FishDuck Article Administrator No. 1 Share Posted September 3 The season is not over. The end is not near. The sky is not falling. While Oregon’s lackluster play against the Idaho Vandals raises concerns, let history be our guide as we clear our heads and realize that one poor performance does not make a season. For, let us not forget a couple of other bad first games in recent ... Oregon Football: The Sky is Not Falling | FishDuck FISHDUCK.COM Darren Perkins of FishDuck.com believes that Oregon fans should hold off on thinking that the season is already a disaster. 1 4 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...
Drake Moderator No. 2 Share Posted September 3 Nobody expected to see the Ducks struggle to score points. Part of it is execution from players, and part is the decisions that the coaching staff made before, and during the game. The rest of the season relies on improvements from both coaches and players . Having depth is great, but having starters that can play together is much more important than having a bunch of highly rated players that cant execute as a team. This team will play better, and we will find if that takes more than two games on Saturday. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 3 Share Posted September 3 Nice examples Darren, and the biggest difference is that we LOST those games, while this time we simply got our pride hurt. 1 1 1 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck No. 4 Share Posted September 3 (edited) The sky isn't falling. Yet. But after the close win over Idaho, it is teetering. A lot of my concern is who the Ducks are playing this Saturday. So far, Boise State does OWN Oregon, 3-0. How Oregon is favored by 19.5 makes no sense. To win this game, the players are going to have to own the field, and Lanning is going to have to be right on every decision. If the Ducks had handled Idaho as they were expected to. the tension level of this game would be a lot lower. Losing to Georgia didn't cause any hang wringing. But Idaho isn't Georgia, so there's more pressure on the second game of this season than any I can remember. Edited September 3 by 30Duck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 5 Share Posted September 3 I will have an article on Friday looking at the issues, and what to watch for versus BSU. I am seeing the issues on the O-Line, and most are correctable... 1 2 6 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 6 Share Posted September 3 On 9/3/2024 at 9:04 AM, 30Duck said: How Oregon is favored by 19.5 makes no sense Two reasons... 1. Anyone who watched the game could see that this Duck team was lacking in energy and meeting its potential. Gabriel did throw for a ton of yards but the Ducks failed to punch in all those yards into points. Fix some of the red zone mistakes and the Ducks score 40, a good many of those mistakes were self inflicted. Those would all be cleaned up in a week. 2. Betting lines are designed to encourage people to bet. A lot of people still feel the Ducks should win by 19.5 points this Saturday or a lot of people feel that's not possible. Betting lines are less about the outcome and more about getting people to separate themselves from their money and to do that it's about creating a line that feels plausible one way or another. 1 1 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck No. 7 Share Posted September 3 On 9/3/2024 at 9:32 AM, David Marsh said: and to do that it's about creating a line that feels plausible one way or another. Agreed. Perhaps there are more out there who are confident that Oregon will cover at -19.5 than I believe there are. I feel that a lot more will take Boise State and the points. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyToBeADuck No. 8 Share Posted September 3 Injuiries to key starters on either side of the ball will affect and disrupt continuity. And the score. . With Bedford out, the starting center had to move to right guard, I believe. That forced DL to use a walk on at center. Thus the starting 5 linemen, who had been working together all summer long were now disrupted. That walkon had no bad or fumbled snaps that i remember. Ask yourself how long does it take for a makeshift line to have timing, flow, continuity and trust together? The sky didn't fall. The Ducks werent able ti field their starting O Line. Injuries happen but the Ducks won the game. My hat is off to DG , the make shift line and O for putting up near 500 yards. Timing issues caused procedure penalties that killed promising drives. Ducks played well enough to score 40 plus. Idaho did not stop the Ducks. The Ducks stopped themselves. I look forward to Charles article on the O line. My concern was our tackles. They were dominated on the edges and DG got very little time to go thru progressions. That is a major concern..... Those tackles are veterans with no excuses. Bring your A plus effort or sit on the sidelines. As others have stated these are fixable issues that DL and staff will get fixed. Also, lets not make BSU appear as some Power 4 mega monster. Their running back has gained his rushing yards against the Mountain West and G5 defenses. They gave up 45 points to Georgia Southern.........45? BSU is a good squad and capable of the upset. Oregon should win by at least 3 scores as long as the line play and protection is there. Go Ducks....... 