MindGamesMD No. 1 Share Posted September 10, 2023 Hi All Joined and posted on the same day I am hoping for some analysis of our Secondary…… why all the somewhat unusual ( imo) personnel, “ they” say we are faster, I’m not sure that much better so far this year. Any comments re’ schemes , packages and personnel and are you seeing things more positive in DB play than last year? 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mic No. 2 Share Posted September 10, 2023 Welcome MindGames. I hope you will enjoy the post. I don't think I can comment accurately on this, but we have analysts on this blog, including Charles Fischer who can. I hope you get the answers to your question, because it's a good one. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 3 Share Posted September 10, 2023 I haven't time right now to get into it much with other forum duties. But I will admit that MindGames is right--we have not yet seen what we hoped for, and I thought Texas Tech would be an excellent indicator for us. They looked a step slow the whole game, and I have three main thoughts about the secondary. First--we have new people playing with each other and they have not meshed like a tight group becomes. It was a first start for Evan Williams, and I was surprised to see Jahlil Florence starting at corner and playing as much as he did with all the veteran corners we have. Dontae Manning played a ton and started versus Portland State--and not so much in Lubbock. A second area deals with knowing the Dan Lanning defense; they are still getting used to assignments in game-time series. I sense this defense is harder to learn, and once the learning curve takes place--it is worth it, but the learning curve appears to longer than I thought. A third area was our opponent; that was a very impressive offense, and I cannot tell how many times I was watching and just spoke out loud...."that is a great play." They had great play designs, with clever ways to attack the defense. This was a hard offense for newbies on defense to contain. I gotta tip my hat to TT, as they had some superb execution to create big plays. While painful, it is just what we needed in preparing for Colorado, OSU, WSU, Washington and USC... And MindGames MD? WELCOME to the forum, and do share your thoughts often! 1 1 4 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solar No. 4 Share Posted September 10, 2023 I agree Charles. There were many plays I was envious of TT. I'd like Stein to pick some of them up. I think our secondary played pretty good in coverage. Shough had nowhere to go many times that resulted in throwaways or the times our defense got to him. It seemed like there was always somebody open every play last year. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duckdude No. 5 Share Posted September 10, 2023 “What about Oregon’s Secondary?” Ai-yai-yai!!!! !!! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Log Haulin No. 6 Share Posted September 10, 2023 Secondary played well. Minus the PI calls and a couple instances with poor tackling. Oregon schemed the pass and for the most part limited Shough. Shough stat line was 24/38 with 282yd, 3td, 3int, qbr 64.3. Shough ran a ton, 23 carries for 101yd. Ducks rushed 3 much of the night and Shough held the ball for a long time with nowhere to throw. When ducks rushed 4 or 5 there was pressure. Created 4 sacks and 3 int. Plus a strip sac recovered by Ducks. Ducks didn’t play great consistently on either side of the ball. Ducks played exceptional in key situations and thats what won the game. 2 1 4 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 7 Share Posted September 10, 2023 I'd say right now they certainly need to work on communication and teamwork. But there were plenty of times where the front seven got great pressure because the back end held up long enough. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike West No. 8 Share Posted September 11, 2023 One of my thoughts through all my frustration was intuitively, it seemed the team didn't know each other yet ( on defense). I get frustrated with safety play because the main rule for safeties is no one EVER gets behind you on your side of the field. That happened too much. Safeties tend to lock onto one receiver, much like a QB does. His focus must be cover outside in. It's a little complicated, but if we go back to the Spring Game, the first play of the game was a misread by the safety ( that's really an analysis article in the making). It makes sense, therefore, that the defense was out of sync because they looked out of position last week ( in my eyes) as well. It may be time for the coaching staff to dial back the whole set, and utilize what the players have mastered first, then introduce the concepts in practice until the players master the entire defense ( difficult to do given the conference has like ten thousand offenses lol). Texas Tech probably played into the scene as well, as it was difficult to determine what their strategy really was ( unlike several plays we continued to run all game despite Tech adjusting well to what Stein was trying to do). Again, I hate defensive sets that only place four men at the line of scrimmage against Spread Formations. Makes it nearly impossible to seal the edges. Also makes it somewhat easier to identify who is blitzing in my opinion. But that is too much detail. In general, the defense made plays more often than not. They also were pretty clutch on a consistent basis. If the gel as a unit, maybe they'll start imposing their will like we saw Miami do to A&M (gasp- Cristobal's team actually looked pretty good). 1 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDuck No. 9 Share Posted September 11, 2023 A lot of sleepless nights ahead for the coaching staff. Sunday brings the release of season stats. Relative to this topic, out of Oregon's first 7 opponents, 5 have QBs who are in the Top 9 in yards per game. That includes Tex Tech, Hawaii, Colorado, UW, WSU. All are 2 games except Hawaii which has had 3 games in his average. And, Nix makes 6 of the Top 9. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
