FishDuck Article Administrator No. 1 Share Posted October 25, 2023 Another must-win game approaches this Saturday, and our Oregon Ducks football program has a lot of work to do if they’re going to beat the Utes on the road. Last week, the Ducks bounced back against Washington State, putting up a very comfortable 38 points to the Cougs’ 24. This was more or less to be expected, but it was ... Ducks Football: 5 Keys to Beating Utah on the Road FISHDUCK.COM Another must-win game approaches this Saturday, and our Oregon Ducks football program has a lot of work to do if they're going to beat... 1 1 1 1 Two Sites: FishDuck and the Our Beloved Ducks forum, The only "Forum with Decorum!" And All-Volunteer? What a wonderful community of Duck fans! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Log Haulin No. 2 Share Posted October 25, 2023 Great keys Alex. Oregon got sloppy of penalties last week v. Cougs. As said in the article, the Franklin TD got erased. There was also the T Furg play (amazing effort) that got called back. Not a lot of penalty yard surrendered but timing is everything. Ducks have to play a clean game. On an individual note, I am looking to see some better play out of Conerly in pass pro. Trice manhandled him a bit. Utes have a strong front 7 and JCJ will be tested again. Conerly is moving bodies in the run game but getting a little beat up on passing downs. Going to be a great game 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven A Moderator No. 3 Share Posted October 25, 2023 On 10/25/2023 at 2:53 AM, Log Haulin said: penalties last week Good article Alex. Cornelious needs to play a much cleaner game along with all of the O-Line. No getting behind the chains or erasing points. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastBayDuckDad Moderator No. 4 Share Posted October 25, 2023 It'll all come down to O-line play. Win at the line of scrimmage and minimize drive killing holding, false start and ineligible downfield penalties. The Utes have legit D linemen that will make life tough for our tackles. Utah will be missing their very good starting play calling ILB Barton, who went down in the U$C game. If the O-line can get Bucky to the second level he'll get yards. Hopefully there will be opportunities in the passing/RPO game to take advantage of the short middle zone as well. Then Tez and Troy will get a chance to open it up. With so many injuries the Utes don't have the quality depth they normally do and Oregon needs to grind them down with the run game. If the Ducks can start strong and get up by two scores, it'll be hard for Utah to respond in kind. I'm not minimizing the Utah offense, but they are not built to stretch the field with their 2☆ QB and repurposed skill players. They still have a very good ground game and Oregon's D will have to slow them down. If it's close going into the 4th quarter, the relative lack of depth should allow the Ducks to wear down the defense. Then they use the run game and ball control to win. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 5 Share Posted October 25, 2023 (edited) Thanks, Alex. Heisman - An even better chance for Bo to move up with College GameDay in town. EastBay, great call on Barton. The loss of stud LB Landon Barton, 46 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 2 interceptions, and a fumble recovery, may be the injury that breaks the Utes back. In 2022, Barton was the Pac-12 Frosh player of the year on D and a consensus Frosh All-America. A large presence on D at 6'4" and 242 pounds. Barton will be replaced by Stanford transfer Levani Damuni who has played in 5 games this season. With Oregon averaging 6.8 yards a rush, #1 in the nation, I expect that Utah will miss Barton. And having a guy, Jestin Jacobs, with measurables size-wise to Barton, on the field at LB for Oregon will help against Utah's run game. Last week in his first game in a long time, Jacobs had 6 tackles including a sack (his 1st ever) and a TFL. Should be a terrific heavyweight fight. Oregon comes in as the favorite, -6.5. Edited October 25, 2023 by Jon Joseph 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 6 Share Posted October 25, 2023 (edited) Good comments above on Connerly and Cornelius, but both were going against terrific DEs. Trice is an NFL guy for certain. Trice and WSU's Ron Stone, Jr. are both finalists for the Nagurski Award. Cornelius to date has allowed only 2 QB hurries. And has been an impressive addition to the OL. One of ESPN's 50 most impactful new players. I felt that the holding call on Cornelius that brought back the Franklin TD was borderline. Especially compared to the OL muggings in the Ohio State - Penn State game that went uncalled. Without these 2 guys, the Ducks would not be leading the nation in run yards per play, 6.8. Edited October 25, 2023 by Jon Joseph 2 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudslide No. 7 Share Posted October 25, 2023 Great keys, Alex. But I would add one caveat to our rushing attack. I fear that BI and JJ, even though practicing, will still be nursing some ouchies due to their injuries against WSU. Hopefully each of these rockets will be healthy enough to ignite the Duck's rushing attack. But even at less than 100%, each is capable to go for 100. GO DUCKS! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 8 Share Posted October 25, 2023 The Inside College Football's Sportsline computer simulation, calls it 27 - 25 Ducks. GULP! Please pass the Mylanta. Just Win Puddles! 3 of the 4 Inside experts pick Oregon. OREGON has to end this streak: 6 straight losses at neutral sites and on the road vs. Top 25 opponents. Should Danno invite Road Warrior, Mel Gibson, to watch the game on the Ducks sideline? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanLduck No. 9 Share Posted October 25, 2023 Control the line of scrimmage. It may be something always said, but very true this time. Utah has a great defense. They play hard, fast and tackle well. They are very good at getting to the qb. They also have to rely on their run game. They cannot depend on the pass. They call a lot of qb runs, swapping personnel at qb. So, we need to slow down their run game. Bring the safeties up regularly. Play lock down coverage on the wr's. We have the personnel to do it. Popo, Taki, Brandon can close up the middle, and our edge boys must contain. LB's are improved with Jacobs now playing. With Kyree back, I'm feeling very good about shutting down the Utah offense. They haven't played a team as good or as deep as us yet. We will need a good run game. Both Bucky and James are hard to bring down, they both need to continue their excellent play. Lastly, no costly penalties. This is a tough one. I think Oregon has suffered from more bad calls (and bad non-calls) than from actual bad play. At least in recent games. And we can do nothing about that, except to play as clean and as hard as we can. If we play as we are capable, and the officiating is reasonable and at least equitable, I really think we can win this game comfortably. Shut down the run. Protect Bo. Run the ball successfully. Do that we win big. Nothing to it. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirklandduck Moderator No. 10 Share Posted October 25, 2023 Honestly I think the key to the game will be Nix pulling the ball and running. He has hardly done that at all this season and with a defense like Utah's, it's an absolute must to use that to spread it out thin so that opportunities can be created more easily for the running backs. Subsequently that opens up passing opportunities when they try to stop the run. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drake Moderator No. 11 Share Posted October 25, 2023 Our depth on defense will be key in this game. It is easy to get winded playing at the altitude of their stadium. If the Ducks can get their yards with the running game, then I expect Nix to outshine the Utes QB with the passing game. The weather doesn’t appear to be a factor in this game. I take the Ducks to cover. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 12 Share Posted October 26, 2023 I'm going to keep it simple; Utah likes to run the ball, and the reserve QB is an adequate, but not a great passer. Can his passing outscore Oregon? No. Pack the box, run a Cover-1 or Man-Free and make the Utes outscore us through the air. I don't think they can... 1 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solar No. 13 Share Posted October 26, 2023 On 10/25/2023 at 6:23 PM, Charles Fischer said: I'm going to keep it simple; Utah likes to run the ball, and the reserve QB is an adequate, but not a great passer. Can his passing outscore Oregon? No. Pack the box, run a Cover-1 or Man-Free and make the Utes outscore us through the air. I don't think they can... That will also give us the option to bring some serious pressure, while keeping Barnes contained if they do pass. I do agree it will be to our advantage to play aggressive on defense. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuckHeart No. 14 Share Posted October 26, 2023 Convert on 3rd down. Ducks do that and they win. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
