No Sacks! No Defense! No Problem for Oregon

[FishDuck Article]

It happens every year; the massive over-reaction early in a game, and yet things turn out fine later. When Portland State drove easily to a touchdown in the first quarter to quickly answer Oregon’s score–the classic over-the-top reactions in the Our Beloved Ducks forum surfaced immediately. “Tuioti and Lupoi both need to be replaced if we want our D to ...

 

No Sacks! No Defense! No Problem for Oregon

FISHDUCK.COM

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It happens every year; the massive over-reaction early in a game, and yet things turn out fine later. When Portland State drove easily to a...

[Massduck]

Thank you Charles for your deep dive into this defense. I must admit that when I saw that touchdown drive by Portland State, I said to my brother, “oh no, it looks like our defense has not changed from last year.”
 

When you refer to, “defensive adjustments” that were made after that drive, would you say the adjustments were in personnel or scheme? Possibly guys getting coached up to be in the right position?

 

Probably too early to tell, but aside from personnel, what makes this defense different from last year? Especially the Oregon State game when it seemed like no adjustments were made to the beavers pounding us all second-half with the run?

 

Obviously more answers to come following this weeks game. As always, appreciate your take and glad to have someone help dispel some of my disquieting defensive thoughts. 

 

[Log Haulin]

Thanks Charles. Thanks for nerding out on film to bring more insight to this forum.

 

In live action I remember thinking the Ducks looked slow and out of position. I think I made the comment that that was horrible defense.

 

Can't see everything real time. It is glaring though when a D is out of position. When a player deviates from his assignment it stresses the entire D and big plays are made.

 

"It was Portland state"

PSU practices football, watches film, game plans, lifts weights and everything else football teams and players do.

 

Yea, they don't have the dudes like Oregon but they can make you pay when you dont keep job integrity. If you don't keep disciplined... 6 happens.

 

PSU players can't beat Oregon players one on one. Nothing wrong with that, PSU plays in an entirely different lane. But they can exploit mistakes by any team or player in the country. 

 

Ducks cleaned up the problem and PSU barely got first downs after that. When Ducks play well defensively, stay disciplined, they can be very dangerous IMO. Somebody could lose an ear.

 

Ducks next game is against much better talent and coaching. TT has dudes that can beat you even when you do everything right. And that will happen at points Saturday. 

 

If Oregon can stay focused and play as a unit. If they can play within the game plan and adjust when needed. If everyone plays within their own assignment as a whole. TT puts 24 or less on the board.

 

It's been said that PSU didn't teach us much about Ducks D. But they provided value for the Ducks moving forward. There is a reason they call these "tune up games". 

 

If everyone else is playing in the key of A and I am in B. Rotten tomatoes will be flying. No matter how talented we are individually. 

 

Well done getting everyone in A by first turn around coach.  

[HappyToBeADuck]

Thanks Charles for taking the time to review the PSU game film and break it down.....

 

PSU had a game plan and they stuck to it. You are correct, when a few Duck defenders broke the discipline of their assignments, PSU drove the field and scored.

 

The most important aspect from that PSU score is that in game player teaching and adjustments were made. The Vikings were shut down.....

 

In my younger days, when games were televised in black and white, i lived and died by each play. My Dad would mention i was over reacting and to settle down and enjoy the game. My Mom would caution my Dad that watching the game might be too much for me to handle. Priceless! I miss my Ward and June Cleaver type parents very much.

 

We all get to watch the same plays unfold throughout the same game. Yet, each of us views and interpets what they see, differently.

 

Its part of the pleasure, pain and emotional roller coaster of live sports. Throw in extreme passion and maybe one to many brews and the sky begins to fall.

 

So spoiler alert for the TT game.....

TT will get the ball out quick to avoid sacks. However, they have the added dimension of having more bigger, faster and talented players than PSU.

 

They will move the ball and probably score 30 plus points, maybe 40 plus. To me, that doesnt mean we fire coaches. Doesnt mean the D is playing bad, either. 

 

There are many battles to win within the war that is the game.

 

The real story to watch for in the TT game is how will the TT Defense keep OBD's from scoring 50 plus.

 

Cant wait for Saturday to see who steps up and makes their mark as a Oregon Duck player.

 

GO DUCKS.....

