EastBayDuckDad

It's almost like he watched the Oregon-Fusky games and said to himself "Anything you can do, I can do better!"

IDK. Two of those losses were to UW with Penix at QB, each a 3 pt game decided by a questionable play call or two and a bit of bad luck. Last year's CW loss where the Ducks knew what was coming and inexplicably didn't stop the run. Not really OC into HC playmaking brilliance. Remember the UCLA game last year. The Chipper certainly didn't have DL's number there. Not a reason to underestimate the challenge from U$C, Beavus, hopefully the mutts again, and even Sparky. Let's see how the rest of this season plays out against offensively minded HCs.

I don't have any data, but it looks to me like there were more blitz packages the last two games. For different reasons, I think. Against Wazzu to try and corral Ward so he couldn't go bat guano crazy on the scramble (which he managed to do some anyway). And against the Utes to disrupt a shaky pass offense. Both strategies worked for the most part. I suspect we'll see a steady stream of calculated pressures and safety/DB blitzes going forward now that DL knows what he can do with Evan, Tysheem, Kyree et al.

Very entertaining and telling game between the next two opponents. I'm an old Cal alum and have hated the Spoiled Children since childhood so I wanted a Bear victory. But a I'm willing to settle for more game film that will help the Ducks beat them both. Love it that these games are at Autzen. Both teams can be dangerous and Oregon cannot let down on either one. Williams is still one of the top QBs and he will get his. To a lesser extent Ott and the Cal run game. Both Cal and U$C have swiss cheese defenses that Stein and Nix will shred. I figure Cal by a couple touchdowns and Trojenz by one+ when it's Vegas odds time.

One thing the coaches appeared to plan for was to neutralize the Utes two-way emerging wunderkind, Vaki. Lupoi had a sign to let the D know he was in the game, as the Utes apparently had a limited number of offensive sets to use him out of. Makes sense since Vaki had only recently moved to offense. Thus Oregon more or less knew what was coming when he was in the game. So not only did the Duck D shut him down completely, they had a heads up on the plays being run. He ended up with 5 carries for 11 yds and no receptions. He was responsible for the first of Tysheem's two picks when he didn't complete a route (although TJ was in perfect position and may have made the play anyway). By the 2nd half he was back on defense almost exclusively and the Utes had abandoned the offense centered on him. That, my fellow feathered fanatic friends, is just plain good coaching and game planning.

Fumble a bummer but D held and only 3 points for Utah. And the Kyree PI was totally bogus on the prior series. Now another Duck TD drive is in order

Oregon 24-17 1 TO 4 Sacks 265 passing yds

Everything was secret and hunky-dory until he tried to relay pilfered play calls back to Harbaugh with a WWII naval signal lamp.

Yo, Coach Whitt's got some guns! Pretty good for a 63 yo dude. Great to see a coach that hits the weight room with his players. No wonder they run through walls for him. And on a related topic.... https://www.si.com/college/utah/football/lincoln-riley-acuses-utah-of-stealing-signs No, Lincoln, Whitt doesn't steal your play calls. And if he does it's because you are too predictable. What he does is steal your lunch. And drink your milkshake. He lives rent free in your head, haunts your dreams and owns your candy-caboose. And while I hope for your speedy recovery and return to the sideline for the Cal game, I'd get pneumonia too if i were as exposed as you and your defense were against the Irish and Utes.

It's not like anything we say here has any bearing on whether the Ducks win or lose. So you might as well enjoy yourself and toss as many road apples at the feckless Trojenz as you want.

As much as I dislike Riley and the hype train he pilots at U$C, I will moderate my schadenfreude at the Trojenz' self inflicted wounds. It all means diddly squat until the week before the November 11 match up in Autzen. Then it's coaching, watching film and game planning to exploit the weaknesses in their defense and limiting the damage Williams and their offense can do. History tells us that they usually wrinkle and fold like their disposable namesake when faced with adversity and dashed hopes. However, they have a lot of talent so Oregon cannot be lulled into a sense of false security over U$C's travails.

