FishDuck Article

As Oregon fans, we have been spoiled over the years with exciting and high-powered offenses. In the best of those years, the offense was paired with what could be described as a “bend but don’t break” defense. Oregon was not a recruiting power during the Kelly-Helfrich era and therefore did not have the talent to put together a dominating, lock-down defense. Well, ... Read the full article here...

Pretty stunning, wasn’t it? All the booing in Autzen, and over so many plays. This wasn’t about your typical disagreement with the coach over going for it (or not) on 4th down, or an occasional bad play call. This was a venting by the Autzen faithful. Frustrations with Coach Mario Cristobal have been simmering with a minority of fans over ... Read the full article here...

In football in general, the quarterback is the most important player on the field. He is the only player, besides the center, who has the ball in his hands on every snap. As a result, he is the leader and the face of the offense. When a team needs an offensive spark, it is often up to the QB to ... Read the full article here...

Did you know that Alabama freshman cornerback Ga’Quincy “Kool-Aid” McKinstry signed an endorsement deal with, wait for it, Kool-Aid? Yup. It’s a new era of college football. For the first time ever, collegiate athletes are able to receive financial compensation for their name, image and likeness, or NIL, opening up a flood gate of cash for advertising and endorsement deals. Let’s be ... Read the full article here...

I cannot recall such a different vibe that I receive from Oregon fans going into this Cal game, as it is so unusual coming out of a bye week. Fans hope to see the team that played so well at Columbus, but are fearful of seeing the Ducks play down to their opponent. Cal is likely the weakest opponent remaining ... Read the full article here...

Despite losing to Stanford this past week, Oregon still has a legitimate shot to make the College Football Playoff this year. I know many of you may assume it’s time to pump the breaks on this notion, and as we have talked about at FishDuck for a fair bit now, the Oregon community buzz is falling away from the program ... Read the full article here...

The Mario Cristobal blocking priority is PHYSICALITY, drive blocking, or the “Mano-a-mano,” the I’m tougher than you emphasis as an offensive priority. “We’re blocking straight ahead we’re going to drive you backward!” Nothing says this more than the Plodding Pistol Plunge, as we fans have seen too much “tougher” and not enough “smarter.” Coach Cristobal wants to be physical, thus Oregon ... Read the full article here...

It’s amazing how a team that is 4-1 feels more like 1-4. Oregon has played horribly against lesser competition and superbly against one high-quality opponent. The 1-4 feeling comes from knowing how good this team could be, yet the Ducks are not playing up to their potential. Before the season began, I wrote how the Ducks should go 11-1 this ... Read the full article here...

It is a common discussion over the years for Duck fans–which quarterback do you want to see playing? The current controversy brought about by subpar-play of Anthony Brown has ignited the Oregon message boards hot with discussion, although only the Our Beloved Ducks forum is a safe place (for free) to post your thoughts. I was discussing this quarterback situation ... Read the full article here...

Targeting penalties are ruining college football. These well-intentioned fouls have sucked the enjoyment out of the game. The penalty is too subjective, punishment too harsh. Something’s gotta change. Every team has experienced a questionable targeting call. Last week, the No. 8 Oregon Ducks had two targeting penalties in their loss to the unranked Stanford Cardinal, including one joy-killing penalty during ... Read the full article here...

A study passed along to me indicates that I have been operating the Our Beloved Ducks forum in a similar way to what occurred in a research setting involving baboon behavior. Our OBD results have been matching what was in the findings, and what has occurred in the wild. Pretty surprising and unexpected, yet let’s see whether it’s just coincidence ... Read the full article here...

We have already seen some crazy ups and downs this season, and the injury bug has not been remotely kind to this year’s Oregon team. It has taken star players out of multiples games, such as Kayvon Thibodeaux, or ended seasons (Justin Flowe and CJ Verdell), and it has even taken coaches off the sideline with Joe Moorhead missing the ... Read the full article here...

