Mike West

Cal is 1-4 for a reason. If the Ducks don't slaughter the Golden Bears, I'd be surprised. This IS a payback game btw, and Cal had no business hanging around last year. AB needs to read run "options" accurately and just toss the ball to open WRs. Our Defense? Good enough to shut Cal out. But they won't. So the world will turn... In the days of our lives ( non Boomers will not get that reference). This Duck team is leaving SO MUCH FOOD ON THE TABLE. Aren't they hungry?

Braxton Burmeister couldn't hit a deep shot, and was only accurate between the hash marks. Made it difficult to run an offense when teams lined up to stop the run, and force BB to convert third and long throws. Not sure any system can compensate for that over a long stretch. Again, talent DOES matter. JH didn't have to wait for WRs to get open, so he was damn near an automatic machine gun. Maybe even a guided missile. The guy was lights out. And we see with NFL talent he's MVP material already (and he isn't repeating rookie mistakes nearly as often this year). As for the losses to ranked teams, he threw a ball to a DB he was directly looking at. That's an individual mistake not a system flaw ( both INTs that game were poorly thrown and read- again player mistake.). BSU doesn't count as the Snake had slithered away ( and the aftermath predetermined that loss- Avalos usually loses to more talented offenses and got a huge early Christmas present).

Um, You do realize JH scored 77;42;49;35; 28(then got injured in that game); 48 and 69 when healthy under the "controversial" and often criticized system the Snake led, right? Oregon would have obliterated Chip's record year(s) had Justin decided to fall instead of lunge for the end zone that October. Justin didn't have to worry about mechanics because he trusted his (NFL caliber) WRs. Talent DOES make a difference. I encourage EVERYONE to watch the first half of the Nebraska game that year. JH threw into tight windows, threw 45 yards to complete a ten yard TD on very quick timing that required a super quick decision. Threw open passes to WRs before they were open, and simply "walked on water". Every "expert" that criticized JH from that day went into my Expert Trash Bin. It was beyond obvious he was going to kill it in the NFL. At least in my mind. So yes, he actually did get some good advice because he was smart enough to figure it out as a sophomore. That's how good he was, and how good the talent AND system were. Too many people have argued against those facts. And we have it all archived here at FishDuck. Just about everyone was critiquing an unstoppable offense. Saying it was unimaginative, uncreative, as if it was garbage. So let me repeat those scores: 77;42;49; a paltry 35; 45( the final tally of the Cal debacle); 48 and SIXTY NINE. Anyone want to argue that system sucked? An offense in which Justin Herbert averaged 49 points a game while he was healthy? Can anyone actually argue he was poorly coached? Um, please justify that reasoning for me. Too bad I'm late to the plate on this thread.

I get that Brown is consistent. But SO WAS HIS COACHING. He still overthrows wide open fade routes. That's coaching my friend. Braxton Burmeister hits open fade routes now. Remember how bad he was? I actually watched Burmeister torch North Carolina twice this year. If he can do it, so can Brown. BROWN THINKS TOO MUCH. Quarterbacking is just a game of pitch and catch. You start there, then build your foundation. Easy ups are the perfect tool to teach the kind of form (process) one needs to complete each type of pass. For guys with strength issues, that matters because it's about timing. Brown has enough strength, but he lacks technique. Because he hasn't been coached on his main weakness. Burmeister is not strong enough to throw deep passes like Brown can. But he does it far better than when he was as Oregon. And Burmeister is far more comfortable (and effective) as a result.

One thing I can say about Cristobal is his teams perform well in big games (win or lose, they play far better when something is on the line). I felt strange the week the team traveled to Columbus. They seemed too relaxed. As if they hadn't played Fresno State the week before. Then they played lights out for three quarters. Does this team know how good they are? Or was the Ohio State game a fluke? Are they confident they could beat the Buckeyes again? Who are the 2021 Ducks? Playoff contender or flash in the pan?