2002duck No. 10 Share Posted September 11, 2023 Seemed to me like Shough was playing like a desert lizard that a group of schoolchildren might try to catch for fun. They are sneaky little guys, but even 7 year-olds can catch them soon enough. Unfortunately for the Ducks, they took too long to see the little desert fellow's camouflage and strategies. Personally, I thought the DB's did OK. With a QB like Shough I would have liked our guys to make a better effort to intercept the ball, though. I'm not too worried- I think we just played down to their level and hopefully won't do that again. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lrod No. 11 Share Posted September 11, 2023 I think our secondary was fine.. I think it was times TT was just lining up and snapping a tad faster than we were getting our defensive calls in. I think we gotta be mindful of that going forward. Like Lanning said, it was a couple of times our DB's panicked and got PI's called. Im just glad we dont have a key game this week. Team can settle down and work on execution. Im worried as hell about our run game now which I thought nobody could shut down for a whole game. Stein gotta fix that shyt Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smith72 Moderator No. 12 Share Posted September 11, 2023 Secondary has a lot of talent. They made mistakes. I agree that some of that was caused by late calls causing panic. Coaches need to improve this area. Khyree Jackson made the pass interference call by hustling too fast after his mistake and running into the receiver. The penalty really hurt the team. However, he demonstrated great coverage skills in getting the first of 3 interceptions by the Ducks. With tight man coverage he adjusted to the throw by Tyler and came up with the pick. Lots of learning growth needed by both the coaches and players. I like the reaction Coach Lanning gave in his post game interview! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie No. 13 Share Posted September 11, 2023 On 9/11/2023 at 6:56 AM, Smith72 said: ... Lots of learning growth needed by both the coaches and players. I like the reaction Coach Lanning gave in his post game interview! It's said that the greatest improvement is between the first and second games of the season. But since Oregon played PSU in the first game and was not really challenged at all, maybe the greatest improvement for this team will be between the second and third game--or even between the third and the fourth. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Log Haulin No. 14 Share Posted September 11, 2023 On 9/11/2023 at 6:56 AM, Smith72 said: Secondary has a lot of talent. They made mistakes. I agree that some of that was caused by late calls causing panic. Coaches need to improve this area. Khyree Jackson made the pass interference call by hustling too fast after his mistake and running into the receiver. The penalty really hurt the team. However, he demonstrated great coverage skills in getting the first of 3 interceptions by the Ducks. With tight man coverage he adjusted to the throw by Tyler and came up with the pick. Lots of learning growth needed by both the coaches and players. I like the reaction Coach Lanning gave in his post game interview! TT was playing incredibly fast. Oregon needs to get better at getting the play call in quicker 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mic No. 15 Share Posted September 11, 2023 On 9/10/2023 at 11:19 PM, 2002duck said: Seemed to me like Shough was playing like a desert lizard that a group of schoolchildren might try to catch for fun. They are sneaky little guys, but even 7 year-olds can catch them soon enough. Unfortunately for the Ducks, they took too long to see the little desert fellow's camouflage and strategies. Now that's a metaphor (!) we can sink our teeth into, er... maybe not.... do people eat them things? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solar No. 16 Share Posted September 11, 2023 (edited) On 9/10/2023 at 5:22 PM, Mike West said: One of my thoughts through all my frustration was intuitively, it seemed the team didn't know each other yet ( on defense). I get frustrated with safety play because the main rule for safeties is no one EVER gets behind you on your side of the field. That happened too much. Safeties tend to lock onto one receiver, much like a QB does. His focus must be cover outside in. It's a little complicated, but if we go back to the Spring Game, the first play of the game was a misread by the safety ( that's really an analysis article in the making). It makes sense, therefore, that the defense was out of sync because they looked out of position last week ( in my eyes) as well. It may be time for the coaching staff to dial back the whole set, and utilize what the players have mastered first, then introduce the concepts in practice until the players master the entire defense ( difficult to do given the conference has like ten thousand offenses lol). Texas Tech probably played into the scene as well, as it was difficult to determine what their strategy really was ( unlike several plays we continued to run all game despite Tech adjusting well to what Stein was trying to do). Again, I hate defensive sets that only place four men at the line of scrimmage against Spread Formations. Makes it nearly impossible to seal the edges. Also makes it somewhat easier to identify who is blitzing in my opinion. But that is too much detail. In general, the defense made plays more often than not. They also were pretty clutch on a consistent basis. If the gel as a unit, maybe they'll start