Charles Fischer

I am never opposed to passing to set up the run--even if it is not usual football doctrine. For Oregon...that could really work, but as you say--we need to complete some longer passes too. GREAT to see you posting Mike.

Cool stat to find and cool image! Thanks so much...

Thanks for your thoughts, as I am normally writing Opinion-Editorial articles of which generate much more discussion. But analysis articles and videos are my roots as a publisher, and it was great fun to break this down. I do wish to thank Coach Boles for sharing the video of Moorhead explaining his policy, and for his original analysis of the Inverted Veer. I was not a big fan of this play originally, because the "read-key" is on the playside, and not the backside like what you have with Inside and Outside Zone Reads. But I've warmed up to it!

No. 1 player in Oregon for 2023 class? Cool. 4-Star PG Jackson Shelstad Announces Commitment to Oregon for 2023 Class by Zachary Neel of Ducks Wire

(Press Release from Oregon Athletics) EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon’s depth was on display once again Sunday night as the No. 10 Ducks got contributions from everyone who played in an 84-35 win over Dixie State at Matthew Knight Arena. “I thought we did a really good job,” said head coach Kelly Graves. “I thought defensively we were on point for most of the game – certainly in the second half. We didn’t shoot the ball well tonight but we only had seven fouls and only three turnovers so that’s pretty impressive.” Six Oregon players scored in double figures led by Ahlise Hurst’s team-high 17 and Kylee Watson’s career-high 16. Phillipina Kyei recorded a double-double in just her second career game, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. How it Happened: The Ducks got off to a bit of a slow start on the offensive end, but hit seven of their nine shots from the field during the middle portions of the first quarter to open up a double-digit lead. Oregon got the job done inside, as Kyei scored eight points and Watson added six to lead the Ducks to a 27-8 advantage after one. UO used more strong defense in the second quarter to maintain the big lead going into the half. The Ducks held Dixie State to 29 percent shooting from the field through the first 20 minutes to make it a 40-19 ballgame at the break. The Ducks continued to find buckets inside out of the break as they scored 18 of their 25 third-quarter points in the paint to build a 65-31 lead going into the fourth. Oregon put the clamps on in the fourth on the defensive end, holding Dixie State to just four points on 1-of-11 shooting while forcing five turnovers. The Ducks ended the game on a 19-1 run to finish off the victory. Who Stood Out: Watson, who got her first career start, went a perfect 8-for-8 from the field for a career-high 16 points while grabbing four boards and coming away with three steals. “I just knew I had to come out, play hard and do the little things,” said Watson. “My biggest thing was just not letting my teammates and coaches down and bringing that energy that usually comes off the bench but is now having opportunities to help my team out in different ways tonight.” Kyei finished with 10 rebounds for the second straight game to start the year and posted a double-double in just her second career game. Hurst led all scorers with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting with five assists and three rebounds. Chanaya Pinto provided a ton of energy off the bench, finishing a rebound shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. Sydney Parrish ended with 12 points while Sedona Prince added 10 to round out the group of six Ducks in double figures. Up Next: The Ducks open play at the Battle 4 Atlantis in The Bahamas on Saturday against Oklahoma at 2 p.m. PT.

"Greatness and Weakness Emerge Early"

Completely agree, but then I am the guy who thinks it is insane to run your QB between the tackles...ever. The coaches disagree. I take that back; I believe it makes complete since to run a QB sneak while snapping from under center for a short TD or first down needed. But the coaches disagree. This comes under the category of plugging my ears and going..."la-la-la-la-la-la!" I know what you write is true, I've stated it often in the past, but this is the dilemma we are in. I choose to believe the coaches with complete faith like the young lady below...

"Greatness and Weakness Emerge Early" (Byron Caldwell)

There was a brief scene at the end of the game where Cristobal and Hutson were chatting nicely, in a normal way. They are past what happened vs. Cal...IMHO.

Perhaps nobody was open and he passed it to Dye hoping for some YAC?

There are a ton of moves that come from experience that Dye was not doing over a year ago for example, and Caldwell has yet to learn. It is the difference between a two yard carry and a five yard one, IMHO. Caldwell is learning, (such as the Outside Zone Read example above) but still has a ways to go, I believe.

(From Oregon Athletics Press Release) EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon football team has earned its highest Associated Press ranking since 2014, moving up one spot to No. 4 in the latest top-25 poll released on Sunday. UO also moved up one spot to No. 5 in the AFCA Coaches poll. The Ducks (9-1, 6-1 Pac-12) are currently No. 3 in the College Football Playoff rankings, and are coming off a 38-24 win over Washington State on Saturday night in Autzen Stadium. Oregon is in the top five of the AP poll for the second week in a row, and its No. 4 ranking is the highest since the Ducks closed the 2014 season at No. 2. The Ducks will head to Salt Lake City this weekend to face off with No. 24 Utah on Saturday (4:30 p.m. PT, ABC). Oregon would clinch the Pac-12 North Division title with a win over the Utes or an Oregon State loss to Arizona State.