[NJDuck]

 

"My first thought when going back to game film was checking to see if Oregon went into a “contained-rush”where the pass rushers are pushing the pocket to collapse it on the QB and create a throw downfield, yet maintaining their balance and footwork to prevent the quarterback from scrambling. The PSU QB had demonstrated great speed and elusiveness in the first drive, and that strategy would not have been a surprise to me.

 

Yet that was not the case; Oregon was not implementing a contained-rush, because when timing out every snap that had a pass play by Portland State–it was evident that the Viking game plan was to throw the football quickly. I timed out throws by the Vikings to only be: two seconds, 2.5 seconds, 1.5 seconds, one second, two seconds, two seconds, etc. You get the idea; they were throwing the ball immediately, as they knew their offensive line would have trouble with Oregon’s defensive pressure.

 

Above you see an example of when the PSU quarterback held the ball for three seconds, and he was hit by No. 98, Casey Rogers, as he threw the ball incomplete. Every time it went longer than 2.5 seconds–the Viking QBs either were running for their life, or throwing the ball away. My Duck-Buddies, you cannot get sacks in 2.5 seconds, and it was a sound strategy by the Vikings."

 

I agree with you Charles.  Great analogy on players out of assignment as to why PSU had a great series of plays resulting in a TD.  What is going to be interesting to watch for, in what you said above, is in the TT game.

 

This team is similar to WSU teams with the Air-Raid offense.  Very difficult to get sacks due to the speed and accuracy of the QB getting the ball out to his receivers.

 

I believe Oregon seen enough film on TT to come up with a great defensive game plan.  If our players stay within their assignments, will help forcing their QB keeping the ball longer than 2.5 seconds.  The results will bring great dividends in this game.

 

1st Downs	26	24
3rd down efficiency	7-17	6-15
4th down efficiency	2-2	2-2
Total Yards	431	320
Passing	338	149
Comp-Att	31-47	18-34
Yards per pass	7.2	4.4
Interceptions thrown	1	0
Rushing	93	171
Rushing Attempts	33	44
Yards per rush	2.8	3.9
Penalties	7-69	3-15
Turnovers	1	2
Fumbles lost	0	2
Interceptions thrown	1	0
Possession	25:58	34:02

 

The stats are telling.  TT only had 93 total rushing yards in the Wyoming game.  338 yards in the passing game.  If we can disrupt their passing game?  Whoa!  Game over.  We take the crowd out of the game early, increasing 3 and out possessions.

 

Thanks again Charles for the great work pointing this out in this article!  I feel the so called media experts were blinded to this as well as the other article, "New Secrets: Lanning’s Stunning Substitutions" information.  Again, they missed it!

 

[Annie]

On 9/8/2023 at 7:00 AM, HappyToBeADuck said:

...

 

In my younger days, when games were televised in black and white, i lived and died by each play. My Dad would mention i was over reacting and to settle down and enjoy the game. My Mom would caution my Dad that watching the game might be too much for me to handle. Priceless! I miss my Ward and June Cleaver type parents very much.

 

...

[Jon Joseph]

On 9/8/2023 at 10:00 AM, HappyToBeADuck said:

Thanks Charles for taking the time to review the PSU game film and break it down.....

 

PSU had a game plan and they stuck to it. You are correct, when a few Duck defenders broke the discipline of their assignments, PSU drove the field and scored.

 

The most important aspect from that PSU score is that in game player teaching and adjustments were made. The Vikings were shut down.....

 

In my younger days, when games were televised in black and white, i lived and died by each play. My Dad would mention i was over reacting and to settle down and enjoy the game. My Mom would caution my Dad that watching the game might be too much for me to handle. Priceless! I miss my Ward and June Cleaver type parents very much.

 

We all get to watch the same plays unfold throughout the same game. Yet, each of us views and interpets what they see, differently.

 

Its part of the pleasure, pain and emotional roller coaster of live sports. Throw in extreme passion and maybe one to many brews and the sky begins to fall.

 

So spoiler alert for the TT game.....

TT will get the ball out quick to avoid sacks. However, they have the added dimension of having more bigger, faster and talented players than PSU.

 

They will move the ball and probably score 30 plus points, maybe 40 plus. To me, that doesnt mean we fire coaches. Doesnt mean the D is playing bad, either. 

 

There are many battles to win within the war that is the game.

 

The real story to watch for in the TT game is how will the TT Defense keep OBD's from scoring 50 plus.

