CO Duck

It's a fair question to ask about Tosh. When he was hired, my impression was that he was known as a great recruiter and mediocre coach. However, DL being a defensive guru would compensate for Tosh's shortcomings. It isn't clear how much control DL has over the defense, and so it's difficult to evaluate Tosh's coaching chops. Tosh was known as a defensive line coach, and to his credit, the defensive line was the defense's strongest position group. But that doesn't necessarily make him a good defensive coordinator. After all, MC was an elite recruiter, good positional coach (o-line), and horrible head coach. Is Tosh the defensive coordinator equivalent to MC as a head coach? The defense was put in an unwinnable position against Ohio State. Oregon's first six possessions where (1) three-and-out (9 yards), (2) three-and-out (2 yards), (3) 7 plays for 26 yards (punt), (4) 7 plays for 23 yards (punt), (5) three-and-out (6 yards), and (6) three-and-out (-2 yards). Oregon's punting was also horrible. The defense got caught flat-footed, but it also didn't get any rest (or a chance to regroup) and was frequently defending a short field.

This begs the question: Why didn't any of the 2023 and 2024 guys contribute in a meaningful way? I understand they are relatively young, but freshmen and sophomores can and do make meaningful contributions on top teams. The secondary was a major weakness all year. For the past two years, actually. They always seem to be out of position and chasing wide-open receivers. The defensive line hid a lot of the secondary's poor play. Statistically it could have been much worse. Brandon Johnson is a good example. During a five-play sequence in the MD game, he gave up an easy completion for a first down on 4th and 2, was flagged for pass interference on 3rd and goal, and then gave up a touchdown while in coverage on the following play. He consistently gave up easy completions all season. Was that a result of bad coaching, his physical limitations, or both? He's listed as 5'10" (which means he's probably 5'9" or shorter) and doesn't seem particularly fast. If a defensive back is 6'2" and fast, he generally has a better chance of making a play despite being out of position. I wonder if Brandon Johnson coming from the transfer portal and receiving (significant?) NIL money influenced his playing time. If Oregon's secondary underperforms next year and multiple DBs from the 2023 and 2024 classes (and even the 2025 class with two 5-stars) don't start and/or make significant contributions, then Oregon definitely has a coaching and player-development problem.

Would love to see Dante in the second half. DG has been fine this year. This game isn’t his fault. Just curious how the offense would look with a quarterback that can see over the line.

Seems like Brandon Johnson is consistently giving up critical completions and committing really in opportune penalties. Not just this game but all season long. The last MD drive was a great example. Gave up a completion for a first down on a 4th and 2. Three plays later he’s flagged for PI on 3rd and goal. Next play he gives up a touchdown while in coverage. I get he had the scoop and score, but from a coverage standpoint, he’s definitely the weak link in the secondary. Are they really that thin at corner?

Is the turf in Autzen getting a little dingy? It doesn’t look good on tv. The contrast with the vibrant B1G logo is stark.

The offensive line certainly didn't open gaping holes for anyone to run through. But that doesn’t explain the disparate production between Whittington and James on effectively the same number of carries. Did James consistently have wider running lanes that stayed open for longer? Or did Whittington, facing similar conditions, simply lack the top-end burst/power/speed/quickness needed to succeed in those conditions? Noah was a stud and I believe he will be again. But, being less than a year removed from a major knee injury, is it fair to wonder if he is a stud right now? I really hope so, but empirical evidence indicates he’s not 100% just yet. We should know more in the coming weeks. I’m really rooting for him. Regarding Gabriel, I don’t think those statistics tell the whole story. Horizontal throws and check-downs will usually result in a high completion % and respectable yards. However, he missed (as in didn’t see or attempt to pass) a number of down field opportunities. An offense needs those plays to keep a defense honest. As others have noted, he rarely had a clean pocket or sufficient time to complete down field throws—so it’s tough to put too much blame on him. He will learn, the line will improve, and the coaches will get better. I expect we will see a significantly better passing game this week.

