DazeNconfused

Good article Marsh. This year's team is different than last years. The 2021 team had been in system on offense for two years, the defense was almost the same scheme. The Ducks went into OSU and got the win. But the Ducks were as good as they were going to be early in the year, they didn't grow and improve. This year's team and news schemes on both sides of the ball and just got schooled by the Champs. The Duck players now know how good you have to be to be elite. The Ducks should get better every week as the year goes on -- and I agree the Pac title is still to play for.

The NCAA just changed the Transfer Portal rules. The Portal is closed until after the Conference Championship weekend and Bowl Selections. The there is a 45-day window that players can go into the Portal. There is a second window May 1-15 after Spring Ball that players can enter the Portal. There is no more jumping into the Portal year round.

Don't pay attention to writers who want to go Negative on the Ducks, they will be hitting some other team next week. The Ducks just have to tune out the noise and work the process -- improve on the weak spots. I've coached baseball teams to a losing record -- but every kid got smarter at the game and improved their skills during the season. I didn't lose my kids because we can't control that other teams are loaded and better -- all we can control is our team and how we work the process at always getting better every day. Lanning and this Duck team are going to be fine -- after the UGA loss Lanning has a chance to lead through adversity and players have the chance to put all they have into the process. This team will bond even tighter, they will circle the wagons and work the process together. The Ducks will come out the other side at the end of the season a completely different team and Top 25.

It's a new defensive scheme and we will make a huge jump week one to week two.

Thanks for the link. They do way too much talking and don't hold a candle to Charles or Coach Boles. They show you a play, break it right down and get out. These guys go on and on chatting and don't get to the meat and bones.

It was Georgia, how's everyone been in the red zone against them? They gave up 10 points a game last year. Clemosn ran for like 2 yards in the whole opening game last year. The fact we went for more yards a pop than anyone since 2019 shows our OL is the strength of the team. We should run more and hope when Bo passes, he doesn't throw a pick.

Our OL run blocking isn't a isn't the problem. I read today we ran for 4.49 yards per carry against Georgia, the highest yards per carry they have given up since 2019! If anything we should have focused on the run more. If we can go for 4.49 yards a carry on Georgia, we are going to run over lots of other teams.

Our defense has a ton highly rated talent. After we fix our DBs open field tacking and cover scheme, Lanning may have to move some guys around to get more speed in pass coverage at the Jack and middle LBs.

The review booth decided to look at targeting but there is no review if it's a late hit. Refs are being pushed to flag hits on the QB aggressively.

He isn't regressing but teams are wising up and attacking him with the pass game instead of running at him.

You just gave me a flashback to the movie The Natural... and the scene with the Head Shrinker speaking to the team and goes on his... "losing is a disease"

I respectfully disagree. Our OL was out together to be run game road graders like Mario wanted. They sure weren't put together to do a zone blocking scheme or a pro style spread.

If we are doing predictions, then I'm taking a flyer on Lanning is gone this year and bring in Urban Meyer. There hasn't been any Urban Meyer speculation for a while so why can't I be the one to start it? Life is always more fun with a good Urban rumor.

Utah missed the go to WR - Covey, that was Rising Ings security blanket. They also missed 1st round draft pick Devon Lloyd the Sewell brother who was the other starting LB. Utah will get better every week. Florida coach Billy Napier and his staff had them playing football like they should. They have a top 10 roster and Dan Mullens wasn't getting it done with that roster. It's going to be interesting what Napier and his staff do this year.

Agreed. I'm not worried about EWU - we can maul them at the line of scrimmage. BYU is the test. They have a possible 1st round tackle on a solid OL. That OL is the strength of their team. Their QB was good last year and should be improved this year. They are going to come after us with the pass just like UGA did, we better have our stuff squared away!

I'd have to agree with you. I think it would take a loss to BYU and Bo throwing bad picks for Lanning to make a change. Lanning deciding, we have to dumb the offense down to a power-run and play action to win is an admission the blueprints need to be ripped up.

That's the million-dollar question! I'd like to know what he thinks about a host of things right now.