Offensive Coordinators play to a QB's strengths. Brown is efficient, and every once in awhile hits a deep pass. He puts no air under his deep balls. He can correct that. He also aims (instead of throws) his deep passes. For the life of me, I don't know why coaches don't use easy ups ( passes during warm ups at the beginning of practices and games) as drills < for the sake of timing those speedy WRs downfield >. Brown needs to work overtime on getting the correct feel for each of his WRs on his deep passes. It's time to earn A+ results for A+ effort. Championships are earned behind the scenes. Brown has a shot at accuracy downfield. He needs to put in the work with his boys though. And while they're at it, those LBs need serious work on pass coverage to help the secondary out.

I like the positive vibe. I guess we could look at it like Nick Saban did last night. I guarantee you THEY will not play another lazy down the rest of the year though. We could only be so lucky.

Interesting... And very good points. I recognize Brown failed epically. We STILL should have wiped them out. Fast Hard Finish. As I've mentioned, that describes exactly how title contenders play. Start to finish. Knock the snot out of your man. Take their will to fight away immediately. Until I see that, I think of Cristobal as fooling himself (still love the guy).

I could have handled an ugly win last week. But to see so much hot dog behavior and lackluster effort still has me fuming. Brown really can't deliver us a title, but his poor performance was minimal compared to the sheer lack of will to bury the Cardinal like we should have (despite his limited skills). Thoughts?

Here's the thing: it seems as if we're watching a train wreck in slow motion far too often. Darren Perkins called it:. We dangle the upset carrot in front of our opponents. I see way too much trash talking from the players. I want to see tackling and blocking that looks like a Mike Tyson punch ( or George Foreman for that matter). This team should have dominated Ohio State. I'm talking how the Buckeyes left Minnesota behind the week before. I expected Fresno, Stoney, Zona, and Stanford to waive white flags at halftime. I don't see fire in their eyes. I don't see a willingness to punish opponents for having the audacity to show up and play us. The Terminator. Remember that movie? Remember the relentless drive to finish off Sarah Conner? Noah Sewell, CJ Ferrell, Travis Dye and Justin Flowe are the only players with that kind of mentality. You know, even King Kong backed his chest thumping with a can of a** whupping. Ali would talk major smack, then put you on the canvas. I feel like I'm looking at a Stag show when I watch my Ducklings. And it isn't funny.

This goes beyond personnel. There is a QB in his second year in the NFL that is better than TT. His name is Justin Herbert. Many a person will disagree with my premise. Justin Herbert has a natural feel for the game that TT lacks. Despite my "belief" in the extraordinary JH, he struggled immensely under MC's tenure as HC. There is a "structural flaw" in MC's program. It's a mental aspect that so far is a constant factor one should consider as the reason Oregon has reached its peak as a title contender. You don't see that flaw in perennial championship caliber teams. Until that flaw is destroyed, the pattern we see emerge ever so consistently will continue.

My take? This is as good as it gets. Cristobal does not have the chops to build and maintain a title contender. Even when he had Ohio State on the ropes he cooled the jets. It's his MO. He talks about power. Champions Dominate. Huge difference. Cristobal might as well conduct Oklahoma Drills each and every practice. That's about all his strategy and philosophy amounts to.

I think MC started to. I just think we saw subpar performances from the players. Some say it’s coaching, but finding and throwing to an open receiver is the QBs job. Handing off or keeping the ball and running is up tot he QB. There were plenty of misses in that area. All year.

Charles, As usual it has been fascinating to observe discussion most wouldn’t dare to challenge objectively. As the Foo Fighters say... DONE, DONE, ON TO THE NEXT ONE. DONE I’M DONE I’M ON TO THE NEXT ONE!!!!! Until Fall... P.S. I watched the Cal game again. Can you believe MC actually let JM call plays(in my opinion)? I think Shough did a terrible job of reading runs and passes...just my take. We should have throttled the Bears. My parting shot. Ha ha ha

Charles, It will be a tremendous setback for thoughtful discussion about Oregon Athletics if FishDuck media disappears. I for one can take criticism, as name calling is not an argument, and there sure is a ton of name calling going on in Duck Fandom. What separates your sites from others is perspectives people not only respect, but actually learn from. It hurts to hear your head coach may not be the man to take us to the promise land. But the thoughts on why are fascinating at times. Will he is almost an afterthought to why (so or why not). I see some good stuff on the other sites. I see awesome info here. Info and perspectives worth discussing instead of getting bogged down on who is right or wrong (though it gets rough and tumble here, eating crow here is more satisfying if that even makes sense).