 

Cant wait for Saturday to see who steps up and makes their mark as a Oregon Duck player.

 

GO DUCKS.....

My job in the B + W days was getting up to rotate the rabbit ears. Dad left it up to me and not the Beaver. 

[Mic]

On 9/8/2023 at 8:11 AM, cartm25 said:

I was not calling for Tosh Lupoi to be fired. My point was that wherever this defense goes--top 10, bottom 10, or otherwise--Dan Lanning is the man. I'll never give defensive credit (for success or failure) to anyone other than Dan Lanning. 

 

Speaking only for myself, there was no misunderstanding over what you meant.  I'm probably the least fan of our DC here on the board, but it has nothing to do with his performance so far, but what his past conduct at UW and Cal revealed.  

 

But if Oregon does improve defensively, as appears the case, Lupoi would definitely deserve the lion's share of the credit.  The HC has overarching responsibility for the entire team's performance but I don't think Dan Lanning is a micromanager.  He's entrusted the Defense largely to Lupoi.  Most of us are willing to give Tosh a clean slate under Lanning and trust in Lanning's judgement in appointing him to DC.  It speaks to how much we ultimately trust Dan Lanning.

[Jon Joseph]

On 9/8/2023 at 10:43 AM, NJDuck said:

 

"My first thought when going back to game film was checking to see if Oregon went into a “contained-rush”where the pass rushers are pushing the pocket to collapse it on the QB and create a throw downfield, yet maintaining their balance and footwork to prevent the quarterback from scrambling. The PSU QB had demonstrated great speed and elusiveness in the first drive, and that strategy would not have been a surprise to me.

 

Yet that was not the case; Oregon was not implementing a contained-rush, because when timing out every snap that had a pass play by Portland State–it was evident that the Viking game plan was to throw the football quickly. I timed out throws by the Vikings to only be: two seconds, 2.5 seconds, 1.5 seconds, one second, two seconds, two seconds, etc. You get the idea; they were throwing the ball immediately, as they knew their offensive line would have trouble with Oregon’s defensive pressure.

 

Above you see an example of when the PSU quarterback held the ball for three seconds, and he was hit by No. 98, Casey Rogers, as he threw the ball incomplete. Every time it went longer than 2.5 seconds–the Viking QBs either were running for their life, or throwing the ball away. My Duck-Buddies, you cannot get sacks in 2.5 seconds, and it was a sound strategy by the Vikings."

 

I agree with you Charles.  Great analogy on players out of assignment as to why PSU had a great series of plays resulting in a TD.  What is going to be interesting to watch for, in what you said above, is in the TT game.

 

This team is similar to WSU teams with the Air-Raid offense.  Very difficult to get sacks due to the speed and accuracy of the QB getting the ball out to his receivers.

 

I believe Oregon seen enough film on TT to come up with a great defensive game plan.  If our players stay within their assignments, will help forcing their QB keeping the ball longer than 2.5 seconds.  The results will bring great dividends in this game.

 

1st Downs	26	24
3rd down efficiency	7-17	6-15
4th down efficiency	2-2	2-2
Total Yards	431	320
Passing	338	149
Comp-Att	31-47	18-34
Yards per pass	7.2	4.4
Interceptions thrown	1	0
Rushing	93	171
Rushing Attempts	33	44
Yards per rush	2.8	3.9
Penalties	7-69	3-15
Turnovers	1	2
Fumbles lost	0	2
Interceptions thrown	1	0
Possession	25:58	34:02

 

The stats are telling.  TT only had 93 total yards in the Wyoming game.  338 yards in the passing game.  If we can disrupt their passing game?  Whoa!  Game over.  We take the crowd out of the game early, increasing 3 and out possessions.

 

Thanks again Charles for the great work pointing this out in this article!  I feel the so called media experts were blinded to this as well as the other article, "New Secrets: Lanning’s Stunning Substitutions" information.  Again, they missed it!

 

Great post. But a word of caution. TT was 6-1 in Lubbock last season with wins over Oklahoma and Texas. TT has won its home opener 23 seasons in a row.

 

Great article by Charles and I cop to overreacting to the absence of sacks and few TFL against PSU. 

 

Have to disrupt Shough by getting pressures on dropbacks as did an undersized Wyo D in Laramie. Shough is not a guy who will beat you running the ball. 