Interesting that DL seems to be more aggressive on offense than on defense. Maybe it is game management situation or whatever analytics he uses to decide when to go for it on 4th down. It also looks like there is a default position of a higher level of risk tolerance on offense. On defense he seems to be taking more of a conservative 'stop the run and don't give up explosion plays' approach. Perhaps fewer blitz and stunting pressure packages than we night have expected from a defensively oriented coach. It may also be a reflection of the pass happy teams leading the PAC this year. If it is personnel related, Lanning certainly appears to be recruiting the quality of edge and D-line players that will ultimately let him get much more aggressive on that side of the ball. It's a good bet we'll see more of that next year against B1G teams.

It'll all come down to O-line play. Win at the line of scrimmage and minimize drive killing holding, false start and ineligible downfield penalties. The Utes have legit D linemen that will make life tough for our tackles. Utah will be missing their very good starting play calling ILB Barton, who went down in the U$C game. If the O-line can get Bucky to the second level he'll get yards. Hopefully there will be opportunities in the passing/RPO game to take advantage of the short middle zone as well. Then Tez and Troy will get a chance to open it up. With so many injuries the Utes don't have the quality depth they normally do and Oregon needs to grind them down with the run game. If the Ducks can start strong and get up by two scores, it'll be hard for Utah to respond in kind. I'm not minimizing the Utah offense, but they are not built to stretch the field with their 2☆ QB and repurposed skill players. They still have a very good ground game and Oregon's D will have to slow them down. If it's close going into the 4th quarter, the relative lack of depth should allow the Ducks to wear down the defense. Then they use the run game and ball control to win.

I'm with Augduck. The last Ducks vs Them video after the Wazzu game had DL delivering supportive and fiery locker room talks to the team. The first was after the UW loss. No backing down and lots of well directed passion. I didn't see any clipped wings. The daring play calls like fake punts and 4th down attempts were not needed against the Cougs. After all the criticism about not taking the points against UW, Oregon attempted two FGs. Lewis missed one and needs to get his mojo back after two weeks of subpar performances. You don’t do that by benching your kicker. Remember that Lewis won the last WSU game played in Autzen two years ago. I'm willing to bet Oregon will need his leg at some critical point later this season.. Maybe Lanning is going to put a somewhat more subdued face on during the pressers. And I totally agree about Crepea. Taking his multipart, obtuse and occasionally inanely picky detail oriented 'I'm the smartest dude in the room' questions would make me want to smile thinly, subtly shake my head, and reply in monotonal coach-speak.

Utah has seen a quality defense, and that was in Corvallis. Utah could only muster 7 points. The Beavs stuffed the run and held the Utes to under 200 yds total offense. The UW game was predicted to be a boat race decided by a single possession, and it ended up being just that. Utah has as good a defense as UW (perhaps better even with injuries) and Santa Rosa Duck is spot on that they have a significant home field advantage in the crowd and elevation. What they don't have is a Heisman level QB and an offense loaded with weapons. A boat race it won't be. Utah does have an interesting two headed QB in Johnson/Barnes, neither who would be playing much if Rising was healthy. U$C's porous defense ultimately couldn't contain Barnes and the converted safety, Vaki. He burned both Cal and U$C for big yards, but he is no longer a secret weapon. Oregon's defense will hopefully lock down Vaki and stick an apple in the pig farmer's mouth. Utah likely can't match scores with the Ducks if the offense gets rolling. The Ducks have the personnel advantage and have already done Game Day at an intensely hostile site. They will be up for this challenge. Time to purge the curse of Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Witness the difference in how Riley shielded his players, particularly Williams, from accountability after that Utah game with how Bo Nix carried himself after the UW loss. Night and day. Losses happen and failure is nearly inevitable. Only one team ends up standing at the end of every season, and most of them failed once at some point. Taking responsibility, facing the music and finding a way forward is what builds character and makes you better. Lanning and Oregon understands that. Riley and U$C do not.

