Eric Boles

I think you’re exactly right. Defense was always going to take some time with the new scheme.

There are a few trips to the red zone where I think they’d rather have TDs than FG, but it’s hard for me to say it’s been difficult for them. They’re currently ranked 13th in the nation in red zone offense and 1st in the Pac-12. 94% of their RZ trips have ended with points. They have 25 TDs and 7 FGs. I think what you’re pointing to is some of the FGs they’ve had to settle for due to penalties. I completely agree that it’d be great to clean that up and turn those into TDs. But I do believe in Oregon’s ability to score often in this game.

That’s right, they’re two separate plays. Throw it in the dirt. That’s what QBs are taught to do on busted screen passes. I was just looking back, and WSU ran this play against Oregon. It was the pick six.

You’re right, this tunnel screen is not a RPO.

Oh I see what they meant now. That must have been a mistake on my end.

The counter itself does have a bubble screen on the backside.

And to run them back to back within 12 seconds of each other at the end of a quarter. That’s a lot of stress on the defense.

Exactly. Constraints aren’t used as frequently as the staple plays, but they’re designed to look like the staples to keep a defense off balance.

If my memory serves me, this was the first time we’ve run it this season. I’d have to go back and watch the other games to be sure. I’m also not in the camp that thinks WSU was just so fast that we couldn’t get a handle on the perimeter. A lot of our early red zone woes were poor blocking and penalties, not necessarily that they were too fast. The Ducks’ first touchdown was on the perimeter.

Aren’t they designed to look like a duck egg?

Oh you for sure don’t want to make a a habit of having to come back, but having the ability is a welcome sight. I also don’t imagine Oregon having the same number of mistakes again. Without the amount of those that we had, we’re not talking about a close game. And that’s to take nothing from WSU.

I just want to say how impressed I am with the fight of this team, and them finding a way to win Saturday. It wasn’t always pretty, and at one time or another, just about every mistake you can think of was made. And WSU, hats off to them, threw just about every trick you can think of at the defense. It feels like opponents are going to have to be way ahead for the offense to not have the ability to catch up.

Haha if I know what the Ducks are running, so do opposing defensive coaches.

I get what you mean, and it does look like he could have got the yardage by pulling, but he made the right read. The goal of these zone reads and RPOs is to make a defender wrong. We don’t really want to make them right and then just try to out-athlete them.

Yeah, I already have to use Sling to see anything on the Pac-12 Network and even then I have to have an add-on that brings the cost up to like $50 a month. So I’d like the Network at least to be on a service that I have anyway. It’ll be interesting to see how they do it though. And you’re right, that’s probably the future. I heard the stat of like 10 years until streaming is it.

I think it has more to do with the home equipment, like the streaming device or Wi-Fi router. My picture and sound were good though.

It’s how I watch them now, so I’d be cool with it. A streamer could at least take the Pac-12 Network. I use Sling right now for it, but it’s like $50 a month after the add-on that you need for it.

I can only think of one time he got beat in the game too. Overall, the offensive line played pretty well. No sacks and no hurries is pretty impressive. Just have to finish those drives.

I’m right there with you. I honestly believe that had it been the second game of the season, the Ducks would have looked better. I won’t say they would have won, but I’m not convinced they would have looked as out of sorts. A game before Georgia would have gone a long way in working out some of the kinks of having new systems. Unfortunately, Georgia served as that game.

I’m hearing that because the Big 12 is opening early negotiations themselves, there’s a mechanism that allows Texas and Oklahoma to leave for the SEC early. I wonder what that mechanism is and if it allows the same for the other teams. Could the Pac invite Big 12 teams now without the big buyouts?

I’ll take that bet! Lol

I’m with you. UNLV is in the fastest growing sports city in the nation, and they’re an improving program. And I do believe that Phil Knight has looked into options in case the Pac doesn’t work out. But we’ve heard he’s reached out to the SEC too. One of the reasons that I personally feel like it won’t is ESPN. They do not want another premier program to fall to a conference that they don’t get anything out of and I think they’re going to work to make sure it doesn’t happen. Burke Magnus, President, Programming and Original Content for ESPN, said the deal they’re working on with the Pac has a mechanism for expansion too.

I’ll agree that it won’t be their biggest test, but beyond their opponent, you can see their improvement.

Anyone see any of the UNLV game last night? That offense is looking sweet under the guidance of Marcus Arroyo.

It can actually be run against a variety of fronts. For instance, another way it’s run is when the DE is wider than the TE. In that case the TE gets to the second level and the pulling guard kicks the end out.