 

Can't wait for this game and those in attendance, watch out for flying tortillas.

[Mic]

On 9/8/2023 at 8:48 AM, cartm25 said:

I did not realize this. This is not insignificant.

It's ultimately why I picked Oregon (tentatively) by less then the already narrow point spread of -7.  Oregon will do well to come out of this the winner.  For me, this was 1 of 3 games I thought could go against the Ducks.  GO OREGON

Edited September 8, 2023 by Mic

[EastBayDuckDad]

Charles, in short, bingo! PSU had no alternative but to get the ball out of the QB's hand in under 3 sec or he was going to be on the ground. They were 8 of 20 on pass plays and threw for 52 yds. Ultimately they pretty much abandoned the pass.

 

All of the mental and positional breakdowns were on that one series. DL and Lupoi corrected things right away and the PSU offense was shut down the rest of the game. So given the rapid throws, then minimal use of the passing game later, the 'sack lack' was expected. 

 

Several of the D starters were not the personnel that we expected to see and may not have been the majority of the 'ones' on the depth chart. They got taken advantage of for a single series. Concerning, but not doom and gloom. It was rapidly fixed by the coaches. 

 

A much bigger test will be tomorrow against Texas Tech and I agree with posters here that the tougher competition will make the rapid pass/first or quick second read for Shough an issue for Oregon. Fortunately, TT's ground game is not great and will work in the Ducks favor. 

 

Oregon will give up some points but if they limit the damage through the air, the defense will have done it's job given that the Duck offense will be hard to stop.

Edited September 8, 2023 by EastBayDuckDad

[Mic]

On 9/8/2023 at 9:03 AM, cartm25 said:

Fair point. I'm happy to give credit where credit is due, especially if Lanning is "hands off" as you say. Do we know this for sure? Not asking as a "gotcha" question, but legitimately curious.

On my behalf, no, I don't know this for sure.  But, I can only imagine how stretched a Head Coach has to be nowadays just to manage and steer a program of the shear complexity of a Division 1, Power-5 football team.  And why would a team bother to pay the enormous sums for a Defensive (or Offensive) Coordinator if the HC were running the D (or O)?  

[Washington Waddler]

     Great read FD. As it’s often the case, the rush to judgement is a tad quicker than the rush to adjustment. But not by much.

[The Kamikaze Kid]

Great article. PSU had two goals entering this game. One was to collect a paycheck. The other was to avoid injuries. Congrats to them for achieving both. If Texas Tech goes 8-20 passing for 51 yards, I'd consider that a successful day of defense. If Michael Jordan just stands at half court being triple teamed while his team destroys the opponent with a 4 on 2 miss match, you wouldn't say they shut down MJ. That's how If feel about zero sacks while the team basically gave up on a passing attack.

[Log Haulin]

On 9/8/2023 at 9:21 AM, The Kamikaze Kid said:

 One was to collect a paycheck. The other was to avoid injuries. 

Dude lost an ear. Thats a whole different level of beat down

[Ducko]

I am a big fan of you, the site, your analysis and opinions.  Having said that I totally disagree with your view that this is Dan Lanning’s defense.  

 

As we all know Dan Lanning came from Georgia working as DC for the brilliant Defensive mind Kirby Smart.  I would agree that Georgia teams run Kirby’s defense and no matter who is hired there as DC the defense will always be solid, aggressive and successful.

 

In Oregons case I believe this is the Tosh defense or what ever this mess is.  Did they stop Portland State from scoring again? Yes!  Is that something to brag about or what should have been expected.  After game 1 the ducks defense is ranked near the bottom is sacks, tackles for loss and I think the third category was rushing yards allowed at #96.

 

The pistol has been around for decades, during its time sacks by the defense against the pistol are not a rarity. The Portland state football team is made of by majority unranked players, ranked 129th in 2023 and 135th in 2022. I believe sacks can and do occur in less that 2.5 seconds. A good defense would have stopped the first drive, stopped the run been able to penetrate the defensive line often and had both Sacks and Tackles for loss.  
 

Next up Texas Tech which took a big hit in game 1 losing to unranked Wyoming.  But my prediction this weekend is Oregons unreliable defensive scheme will make both 2nd string QB Tyler Shough look great and allow allot of points and yards.  
 