Yikes. Not good at all... But I don't think he sees the truth as I see it; he does NOT have elite speed, and is an average punt returner compared to many great ones of the past. He is not a defense-stretcher with his speed and is a possession WR, IMHO. But we should be throwing to him on 3rd down...

I am OK with the 4:30 slot as it is 7:30 back east, and if we were on earlier....people would be watching their favorite team or conference first. At 7:30...it is ideal for many people who have not seen Oregon play much to tune into the game. Now we gotta win it!

Proof of that to me was when it was an Outside Zone to the left, but then he paused and saw no hole and made a great cut-back the other direction....like the old days! He got seven yards on a play that WSU initially had well defensed. And any further insights you have--we love to read them here ChicoDuck!

You are quite right sir, I posted that past 1:00 AM Sunday morning and forgot!

When Oregon was robbed of the Anthony Brown touchdown and the defense held the Cougars to three points...and then it was 24-17 with 8:23 left. You and I know that it was a-game-to-lose at that point, but the offense ground out another touchdown drive. Tied up with Fresno State, down 14-0 to UCLA, and down 9-3 in Husky Stadium has made them mentally tougher, and it showed up at that crucial juncture. Thoughts? Sorry, but it has been seven years so I like to stare at it often...

(From Oregon Athletics Press Release) Question: On if there was an emphasis on defending Kayvon Thibodeaux? COACH DICKERT: "Absolutely. We were obviously in a lot of open sets. We slid to him, chipped him, and had the back working to his side in extra protection. They did a good job, sometimes they would slide him inside; they would stand him up and move him to different spots so you didn’t know where he was. He’s the best player in America. He’s going to get his a little bit and we’ve got to try and neutralize that, because they’ve got a couple of other people that can rush the passer as well. We did a good job on our plan. Sometimes he out-executed even the chip and the double-team. Those are the ways we tried to attack him." Question: On the efficiency of the deep drop back vs. the quick drop back for Jayden de Laura? COACH DICKERT: "There were times when Jayden (de Laura) couldn’t get his feet set and couldn’t let routes develop. He was having to get the ball and scramble or try to create plays based off of pressure. We were never able to get quit in rhythm in the deep pass game and take the shots that we hopped we could come in and take during the game. I give our guys a lot of credit, they battled through it facing some different looks. That’s a heck of a front seven defensively, obviously I think they’re the best in our league. There wasn’t a whole bunch of things I thought we could’ve done better; we just have to give him a little bit more time to set his feet and throw the ball." My friends, I think those quotes above say a ton about the defensive game-plan by Coach DeRuyter...

(From Oregon Athletics Press Release) From Acting Washington State Head Coach Jake Dickert: "That’s a good football team, I give credit to Oregon. They’re tough, physical and didn’t make mistakes. We kept punching, they kept swinging back. I think we played 60 minutes of football, but just ended up coming up short. Last year we had them on the ropes and didn’t finish in the second half, but we kept swinging. Some of the same things happened today, but at the end of the day we’re getting better. I’m disappointed with us not being able to stop the run in the fourth quarter. They did some different things; they handled our interior movement really well. At the end of the game, they just wore us down and we weren’t tackling very good."

(From Oregon Athletics Press Release_ Question: Was the game plan for Anthony to run this much? CRISTOBAL: "No doubt. What they were doing [defensively] calls for him to use legs tonight and he did it and you look at him, 17-for-22 throwing the ball and rushing 17 for 128 I mean what they did defensively if you know – we give a lot of pride as coaches and making adjustments and looking for areas to attack and we felt these things would work and they work if only they are executed at a high level by the players so all the credit goes to the players that execute at a really high level and Anthony used every bit of everything he has to make it a reality. Byron [Caldwell] has stepped up and played a significant role and has made some really big runs, some explosive runs and has made people miss on contact plus two. He is a big guy. He plays with older eyes. He sees things and he is a quick study. He learns quickly. We’re growing, we’re getting better, the 1-0 is sinking in, and I think we’re just scratching the surface, I think this team is just getting better and better every single week in a lot of different areas, and a lot of different phases. The sky is the limit."

(From Oregon Athletics Press Release) Question: What did you learn from your coaches from how they conducted themselves at this time of year? CRISTOBAL: "Sure, I mean Coach Johnson was – but also Coach Erickson– he was awesome, great teacher and mentor. I think it's different because we’re in a conference. It's almost like our talent disparity on the team, I was fortunate to play on, really, really talented – those are all Hall of Famers– I'm not but they were, my teammates were, and man I just – the games weren’t paired with conference games where you had these challenges week in and week out but it was really focusing the team on that one game, I don’t – I think every coach that I’ve played for or worked for has always emphasized the same stuff and a lot of it we get from that. Just being 1-0. That's the way to handle it is to just be real man, there’s no other – there’s no faking it. There’s no-nonsense, it’s being very real and truthful and honest with your team, working hard with them and putting in more time than they are so that they know that they know you are putting in that time so that they value you as much as you value them and love them up when they need to be loved up and bring it as hard as you can when you know that they need to be forced to be a little bit tougher and little bit stronger and a little bit more callus and as an organization we have that relationship and I think that’s what Coach Johnson had with us as players and he could push us, he could push us to the limit and all we could do is come back and ask for more because we knew it was the right way – it was the way to a 1-0."

