Duckman

This is very similar to my thoughts. As a college football fan, I will be curious if there are any obvious changes to Cristobal's coaching style at Miami relative to Oregon. However, right now, I expect more of the same. Inconsistent efforts leading to big wins and head scratching losses.

I like symmetry. Mario started his tenure as HC getting outclassed by a less-talented opponent in the 2017 Vegas Bowl. He ends his tenure as HC getting blown out by a less-talented opponent in the inaugural, Vegas-hosted Pac-12 championship game. In both games, the Ducks looked disorganized, unprepared and not properly motivated. In between, we experienced a lot of highs and lows. Win against Ohio State at the Horseshoe, Rose Bowl victory, 3-0 against UW. We also lost to a terrible Stanford team this season, got blown out by Utah twice in 2021 and once in 2018, and lost the 2020 Civil War against a less-talented Oregon State team. I view Cristobal's departure very differently and in a more favorable light than that of Taggart. Mario stayed for four seasons, had memorable achievements as Ducks HC, and re-stabilized the program after previous leadership failures. Back to symmetry. I will not root against Cristobal in Miami. However, I will snicker if he has to call a timeout before the first offensive play from scrimmage against Southern Miss.

Seems selfish in the context of playing for a 9-1 team with years of college eligibility remaining. However, when Pittman signed in 2019, he was probably was not expecting Redd and Johnson to still be on the team as super seniors this year. Would obviously be more touches for him (and the other WRs) if those guys were not on the two-deep.

Disappointed with the effort against Cal? There are similarities. Ducks were a big favorite in both games: -13.5 versus Cal, -6.5 versus UW. QB play was subpar (statistically better against Cal): 156.4 rating Cal, 97.7 rating UW. And, the Ducks narrowly won both games against inferior opponents: +7 points Cal, +10 points UW. Why do I feel differently now? 1. UW is a rivalry game. A win is a win. Huck the fuskies! 2. The weather was terrible which accounts for the anemic QB play. 3. Outside of first quarter and a half (or so), the Ducks were in control of the game. Could have/should have been a 17 point win if they had not let the clock run out. 4. The rushing total and LOS control indicate a dominant win. 5. The offensive output against Colorado is still fresh in our minds. Did I miss anything? Do others feel differently?

Not quite 21-0, but great start. Clean football. In control. Go Ducks!

Yes...precedent is on your side. Mine is more hopeful thinking.

Want the players to feel the love? Want the recruits to feel the love? Simple: blow out Colorado. Colorado is bad. 2-5 with wins against Arizona and Northern Colorado. Ranked 87th in ESPN FPI. Something like: 1Q: 21-0 2Q: 28-3 3Q: 42-3 4Q: backups play Walk out like:

Disappointment sums it up nicely. Something is missing inside the culture that leads to a team effort that is often less than the sum of its parts. I think the booing on Friday reflected that. It's not just Anthony Brown. How about the OL consistently missing pass blocks? How about LBs that continually struggle in pass coverage? Cristobal is an incredible recruiter and the pieces are in place for a successful season. However, recent efforts do not inspire confidence about longer-term success.

Yeah. I don't remember seeing such an animated strength and conditioning coach on game days before. Also, I think it's weird that it's mostly coaches that are responsible for bringing energy on the sidelines. I think that should ideally come from the players. Remember Joey Harrington? Or, more recently, Troy Dye?

While booing makes me uncomfortable, I certainly understand the sentiment. Mr. FD is right. As Duck fans, we have seen well-coached, well organized, and well-planned offense. We had become accustomed to excellent QB play. Under Cristobal, we do not consistently see any of those things. More often than not, his teams come out flat, disorganized, and tentative. If not for booing, how does the average fan voice their displeasure? However, stating the obvious, booing is indiscriminate. Do players and coaches understand what is being booed? Personnel choices, player mistakes, etc? Fans can obviously vote with their pocketbooks. As long as the Ducks are winning, Autzen will remain relatively full. However, that is not guaranteed. While I am certainly not rooting for it, it seems likely that the Ducks will drop 2-3 more games unless the QB play improves. Will the Autzen faithful remain loyal (and willing to pay top dollar) to watch boring football if the team is out of contention?

Charlie Brown is sure that *this time* we will see changes on offense...

"But I've been told repeatedly that Thompson is not ready to take over." Is the choice necessarily between AB and Thompson? What about Butterfield? He has one more year in the system. And, to me, looked superior to Thompson in the spring game. Importantly, he demonstrated the ability to connect on downfield passes.

Unless the QB play improves (either with AB or another QB), I think 9-3 is a good expectation. Cal, Colorado, WSU (all at home) should be wins. Assuming wins in those games gets us to seven total. UCLA, UW, Utah (all road games) and OSU (at home) are toss-ups. 2-2 in those games get us to nine wins total.

This is an excellent column. I have wondered with Chip would have done with current QB situation - I think he would play Thompson - but never thought back to other coaches. My thoughts... Taggart: start Brown and run him 10+ times a game until he is injured. Then leave for his dream job. Helfrich: think 2016 - start the year with Brown and transition to Thompson at some point in the year. Also, the Ducks would probably be 1-4 right now due to atrocious defense. I get frustrated with Cristobal's offense as much as any Duck fan but it is worth remembering how quickly it can head south. Bellotti: likely the dreaded two-QB system. Ugh. Brooks: I actually think he would give Butterfield a look given the pro-style offense they ran at the time.

