The difference of a QB in all the little things, and the knowledge of the offense and the defense you are going up against?  A newbie QB certainly would have scored, but not to that degree.  The difference of an experienced QB cannot be overstated, as it can offset other weaknesses of a team, and catapult a team that is good into great.

 

I am not real surprised at how much Oregon scored; I thought we would move the ball easily enough, and frankly was so surprised at how well an ol Chip Kelly Outside Zone Read did throughout the game. They were weaker at perimeter defense than I saw coming and I salute the defensive staff for identifying it.

 

I certainly thought that Liberty would not make the drops and mistakes they did on offense and would score more.  But I am quite happy with the result.  I was hoping we would rise to the occasion on defense, and we did.

 

I liked what I saw in Novasad after his first series, but the offense would have struggled without Nix. Ultimately, I think we would have ground out a relatively hard win because we were deeper, bigger, and faster than Liberty. But I think it would have been a nail biter for a while.

The Flames may have played with more confidence on both sides of the ball if not for Bo and the rest of the returning players hammering them into the ground on a regular basis.

Does anyone know why Brandon Dorlous did not play? Thought he was good to go.

If Austin started there would’ve been significant struggles on offense. I think they would have won in a squeaker but I don’t like to think about it 😛

On 1/1/2024 at 2:00 PM, Just Ducky said:

Does anyone know why Brandon Dorlous did not play? Thought he was good to go.

I could swear I saw No. 3 out there...but I did not hear his name!

Brandon’s name was not on the final stats and I kept looking for but never saw him. Pretty strange because he was alongside DL at the press conference.

I'd have to re-watch to confirm, but I swear I saw #3 go on, then come off, the field before Liberty ran their first play. I was wondering at the time if Dorlus was hurt.

I’m grateful that Bo decided to play, but without him I think that Oregon would have pounded the rock and still won the game comfortably.
 

Liberty did not deserve to play in a New Year’s bowl game (not a single victory against a top 25 team) and were at a severe disadvantage at the line of scrimmage and outside of the first drive did not score on Oregon’s defense. 

With six minutes and 22 seconds left in the first quarter, Oregon ran an overload blitz that made the Liberty quarterback throw the ball away. Dorlus was in on that play…

He was in the post game video, so he was there.

Novesad played well.  Obviously, his lack of experience lends to a more conservative playbook.  He made decent choices, went through his progressions, and moved the ball.

 

What makes Nix so effective is he adlibs so well.  His ability to adjust fluidly is remarkable.  

 

Novesad is very solid.  He is going to complete in that unit very well.  OBD may lose him if Moore develops as planned, but Austin can hold his own from what I've seen.

 

DG has some of the same playmaking capabilities that Bo has, so I don't see much of a downgrade at QB.