mikethehiker

Thank you, all!! I thought it would be fun to talk X's and O's as a change of pace on a bye week and I appreciate the thought provoking responses. I certainly don't understand everything the defense is doing out there or what the coaches are asking each player to do, but I want to learn more and avoid coming to sensational conclusions. Everything happens so fast and decisions have to be reflexive. Instincts are crucial not only as a matter of experience in the position, but experience playing with the guys next to you. Lastly, I still cannot believe that we are the #1 pass defense in college football! I hope this trend continues! Go Ducks!

Lastly, Play 8 is 12:32 in the 4th quarter, 1st and 10 at the Oregon 47. This run stop is brought you by our awesome defensive line, specifically, Bear Alexander. We are used to seeing this a lot this year, but unfortunately, if our DLine do not beat block and get the back early, we tend to give up a lot of yards. I hope this is Ok. I love to look at X’s and O’s and I know I’m not as knowledgeable as many of you. What are your thoughts or observations?

Play 7 is 2:57 in the 3rd quarter, 3rd and 5 at the Wisconsin 10, very next play. This time it looks like Boettcher is on a run blitz. He’s way ahead of the lineman looking to block him and does a great job attacking the ball side of the ball carrier forcing a fumble.

Play 6 is 3:31 in the 3rd quarter, 2nd and 5 at the Wisconsin 10. I believe it’s Devon Jackson this time doing a very nice job of beating the block and filling the gap at the line of scrimmage for a very nice tackle.

Play 5 is 11:52 in the 3rd quarter, 2nd and 15 at the Wisconsin 31. Tight end #88 for Wisconsin crashes down on our defensive end and then kicks out our linebacker to open a perfect hole for a play that didn’t look like it was designed to go that direction. Thieneman again to the rescue and a massive gain of 18 yards.

Play 4 is 0:50 in the 2nd quarter, 3rd and 5 at the Wisconsin 38. We have a chance to get the ball back with a stop and a timeout, but Wisconsin gets a great push up front and our linebackers again are easily blocked downfield by linemen. Run goes for 6 yards and a first down.

Based on recent history, if you had told me before the season started that Oregon leads the nation in fewest passing yards allowed per game after 8 games, I would have said we must be on our way to our first national championship. Pass defense when it matters most, has been our Achilles heel limiting many great seasons. Well, here we are at #1 in the country averaging a mere 124.6 passing yards per game. Although it’s harder to follow backend defenders while watching on TV, I am relieved when teams choose to pass against us and nervous when they elect to run. In addition to our phenomenal corners and safeties, there are no better linebackers I’d rather have in pass coverage. They are playing outstanding football! However, our run defense is still an area for improvement. We are not terrible by any stretch as we rank #27 in FBS at 114.8 yards per game. As good as our linebackers are in pass coverage, it seems to me they struggle against the run. But there are likely a number of factors at play. Analyzing plays over and over again, I came away with a real appreciation for how quickly players have to diagnose and react to plays and how critical instincts are at game speed. It’s a long two weeks between games, so I took some time to include a few key running plays below from our last game vs. Wisconsin for analysis. I’ve added some observations and would love to hear the thoughts of others as we seek to learn more. Play 1 is 15:00 2nd quarter, 2nd and 5 from Wisconsin 28. Between the left end and left LB, we simply don’t set the edge, and the running back goes for close to 10 yards. D-Line holds their gaps well and this seems like a very preventable play. Play 2 is 11:35 2nd quarter, 4th and inches at the Oregon 43. Seems like we’ve got this one well covered. Handoff goes to the fullback, and Boettcher just misses the tackle. Thieneman then holds on for dear life and another 9-yard gain. Play 3 is 10:25 2nd quarter, 2nd and 20 at the Oregon 44, still the same drive. On this play, Wisconsin O-Line won their battles across the board. They hold our lineman in check and each of our linebackers are easily picked up by offensive linemen hustling downfield to block. First contact is 4 yards downfield, and the gain goes for 7 yards. I appreciated Uiagalelei’s discipline here to set the edge with the motion man and then check the QB before committing to backside pursuit.

Hope Oregon cleans up on a few recruits and transfers. We can be very picky.

It was great Duck weather!!

I think OBD are going to learn more from these experiences than games like Rutgers. Very grateful that Stein made the adjustment and stuck with the ground game. We can’t see what Dante is seeing down the field, but it doesn’t seem like he knows where he wants to go with the ball or what matchups he has when he calls for the snap. Is Stein calling plays with a less experienced QB in mind, or is he still running an offense for the two QB’s with the most games ever played? It would be interesting to compare the average release time from the last three seasons. Dante seems to get rattled a bit after those early sacks. I’m not sure why we have him running as much as he has with the 8 capable running backs we have.

We need more adversity and in-game adjustments. I hope Iowa, USC, and Washington provide some resistance. With the old PAC-12, every team was frisky every Saturday. In the B1G, half of the teams in the conference are dead on arrival. No wonder Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State coasted every year.

Miami wasted so much time on the final drive. They had two timeouts in their pocket. In field goal range; just run the ball!!! Or maybe take a shot at the end zone with play action. This is just as bad as the other Mario losses. Beck has already thrown 4 interceptions (1 taken away due to a terrible roughing call). Mario is money losing these games.

Add another loss for Miami. It’s extremely difficult to win consistently in college football anymore. Oregon is an exception. At least we only lose to teams playing in the national title games. We’ll see where Indiana ends up. There’s a good chance Oregon, Ohio State, and Indiana finish 1-2-3 if we all win out going into the B1G title game. I think the SEC champion finishes with 2 losses again.

Sorry to hear about the rough week David. Hope you’re feeling better now. I knew right after the Penn State win that I was VERY glad OBD had an extra week to gather their emotions. Evidently, it wasn’t enough.

I wanted to write this post prior to the Indiana game this past Saturday, but I didn't want to jinx the game. Due to a family function, I only caught the opening series for each team but the game had an eerie feeling from Indiana's first sack on the first play. Even prior to the Ducks running out from the tunnel. The low energy, the grey clouds, the lack of fire, the poor prep from the first snap - everything seemed off. This weekend was the two year anniversary of our last regular season loss - by far the longest streak in college football and longest streak in Duck history(?). Our Ducks now have one regular season loss in the past two calendar years. In this day and age, bad football games happen to even the best teams. What Oregon has accomplished over the past 24 months in the regular season is close to impossible. Let's take a look at what the very best in college football have accomplished in the last two calendar years since the Ducks last lost a regular season game on October 14, 2023 (all regular season losses): Oregon - 1 loss (#3 Indiana 20-30) Ohio St. - 3 losses Texas - 3 losses Georgia - 3 losses SMU - 3 losses Memphis - 3 losses Alabama - 4 losses Mississippi - 4 losses Notre Dame - 4 losses Boise State - 4 losses Miami - 5 losses Missouri - 5 losses Penn State - 6 losses Indiana - 6 losses Tennessee - 6 losses LSU - 6 losses Texas A&M - 6 losses Michigan - 7 losses Washington - 7 losses BYU - 7 losses Clemson - 8 losses Arizona State - 8 losses Illinois - 8 losses Oklahoma - 9 losses South Carolina - 9 losses This loss to Indiana stings! Coaches and players have a lot to learn from it. Maybe we do, too, as fans. However, there has never been a better, more prosperous time to be an Oregon Duck fan. Let's fight like crazy to finish 11-1 and start another long streak!