Heartbreak for the Ducks in Vegas

[FishDuck Article]

It was all on the line for Oregon on Friday night in Las Vegas, and they blew it. Not showing up for the first quarter was a pretty bad start. Being down 20-3 was never going to lead to an easy win ...

 

Heartbreak for the Ducks in Vegas

FISHDUCK.COM

---

It was all on the line for Oregon on Friday night in Las Vegas, and they blew it. Not showing up for the first quarter was a pretty bad start. Being...

[Dwain]

The Ducks did not look like the Ducks tonight. I really don't get it. Bucky didn't look like he had his usual "you can't knock me down" fight, and Bo's passing wasn't as sharp as we've seen all season. He wasn't hitting his receivers in stride and looked lost on plays. He lost the Heisman tonight. The defense couldn't get enough pressure on Penix, which opened up downfield options in the passing game and, therefore, allowed the Huskies to run the ball effectively too.

 

The Ducks defense allowed Washington to be balanced in their attack. The offense couldn't stay on the field. Everything seemed off tonight. I watched the game at Buckley's in Seattle and it really sucked. lol. The Ducks are better than what we saw tonight. 

 

[Haywarduck]

Heartbreak is one word, extreme disappointment, and then gratefulness for the effort of our team is the process I am going through.

 

I am grateful for the effort because it seemed like there was almost too much effort, sometimes, and not enough execution. We had a blitz where our guy was going to bowl over Penix, but another defender got in the way because he was trying too hard. You stay in your lane, execute what you are suppose to do.

 

Poor Bucky gave extreme effort, but didn't execute to the lane which his team had opened up. He ran right into a defender who was being blocked well, but the way Bucky decided to go, but that wasn't executing the play, which was there.

 

Disappointing all, but I am grateful for the effort. I am also grateful for Holden, who next year will give us more of what we saw at the end of the game. 

 

I am grateful and realize this is a setback, or really just an indication about where we are, were.

[Haywarduck]

The other thing I am awakened to realize is how quickly and simply my thinking on our coaches can swing. Stein was up for a head coaching job, Tosh was a genius, and Lanning had grown into a more seasoned coach. Within hours, really minutes, those feeling had been muted if not destroyed, at least temporarily.

 

The sky was the limit and then we hit that glass ceiling, again, called the dawgs. We were rising above the dawgs, actually were above the dawgs, but what happened. I mean the dawgs had the 93rd ranked defense and they shut us down, when they needed to, Stein failed us.

 

Their offense was rated below sc, and they made us look foolish, again, Tosh failed us. Lanning couldn't help either of these guys rise about his kryptonite, DeBoer!

 

I suppose this is life, you win some, you lose some, there will always be failure, but this was devastating. We believed in these coaches, and they failed. Like I said this is life, and they are our coaches, and I wouldn't have had anyone else. I just wish they could have been someone else, someone they will be, soon enough, but not soon enough last night.

 

[TexasDuck]

My uncle, a diehard Duck fan like no other, had a saying after a loss.  “Those dirty Ducks!”  I could just hear him saying that after the game last night.  Miss him.  

[Smith72]

I agree with Haywarduck and others.  They make great points.  I'm thankful and grateful for Coach Lanning and his staff.  The Ducks have been exciting and much improved over the previous staff.

 

I offer one new look at last night's game.  If I put myself in the shoes of a Husky player or coach and I'm 12 - 0.  I'm ranked #3 in the nation. 

 

And the media, the oddsmakers, and the whole world says the Ducks are going to beat you.  Then I would be pissed and highly motivated to prove everyone wrong.

 

Give a team of great players major motivation and you get what you saw.  Our Ducks stumbled at the start of the game.  They fell behind, but they fought back. They never gave up.

 

I'm proud of Our Beloved Ducks!

[Log Haulin]

In my opinion, Husky came to play from the jump, Ducks didn’t.  Ducks got flat out whooped by a better team and better coaching. 

 

Ducks aren't ready for the big boys yet. I thought they were but I was wrong. It was obvious Washington is the better team.

 

Physically, emotionally and mentally Oregon was out classed.

[HappyToBeADuck]

Set backs, tears and disappointment are part of the journey of life! Along with achievements, laughter and happiness.

