Sleepy Ducks Oust Cougs in Autzen

[FishDuck Article]

What can you say? It was Washington State. I was surprised to learn, as the Ducks came out in victory formation, that Oregon has won five consecutive games against the Cougars. No really, they have won three straight at Autzen Stadium, and two straight in Pullman. It seems like the Cougs are always a thorn in the side of Oregon. But after ...

 

Sleepy Ducks Oust Cougs in Autzen

FISHDUCK.COM

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What can you say? It was Washington State. I was surprised to learn, as the Ducks came out in victory formation, that Oregon has won five...

[The Kamikaze Kid]

"Will Stein remains a suspect play caller." What's with all the Will Stein bashing? I keep hearing how he needs a mentor and nearly every decision gets questioned. The season is now a little over halfway over. Let's check in on how bad the offense is doing this year.

 

Points per game: 47.0 National rank: 2nd (LSU is 1st at 47.4)

Yards per game: 553 National Rank: 1st

 

Maybe just maybe Stein actually knows what he's doing.

[Smith72]

Thanks Ryan for writing today's article.  The Ducks were struggling at times.  But in my humble opinion when our program is highly ranked and favored we're going to get an opponent's best game! No matter how bad they performed the prior week.

 

The Cougar QB is an outstanding quarterback!  He's a perfect fit for the air raid system - quick read, quick release, and very mobile.  He has good receivers!

 

Both of our Coordinators, Offense and Defense, are making in game adjustments.  The whole staff is doing a good job of in game coaching!

 

Every athletic contest is going to be intense.  To win you must survive the storm and exert your will.  I'm proud of our Ducks, players and coaches for playing all sixty minutes!

[Haywarduck]

Great article and sleepy they were. It was almost like they were napping, woke up long enough to put them away, and then back to the nap.

 

Hopefully our Ducks were napping so they could be rested for the trip to SLC and the challenge the Utes will provide. 

 

Come this Saturday it will be big boy time, no naps. The Utes will take our full attention and nobody, coaches or players will be able to nap come game time or they will be looking for shoulders to cry on.

 

At least we didn't go down to Arizona and fall asleep with the devils, and we better not!

 

Another note Jacobs looked solid, actually better than solid, and will be important as the season moves on. 6 tackles and a sack in his first game for Oregon was, hopefully, a preview of bigger things to come. As he integrates into the defense our level of play should rise!

 

 

 

 

[Ducko]

Great read and I to think offensive play calling yesterday and against Washington was uncreative and poorly conceived.
 

Did you watch the ASU vs Washington game last night?  The 1-6 Sundevil’s forced 4 turnovers and held the Huskies to 288 yards of total offense.  We all believed that this years ASU team would be strong on offense and weak on D.  The opposite appears to be true.  Hopefully Tosh watched or will watch that game and learn.

 

I think Oregons defense took a step back against WSU.

[Mudslide]

Ryan, thank you for the article.  But I think you've been a bit too harsh on the Duck's performance and the OC especially.  There are solid reasons for most of the play calls, none of which were designed to make us the fans ... excited.  As noted above, the Ducks almost lead the country in scoring.  And you simply can't have 60-point offensive outputs every week.

 

The desert air might be getting a little depressive down there in Sierra Vista lately.  Irritability can come easily.  I know, I've spent too much time there.  I suggest heading over to the Huachucas for some javelina hunting in order to clear football frustrations.

 

 

[Log Haulin]

On 10/22/2023 at 8:08 AM, Ducko said:

 

I think Oregons defense took a step back against WSU.

Oregon had 6 sacks v. Cougs. That 1/3  of the sacks given up by cougs this season.

 

Oregon held cougs to their lowest point total of the season. And if it wasn't for a garbage time TD by cougs,  Ducks would have held them below avg in points given up by Ducks.

 

Cam Ward is one of the best at backyard broken play football. It's actually fun to watch when he isn't playing the Duck. 

 

As I said, 6 sacks. And it's in those 6 sacks that shows truely how dangerous Ward is with his legs.

 

Stat line has Cam rushung for 30 yards on 11 carries with a long of 18 yards. That leaves 12 yards on 10 carries with 6 being sacks. 

 

Don't know the exact math but that puts those sacks somewhere around the LOS. Thats Cams skill and shows how elusive the man is. And he still couldn't find a down field play. 

 

I thought the D played decent, not great. And Saturday was a day of questioning for many top teams across the nation. Just one of those weeks.

 

D will be fine. Just one more game that moves the needle a little more right in terms of getting to the peak needed at the end of the season. 

[Charles Fischer]

I think you make a valid point about Washington State, Ryan, in that the Cougars have almost been as troublesome as Stanford has been over the long term, inexplicably....for the Ducks.

