Oregon
Takeaways from Michigan’s loss to Oregon
The Michigan Wolverines fell to 5-4 on the season after losing 38-17 to the No. 1 Oregon Ducks on Saturday afternoon.
Here are takeaways from the game.
Kirk Campbell should not call plays moving forward
Offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell had mismanaged the game and got cute far too often. Campbell inserted Alex Orji repeatedly, even when Davis Warren did nice things throughout the game. Nothing was worse from Campbell than a sequence in the red zone with Michigan trailing 31-17 where Campbell dialed up a Kalel Mullings run on 3rd and 7 followed by a trick play with Orji at QB with the ball being handed to Semaj Morgan who went on to throw a horrendous pass out of bounce to Orji. Coaching can win and lose games, and Campbell failed mightily — he did not put his players in the best position to win. Head coach Sherrone Moore proved to be a solid offensive coordinator and play caller under Jim Harbaugh, and Moore should start calling the plays once more. Campbell did a lot of things that simply made no sense and were counterintuitive.
Campbell consistently took the ball out of Davis Warren’s hands against Oregon, opting to run into brick walls instead with the clock ticking down in the fourth quarter. Warren faced plenty of third and longs because of run plays that put Michigan behind the sticks, yet Warren was still a respectful 13-of-23 for 165 yards with two touchdowns. In crunch time Campbell didn’t trust his quarterback, he put the ball into the hands of Semaj Morgan on a pass, a play call that was inexcusable in retrospect and is just one of many poor decisions Campbell’s made this season.
Wink Martindale is a step behind
Michigan’s defense was expected to be one of the best in college football this season, and they’ve been average at best. Yes, they were down two starting cornerbacks today in Will Johnson and Jyaire Hill, but every level of the defense struggled in the first half, leading to 28 Oregon points. Oregon had 304 yards on offense in the first half, quarterback Dillon Gabriel consistently found soft spots in Michigan’s zone coverage, and when Martindale dialed up blitzes Oregon exploited the aggressiveness via screens, even on 2nd and 15. Michigan’s defense lacks fundamentals and a cohesive scheme. Martindale does not come out of the gate with good game plans. Michigan gave up 24 first-half points to Texas before allowing just seven in the second half. Against Oregon, there were 28 first-half points compared to 10 in the second half. However, in both games, the damage was already done by the time the second half rolled around and the opposing offenses knew to just play turnover-free football with substantial leads.
Martdinale’s scheme looks a lot different than that of former Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, who has the No. 1 scoring defense with the Los Angeles Chargers. Martindale’s tenure with the Ravens ended poorly, his performance as defensive coordinator of the New York Giants was even worse, and now he’s the DC of Michigan and his performance has been just as uninspiring. Opposing offenses seem to have the data points on how to attack Martindale’s tendencies and the deficiencies within Michigan’s defense.
Outlook moving forward
Michigan’s now 5-4 on the year and the players and coaching staff haven’t collectively improved as the season has unfolded. Michigan’s remaining schedule included No. 13 Indiana (9-0), Northwestern (4-5), and No. 4 Ohio State (7-1). Michigan will be big underdogs against Indiana and Ohio State and there’s a strong chance that the tilt against Northwestern will decide if this team is even bowl-eligible.
Tough questions are going to need to be answered, starting right now. Big strides are being made via NIL (name, image, likeness) to land top-tier recruits and these recruits will want to be coached by the best staff possible. Sherrone Moore will have some tough decisions to make this offseason, including changes on the coaching staff. No coaching staff remains the same year-to-year whether a team has a successful season or not, but this is a point of emphasis all the more when a team like Michigan is hovering around .500. Turning this thing around in 2025 starts right now. Time to come up with a winning formula from top to bottom.
The Oregon Ducks are set for one of the biggest timelines of their recruiting cycle, as many top targets are nearing commitments. This time around, the Ducks have a ton of top targets still remaining on their board compared to past seasons, as the Ducks have eight total commitments at this time.
Oregon coach Dan Lanning and his staff still need to land a safety commitment, but three-star safety Elijah Butler out of Maryland recently included the Ducks in his final six schools.
Oregon Target Elijah Butler Makes Exciting Recruiting Announcement
Butler announced his top six schools ahead of a crucial part of his recruitment, according to a graphic by Leyton Roberts. The Ducks made the cut alongside the Maryland Terrapins, Virginia Tech Hokies, Auburn Tigers, Florida Gators, and the Alabama Crimson Tide. The talented prospect would be a great addition for any of these teams, as they could all use a safety prospect at this point in the recruiting timeline.