 

Sometimes these opposite cousins show up at the same time. Nearly 16 years ago I sat near my Fathers bed in a hospice center.

 

We talked for hours and we shared stories of  lifes acievements and set backs. Brief moments of disappointments and volumes of acievements. Laughing and crying that brought tears to my eyes.

 

All these converged at the same time.....

 

A few hours later Dad's 90 year journey ended.  One of the many life lessons he shared was to accept and learn from your experiences as life unfolds. Good or bad, didnt matter as long as the experience enriched your life and you learned from it.

 

Of course last night was a deep disappointment. None of us, the players, coaches, fans or NIL investors, got the desired end goal desired, a PAC 12 Title......

 

Hopes and dreams take us to the highest peaks. Failure to achieve...... damn!

 

Took sometime before i could shut my mind off and fall sleep. Eventually I stopped counting what ifs and fell asleep.

 

During my duress I thought about where the Ducks were the last season of MC. The season started strong and ended with OBD's being blown out twice by Utah, destroyed by OU (until OU let off the pedal) and annililated by Georgia. All on national tv. What had happened to OBD's?

 

The journey was crushing. Many on this great Forum were already giving up on Coach Dan Lanning. Really? After 1 game?

 

Since leaving Atlanta the Ducks are 21-4. All 3 point losses against our bitter rivals. No more blow out losses because DL and staff fixed that.

 

They brought in key players to fill holes. They developed players, built depth and won almost 90% of their games. Well done....

 

Ryan, DL and staff will continue to bring in and develope talent. The improvement in the secondary from year 1 to year 2 was leaps and bounds. Year 3 will even be better.

 

This staff is solid and the compass is pointing north. TT will get his chance to take the reigns. This will be the best recruiting class ever! More freaks and high quality transfers will come via the portal.

 

DL and staff will get better as they gain experience and lessons.

 

Our hopes as fans will be rekindled and OBD's will get another chance ro put a cherry on top of a season.

 

To keep this in true respective, i will not have another bedside chat with Dad.....double damn!

 

This was a great season by the Ducks. Just not the greatest season. That is yet to come........

[Haywarduck]

Tough to understand the Ducks didn't comprehend the dawgs were going to come out to prove something. Seems like the Ducks believed the pundits, the dawgs came out to prove them wrong.

 

As Smith pointed out that was what determined the game. Even at the end of the game it was Oregon showing they should win, and the dawgs came out and again proving everyone wrong.

 

I tend to think this motivation won't last and the dawgs will disappoint in the playoffs again. That kind of motivation doesn't come along easy, nor do you often find a team asleep to that intensity. 

 

Oh well I just hope the Ducks can regroup and realize again what it takes to win a big one. A tough lesson, but an important one to learn.

 

We learned what it takes to win big from our first game under Lanning. We learned you have to be ready for everyone's best game, and best effort from this one, I hope!

[Mike West]

I believe there is one component missing in all of this.  This is going to be an unpopular take.

 

I believe the reason Washington looked so lethargic after we played them is they focused on their running game more.  They actually looked decent running the ball against us ( my opinion) the first time we played them. 

 

I believe they realized they would need to run more effectively period.  In order to win the Natty, they're going to have to run the ball well.

 

They already have an elite passing offense.  They will be tough to stop.  Because now, you have to stop their running game.  If you didn't notice it, they closed out the game running and passing effectively.  We couldn't focus ( based on the formations we used in my opinion) on both very effectively.

 

They correctly assessed, after our first game that they would need more balance in order to close out against us, AND the rest of the elite teams capable of winning the Natty.  They looked out of sync the rest of the season because there were tinkering with their play mix. 

 

We are the same type of team.  But we focus so much on balance that it takes a quarter for us to unleash our awesome downfield passing game (that's not our true focus).   

 

They made absolutely sure we would have to pass well on early downs if we wanted to win.  It took Stein a quarter to find the right mix of plays to do that.  Then he turned off the spigot at the beginning of the fourth quarter.  That was a mistake. 

 

The same thing happened on the drive we decided to go for it ( on 4th down) in Seattle.  In reality, we should have focused on scoring, not controlling the ball till the end ( which is what they expected us to do).