Coach Joe Moorhead is known all throughout the coaching ranks as a master schemer and architect of one of the smartest RPO based offenses in the nation. He has designed an offense with the Oregon Ducks that allows them to keep the physical style of run game they’re known for, while adding another layer. The RPO system that Coach Moorhead ... Read the full article here...

No matter how many top-five recruiting classes he signs, no matter how many high-profile coordinators he brings on staff, and no matter how many of his players would run through a wall for him, Mario Cristobal will not come close to winning a championship until he properly develops talent. Stanford’s upset of Oregon on The Farm wasn’t a fluke; it ... Read the full article here...

With the Oregon offense sputtering in four of its first five games, it would seem that now is the time to usher in one of the young quarterbacks on the roster. Anthony Brown has been sub-par this season. While he managed the game very nicely against Ohio State — his best game by far — he was far from outstanding. ... Read the full article here...

Yes, you read that right; the problem for Mario Cristobal are the fans at Oregon. He runs a team under an old philosophy, an old way of winning. Since then offenses have changed and what is required to win has also changed, as his mentor has been at the forefront of that trend that now wins national championships. Meanwhile Greybeard-age ... Read the full article here...

I wrote those words up in the title in the first month of Mario Cristobal‘s first season in 2018, and wrote them again in an article last year, that you would think was written right after this last game with Stanford. Same issues, same underperformance and same game management. Steward Mandell quoted my final line of that article for one ... Read the full article here...

Mario Cristobal and the Oregon staff have been preaching a 1-0 mentality all season long, and so far it has worked. Oregon is 4-0 and one of the few undefeated teams nationally. However, Oregon has time and time again played to the level of their competition. In some cases, Oregon rises and plays up to the level of their competition, ... Read the full article here...

The Wildcats trip to Eugene ended up being more competitive than most expected. Even though the score may indicate a drubbing from the Ducks over the cats, the first half was a bit ugly. Keep in mind: this is nothing to panic over. Pac-12 play will always remain competitive for the Ducks, as Oregon has transitioned to a Goliath-like role ... Read the full article here...

Yes, a win is a win. But the way the Ducks have played in three of their first four games has left many Oregon fans puzzled. It is a frustration based on knowing the talent of this Oregon team and the way they handled Ohio State, and watching the sloppy and inconsistent play against three far lesser opponents. Five Thoughts ... Read the full article here...

Regardless of what some Oregon fans think about the 2021 football team after the restless win over Arizona, the Ducks are now No. 3 in the nation in both polls. Some of us do not think we are the third-best college team in the nation, but only good enough to win that week is all. It is a puzzling performance ... Read the full article here...

The Oregon Ducks have introduced quite a few new plays to their offense in the first quarter of the 2021 season. One of those plays has been used to great affect including two touchdowns against the Ohio State Buckeyes, is what I’m calling the Wide Power Read; a twist on the classic Power Read. The Power Read, or Inverted Veer, ... Read More Source Read the full article here...

The time has finally arrived. After two long years, we are back in arguably the most exciting time of the year, the NCAA Tournament. With both the Men’s and Women’s teams looking to make a run, we are in for an exciting couple of weeks watching Our Beloved Ducks. Let’s dive right into the matchups and see how Oregon stacks ... Read More Source Read the full article here...

Chip Kelly ruined it, didn’t he? He was just a good enough recruiter to always have a decent roster, his offensive mind is one of the greatest of all time and he is easily the best halftime adjuster in modern school history. He was never going to have to leave Oregon. The administration was going to give him anything he wanted, ... Read the full article here...

Losing to your in-state rival sucks. Every time. Always. And it was especially disappointing for the Oregon Ducks (20-6, 14-4 Pac-12), who were red-hot and rolling on a six-game win streak to fall flat against a very eager and energized Oregon State Beavers (16-12, 10-10 Pac-12) team in a Pac-12 Tournament semifinal matchup Friday night. It’s hard to hit the ... Read More Source Read the full article here...