Play your best players. Case in point…check out former UO prospect Xavier Worthy balling out for Texas today against OU. Like Thornton and Williams, he would likely be sitting behind Redd, Johnson, and Pittman (and others) had he chosen Oregon.

Good question. I’m not sure about two weeks, but I expect 3-4 additional losses without improvements in QB play and/or defense. As of now, statistically, we have mediocre QB play and below average defense. Not a formula for success.

There is a very good case for a truly open QB competition between now and Cal. I wonder if Moorhead's absence is making it more difficult though?

It's striking how much better Herbert is performing in the NFL than he did in his last two years at Oregon. Typically, QBs struggle to make the leap to the pros. Obviously, Herbert has better receivers with the Chargers, but NFL defenses are vastly superior to anything in college. Mind-boggling. And, it speaks to your second point. Cristobal is extremely risk-averse...likely to a fault.

This was MC's quote from the press conference on Thursday when asked about the QB situation after the Stanford loss... "He's (Anthony Brown) had some really good moments, some other moments where we need to improve upon...he certainly gives us the best chance to win." Assuming this was not coach speak, there are only two conclusions to draw in regards to the QB battle. 1. MC (and the coaching staff) are correct in their assessment that Brown offers the team the best chance to win. Stating the obvious, this is important because the Ducks are ranked in the top ten and still have a chance for a special season. Players want to win now. If the coaches make a QB change based on the future, they run the real risk of losing the current locker room. This conclusion is not positive in regards to the readiness of the freshmen QBs. 2. The coaching staff is mis-evaluating the QB room. Brown's QBR is 135.5. That is the worst Ducks' QBR since Masoli in 2008 (worse than Dakota Prukop's 152.7 in 2016). Perhaps Brown is really good in practice but it is not translating into games. It's hard to believe that Brown's QBR is significantly better than what we would see from one of the freshman QBs. Maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle, but the conservative choice is maintaining status quo at QB and emphasizing results (4-1, top-ten ranking) and experience.

I read the same column this morning. Smith was an excellent college QB and it appears that his confidence has translated into coaching. After reading the column, I also had questions about comparisons to the Ducks coaching staff. In my experience playing sports, there are two types of individuals in close games. For some, the game slows down and everything comes into focus. For others, everything speeds up and results in panic. It did not look like the game slowed down for the Ducks in overtime, particularly on offense. At this point, I expect another close game against Cal next week so we could get to see this all over again...hopefully with a better outcome!

Great analysis. Dumb question...in the video, looks like the LB is crashing down to stop the run. Why is the correct decision not to pull and pass to TE in the flat? Looks like he would be uncovered.

Good point. Pick your best players, even if it requires some tough decisions, and give them the vast majority of reps. This is especially critical at OL. I'm not sure I've ever seen a team juggle at 7-8 man OL rotation like we have seen the past couple years. Pick your best five and let them develop some consistency. The time for competition is spring and fall camp, not on Saturdays in the fall.

Excellent column. Sums up nearly all of my underlying frustrations as a longtime Ducks fan. From a fan perspective, it is directly connected to Mr. FD's column about program history and expectations. As fans, we have observed firsthand effective player development and coaching up. This experience makes watching under performance from this ostensibly more-talented roster even more aggravating. Question: what exactly do we mean by player development and coaching up? I think it starts with talent evaluation based on scheme fit, coaching big picture in addition to 'beat the guy in front of you', and putting players in a position to be successful. The elephant in the room is the the approach to strength/conditioning. There are a questionable number of serious, fluky, non-contact injuries to key players (Flowe, Williams, etc). Is the focus on lifting big and flex Fridays resulting in players that are too bulked up as opposed to appropriate functional strength?

Based on the QB ratings, Herbert peaked in 2017 with Helfrich era skill players (Freeman, Charles Nelson, etc) and the Taggart offense. Big drop-off in 2018 due to new scheme (Arroyo/Cristobal) and new skill players (Verdell/Dye, Redd/Johnson). Good to see the improvement in 2019...I think attributable to better play from the WR group (less drops, etc) and more conservative scheming. QB Rating 2016: 148.8 2017: 167.5 2018: 144.7 2019: 156.8

This is the million dollar question and, for a variety of reasons, cannot yet be answered with confidence. I can think of a couple items that contributed to the problems. And, I think we can watch for some early indicators for signs of improvement. 1. Inconsistent OL play. Very difficult to scheme and execute an offense when the coaching staff cannot depend on competent OL play. Key factor for next season will be the coaches' ability to identify the top-five OL and play them consistently. Based on recruiting rankings and number of OL on the roster, I do not believe talent should be a concern. Another year of OL struggles would raise serious questions about the OL coach. 2. Injuries at RB. Travis Dye and CHL were forced to play too big a role last season. Fumbles (Dye) and lack of explosiveness (CHL) held back the offense. Key for next season will be evidence of a true RB competition that results in the best players contributing on the field. I'm not convinced that always happened last season. 3. QB Play. Did Shough regress or did some good luck early in the season finally turn towards the end? There was definitely some good fortune early on...get ready to cringe if you re-watch some of the dropped interceptions in the Stanford game. I've also read that opposing DCs adjusted defensive schemes later in the year (based on earlier film review) and Shough failed to adjust. I think that spiraled and both QB and QB coaches lost confidence late in the season. Key for 2021...evidence of consistent execution and ability to sustain drives.