not losing the team and not being a sad sack after sort of running into a buzzsaw against Georgia. And you know, that’s a kind of thing that can kind of derail a new coach who doesn’t have any head coaching experience, and Dan hasn’t let that happen. And I think he’s a very level-headed smart guy, really good football guy, charismatic, good recruiter. And I think that’s been the biggest impression is the way they bounce back. Look at the win at Washington State. Now, you can look at it one way and say Oregon probably should have never gotten in that position where they were behind like that, but you know, had some things go against their way, Bo missed a read, you know, threw the pick six in the redzone and stuff, but you know, they won the game. And I thought that showed a lot of resilience. That’s been that’s been the biggest thing. I think they’re bright things ahead for Oregon, with Dan taking over.”
Rece Davis on Bo Nix
Question: You’ve watched Bo Nix’s career, what’s allowed him to find such success this season at Oregon?
Davis: “He’s avoided the catastrophe. Bo is a really, really high-level athlete. We’ve got to see him rip off 80-yard runs. You haven’t seen that around here since Marcus was here. I think what Bo had a tendency to do at Auburn, I think was try to take the weight of the team and the program and game on himself. Great quarterbacks do that. That’s okay. But I think sometimes I liken it to this. You know how if you are you’re listening to music on your favorite speaker, whatever it might be, and you get almost to maxed out volume sounds great. But if you max it out, there’s a little distortion and things get screwed up. Right? I think there were times at Auburn we both maxed it out and it got a little screwed up whether it was mistake trying to extend the play to long running around too much. I think there’s been a maturity and calm about the way he’s played. And because of that he’s able to tap into his vast talent which he is a really talented dude. And he’s been able to tap into that. He’s mature, he’s married, you know, all of these things, I think they bode well for him. And a little bit more of an emotional thing that I don’t know that he’ll ever really talk about admit or maybe not even realize, until he gets finished. There’s an emotional weight becomes replaying for your school. Not that he doesn’t love this place. I think he does, I think he loves being here from what I’ve heard and understand. But he didn’t grow up with it and maybe just that slight little detachment of being able to say ‘okay what do I need to do to be a great quarterback?’ Instead of feeling you know, some subconscious level the weight of the programs on you has allowed him to really, really play well.”
David Pollack on Bo Nix
Question: You’ve watched Bo Nix’s career, what’s allowed him to find such success this season at Oregon?
Pollack: “Bo is Bo and Bo is gonna make some plays that you just go ‘holy cow’ and he’s gonna make some plays that you get like ‘what the freak are you doing?’ So like, I think Rece said the best like, a couple years ago on our podcast, he was like he’s a carnival ride that just sometimes they might break and it might fly all over the place. But what’s the successful formula so far for Oregon? It’s short passing game, run Bo Nix. That’s how the offense is turned around. Can that continue against really good defenses? There’s not that many in the Pac-12. I think we’re gonna have a shootout. Like, I don’t know what the weather is going to do. I’m not a weatherman. But I think it’s going to be a lot of points. I don’t think there’s gonna be a lot of defensive stops in this game.”
Rece Davis on Lee Corso
Question: How is Lee Corso doing, and will he be here this weekend?
Davis: “He’s doing very well. Saw him this morning, seems to be recovered and ready to go. And you know, he’s not missing this with his affinity for The Duck. You know, so he’s, he’s here to have a reunion with him. So he’s doing well thank you for asking.”