Allowing Tosh Lupoi to keep his job after that embarrassing circus last year in my mind is inexcusable.  I railed for years against Earnie Kent and Robert Johnson asking for their dismissal before to much damage was done. In both cases I received nasty insulting comments but in the end serious damage was done especially to track and field.

 

In my opinion great recruiting is wasted if the coaching and game plans, play calling are just atrocious.  I don’t worry about our Offense but have absolutely no confidence in Tosh or Oregon’s D.  I believe this will be another season of Oregon having to outscore the opponent to win.  Sadly talent is deep and overflowing.  

 

Looks at Oregon States AWESOME defense made up of Walton’s, and mostly 2 and 3 stars.  Head coach is an offensive specialist so that great defense’s success is all due to GREAT COACHING………..

 

As far as fans speaking out after that embarrassing early drive down the field to score, it was once again as we all experienced week after week after week last year it was another episode of the “Tosh Comedy Hour”.  He is not, not will he ever be a good defensive coordinator.

 

Do you remember how Mark Helfrich was branded a genius and one of the most creative minds in football?  How did that turn out!  He, in two short years destroyed Oregon football and recruiting and was a complete failure in every coaching job afterward.  Mark was riding the brilliant Chip Kelly’s coattail getting credit he never deserved and all of us were understandable fooled.  

 

But in this case with TOSH it’s a year plus of glaring red flags week after week and all of us should heed these warnings or accept mediocrity.

 

thanks again for all you do!

 

Steve.  

[Mic]

On 9/8/2023 at 9:21 AM, The Kamikaze Kid said:

 That's how If feel about zero sacks while the team basically gave up on a passing attack.

That's also a good point because PSU's passing game yielded them almost nothing.  There has always been more than one way to "skin a cat", ie stop a passing game.  So, the 0 sacks were moot.

[DanLduck]

That first drive missed assignments should be chalked up to first game excitement and perhaps a little over enthusiasm. 

 

The adjustments should be chalked up to good in-game coaching.

 

What do they say about week 2 games?

 

Biggest improvement is from week 1 to week 2. This should make us all very excited. 

 

I'm sure TS will have his TT's playing better, but so will our defense. I think we will come out ballin' and surprise a few tv personalities. (And maybe a few OBD forum fans too)

 

Thanks for great insight Mr. Fishduck. 

[Annie]

On 9/8/2023 at 8:48 AM, cartm25 said:

I did not realize this. This is not insignificant.

 

It's similar to Oregon and how well they play at home. It's no wonder college football powers are so scared to make the trip to Autzen.

 

Looking at you tOSU, Georgia, Bama, LSU, Auburn, and other chicken-s*** teams that want to play on a "neutral" field in, or right next to, their home state.

This! Let those teams come to Autzen, or at least to a "neutral" field such as Las Vegas.

[Haywarduck]

Good stuff, but the dawgs played them last year, and had 4 sacks. Same qb, and just about the same number of passing plays. 

 

Like I said the stat is cause for concern. It is one data point, but I am not going to say it doesn't make me want to watch the line going forward.

 

I will admit I love DL, but don't have to love all his hires. Maybe I am a little too tough on how I review the defensive play, full disclosure.

[Mic]

On 9/8/2023 at 9:47 AM, Haywarduck said:

I will admit I love DL, but don't have to love all his hires. I maybe I am a little too tough on how I review the defensive play, full disclosure.

I, for one, will not argue against your point.  It's well-known here I'm not a fan of our D.C.  but Dan did choose him and presumably for good reasons.  Let's cross our fingers, sit back and watch how the year plays out.  We don't want to be negative, esp. this soon in the season.

[Massduck]

On 9/8/2023 at 12:34 PM, Ducko said:

do you remember how Mark Helfrich was branded a genius and one of the most creative minds in football?  How did that turn out!  He, in two short years destroyed Oregon football and recruiting and was a complete failure in every coaching job afterward.  Mark was riding the brilliant Chip Kelly’s coattail getting credit he never deserved and all of us were understandable fooled.  But in this case with TOSH it’s a year plus of glaring red flags week after week and all of us should heed these warnings or accept mediocrity

Ducko that is a great take. Maybe yours is a “half empty” and Charles is a “half full” but I agree with so much you said. Either way we are forced to take a wait and see approach with this defense and what Lanning sees in Tosh. Go Ducks!