Butler is from the state of Maryland, which makes the Terrapins one to watch.
It is also worth noting that he has been labeled as one of the best players in the state of Maryland, as he currently ranks as the state’s No. 9 prospect, according to Rivals. This is important as the Terrapins have always made solid attempts to land their in-state stars, including last season when they landed one of the better players in the state’s history, Zion Elee.
As of now, the prospect hasn’t been predicted to land with any of these schools, which means it is likely still a tight race entering the official visit schedule. He has yet to schedule an official visit with all of the schools he has listed in his top six, as he is still missing three key official visits. Butler has scheduled official visits with Alabama, Auburn, and Florida, according to 247Sports. This means he still needs to set one with Oregon, Virginia Tech, and Maryland if he wants to take one to each school.
If the Ducks are able to get Butler on a visit, then they would likely be in a more favorable position to land his commitment, as it currently. seems they are one of the trailing teams from this list. It seems highly unlikely that the Ducks will gain his commitment unless they get him on an official visit, which is still possible at this point, as plenty of top prospects across the nation are still scheduling their official visits.
As of now, the Ducks have 27 prospects set to take an official visit, according to 247Sports. Among all of the prospects who have scheduled a visit thus far, only one of the players is listed as a safety. That player is a three-star target, Junior Tu’upo. This leads one to believe that the Ducks could try to get Butler on a visit, or at a minimum, pitch their program to the prospect from St Frances Academy.
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BLUE RIVER, Ore. (KATU) — The founder of a former disaster relief nonprofit is being sued for allegedly diverting nearly $837,000 in donations and grants for personal gain.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield filed the lawsuit Thursday against the founder and executive director of Cascade Relief Team (CRT), Marcus Brooks. In the complaint, Rayfield calls CRT “a sham.”
Brooks is accused of stealing donations and government grants meant for disaster relief following wildfires and flooding in 2020, and using it for personal expenses including casino visits, travel, vehicles, and more.
CRT was founded in 2020 and was hired for cleanup and relief services following the Labor Day Wildfires that burned over 1 million acres across Oregon.
In Blue River, an unincorporated community in the McKenzie River Valley, the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire destroyed nearly 800 homes and burned more than 173,000 acres.
I am angry that my community was taken advantage of
Just months after the fire, long-time Blue River resident Melanie Stanley said CRT stepped in and promised help to the community.
“For us, it was…like a savior at that point,” Stanley said.
Stanley was the manager for the Blue River Resource Center and worked for Brooks to help facilitate recovery efforts. She said CRT operations slowly became questionable.
“None of us knew the level at which all of this stuff that finally came out was at,” Stanley said. “We knew that there was some stuff that had started to look hinky or feel hinky, or there was just some lack of communication that was happening. There were some other things that were happening, and so we just all were kind of guarded.”
In fall of 2023 the nonprofit was reported to have run out of money, and Brooks allegedly fired staff without disclosing the organization’s financial conditions and did not notify donors or beneficiaries. Stanley was one of those people fired.
The state now claims the funds that were meant to go towards communities like Blue River, never made it out of Brooks’ hands, including donations given by Blue River neighbors.
“I am angry that my community was taken advantage of, and I am angry that they now have to worry about trusting when something else happens, because we know something else is going to happen,” Stanley said. “We hope to God it’s never anything as big or as bad as what has happened, but you know, we also have learned that groups like Locals Helping Locals…they are our foundation, and they are because they’re us.”
The state is seeking to recover the money, permanently bar Brooks from serving in a leadership role at a charitable organization and dissolve the nonprofit.
Stanley said Brooks’ actions have tainted reputations.
“We as a community and as the people from the community who helped kind of put all of these things together, we did what was asked of us,” Stanley said. “We did help clean things, and we did help get things to provide, you know, more progress and get things moving forward, and we did good work, and so I just really hope that this is not overshadowed.”
According to Stanley, Blue River’s recovery now stands at 50%.
“We will be very picky from here on out about who and what groups gets let in to help with anything,” Stanley said. “And sadly, it may be to our detriment, but he did more damage now, as far as reputations go, and for that I’m angry. I’m very angry.”
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