 

At times, I too question an occasional play-call, but then I forget about the great plays and assume they are supposed to happen. To have our offense perform as it is with four new starters on the offensive line, and two new starters at receiver with a 33 year old OC who is still learning what he can do at this level...??

 

 

No!  Count our blessings...

[Charles Fischer]

On 10/22/2023 at 8:51 AM, Log Haulin said:

Cam Ward is one of the best at backyard broken play football. It's actually fun to watch when he isn't playing the Duck. 

 

As I said, 6 sacks. And it's in those 6 sacks that shows truely how dangerous Ward is with his legs.

We did really well against him considering what he did to us last year, what Drake Maye and Tyler Shough did against us as well.  This is why coaches like dual-threat QBs, as they really stress a defense.

[EastBayDuckDad]

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.

[Just Ducky]

 Let’s face it, road games are a struggle for the ducks. We start slow and seem to play catch-up later in the game. A huge test coming up next week. Utah will be a tough out at home so we better be ready to play at the opening bell. And please no more wide receiver screens. We need to run and pass down hill.

[Washington Waddler]

     When teams undergo the emotional extremes that marked the game in Seattle, the following week of practice can only partially limit an inevitable hangover from that experience going into their next game. While the Ducks shook it off after one quarter, it almost did in the mutts to the worst team in the PAC 12.

[Mic]

If i'd known before hand Cam Ward was gonna throw for over 435 yards in this one (w/o a TO) I'd thought - uh oh!  Oregon's got to somehow get the passing game reeled in.  It's how Penix beat them and how WSU, without a running attack whatsoever hung in there as long as they did in the 1st Half.  

[Log Haulin]

On 10/22/2023 at 9:53 AM, Mic said:

If i'd known before hand Cam Ward was gonna throw for over 435 yards in this one (w/o a TO) I'd thought - uh oh!  Oregon's got to somehow get the passing game reeled in.  It's how Penix beat them and how WSU, without a running attack whatsoever hung in there as long as they did in the 1st Half.  

Penix only threw for 300ish. Well below his avg. Washington rushing attack produced above season avg. There were a handful of things outside of Penix arm that did in the Ducks. It's been discussed here over and over. 

[Mic]

On 10/22/2023 at 9:58 AM, Log Haulin said:

Penix only threw for 300ish. Well below his avg. Washington rushing attack produced above season avg. There were a handful of things outside of Penix arm that did in the Ducks. It's been discussed here over and over. 

I was thinking of that last series for Washington.  37 seconds to the end zone.  O's db's do a pretty good job - most of the time - but they're vulnerable at certain times, sometimes the worst times.  It's not a knock on them individually.  Just an observation.  438 yards is a lot to give a team in the air.  Though it's all WSU had has offense.

[OregonDucks]

On 10/22/2023 at 6:47 AM, The Kamikaze Kid said:

"Will Stein remains a suspect play caller." What's with all the Will Stein bashing? I keep hearing how he needs a mentor and nearly every decision gets questioned. The season is now a little over halfway over. Let's check in on how bad the offense is doing this year.

 

Points per game: 47.0 National rank: 2nd (LSU is 1st at 47.4)

Yards per game: 553 National Rank: 1st

 

Maybe just maybe Stein actually knows what he's doing.

 

If you take out the Portland State game, the per game scoring average decreases to 41.3 and in conference games Oregon has averaged 38.8 ppg.  That's still good but we also have the most experienced QB in the history of college football and a Heisman contender running the offense this year.  How much is that due to Bo Nix vs. Will Stein?

 

Will Stein is a good offensive coordinator but hasn't blown me away with his play calling abilities.  Oregon's offense seems to come out at the start of games flat.  Does he script plays for the first drive?

 

I like what I've seen with the development of the backup QBs so I'm excited about his player development but he can definitely improve his play design and play calling, IMHO.

[Log Haulin]

On 10/22/2023 at 10:25 AM, OregonDucks said:

Does he script plays for the first drive?

I am pretty sure the first 10-15 plays are scripted. Not positive. It tackes a series of plays to figure out what the defense is keying up on and what they are giving. Scripts help do that.

 

If they are scripted, it seems the opposition has the script. But once the D shows their hand and adjustment are made, Oregon stacks TD drives and pulls out in front.

 

What we call slow starts could be setting the board to take the queen. As long as Ducks D keeps coming out fast and hard as they have been, Ducks will keep winning.

[HappyToBeADuck]

Ryan, thanks for your article. I like your obserations and viewpoint. And once again, the Forum posters are just spot on.

 

What a great Forum Charles has created, with awesome writers like you Ryan!

 

Sleepy start? Maybe.....

 

Heres my take.......

 

Normally the first 2 series each team is getting a feel for the other teams game plan. Then the adjustments are made.

 

Cougs opened with 7 plays, 1 first down and a punt.....