Edited September 8, 2023 by Massduck
Damn autocorrect

[Krsmqn]

Definitely the first thing I fell in love with about FD was how easy it's made to learn about OBD. Thanks again (10+ years! ) for the excellent analysis. 

 

(FYI, I was certainly one of the cry babies who benefited from this article) 

 

Go Ducks!

[Solar]

Every offense in this league is capable of running an effective offense with passes delivered in 2.5 seconds or less consistently.

 

The one photo you included shows two linebackers guarding grass while a PSU person is wide open in the flat with the safety moving down from center field to pick him up.

 

Saban let Tosh go mid year. I really hope we don't have to lose a bunch of game for Lanning to do the same. Lanning took over the D for the Utah game after Washington beat us. He also brought in former DC Hampton and made him Co-DC.

 

Both Dilly and Stein adapt the offense to the players they have, not the ones they wish they had. Apparently Tosh was/is incapable of doing the same. Why should he get a pass for that?

 

Tuioti has the best DL players in our league yet they grab and dance with the OLs regardless of size. Not getting off blocks was the hallmark of the 2016 ducks. Is Dorlus any better than he was in 2021? These are developmental issues that fall on the position coach.

 

Yeah it's just the first game of 2023, but I won't change my opinion until we hold a power 5 air raid team to a small amount of 1st downs and yards.

Edited September 8, 2023 by Solar

[Haywarduck]

Good stuff so far, love how we can agree to disagree. Charles makes some great points, but there is still question marks we need answered.

 

I will say Tosh is an extremely effective recruiter. Recruiting is a very important element in building a team.

 

I just hope that skill isn't blinding Lanning from seeing a weaknesses in other areas.

 

Time will tell, and I fully admit, from Mel Brooks famous song, I 'hope for the best, expect the worse' when it some to Tosh.

[Log Haulin]

On 9/8/2023 at 9:34 AM, Ducko said:

I am a big fan of you, the site, your analysis and opinions.  Having said that I totally disagree with your view that this is Dan Lanning’s defense.  As we all know Dan Lanning came from Georgia working as DC for the brilliant Defensive mind Kirby Smart.  I would agree that Georgia teams run Kirby’s defense and no matter who is hired there as DC the defense will always be solid, aggressive and successful.

 

but in Oregons case I believe this is the Tosh defense or what ever this mess is.  Did they stop Portland State from scoring again? Yes!  Is that something to brag about or what should have been expected.  After game 1 the ducks defense is ranked near the bottom is sacks, tackles for loss and I think the third category was rushing yards allowed at #96.  The pistol has been around for decades, during its time sacks by the defense against the pistol are not a rarity. The Portland state football team is made of by majority unranked players, ranked 129th in 2023 and 135th in 2022. I believe sacks can and do occur in less that 2.5 seconds. A good defense would have stopped the first drive, stopped the run been able to penetrate the defensive line often and had both Sacks and Tackles for loss.  
 

next up Texas Tech which took a big hit in game 1 losing to unranked Wyoming.  But my prediction this weekend is Oregons unreliable defensive scheme will make both 2nd string QB Tyler Shough look great and allow allot of points and yards.  
 

allowing Tosh Lupoi to keep his job after that embarrassing circus last year in my mind is inexcusable.  I railed for years against Earnie Kent and Robert Johnson asking for their dismissal before to much damage was done. In both cases I received nasty insulting comments but in the end serious damage was done especially to track and field.  In my opinion great recruiting is wasted if the coaching and game plans, play calling are just atrocious.  I don’t worry about our Offense but have absolutely no confidence in Tosh or Oregon’s D.  I believe this will be another season of Oregon having to outscore the opponent to win.  Sadly talent is deep and overflowing.  Looks at Oregon States AWESOME defense made up of Walton’s, and mostly 2 and 3 stars.  Head coach is an offensive specialist so that great defense’s success is all due to GREAT COACHING………..

 

and as far as fans speaking out after that embarrassing early drive down the field to score, it was once again as we all experienced week after week after week last year it was another episode of the “Tosh Comedy Hour”.  He is not, not will he ever be a good defensive coordinator.