 

There is no ball control strategy against an explosive offense like theirs and ours.  The goal must be score TDs on every drive you can, with a heavy dose of explosive plays. Same with playing Georgia.  You need to be extremely agressive.  Especially when you have the personell, like we have.

 

Washington is going to surprise people in the playoffs.  People are going to assume the best defenses are going to shut them down.  That's not going to happen.  Even Georgia is going to have to decide how they're going to slow down both the run and the pass because the Fuskies showed they can handle a physical defense.

 

I say a 5 man front is required to slow them down now ( five guys on the line of scrimmage that is, not five down lineman).  In any event, there isn't a secondary that can contain Washington now that McMillan is back.  We learned that the hard way.

 

It will be interesting to see if Nix plays in the Bowl Game.  It would be a great opportunity for TT to determine just how much work he has ahead of him if Nix doesn't.  I don't believe TT has the freestyle ability Nix has.  That is absolutely necessary in Will Stein's offense ) by the way I doubt Nix was given that choice this game based on the way it looked- Nix didn't audible much last night). 

 

Our future is bright everyone.  Lots to self assess.  I believe we have the right staff to do so.  If they pay attention to us ( really laugh out loud folks.  But know this, we have an astute forum here). 

[Duckhart2]

Our secondary needs to improve if we want to be contenders. All the talk was bout how bad WA secondary was but they outplayed ours.

[Wood Duck]

11-2 is a pretty great season, but oh how painful it is to think the effin' huskies will be the last champions of the "conference of champions", for ever and ever.

That just stinks.

[1Ducker1]

Its hard to believe that with all the recruiting hoopla for the Ducks the Fuskies had better players. Maybe there is a lesson here?

[Akubra91]

It was hard to watch the game.  The players, for whatever reason, weren't ready to play, at the start at least.  Also, Lanning, Lupoi and Stein were out coached AGAIN by Washington. What happened to the offensive line and defensive line, they were pushed around the whole game?  Washington wanted the game more than the Ducks.

[Triphibius]

I was not at the game and I am not a coach. That said, I am inclined to agree with Akubra. My kudos also to Mike West for his various comments. 

 

The UW came to play. If the UO was a bit flat at the outset, let's give them some credit for a spirited and nearly successful comeback. Dorlus was a split second from changing the game's outcome. 

 

What went wrong? Beginning with the first series, the UW frequently lined up on defense with four defensive linemen and three linebackers in a line four yards behind them and the UO repeatedly ran into that mass of bodies for a minimal gain. In previous games, Bo would have looked at the formation and changed the play call. Not this time. My assumption was that Bo was under instructions not to call audibles. At times, I thought Mario Cristobal was in the booth calling our plays.

 

If I am not mistaken, this alignment would have been vulnerable to almost any sort of intermediate route taking advantage of the edge in speed we had at two ot the three receiver positions. 

 

Will Stein deserves much credit for the nation-leading statisfical performance of the UO offense this year. However, the lack of adaptation to the opponent's defensive plan is puzzling. My tentative conclusion is that the UW staff is still outperforming the inspiring but young Oregon staff. That was the crucial difference. 

 

 

[DanLduck]

IMHO, UW made better adjustments from 1st game.

 

They brought in an extra blocker every time and picked up the delayed linebacker blitz.

 

They tweeked something on their quick out passes so that our lb's were blocked when they reacted quickly. We slowed these down much more in 1st game.

 

I think our db's did a great job. Probably the best group of WR's in CFB, and a QB that throws laser guided missiles. You cant stop them, you can only try to minimize them. But our run defense gave up too much.

 

I also think they keyed on stopping Bucky so well that he started doubting and he played poorly for him.

 

I think for whatever reason, Bo was not his best. Even then he was pretty amazing.

 

All in all, we played perhaps worst game of the year, and lost by 3 pts to a very good team.

We are a very good team.

 

Gotta give credit to UW. They did beat us. The officiating didn't cost us. We didn't make a lot of mistakes. 3 of 10 3rd downs, gotta give some credit to defense. 

 

I hate losing.

I hate losing to UW more.

But our guys had a great run and an amazing year. Our coaches will keep learning and improving. Our recruiting classes will continue to be great. We are on the right trajectory. 

 

Sco Ducks!