So I’m going to contradict myself. In the past, I said we don’t have NFL bruisers. I’d take Verdell and Dye any day over the best RBs in the conference. Not to mention, we actually have four that should get on the field plenty. We’re talking about Joe Moorhead here. If MC simply gets out of the way, those four will gash teams. They won’t beat them up, but they will slash and cut teams up. Haven’t we learned from the Auburn game yet? We were good enough to drop points on the Tigers like the best in the business. We have all it takes-right now to give every team in college football nightmares. Do you hear me Mario Cristobal? Do you see the words jumping off of this screen?

So, I’ve seen enough of the Fiesta Bowl to get a sense of my take on the 2020 season. I’ve scoured the roster, including the 2021 Class. I believe we have a sense of who our Head Coach is. So my question today is: As an overall organization, Coaches, players, administration-do we have what it takes to make a real run this year, next or 2023- when every player is a Mario Cristobal recruited player? I’m all about now. In 2018, I said we could beat Auburn. I said last year we could beat Ohio State. I say we have enough talent (coaches and players) to beat the Buckeyes for the first time in our history. So where do you stand? What is your vision of a true contender this year? Next, and 2023. Does MC have to get over himself and let his staff excel? Do the players have to play out of their minds with great direction from the staff? Do the coaches mold their respective scheme to the talent base of the players? Do we have the juice? If not, why not. If so, how could that be? And what do YOU want to see (scheme, talent, effort...whatever matters to you most)? I’ll share my thoughts once the posts pile up (I believe most of you know how much of a homer I am-I savor the brilliance you all bring to the table). Carpe Diem

Well, The SEC coveted him, and for good reason. The guy makes quick decisions, uses his feet well, and throws the ball the way it needs to be thrown. I’m intrigued by your comment about MC though. Does he recruit to suit needs, or just to get talent. Is he deploying the old USC and UCLA model of years past (keep talent away from others as long as you can)?

I believe Stanford is toast. They aren’t recruiting like they used to. I don’t believe the Coaching is up to par either. As far as tOSU, it hinges on MC. Is he willing to go for broke? He wins those games. Utah? Not sure. UCLA? Depends on their defense, and again MC(does the guy realize he needs to score 500 points to win?). Every week is going to be about MC. Does he unleash the hounds, or does he believe his dogs are fighting in a junk yard? Mario Cristobal has yet to figure out blowouts are the Obi Wan Kenobi of the PAC12. Even in his playing days Miami had to win shootouts. I think we need a coach whisperer.

I did misquote one fact however...Jalen Hurts reached the Natty, but didn’t win it. No matter. The guy played a full season as a backup, and got the team to the Natty AS THE BACKUP. Took Oklahoma to the CFP the next year. Is the probable starter at Philly next year(if Philly is smart...that remains to be seen). The transfer portal is actually a good thing...for the NFL. It’s basically an elimination evaluator. Players just don’t get that. There’s usually a valid reason guys are backups (politics aside-see Tom Brady at Michigan for instance). Every player has their shot, up until their Pro Day on campus. It is a coach’s job to fully educate his players on their options, including parents. Believe it or not, getting to the NFL is a team game now. Players can’t do it alone anymore.

I think you’re on point about them being salesmen. I believe Kiper used to be a pure analyst, but figured out the “game”. It’s all about hype. Controversy. Click bait.