 

Ducks opened with 5 plays, 75 yards and TD. But a holding penalty negated the TD. Next play Ducks get most of the yardage back but miss the FG attempt.

 

Cougs take over on downs and slowly move down field and put 3 on the board. Ward scrambled and converted a couple 3rd down plays.

 

Ducks start their 2nd drive at the 25 yard line. 4 plays and 65 yards later they are at the Cougs 10 yardline. Then one play later 3 Duck lineman were flagged for being illegally down field. 3 failed plays later 3 points on Cam's FG. (Happy for Cam and his parents 

 

IMHO, it wasnt play calling by Stein but penalties that kept 14 points off the board. Clean that stuff up on offense big boys......

 

The Duck D, minus 2 key defenders, as others have mentioned, made the Cougars earn every yard on every play. Well done holding Ward and the Cougs well under their scoring average. 

 

The Duck D has held to scoring machine offenses with NFL QB's well below their scoring averages. The 2 deep unit is improving each week. A true improvement!

 

So what happened after the 2 possession feel out period?

 

The Coug coaching staff knew that only the Duck offense would stop thenselves from scoring. So best we keep Bo and company off the field. 

 

They also realized the Duck D would give them nothing easy. So they took what Oregon gave them. About 300 first yards and what 13 ooints?

 

The Cougs chewed clock and limited the Duck offense's play opportunities. Didn't matter once the adjustments were made by Stein midway in the 2nd quarter. Ducks scored 5 TD's the last 37 minutes of the game.

 

This game was never in doubt at halftime.. 

 

If Bo had more possessions there would have been more Duck points. I think the Cougs had 8 more minutes of possession time than the Ducks.

 

The Duck D adjustments at the half were spot on. 3 second half points and a late garbage time TD. For me, nothing to complain about compared to last year!

 

I try not to judge the first 15-20 minutes of any competitive game. The opponent is fresh, fired up and working a game plan based on game film, patterns and tendencies.

 

It's the adjustments and the player performance that counts. Along with the  the scoreboard 38-24 Duck win.

 

The putrid huskies never adjusted to Dillys game plan. They played just like their name, putrid. ASU had to find a way to give the huskies a win.

 

The Cougars never had a chance!

 

6-1 going to Utah is right where most people figured the Ducks would be. Top 10 team with a great deal of national air time.

 

Now we play a team that finds a way to win, whether home or away. They are almost unbeatable at home. They are the 2 time defending PAC champs......

 

However, this Duck team is vastly improved from last year. Balanced offensively with multiple threats. The Duck D has skilled talent and depth.

 

We will know around 4:30 pm next Saturday afternoon if this Duck team is a CFP caliber team. A CFP team will win this game......

 

Go Ducks......

[1Ducker1]

The Ducks looked slow at first-not good, however they looked better than the Fuskies. College ball is what it is.

Edited October 22, 2023 by 1Ducker1

[Steven A]

After watching the Utah game, our coaches better be working overtime as their D was really good at stopping sc plays that we like to run.

 

Fortunately, or unfortunately, we have nothing to judge Utah's O scheme against since it was sc ?D? that it was going against.

[Haywarduck]

Sparking Stein is valid in my opinion. He does deserve kudos, but you have to get your O performing when it counts.

 

Whether it is penalties, or execution, when it counts, those will need to cleaned up against the Utes. 

 

It is easy to say Stein deserves lots of credit based on blindly totaling up stats and going wow! We also need to look at critical moments and see how the performance is. 

 

This weekend will be another opportunity to go against a focused opponent, this time a guy who prides himself on defense, and again on the road.

 

I don't care so much about leading statistically, or winning all the recruiting battles, it is on the field and the practice field where the real wins happen.

 

Keep criticizing Ryan, until we get that natty, there is plenty to criticize! 

[Jon Joseph]

Puddles best be wide awake flying into SLC to take on The Wizard of Wasatch (thanks, Jon Wilner) and his gritty group.

 

This Saturday's game is the CFB Game of the Day, #9 at #13, on a day that features but 2 top 25 vs. top 25 matchups. (The other game is 20.Duke at 18. Louisville.)

 

Utah will be fired up after its great win and LA.

[DrJacksPlaidPants]

Sure, it took them a while to get going, but the only guy I saw sleeping out there was Devin Richardson (#8 for WSU) before Herbert trucked him. I can only imagine how the film review will go for him on that play

[Phunteratc]

On 10/22/2023 at 4:37 PM, DrJacksPlaidPants said:

Sure, it took them a while to get going, but the only guy I saw sleeping out there was Devin Richardson (#8 for WSU) before Herbert trucked him. I can only imagine how the film review will go for him on that play

Not just film review. It has been played and highlighted on all the national college game programs. That play might fit into a Duck highlight reel or hype video for years to come.

