Charles Fischer

(From Oregon Athletics Press Release) Question: About Oregon’s success running the ball… CRISTOBAL: "Well offensively I think we have morphed a little bit now. We throw the ball pretty well too. It’s just, again, the rain was coming down at such a high clip that it wasn’t going to be easy throwing the ball. You had just as good of a chance that it was going to be a tipped ball or whatnot throwing the ball as you would just giving the ball to one of the best players in college football in Travis Dye behind that offensive line. And we felt that the way we practice means a lot to us. We take a lot of pride in it. We take a lot of pride in blocking and we felt that even though we’ve been down a couple of offensive linemen that we could find a couple of ways to establish the line of scrimmage and take control of it. And they had some really good plays too. But overall, just felt that our guys did a really good job and Coach Moorhead and the offensive staff did a really nice job of mixing it up with the ball inside and outside, with our gap schemes, our pin and pulls, ball on the perimeter. It was really hard to find where the ball was going. And Anthony is always a threat to run the football as well. He did a great job with his legs, his third down pass to Johnny [Johnson III) was huge later on even though we got called for something when we had first and goal at the one inch line but I guess I’ll figure that one out later."

(Press Release from Oregon Athletics0 Question: Will this be what we see of this defense week in and week out? CRISTOBAL: "Well, I think you saw some really great moments in the UCLA game. You’re a fourth down stop away from having the ball at their 40 up by 17 [points]. And then against Colorado, you see we pulled out our guys, we gave up 14 points but you saw some really impressive play. And then you stack this one on top of that. You’re seeing this scheme, these players, it’s all falling in, it’s all galvanizing itself, it’s all getting in sync. Guys are starting to gel. Guys are starting to become much more comfortable playing beside each other. There’s more consistency in which players are playing beside each other so we hope that’s a trend that continues to go upwards." Question: What allowed your secondary to have success in the passing game? CRISTOBAL: "A combination of things. I think the front seven certainly made a difference with the pressure. The weather helped some. It wasn’t a passing type of game. But I just felt that we played our leverages a lot better. We played our techniques a lot better. Our eye discipline was night and day better and that has been a huge focal point for our secondary, our coaches and it showed up big tonight." Jeffrey Bassa celebrates a big 3rd down stop...

(Press Release from Oregon Athletics) Question: Thoughts on the defensive effort, especially early in the game? CRISTOBAL: "Outstanding, I mean held them for the entire game to less than 170 yards, I believe. Without a doubt we were having a tough time finding our way on offense early. It was raining sideways just about. The passing game - we had to be smart. We had to limit what we were doing and it felt like it was a three-and-out, four or five plays and out just consistently [for the defense]. It’s not just that, it’s the way they were doing it. It’s the physicality. You could hear it. It just sounded different from the sideline, the way the front seven was playing and how much our defensive backs were smothering their wide receivers as well. Great defensive performance. I know we gave up that long drive we would like to have back, but certainly all in all just really proud of the way those guys played tonight." Question: Impressions of the fourth down stop and the ensuing touchdown? CRISTOBAL: "That was huge. They run their wildcat package pretty consistently and our defense just knocked back the line of scrimmage, just knocked it back completely for a loss. Huge momentum swing there. We took the ball down and we scored. Great play by Anthony [Brown] to Devon Williams, reading it the entire way on the boot and certainly changing the entire momentum of the game - never looked back after that. But battled. The whole way was a battle. They have a really good football team, good players. Without a doubt that was a momentum swing and a game-changer." Question: Tell us about the momentum shift after the fourth down stop? CRISTOBAL: "Well I think it further highlights the importance of those defensive stops. Because they had all the momentum. They had all the momentum and if our defense doesn’t come up with those stops that might continue. And then in a game like this where you can’t really just throw the ball down the field at will, it could have made a difference. So without question that was the momentum changer, the momentum swing. Phenomenal job by our defense making that stop. Tremendous job by the offense capitalizing."

This whole scenario is surreal, considering how Oregon pushed them around in the trenches. I sure there is a "punchline" in there somewhere! Jimmy Lake Investigated by Washington for Getting Physical with Player on Sidelines by Larry Brown of Larry Brown Sports

When you consider all the teams that lost or played poorly this weekend and Oregon's chances according to this predictor are THIS bad? I hope if lights a fire under our team! I like the image below a bit better.....

Whew! He makes an interesting case, and I'm glad we got into the top four last week as one boost was our win over Fresno State, who just lost to Boise State.

Whew! Some juicy stuff here for future years to be sure, and some links that will leave you pondering... Canzano: Oregon Ducks Find Some Killer Instinct in Win over Washington by John Canzano of OregonLive And a FIGHT nearly broke out between the teams after the game? I am delighted to learn in the article that Oregon--the coaches and the players--have some FIRE in their belly!

This was darned close and really all of them were winners in this...but I give it slightly to Steven A. Winner Score Spread Turnovers Created Sacks by Passing Yards Actual: Oregon 26-16 10 1 1 98 Steven A. Oregon 27-17 10 2 4 185 LB 48 Oregon 27-17 10 2 3 208 Duck 1972 Oregon 31-21 10 1 4 125 While Steven A. and LB 48 had closer to actual scores...Duck 1972 was better on the tiebreakers and could be declared the winner as well. Congrats on all three, as that was pretty darned impressive!

When you rush for over 360 yards in the rain....the offensive line needs a ton of credit. A day to Dye for...

You gotta love what the guys at Oregon Graphics came up with for the football Twitter...the caption says, "keep climbing Ducks!" Duck Kong?

And she can DUNK the basketball!

You've been fine--it is just that we have been discussing this topic for a couple of years, and again--after this weekend I can get you the sources I referred to. No sweat.