I just said this on another thread... from jump street we get to see Lanning work to solve problems -- he could get it wrong. Maybe he sits with what we have, and BYU throws the ball all over the field and we lose. Maybe he moves personnel in the Mint scheme this week. Maybe he throws out some change and Dime package stuff. Part of being a coach is figuring out the style that best suits your team to winning games.

What's interesting is that right off the bat we get to see how Lanning handles the challenge of his QB play being limited and pass defense problems. This is on the job learning for Lanning and he could get it wrong. It's possible we get further into the season before the decision is made to dial the offense back on Bo. Or maybe Lanning's brain is already trending to how he needs to shape this team's style to win.

This article is content you will only find in the OBD Forum, where you can also only find the FishDuck Feed. Oregon’s loss to Georgia exposed problems on both sides of the ball. Pass defense, open field tackling and QB play are the most pressing issues. Film will be watched, and players will be coached up. But could a scheme change back to the Mario Cristobal era power running game also be coming? What’s Oregon’s Offensive Strength? The Ducks offensive line is a highly experienced veteran unit, it’s the strength of the team’s offense. Run blocking is what this unit was built to do and what they do best. Last year Oregon ran for 2,833 yards with a 5.3 yard per carry average. That’s a solid base for the offense that we shouldn’t turn away from, this Ducks team should be pounding the ball this year. We Are QB Limited With Bo Nix Just like with Anthony Brown last year, the Ducks are QB limited this year with Bo Nix. Neither QB is a guy who is going to make big-time after big-time throws. Nix isn’t going to carry the offense, and he won’t thrive in a scheme where he is asked to do that. It’s more likely he will play poorly if put in that position and end up costing us games. In addition, the WRs are mostly a young group, and didn’t show they could get consistent separation yesterday. The TEs are young as well and asking both units to go win ballgames for us each week is a big ask. Are we trying to make too big of a year-to-year change of our scheme that's possibly not best fit to our personnel? So What’s The Offensive Solution? The best scheme for the personnel we have is to bring back the Mario era power run game – with a wrinkle. That wrinkle is mixing in naked bootlegs to use Nix’s legs, more play action pass, and more deep shot balls. The power run game we had last year will all the twists to exploit the rest of the field – all things we were begging to see mixed with the power run game last year. Why Are We Going Back To Power Run? It lets the OL do what they do best – run block. It keeps us ahead of the chains and in manageable third downs. It’s the scheme that makes Bo Nix most effective as a game manager. When Nix is asked to take a deep shot, it’s set up off play action. When we boot him out to pass or run, he gets to use his athletic ability in a two-read play. We keep the scheme simpler for Nix and he throws less picks. It also takes the burden of the WRs and TEs to carry the offense. We will see them get more separation and more open on deep shots off play action. Unlike last year we will see more explosive plays and points scored. Lets Have A Feature Back That feature back should be Byron Cardwell. Cardwell showed last year he could be a 1000-yard rusher. Strangely we have gone away from that notion and are using different running sets with a stable of backs. Bring back some of the power run sets the OL ran last year and let Cardwell run some of those plays. I have no doubt we will gash teams on the ground, we had a good running game last year. Let’s use that power run as the base of the offense and let it set up the deep shots, we never took last year. We can suck eight defenders into the box – then taking the top off them gets easier for Nix and the WRs. This is what Georgia did last year on offense. It made the game easier for Stenson Bennett, they did great hitting the deep balls. They won the Natty with this power-run and play action deep shot scheme. This Also Benefits The Defense Oregon’s back seven showed to be a glaring weakness teams will attack all year long. The hope is that the Ducks shore up the pass defense. But a power-run and play action pass offense is going to run clock and rack up first downs. That keeps our defense off the field and wears down the other team’s defense. I know some Duck fans are sick to their stomach thinking of a Mario power run scheme, I’m not proposing that entirely. Until we have an elite QB who can throw the ball all over the field and shred pass defenses we need to be smart. We can dress up the power run scheme up and win lots of ballgames while being a QB limited offense. Share your thoughts Duck Fans! DazeNconfused Portland, Oregon Photos by Tom Corno