 

[OregonDucks]

On 10/22/2023 at 5:21 PM, Phunteratc said:

Not just film review. It has been played and highlighted on all the national college game programs. That play might fit into a Duck highlight reel or hype video for years to come.

 

 

That play happened right in front of us.  I was shocked that the WSU defensive player just stopped playing.  It was like he either thought that the play was over or was distracted by something (e.g., something or someone on the sidelines or stands). He paid the price because #88 didn't stop playing...

 

Cam Ward also had a strange play, where he just stopped, like he thought the whistle blew.  Very strange plays.

[Jon Sousa]

On slow starts:  In the first quarter both teams are up and ready to go. Everyone is fresh. NOBODY is tired or warn out.

 

I remember the CK days where we would blow people out of the water... but it was seldom in the first half against a good team. The lightening fast plays wore people down so that, by the second half, they were getting totally gassed... and the rout was on.

 

I stated last week that I was confident that the Ducks would win the second half - because we were rotating in D-linemen and they couldn't rotate in as many O-linemen. We did win the second half, but only by one point. UW often scored so fast that their line didn't have time to get too tired.

 

We saw the same thing against WSU this weekend. They played us close the first quarter, not so good the second, lousy in the third, and better in the fourth - which was garbage time.

 

Same thing with Stanford. Folks thought we were sleeping, but Stanford had a good game plan and played it well for one quarter. Then they got gassed and couldn't do anything.

 

When the first half is close, don't blame the coaches or the players. Give credit to the other team, and feel for them, because in the second half they will start to feel the hurt from not having as many 1b players to rotate in as the Ducks have.

 

Speaking of feeling the hurt, towards the end of the game last week, Penix was feeling the hurt. I was surprised and impressed that he stayed in the game and was effective. If we were playing 5 quarters, the Ducks would have won by two touchdowns.

[Log Haulin]

I dont know that it was a slow start. Oregon moved the ball down the field pretty easy first two drives. The first half went like this.

 

Missed fg

Fg

Punt

Td (no 2pt attempt)

Td (no 2pt attempt) 

End of half

 

Lanning went for the FG's and punts this week instead of being aggressive on 4th down. So the negative narrative now changes?

 

Last week it was "take the damn points". This week it is "slow starts".

 

One punt was a pooch by Nix from similar field position as one of the 4th attempts v. Fusky.

 

Lanning toned down the aggression this week. It's what many argued for. Ducks 0/0 on 4th down and kicked fg's or punted. 

 

For me, I hope he gets aggresive again. Much more fun to watch. If Ducks settle for fg attempts with an unstable kicker v. Utes, could be a long day.

 

But... clean up the penalties in the red zone and eliminate the need for aggressive 4th downs and missed fg's. 

[Just Ducky]

If it is true that other teams come out more aggressive then is a simple reaction is to make them pay for their aggression. Wide receiver screens and runs parallel to the line of scrimmage are not the way to do it. Passes to tight ends and crossing routes however are.

 

So far we’ve been predictable to start. Taking advantage of aggressive defenses has always been attacking them.

[DrJacksPlaidPants]

On 10/22/2023 at 8:21 PM, Phunteratc said:

Not just film review. It has been played and highlighted on all the national college game programs. That play might fit into a Duck highlight reel or hype video for years to come.

 

When I was in college (small D2 school) we dreaded film review worse than anything. I think I still have PTSD. We reviewed the game film on Mondays, so we had 2 days of dread (win or lose) in anticipation of the impending butt-chewings if we didn’t play up to standard. Our HC was an old school guy who played for Arkansas in the 50’s and he didn’t tolerate mistakes very well. But, if you showed a lack of effort, real or perceived, then it was 10 times worse.
 

If one of us did what WSU’s #8 did then our HC would rewind the play no less than 10-15 times, so we had to watch it over and over. All this while going on a tirade. We would be accused of everything from looking for our girlfriends or parents in the stands to not caring about the game or just flat out cowardice. The message was if you’re going to do something stupid then do it at full speed. Afterward, we would practice and it would be on to the next opponent. 
 

Great memories. When my old teammates get together we still do imitations of our old coach tearing us a new one. 

[Desert Duck]

On 10/22/2023 at 8:12 AM, Mudslide said:

Ryan, thank you for the article.  But I think you've been a bit too harsh on the Duck's performance and the OC especially.  There are solid reasons for most of the play calls, none of which were designed to make us the fans ... excited.  As noted above, the Ducks almost lead the country in scoring.  And you simply can't have 60-point offensive outputs every week.

 

The desert air might be getting a little depressive down there in Sierra Vista lately.  Irritability can come easily.  I know, I've spent too much time there.  I suggest heading over to the Huachucas for some javelina hunting in order to clear football frustrations.

 

 

Plus, we're finally coming into the best weather in the nation down here. Can't wait for the ASU game in Tempe in a few weeks.