Charles Fischer

With six minutes and 22 seconds left in the first quarter, Oregon ran an overload blitz that made the Liberty quarterback throw the ball away. Dorlus was in on that play…

I thought OC Will Stein called not only a great game, but really identified weaknesses in the Liberty defense. I certainly like some of the innovation, and there was one offensive formation that Liberty was not prepared for. That is something to break down in the off-season!

I’m going to check it when I go back through the game later, but I do not recall a single bad snap by Poncho, and considering how well we ran the ball, it was impressive. I did not notice any glaring deficiencies from our freshman replacement at center. Anybody else notice anything?

I could swear I saw No. 3 out there...but I did not hear his name!

I would usually root against an SEC team, but now have added incentive for a future B1G fellow conference member in the Wolverines. Thoughts about this game?

The difference of a QB in all the little things, and the knowledge of the offense and the defense you are going up against? A newbie QB certainly would have scored, but not to that degree. The difference of an experienced QB cannot be overstated, as it can offset other weaknesses of a team, and catapult a team that is good into great. I am not real surprised at how much Oregon scored; I thought we would move the ball easily enough, and frankly was so surprised at how well an ol Chip Kelly Outside Zone Read did throughout the game. They were weaker at perimeter defense than I saw coming and I salute the defensive staff for identifying it. I certainly thought that Liberty would not make the drops and mistakes they did on offense and would score more. But I am quite happy with the result. I was hoping we would rise to the occasion on defense, and we did.

Let's move to new threads on the front page. Start one!

Let’s Go Ducks!

Here we are my Duck-Buddies, the thread for pondering the actual game as it happens. Let's discuss before, and during the game! The vast majority of you are GREAT in this thread, but you must remember that this forum is different, as we require civilized discourse. Discussion of negative is fine, but don't vent on us! Rule No. 31d covers GameDay Thread Conduct, and it is not hard for the vast majority of us--just a tiny few who need to reign it in when things don't go well for Our Beloved Ducks. Let's Have Fun Posting During the Game!

Good gosh this will get ugly in conference...wait until we play Arizona, Stanford, UCLA or USC? (or Washington State, or Colorado...and we have to play them all twice?) We only scored 41? On the Beavers? Somebody please...give me some upside?

Beer AND coffee!

Wow… No. 4 Arizona lost at the ‘Furd, 100-82? Whew!

The trendy thing with IPAs now is nearly every new beer has a ton of citrus in it. Thus, no need to add more, IMHO. Love this one...

Why? Why do we enjoy the misery of Cristobal? I will NEVER be Noble...

We have games playing today, but look who is at the top of the standings...even if for a day... Gotta enjoy it!

I never fuss with that nonsense. But I am impressed with the flavor of Widmer's versus others out there.

Hello My OBD FishDuck Forum Friends! What is your prediction versus Liberty? Take your shot and let's have fun with it... Lets get these predictions started, and remember I look for the differential between your predicted points with both teams from the actual points. I will use the tiebreaker information when needed, so provide all the data below! Entries without ALL the information are invalid, and predictions on other threads don't count. Please follow directions, as I need all that is below for tiebreakers: --the winner --the score --the amount of turnovers Oregon creates --the number of sacks Oregon records on the opposing team --the number of passing yards by the Ducks. My prediction is: Oregon, 34-20, 2, 1, 322

It is as good as reason as any to have either an Oregon Craft Beer IPA, or a famous Oregon Widmer Hefe...watching 2023 Oregon games!

Two really big ego guys...

Yeah! This could be a GREAT team!

The experienced players on defense who are playing are key to me versus the Flames. While we lose both starting corners--I believe Nico Reed and Donte Manning can do well enough, as the front seven will determine this matchup for us on slowing down the high scoring Liberty offense. Having Dorlus play is HUGE, and most likely Burch as well will make a big difference. Mase Funa has been through all the wars, and he is excellent at setting the edge, of which will be needed in this game. I cannot overstate the importance of having experienced linebackers in Bassa, Hill and Jacobs instead of some rookie linebackers trying to figure things out at game-speed, let alone fight off blocks and stay on assignment. This is a difficult game for the defense, and I am very curious to see what the brain-trust of Lanning, Lupoi and Hampton have come up with.

EUGENE, Ore. — A second-straight 20-point performance from Oregon freshman Jackson Shelstad helped the Ducks hold off numerous comeback attempts by UCLA, beating the Bruins 64-59 on Saturday afternoon. Shelstad became the first UO freshman with consecutive 20-point games since Bol Bol in 2018-19. With the team struggling to find a rhythm on offense, success on the defensive end proved to be vital. The Oregon perimeter defense put on an impressive display, holding UCLA to just 15.8 (3-for-19) shooting from behind the arc and racking up 12 steals on the night. How It Happened: After Kwame Evans Jr. scored the first bucket of the afternoon thanks to a slick assist from Jermaine Couisnard, UCLA gained control of the game and built an 11-7 lead as the game approached the second media timeout. Oregon fought back to regain the lead with a 9-2 scoring run across the next two minutes thanks to balanced scoring and good efforts on the defensive glass. The Bruins used their presence inside to prevent the lead from growing, keeping the Ducks within four in a tightly-contested half. A pull-up jumper from UCLA's Sebastian Mack as the clock expired cut the Oregon lead down to 33-31 as the teams broke for halftime. The Bruins came out of the gates hot in the second half, scoring 11 of the first 15 points of the period to reclaim the lead and go in front by five. It was then that Oregon caught fire from behind the arc as the Ducks used the deep ball to score their next 12 points, including three-straight triples from Shelstad, generating a 14-2 run to take back the lead bring Matthew Knight Arena alive. Jadrian Tracey capped the run with a tough layup at the rim as the Ducks jumped out to a 51-44 with just over nine minutes to play. UCLA refused to go away once again, scoring the next two buckets out of a timeout that brought it back to a one-possession affair as the under-eight media timeout approached. The teams traded baskets before Oregon took another swing as Shelstad drilled his fourth triple of the night followed immediately by a steal-and-score from Couisnard that pushed the lead to seven in a matter of 15 seconds. With 3:30 remaining, UCLA attempted to control the tempo by stringing together a few stops while feeding the ball inside for tough buckets in the paint, cutting the lead down to one with 32 seconds remaining. Facing a full court press, the Ducks got the ball to Shelstad in open space who connected with fellow freshman Evans Jr. to hammer the nail in the coffin with a posterizing dunk, energizing MKA once again. A stop and a rebound led to two free throws for Shelstad, who sank them both to secure the 64-59 victory for Oregon. Up Next: Oregon kicks off the new year in Seattle as the Ducks travel to play Washington on Thursday, Jan. 4. The game tips off at 6 p.m. PT with broadcast coverage provided by Pac-12 Networks.