(Press Release from Oregon Athletics) Question: What does it mean to you to be 9-1 with two regular season games left? CRISTOBAL: "We are 1-0. The clock will strike midnight here in about 30 minutes or so. We gotta get back at it. We have to make sure the guys get a good night’s sleep, get some good food in them, and get some good rest. We are getting better and better as a program. Our run game continues to improve, the way we defend the run continues to improve, we defended the pass well for the most part tonight. A lot of parts are coming together. Our special teams units and coverage units were way better tonight - drastic improvement. We worked on it, and showed up. I have got to mention Kris Hutson, because Kris Hutson’s tackle on the fumble, or what they called a fumble. I don’t have a good TV angle, maybe you guys saw it better than I did, but that thing was getting returned. But, Kris Hutson getting that defender on the ground and making them settle for three, when that really could have turned the game around the other way. That could have been a huge momentum swing. Credit to him for doing that. Things like that are things that stick out. Mykael (Wright)’s kickoff return, Verone’s interception, the defensive stand after Kris Hutson’s tackle. All of those things are just the catalysts, they really are big time plays. Against an excellent - I want to give them a lot of credit - they are a really good football team. That is a team that is very hard to prepare for. They are very unique in what they do on both sides of the ball." Question: On the crowd at Autzen Stadium… CRISTOBAL: "Awesome, Awesome. We needed that, needed to have it. Everyone had a great time, it sounded like everyone had a great time. I know our prospects and recruit’s families had an awesome time. Running out there to start the game and seeing that, and feeling that noise level. We knew it was going to be special. We felt it, it makes our players a couple inches taller and a few pounds heavier and stronger every time the Autzen crowd comes out like that. We really appreciate everyone there tonight. We have got to keep bringing it."

(From Oregon Athletics Press Release) Some interesting comments by Coach Mario Cristobal about the defense on Saturday... Question: How do Brandon Dorlus and Kayvon Thibodeaux complement each other? CRISTOBAL: "They do [make it difficult on offenses]. Brandon Dorlus is as explosive and effective as you’ll find now. He’s big. He’s powerful, extremely smart, athletic as can be so he has first, second, third down value. He doesn’t have to come out of the game. And when he is playing at the high level like he has been playing at lately it changes us. They can’t just focus on Kayvon. Good to see a guy like Jayson Jones also get his first sack of the year. He’s been playing a lot better, developing more and more and more. But a lot of guys - Bradyn Swinson played well, I know Mace [Funa] played well - so a lot of guys stepping up and playing good football." Question: Can you talk about the impact Verone McKinley III and Bryan Addison had at safety? CRISTOBAL: "Yeah, I’ll tell you when it’s 7-0 and Verone gets that pick, that was another huge bolt of energy to our sideline. Our offensive guys fed off of that big time. That’s what Verone does, he is a game-changer for us, as well. He got that interception, [Washington State] tried to hit us on that deep corner ball, and he played it just perfectly. He almost came out of that, too. They had him by the jersey, and the face mask, I would have liked to see tacked on some more yardage. Then Byran Addison getting his first interception. BA has been through a lot, done a lot and it is great to see him now - his role expanding and getting out there and making such an important play to seal a game like this one. I am proud of him." Question: On not allowing many explosive plays, especially in the run game… CRISTOBAL: "They are [keeping people in front of them]. A couple of times they broke contain on us and a good chunk of those yards are on that last drive when we were playing a lot of the guys we need to get better. We were playing a lot of reserves so certainly that first unit and the guys alternating with the first unit really stepped up. Block construction is playing off. We’re really striking blockers. We’re getting off blocks better. We’re making plays. They run the ball well. They really do. They have great running backs. They have two great offensive tackles. They really spread you out with those big splits and our guys just did a really good job controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides and at the end of the day it was the difference in the game."

You've been feeling that the defense is getting better and better? Peaking at the darn-fricken-right-time? Take a look at those numbers below from the Oregon Athletics Press Release and be proud!

Those rushing stats and third down conversion ratio lately is jarring to the positive. These stats are from Oregon Athletics after the WSU game, and every time I see 300 yards rushing (as an old offensive lineman) I just go nuts. The blocking is incredible! And it does not matter WHO the coach is...when you rush for that much yardage...it is pretty darned good and you will win most of your games. Kudos to Cristobal! The way I'm getting into it? I'll take the nickname from a former LA Ram coach,...call me, "Ground Chuck."