(Press Release from UO Athletics) EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon delivered an efficient offensive performance led by five players in double figures in a 95-65 win over Westmont Saturday at Matthew Knight Arena in the second of the Ducks’ two exhibitions. “Certainly offensively I thought we did some really good stuff today,” said head coach Kelly Graves. “For the most part we got pretty much what we wanted to offensively. Defensively, we struggled a little bit. We had some players playing in new spots so we kind of just had to get through that.” How it Happened: Oregon got off to a bit of a slow start offensively and led 20-13 after the first quarter. The Ducks found more of a rhythm in the second quarter behind a strong inside performance from Nyara Sabally. The junior scored seven points and grabbed four rebounds in the second frame and was just one board shy of a double-double at the break, with 12 points and nine rebounds. After Westmont cut the Oregon lead to 12 with just under four minutes left in the first half, the Ducks went on an 11-2 run to head into the break in front 46-25. The Ducks continued to open things up in the second half, starting the third quarter on a 10-0 run to go up 58-25 with 6:25 to go. Sedona Prince got going offensively, scoring six of the team’s first eight points in the second half while connecting on her first four shots from the field. The two teams traded buckets the rest of the way, with 6-foot-8 freshman Phillipina Kyei dominating inside after halftime, scoring 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting in the second half. Who Stood Out: Sabally and Prince each posted double-doubles, with Sabally scoring 14 points while grabbing 11 rebounds in just 15 minutes of action, while Prince went for 10 points and 11 boards. Kyei led all scorers in the game with 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting to go along with five rebounds. Sydney Parrish turned in a strong shooting day, finishing with 16 points while going 4-for-7 from outside. Maddie Scherr delivered another steady performance, scoring eight points while dishing out eight assists with no turnovers. Oregon turned it over just five times as a team, including just once in the second half, while tallying 24 assists. Up Next: The Ducks open the regular season Tuesday against Idaho State at 7:30 p.m. in Matthew Knight Arena. Phillipina Kyei

Duck 1972....you are new here. We have covered this subject extensively with tons of articles. I will email links for you. The bottom line? Scoring 37 points per game will win the Pac-12 but get you spanked in the Playoff. The three teams who have been in the Playoffs the most have scored an average of 45 points a game over the last three years. Nick Saban himself stated twice in the last year, that offense is what wins 'Nattys. Last year...I think everyone would agree that Ohio State had superior defensive personnel to Oregon, yet they had over 50 points planted on them in the National Championship game by Alabama. You must be able to score a boatload of points to win in the Playoff, IMHO. Then we get into the subject of the two high scoring offenses that Cristobal dumped prior to this year. Rather than rehash it all--I will email you. And you are quite welcome to state your opinion on this anytime--even/especially if we disagree. As long as everyone is "polite and respectful," then we welcome and want all opinions.

Some things in life like deciding in politics are "bad-or-bad," decisions, while I enjoy the "Good-or-Good" decisions. Like when Washington plays USC....gosh--can they both lose?

When asked about bringing Brown back into the game...he mumbled stuff about "being three scores up." This means he understands the importance of a big margin of victory, and then the committee rewarded his decision to do that? He knows of it and it's implications, IMHO.

That is a classic "Good-or-Good" scenario. Either outcome is good!

My friends, I think a massive part of the drama and entertainment is watching what Coach Mario Cristobal does over these last five games. You know that he wants to pound the "A" gap and play in a phone booth. But he heard the crowd reaction at the Cal game, and began to improvise. I wrote here that he needed to primarily pass against UCLA, and I stated that he would never do it--but he did! Against Colorado, the holes were big and he could have just run the ball and won by a touchdown....but he didn't. He cranked up the passing offense and scored 52 points. And his choices were rewarded by the Playoff committee, as "Oregon turned it around in the last two weeks." Cristobal has a massive internal battle going on....will he have the offense play the way he wants, or the way he knows he should do in order to get into the Playoff? This is high-drama, the stuff an Oregon movie could be made from later. What will he do? Today, if we have the high-winds and tons of rain--won't that require an offense that fits how he wants to play? Wouldn't the weather create an offensive "Christmas-for-Cristobal?" This is going to be very interesting to watch!

That was one of the most fun articles I've put together and our three year run of 'Nattys was better than their entire sports history? Incredible.

I want our players to see that in the eyes of the Huskies in the beginning of the third quarter!

Good for him--love it.

Hello My OBD Forum Friends! Lets get these predictions started today and remember I look for the spread with then the closest score that has the spread correct. The data I need from you is: (entries without all the information are invalid, and predictions on other threads don't count as I am not going to hunt them all down) --the winner --the score, and the tiebreaker information needed from each of you is... --the amount of turnovers Oregon creates --the number of sacks Oregon records on the opposing team --the number of passing yards. My guess is: Oregon 34-16, 2, 4, 160 Note to all: GameDay threads seem to remove the filters we have within us during the week. Writing negative about the Ducks on GameDay is fine, (as we write about negative every day here) but let's not be venting on fellow Duck fans. There is a difference and I think most of you know when it is. Hopefully that won't be an issue this week!

It is quite plausible, and if they present that explanation, then it tells all the ADs planning our schedule to never have a game with an Ohio State, Georgia, etc. When we lose the early season game as we did to Auburn in 2019...it is held against us. And if we win as we did this season? It doesn't count for any number of reasons? (Yours being one of many that could be presented) I do think it may take more than winning out, as a few other things may need to break our way. But interesting stuff to ponder and watch occur, but it is only important if we keep winning! We gotta do our part Saturday afternoon...

Very true and very cool photo in that tweet.

Good gosh Steven A.....that is a thing of beauty! Thanks!