 

do you remember how Mark Helfrich was branded a genius and one of the most creative minds in football?  How did that turn out!  He, in two short years destroyed Oregon football and recruiting and was a complete failure in every coaching job afterward.  Mark was riding the brilliant Chip Kelly’s coattail getting credit he never deserved and all of us were understandable fooled.  But in this case with TOSH it’s a year plus of glaring red flags week after week and all of us should heed these warnings or accept mediocrity.

 

thanks again for all you do!

 

Steve.  

UGA played UT-martin. UT-M is slightly better than PSU. Martin put up 128 passing and 132 rushing. 7 point on the board.

 

After week one UGA is ranked #78 in rushing D and #9 in passing. Ducks #94 and #11.

 

That separation is minuscule. To me, giving up one score in first Q in first game due to missed assignments is no reason to blow up the coaching staff. 

 

This isnt the first year of a new staff and first year HC. Expectations of the D will be much higher. They should be. 

 

Should Kirby fire Schumann for the UT-M results? Pretty similar to PSU results. 

 

Sorry, I can't get behind this reaction to 1 td surrendered in a 74 point victory.

[Jon Joseph]

On 9/8/2023 at 11:48 AM, cartm25 said:

I did not realize this. This is not insignificant.

 

It's similar to Oregon and how well they play at home. It's no wonder college football powers are so scared to make the trip to Autzen.

 

Looking at you tOSU, Georgia, Bama, LSU, Auburn, and other chicken-s*** teams that want to play on a "neutral" field in, or right next to, their home state.

Good take. In fairness, Ohio State scheduled an H+H with Oregon. The game at Autzen was COVID out. 

 

Auburn plays at Cal on Saturday night. AZ plays a return game at MS ST.

 

Bama plays at Wisconsin next season in the first game of an H+H series.

 

LSU opens against USC in Las Vegas to open the 2024 season and plays a return game vs. UCLA in Baton Rogue.

 

UGA - 2024 Clemson in ATL/ 2025 open at UCLA with the return game in 2026/ 27- 28 H+H with FSU/ 29 - 30 H+H with Clemson/ 30 - 31 H+H with Ohio State.

 

Compare these games to future Oregon OOC scheduled games. The OOC games vs. Ohio State and Michigan State, if played when scheduled will be conference games. Oregon is left with TX Tech, OK ST, Baylor, Hawaii, Boise State, Utah State, and other G5 opponents, including games at Boise and Logan, Utah!

Edited September 8, 2023 by Jon Joseph

[Mudslide]

On 9/8/2023 at 9:02 AM, EastBayDuckDad said:

 

 

Several of the D starters were not the personnel that we expected to see and may not have been the majority of the 'ones' on the depth chart. They got taken advantage of for a single series. Concerning, but not doom and gloom. It was rapidly fixed by the coaches. 

 

Unfortunately, that was not the case in Charles' first video.  Numbers 0, 1, and 2 were experienced starters, Johnson, Burch, and Bassa. They were biting on that qb fake like kids on Snickers bars. There were some bonehead coverages on that first drive by experienced players.  I guess I'm with the plurality here ... namely that TL gets a substandard grade, at least for last season and the first PSU 'drive'.  Also, some of the later incompletions were bad passes and not because of good coverage. 

 

BUT, that said, and overall, I thought the defense played pretty well and have given me hope for the season.

[Dave23]

One thing to keep in mind, as another fishduck article stated a lot of the starters were true freshmen or underclassmen that probably won't start this weekend. It makes perfect sense that these guys would give up a lot more yardage and a score. When the true starters rotated in there was a lot more three and outs and better coverage.

 

While sacks are flashy and create a lot of excitement, selling out to get them can cause more damage than good. There's a lot of great running quarterbacks in this league and if you try to sack them instead of contain them you're going to get burnt more often than not. I didn't get to watch the whole game but what I saw it didn't seem like there was a whole lot of blitzing.

 

Getting pressure with four players rushing and forcing quick throws is a great strategy to keep the ball in front of you and limit explosion plays. The strategy also limits the amount of time that wide receivers have to get open meaning more contested passes. It's much easier to get separation further down the field where there's less defenders.

 

I believe this is more philosophy and strategy then lack of effort. If you lose contain on these modern-day QBs they can rip off 20 yards pretty easily. Which is demoralizing to the defense. Make then use their arm to beat you and make them do it in a collapsing pocket.

[Haywarduck]

Agree the drive and mistakes in the PSU game, not the end of the world, and maybe 'no problem.'