imposing their will like we saw Miami do to A&M (gasp- Cristobal's team actually looked pretty good). I thought TT did a way better job of containment of the edges. The only time we held contain was when a Nickel read the play and came downhill fast enough to tackle for a loss. It's almost like we have no DEs. No position consistently has the responsibility to contain. Certainly it is a complex defense but I am baffled by a scheme that de-prioritizes the edge in the era of spread Os. If I had the time and brains I'd like to compare Avalos' 2019 multiple defense vs. Lupoi's multiple defense. Both are complex. And between the 2020 legacy recruits and the learning curve for transfers, we still aren't out of the woods with having personnel that can run a complex defense reliably. Definitely hoping for improvement as the season goes on. Edited September 11, 2023 by Solar 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mic No. 17 Share Posted September 12, 2023 On 9/11/2023 at 11:33 AM, Solar said: Definitely hoping for improvement as the season goes on. All of us are, desperately. Add to the softness at the edges (and almost hand-in-hand) is stoping a really good, mobile QB from running of the likes O is going to see from Colorado. And USC. And a host of others I can think of in this fantastic conference right now. That was the most caring defect I saw, from what little I did get to see. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Log Haulin No. 18 Share Posted September 12, 2023 Let's see... held an air raid to under 300 passing. Got hurt a little on TS running. 3 picks, one for six to ice it. 4 sacks, 5 if Mateo sack isnt negated by holding on TT. Beat an air raid team on the road in a similar environment to the Palouse. Very hostile crowd. A team that went 6-1 last year at home and beat Texas and Okie. Being the first game of the season (PSU doesn't count) I say the Ducks did pretty good. 1 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 19 Share Posted September 13, 2023 On 9/10/2023 at 4:40 PM, Charles Fischer said: I haven't time right now to get into it much with other forum duties. But I will admit that MindGames is right--we have not yet seen what we hoped for, and I thought Texas Tech would be an excellent indicator for us. They looked a step slow the whole game, and I have three main thoughts about the secondary. First--we have new people playing with each other and they have not meshed like a tight group becomes. It was a first start for Evan Williams, and I was surprised to see Jahlil Florence starting at corner and playing as much as he did with all the veteran corners we have. Dontae Manning played a ton and started versus Portland State--and not so much in Lubbock. A second area deals with knowing the Dan Lanning defense; they are still getting used to assignments in game-time series. I sense this defense is harder to learn, and once the learning curve takes place--it is worth it, but the learning curve appears to longer than I thought. A third area was our opponent; that was a very impressive offense, and I cannot tell how many times I was watching and just spoke out loud...."that is a great play." They had great play designs, with clever ways to attack the defense. This was a hard offense for newbies on defense to contain. I gotta tip my hat to TT, as they had some superb execution to create big plays. While painful, it is just what we needed in preparing for Colorado, OSU, WSU, Washington and USC... And MindGames MD? WELCOME to the forum, and do share your thoughts often! Charles, is the system too complicated? I witnessed good athletes working to be more 'in position' than exercising their athletic ability. But that's just me and I am not the X and O guru that you are. Oregon has an excellent roster but is it a roster developed to the point where it mirrors the Georgia roster? I don't think so. FWIW, not all that much, I see too much 'thinking' getting in the way of athleticism. I see a failure to communicate among the back 7. Yet, I also see a team that is 2-0 and a coach who is 12-3 so I'll defer to more knowledgeable folks like yourself and Coach Boles. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 20 Share Posted September 13, 2023 (edited) On 9/11/2023 at 12:53 PM, Log Haulin said: TT was playing incredibly fast. Oregon needs to get better at getting the play call in quicker Or, simply being able to react quicker on the field of play? Since Chip, how many Os will give you a lot of time to get signals in? Edited September 13, 2023 by Jon Joseph 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevada Dawg No. 21 Share Posted September 13, 2023 I thought that the secondary did enough to keep from being embarrassed on Saturday, but TTU hardly the kind of offenses that they will be facing soon. My first date to circle is the 23rd when I believe Colorado comes a-calling. As I was blacked out on ESPN due to the big media pis-ing contest, I got to see two games in which an incredibly accurate QB, S. Sanders, was dropping dimes on at least three swift and talented WRs. Our CBs had better be able to run and safteys offer support or there's likely to be trouble. As I'm confident the Ducks will move the ball on the Colorado defense, I am hoping this one doesn't become a shootout. With Washington, WAZZU, USC, and the Beaves with DJU on the schedule, we'll have ample opportunities to hopefully watch the secondary grow up and become formidable. Final iconic point: I laughed at the desert lizard analogy as I pictured an ungainly waddling duck trying hard to catch a zippy little lizard. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woundedknees No. 22 Share Posted September 13, 2023 The Duck could practice on a juvenile western skink... the bright blue tail makes 'em easier to spot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