David, thanks for your observations on the jumbo. The beauty of the formation and it's power run-oriented cousins is that you are not limited to the run. Witness last year's pass completion TDs to Matavao and Conerly. The use of pre snap motion gives Bo an idea of what will be the defensive weakness to attack. The entire defense is drawn in to stop the power run. Sadiq's crossing motion block that gave Bo the inside path to run through the 5 (or 7 depending on how you look at the formation) gap and score against Wazzu was beautifully executed. There is no reason there can't be an element of RPO built into the jumbos on goal line and short yard situations. All three TEs, the RB, QB and one other player like an eligible O-lineman can make a play. TFerg, PHerb, Kelly and Sadiq are all capable of making the block or sneaking out behind the defense and making the catch. The O-line are Papé-Cat D9 level bulldozers that can move fast enough to exploit any uncertainty that the defense has about what Bo is going to do. Let's hope that Stein develops this concept against the really good defenses, like Utah and OSU, that are coming up.

So this Caleb Williams quitting on U$C story is being peddled by that Fox Sports tool Emmanuel Acho. He was one of the self professed 'experts' that claimed Justin Herbert was going to be an NFL bust. Same general class of sports 'commentator' as Skip Bayless. Has a big splash of inflammatory hyperbole with his corn flakes every morning. Acho is being blasted by more reputable sports analysts like Josh Pate, Doug Gottlieb and Paul Feinbaum for this take. There is no way on this green earth that Williams bails on his teammates, coach, NIL deals and NFL draft scouts' assessments over the Trojenz tanking season. What pro GM would take that chance and draft him? This is a great big nothingburger. U$C may stay true to form and dumpster fire their 2023 season, but Williams won't put his future at risk by quitting. He will bring his A game to Autzen next month.

Totally legit block by #88. What caught my eye was that Bucky slowed down slightly when he saw Herbert coming up on his right to lay the wood to that kid. He had the field vision and instinct to set up the block that would ensure the TD. . Yet another example of how valuable #0 is to the Ducks. So relieved that Bucky was back on the sideline and in the game at the end after laying on the turf for so long in the 4th. Let's hope that he is fully recovered and available for the Utah game.

Best case scenario is that Riley stays with USC for the move to the B1G. Bad scenario is that he flips to the NFL and the Trojenz hire a good defensively minded coach. Worse case scenario is that when he flips, the Chargers fire Staley and Justin gets stuck with him for 5 years.

Three takeaways for every Lincoln Riley coached team: 1. Under-performing 2. Undisciplined 3. Over-hyped

Nice article by Ryan Robertson. The Will Stein criticism is valid to a point, but look at the final stats. Yet another 500+ yd offensive performance with almost 250 yds rushing and century marks for Bucky and Jordan. It took a while for the Ducks to settle into the successful run game and it is on the OC for not figuring that out sooner and with more consistency. You do have to give credit where it is due, and that is not a bad Coug defense. It just finally got worn down by Oregon. The really important observation is that the Duck secondary was without Kyree for the whole game (a last minute scratch) and Jahlil for the first half. It was a big factor in Ward and Wazzu putting up 250 yds in passing in the first half. Take away the garbage time last minute TD that ruined the spread bet, and the WSU second half passing stats were a fraction of the first. A healthy DB corps and the availability (finally!) of LB Jacobs give Oregon a stronger defense. That will be crucial down the stretch, starting next Saturday at Utah.

Yes, yes and maybe. The field surface at Fusky Stadium is horrible. It was the reason for tonight's pick six as the ASU receiver slipped coming out of his break. Last week the failed 3rd down where Jordan James slipped and stalled the drive that would have won the game for Oregon. And yes, to be fair, the slip Odunze had that facilitated Jahlil's interception last week. And oh lordy, let's all sing a requiem for the lamentable Pac12 refs. The acme of their competence involves just figuring out how to turn on the microphone. I hope and pray that the vast majority of them go back to their day jobs and get the optical health care they all so desperately need. SEC and B1G refs look like they've spent some time in the weight room. Pac12 refs have spent their time in the buffet line at Golden Corral.

Wow, the mutts really have a Quack hangover. That heat and smell are the byproducts of the PAC self immolating for perhaps the final time.

Came oh so close last week with predicting the game going to OT with Oregon winning on a 2 pt conversion (wide right...sigh...) Oregon 47-21 2 TO 3 Sacks 285 yds thru the air (and another 200 ground and pound)