I wrote an article last week how college football has turned into a passing league, and UGA showed us they have decided to join the club. Hats off to OC Monken; he used Stenson to throw his elite skill guys the ball and let them make plays. Now other teams will do the same - they won't want to run at our front seven, they want to pass at our back seven. The Ducks have some issues at the LB spot - Noah Sewell is a liability in pass coverage and so is LaDuke. They are big run gap fillers Sewell wasn't on the field the first drive of the game on a 3rd and long. Lanning knows we have speed problems. Flowe and Bassa have are much better in pass cover - and they will have to play more as teams look to exploit us with the pass. The Jack position is the other huge problem. Funa was dropped into coverage against RB McIntosh and got burned by the speed. I saw Funa exposed when he dropped into pass coverage - he is a liability in pass coverage. DJ Jonhson also dropped into pass coverage from the Jack, but even though he is a physical freak, why are we asking a 270lb defender to cover RBs and TEs? We have to figure some things out at the LB and Jack pass defense. Maybe playing lessor talent we get more QB pressure and our LBs cover better going forward... but if not, we are going to be attacked there all year! Wazzu, UW, OSU, even Cal with their new QB Jack Plummer will spread us out and pass the ball. If Lanning can't fix this, then we might have to go away from the Mint scheme or go to a base Dime defense and dare teams to run on us. I'm not sure what the answer is. But we either get better in the system we are running or make changes to the system. I know our Jack dropping to cover is a mismatch and Sewell in cover is too. Do we move Sewell to the Jack - putting Flowe and Bassa at the middle LBs? This gives us our two best pass cover LBs. Do we move Flowe to the Jack - putting Bassa and one of the freshman Jackson/Taggart in at middle LB? Do we go to a Dime with three DL guys - Flowe and Bassa as the LBs and six DB's (Gonzo-Manning-Bennett-Bridges-Addison-Stephans or Hill)? Do we play one of the DBs like Bennett up as a LB and do we mix putting one LB up on the line each snap? -- a Jack light LB? If we go this small will teams run the ball on us at will? Then we have small LBs who have to try to set a run edge? Lanning has some brain work to do, he is the genius defensive mind - we should expect that he sees the problems and will come up with a plan.

Lanning is lost on this one when he says, "we moved the ball but just had some drives that sputtered out". That's what you get with Bo Nix so far in his career, lots of sputtered out drives.

OSU just hired Jim Knowls the Oakie St Dc who had a top five defense with 3 -stars last year. The OSU defense has talent I say we let Knowls have the year to shape them up before we declare they will get beat by 30.

He pointed out his take on the positional matchup winner just like I have. The dude knows what he knows of the Ducks based on film and stats. Throw some of the stats out of the window. D-Rut at times ran a keep them in front of you and make them drive the field scheme, he did against Frenso St. That's the one game Flowe played, and he based his assessment on Flowe off of that game. I saw it all last year, and I know D-Ruts scheme and stats aren't a basis of judging a Lanning's scheme this year in 2022. Five-stars Noah Sewell and Justin Flowe are the No. 1 and No. 2 rated LBs in the 2022 class. I get the feeling if they were playing for Georgia this writer would be pumping sunshine about them. Sewell is a preseason All-American, but Meh is the vibe I got from the writer. Robert Beal Jr was a lower rated recruit than the Ducks DJ Johnson and Mase Funa- they are all Top 100 dudes... But here again the writer didn't give much respect to them. He is right that Utah killed us in 12 personnel last year, I do worry about UGA. But here again I have to have some faith that Lanning will have a scheme and game plan to not have us get killed by the TEs again. UGA is stacked and has some 1st round dudes. But they are replacing lot of guys and the inside backers are brand new. The writer comes off as if the new UGA backers are a better unit than the Ducks two 5-star LBs. I think this is going to be hard hitting game. The Ducks have some serious talent and are going to come after the Dawgs who have more talent. The UGA OL is going to be tough! They have three guys who are Top 60 dudes, the other two are blue-chips. I think this is a UGA win 31-21

I agree the trenches are the battle that the winner of the game will prevail in. We beat OSU in the trenches last year and won the game.