I thought he has this year and next year. He’s listed as a redshirt junior. 2020: COVID Freshman 2021: Freshman 2022: Sophomore 2023: Redshirt (Injury) 2024: Redshirt Junior 2025: Redshirt Senior

Oregon's offensive line has received its fair share of criticism following the team's underwhelming performance last Saturday against the Idaho Vandals. After allowing only 5 sacks during the entire 2023 season, the Vandals managed to sack Oregon’s shiny new (and expensive) transfer quarterback a whopping 4 times during 60 minutes of play. Dillon Gabriel deserves some of the blame for the poor showing. He certainly made mistakes, including occasionally holding the ball a little too long and missing open receivers—but that’s all part of a quarterback’s learning curve in a new offense. He will get better, and as he does, the offensive line won’t look so porous. Turning to the running game, we didn’t see many explosive plays from Oregon's ground attack—with only a handful of plays making it to the second level of Idaho’s defense. Was that an offensive line problem or a running back problem? Looking at stat lines, it seems like a Noah Whittington problem. Jordan James averaged 6.3 yards per carry on 15 attempts (for 95 yards), and his longest run of the day went for 16 yards. In contrast, Whittington averaged a measly 2.4 yards per carry on 14 attempts (for 33 yards), and his longest run was only 8 yards. In other words, Whittington carried the ball nearly as many times as James (14 vs. 15) but only achieved roughly a third of the total yards (33 yards vs. 95 yards). That is a serious drop in comparative production. Whittington’s 2023 campaign was cut short by injury—specifically, a torn ACL. That is a notoriously difficult injury to return from. Anecdotally, while many athletes return to competition within a year, it really takes two full years to return to pre-injury form. Whittington’s stat line against Idaho bears that out—averaging 2.4 yards per carry (vs. 5.6 yards per carry in 2022 and 7.3 yards per carry in 2023 before being injured) and having a longest run of only 8 yards suggest he lacks the explosiveness that elite running backs need to accelerate through narrow holes, break would-be arm tackles, and separate from pursuing defenders. Unfortunately, it will likely take time for Whittington to regain that elite-level explosiveness. He should look great next year. As for this year, Coach Lanning might need to rely more on James and the other talented running backs in his stable to carry the load.

DG is listed as 5’11”, which means he’s actually probably closer to 5’10”. Shorter quarterbacks have a harder time seeing the field, especially the middle of the field. Does his height affect his ability to make short, inside throws? Maybe. If so, that’s one less thing a defense needs to focus on shutting down—and lets the guys in the box focus more on filling running lanes. I also saw a couple of passes get batted down or tipped—which is both an O line and QB issue.

Kind of insulting. No NFL bound players will stick around for this. Maybe use this as a super early spring scrimmage? See what we have deep down on the depth chart?

He’s not even 50/50 at this point, at least not from outside 30 yards or anywhere that isn’t dead center. I’m not sure a backup could do much worse. I feel bad for the kid. He’s been around the program for a long time and has obviously scored a lot of points for the Ducks. But he’s a huge liability right now. Field goals and field position will be critically important in the PAC 12 championship game and the CFP.

It seems like Camden Lewis is broken. He has only made 62.5% of his field goals this year, which is the worst of his career. He’s only made 50% of his field goal attempts since the Washington game. During that period, he is 2/7 (28.5%) on field goal attempts of 30+ yards. He also frequently sends kickoffs out of bounds. I understand he is the leading points scorer in Oregon history, but it’s very apparent he has the yips. Oregon has some tough games ahead, and the kicking game might prove to be the deciding factor in those games. Is it time for DL to bench Camden for the #1 kicker in the 2023 class? This is a special team and it would be a travesty to squander the season over loyalty to a broken kicker.

This was in the Denver Post about a week ago. It will be interesting to see if Blake Purchase stays committed to Oregon. There is a lot of buzz here in Colorado about the hire. If Deion Sanders lands with CU Buffs, Colorado's top prep football players say they'd stay home, play for Coach Prime WWW.DENVERPOST.COM Colorado prep talent that’s spent a generation ignoring the CU Buffs is going to want an audience with Deion Sanders in Boulder before they say “I do” to Jim Harbaugh at Michigan, Brent…