 

The defensive melt-down against OSU, WAS SACRILEGE! 

[Charles Fischer]

I believe there may be a mistaken notion embedded from my article, and that I am a Tosh Lupoi advocate.

 

Tosh is a proven commodity as one of the nations, best recruiters, and we benefit enormously from that. I also believe, and what I said many times, in that “greatness and weakness, emerge early.”
 

Tosh has shown greatness in recruiting from the beginning, and weakness as a defensive coordinator, calling, defensive plays.  No denying that from me!

 

However, he acknowledged his weaknesses upfront, when he was first hired, and between him and Hampton in Lanning—I believe it is the consensus of the brain trust that is calling, and monitoring the defensive plays. 
 

In the end, Lanning is responsible for the entire team, and this is HIS defense, and he knows it. I believe the defense of play-calling will be least above average this year.

 

There was a “Simulated Pressure,” applied in this last game, that was absolutely perfect. I have seen tremendous improvement in the execution of the defense from the beginning of last year to where we are now. I believe it will continue. 

[Charles Fischer]

I’m unable to respond much, as I am out of town and only on my cell.

 

The fact that it was immediate adjustments on defense—is a massive improvement over what we saw in the UW and OSU games.

 

We have had great progress in this defense from the beginning of last year.  There was a perfect “Simulated Pressure” in this last game that was so well executed and timed.  More to come!

[Log Haulin]

On 9/8/2023 at 1:36 PM, Charles Fischer said:

In the end, Lanning is responsible for the entire team, and this is HIS defense, and he knows it. I believe the defense of play-calling will be least above average this year.

Truth Lanning knows more than anyone. He was brought to Oregon with the expectation of great defense.

 

Ya know where Lanning hit the hardest... Offense! This Duck O is pretty dam good. Lanning brought in Nix. Best thing DL has done as HC of the Ducks.

 

This offense is absolutely loaded. With Nix holding the reigns this offense could play their way into a top 5 offense.

 

Go Ducks!

[AnotherOD]

Interesting discussion.

 

My first thought is maybe there are some misconceptions about the "mint defense"? Maybe? (At least from my - limited - understanding).

 

It isn't really considered to be a pressure heavy sack and TFL defense. 

 

Now, elite talent will produce good numbers over a season in those stats; but, the "mint" defense (I've read) is designed to first and foremost shut down the short to intermediate pass.

 

These short/intermediate passes that have replaced what once were runs in college football. The "mint" is on those schematic decisions.  It also puts an extra body when needed to keep a medium play -- from becoming more. In the "Aliotti Tradition", no big plays.

 

It's not necessary a pressure and sack or TFL offense. Most of the "plays" at the LOS are depended upon elite talent doing their thing.

 

My only worry (I typed a whole post about it on Sunday and decided to delete it) is whether the LB Corps is there yet. I think the talent up front and the back end is absolutely good enough to make the thing run.

 

If the LBing is there, I think it can be top 40-50 good (there are some tough teams offensively on the Duck schedule this year). Really looking forward to Jestin Jacobs taking the field and being healthy. I saw Devon Jackson play a lot early against PSU (and look a bit like a guy seeing the field for essentially the first time). Seems like a "mint" LB if he (soon) puts it together.

 

Edited September 9, 2023 by AnotherOD

[Mic]

On 9/8/2023 at 6:19 PM, AnotherOD said:

My first thought is maybe there are some misconceptions about the "mint defense"? Maybe? (At least from my - limited - understanding).

Just a snippet of your interesting post above but I just wanted to comment that however it's supposed to work, however it's supposed to limit or bottle up the opponent's offense, if the Ducks keep on winning games by scoring more points than each of their opponents I'll be happy.  After each win the pundits can 'punditcize' away all they want trying to explain how it all worked.  I'll be keeping my eye on the final score. GO OREGON!

[DanLduck]

On 9/8/2023 at 9:40 AM, Annie said:

This! Let those teams come to Autzen, or at least to a "neutral" field such as Las Vegas.

Texas Tech is coming to Autzen next year!

[OregonDucks]

Well researched article (much better than the lazy traditional media and analysts). That’s one of the reasons I love this site. 

[Annie]

On 9/9/2023 at 10:30 AM, DanLduck said:

Texas Tech is coming to Autzen next year!

Now if we could get Georgia, Alabama, etc. to come to Autzen...