The Spring Game (and hopefully two scrimmages we should get to see) will tell me everything I’ll need to know. Unfortunately, most coaches don’t change much. They just don’t know how to take the simple things about football, and beat guys that cling to their ego clad philosophy of football. Even Saban has weaknesses. He just adapts faster than everybody. Too many coaches believe they are the best thing life ever saw. I believe Saban is great because he shreds every weakness an opponent coaching staff has. Something I haven’t seen from Cristobal yet. The thing I like about Cristobal is he will open the floodgates if he believes everything is on the line. That’s what he did in both conference title games. He let it rip. Believing he had to try everything because his opponent was formidable enough that he needed to. He was willing to lose by putting everything on the line, and both times they dominated the game. Put that philosophy in a bottle MC, open it every week, and you just might go undefeated and win a damn national title.

Two things I see. First, the way we run the Pistol lends itself to failure. Moorhead installed his wrinkle, but it is obvious MC is just bent on telling everybody in the world what he is doing and dares them to stop it. Shough has limitations either JM or MC chose to ignore. Shough isn’t a deep threat passer UNLESS he releases his pass within two seconds. His arm simply isn’t strong enough. Ironically, Arroyo recognized that, and designed schemes to exploit Shough’s strengths (go back and look at Shough’s two Spring Game highlights-he was a beast). My conclusion is that Mario Cristobal handcuffs his coordinator. His version of the Pistol is for preserving 28 point leads. It is not suitable for any level of football (pee wee included) the way he wants to run it. So as things stand TODAY, Mario Cristobal’s ultimate success is in the hands of his ego. I would venture High a School coach can beat him if they have equal talent to work with. I hate to sound so negative, but the Snake utilized three styles of offense, got criticized, left, and the Vegas Bowl was a clear introduction to what Cristobal is willing to do with what arguably was the best talent he has had to date (this year he has some raw talent that can do major damage if they’re developed properly, but 2017 was a CFP team if JH stayed healthy all year). The future of Oregon Football rests on Mario Cristobal’s willingness to change.

Are you kidding? I don’t have to read or see any more from JM. That dude is better than two guys that are head coaches who demonstrated they are really elite coordinators. Sarkesian and Kiffin. Moorhead will always be his best as an OC. He is probably as good as Chip. Our boys are in good hands. They’ll be in better hands if one Mario Cristobal lets his OC deliver his (Moorhead’s) brand of MC’s physicality. That is the only X factor in this. I really wish I was savvy enough to have known how to coach (when I was young). I could take some regulars in this forum, and some of the writers and win a Natty for us myself. And it would have been a joy to turn some our fears and concerns into some butt kicking , statement making , and tough grind out type wins and victory campaigns. Lets hope Mario Cristobal prays for and garners wisdom some of us display in this forum. Until then, let’s enjoy our journey with him.

Do we really have to lose these top notch QBs? Matt Cassel never played a down of CFB. Jalen Hurts was replaced AFTER winning a Natty. Is logic forever gone? Does emotion rule everything? Ashford can build a baseball AND football career. Butterfield. That’s the wild card. Will he compete, or will he bolt? Does Butterfield have the character to build his skills to his best, let the chips fall where they may, and be ready as the best backup that could be a starter anywhere else. There is no doubt in my mind that the best QB in Moorhead’s system will be very lucky to play an entire season unscathed. Not to mention, there are plenty of strategic moves he can make to feature both the starter and an excellent backup every game. Dabo did it (still lost his starter to Trevor Lawrence, but that was a career killer for Kelly Bryant). Bryan Bennett not only didn’t enhance his NFL opportunity, he wasted a shot at a Natty as a D-1 backup the year Mariota lost to Stanford because Bennett wasn’t there. Those examples alone are selling points we all can embrace. There shouldn’t be any reason we lose an outstanding backup that has the character to be his best and stay prepared if he ends up number two. Too many kids expect to walk into greatness. Greatness is earned. Just look at one of the GOAT: Michael Jordan. He wasn’t the greatest until he was a second year pro(and he wasn’t a champion for several years into his NBA career). Greatness starts with handling disappointment. THAT is one of the best tools to measure someone. How do they deal with setbacks.