2 3 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck No. 9 Share Posted September 3 On 9/3/2024 at 9:48 AM, HappyToBeADuck said: BSU is a good squad and capable of the upset. Oregon should win by at least 3 scores as long as the line play and protection is there. Loving the objective optimism. I might have too much Eeyore. 1 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 10 Share Posted September 3 On 9/3/2024 at 9:59 AM, 30Duck said: Loving the objective optimism. I might have too much Eeyore. Right now I am personally putting forward more optimism than I feel. Kinda trying to force myself to be happier than I actually am about the outcome of that game. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 11 Share Posted September 3 On 9/3/2024 at 10:10 AM, David Marsh said: Kinda trying to force myself to be happier than I actually am about the outcome of that game. I was at first, but now looking at stuff in slow-motion...I am feeling better. Most is quite correctable....especially the attitude and hubris going into the game. 1 1 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 12 Share Posted September 3 On 9/3/2024 at 12:04 PM, 30Duck said: The sky isn't falling. Yet. But after the close win over Idaho, it is teetering. A lot of my concern is who the Ducks are playing this Saturday. So far, Boise State does OWN Oregon, 3-0. How Oregon is favored by 19.5 makes no sense. To win this game, the players are going to have to own the field, and Lanning is going to have to be right on every decision. If the Ducks had handled Idaho as they were expected to. the tension level of this game would be a lot lower. Losing to Georgia didn't cause any hang wringing. But Idaho isn't Georgia, so there's more pressure on the second game of this season than any I can remember. The defense was excellent vs Idaho. In last season's LA Bowl, Boise was sticking it to UCLA in the 1st half before Garbers came in at QB and the Bruins D stepped up and showed the game was P5 vs G5. In 2024 is Oregon FSU. or the 1st half editions of Ohio State and Georgia. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 13 Share Posted September 3 Thanks, Darren for the reminder that it was Week 1. After a too-long offseason, there is always overreaction positive and negative to Week 1 results ( maybe not in Tallahassee?) The D was OUTSTANDING. The portal newbies fit right in and balled out. The 'stud' portal guys on the FSU roster have failed to play together. And DJU compared to Gabe; well, there is no comparison. From the head coach on down the Oregon team, at least on offense, was not prepared for the opening game. You tell college kids they are terrific and they are going to believe it. The Idaho coaches and players did not know that they were expendable. (Thank you, movie 'Shooter.') The Vandals coaching staff was savvy enough to play the D that UW played vs. the Ducks in the 2023 conference champ game and both Stein and Gabriel were risk-averse. OK, the OL play stank. As noted above, it's nice when you can show up with your C or D game on one side of the ball and win. Darren, with seven at-large PO spots, do cheer for the B1G. The final couple of at-large spots will depend on where the conference as a whole is ranked and the B1G needs more than six teams in the top 25 to match the SEC and a number of ridiculously easy SEC eight conference games schedules. Thanks again, and BUST the Broncos. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Perkins No. 14 Share Posted September 3 On 9/3/2024 at 8:34 AM, Drake said: Nobody expected to see the Ducks struggle to score points. Part of it is execution from players, and part is the decisions that the coaching staff made before, and during the game. The rest of the season relies on improvements from both coaches and players . Having depth is great, but having starters that can play together is much more important than having a bunch of highly rated players that cant execute as a team. This team will play better, and we will find if that takes more than two games on Saturday. Agreed, Wake up call! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Perkins No. 15 Share Posted September 3 On 9/3/2024 at 9:00 AM, Charles Fischer said: Nice examples Darren, and the biggest difference is that we LOST those games, while this time we simply got our pride hurt. It might prove to be the best thing that could have happened. We'll see... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Perkins No. 16 Share Posted September 3 On 9/3/2024 at 9:04 AM, 30Duck said: The sky isn't falling. Yet. But after the close win over Idaho, it is teetering. A lot of my concern is who the Ducks are playing this Saturday. So far, Boise State does OWN Oregon, 3-0. How Oregon is favored by 19.5 makes no sense. To win this game, the players are going to have to own the field, and Lanning is going to have to be right on every decision. If the Ducks had handled Idaho as they were expected to. the tension level of this game would be a lot lower. Losing to Georgia didn't cause any hang wringing. But Idaho isn't Georgia, so there's more pressure on the second game of this season than any I can remember. Might be a good thing. The Ducks should be laser focused this week. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solar No. 17 Share Posted September 3 On 9/3/2024 at 10:36 AM, Charles Fischer said: I was at first, but now looking at stuff in slow-motion...I am feeling better. Most is quite correctable....especially the attitude and hubris going into the game. In fairness to the players, it could be the attitude and hubris problem was more on the coaches' decision making. See the separate post I just made. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solar No. 18 Share Posted September 3 On 9/3/2024 at 11:58 AM, Darren Perkins said: It might prove to be the best thing that could have happened. We'll see... We typically respond well under Lanning to getting ".exposed." Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Duck No. 19 Share Posted September 3 (edited) In the past 5 years, after tossing out last years Portland State game, we haven't exactly had strong opening season games. We lost 2 of these games (okay... got slaughtered in one of them), beat Fresno State by a TD, and reasonably handled Stanford. Right now, I am seriously very grateful that we did not open the season against BSU. I'm afraid we'd be 0-4 against them if we had. To me, it was really an odd game, and this is quite apparent when you look at the team stats. OBD dominated them across the board, including a 3rd down conversion rate of nearly 50%. Most of you guys know a lot more than about the game than me, but it seems to me like a lot of the issues are quite fixable. The great thing is that this Saturday provides OBD the opportunity to set the record straight, while also exercising our 0-3 BSU record at the same time. We shall find out in 5 days if the off-season kool-aid was worth drinking. Edited September 3 by Desert Duck 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JabbaNoBargain No. 20 Share Posted September 3 (edited) I agree, sky is far from falling unless we see the same thing against Boise, which I don't think we will. Edited September 3 by JabbaNoBargain 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Washington Waddler Moderator No. 21 Share Posted September 3 What’s that sucking sound heard throughout Duckdom? Sound advice: BREATHE! It’s hard to hold your breath for a whole week. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cartm25 No. 22 Share Posted September 3 (edited) On 9/3/2024 at 10:48 AM, HappyToBeADuck said: Also, lets not make BSU appear as some Power 4 mega monster. IMO, I prefer to view BSU as a P4 mega monster, rather than the alternative of making them appear like an inferior FCS opponent that Oregon should make quick work of . . . . . . Because that would describe the Idaho Vandals. And Idaho just gave the entire Duck Nation a scare worthy of the title "Monster". I vote for Oregon to view, prepare and get hyped to play for, every team as if they're the #1 team in the nation. Edited September 3 by cartm25 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cartm25 No. 23 Share Posted September 3 (edited) Great article, Darren. I agree with you that the sky is not falling. Unfortunately, however, the examples you provided don't give me as much internal peace as I would hope . . . not that that's your responsibility As you pointed out, GA was ranked #1, and BSU was ranked #14 in 2009. I think any fair pre-game assessment would determine both BSU and GA of having a "good" to "excellent" chance to beat Oregon, respectively, and thus, would not create such consternation in the event of a close win or loss by the Ducks. The reason I'm so troubled by this game is that Idaho is an FCS team with a fraction of the talent. I've seen ugly wins against vastly inferior opponents in the Ducks past, but even those typically end up with a 2-3+ touchdown scoring differential with the Ducks scoring in the high 30s/40s This Idaho game is a bit hard to wrap my mind around. Edited September 3 by cartm25 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Duck No. 24 Share Posted September 3 On 9/3/2024 at 1:10 PM, JabbaNoBargain said: I agree, sky is far from falling unless we see the same thing against Boise, which I don't think we will. After all of these decades later, this still just cracks me up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JabbaNoBargain No. 25 Share Posted September 3 Look, that offensive performance was absurd. However, it’s not like we were playing a high school team that had a bunch of undersized 225lb defensive linemen. Idaho is accustomed to winning (shocking after I spent 10 years working there with horrible football) and their roster has 6 defensive line players listed at 285+. A great game plan and very good execution doesn’t care how many stars you had as a recruit. Their D played a great game and our players thought it t was going to be easy after our first TD. Play them in week 9 and we might get a very different score. Inexcusable mindset, hopefully lesson learned. 2 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJacksPlaidPants Moderator No. 26 Share Posted September 3 On 9/3/2024 at 12:42 PM, 30Duck said: Agreed. Perhaps there are more out there who are confident that Oregon will cover at -19.5 than I believe there are. I feel that a lot more will take Boise State and the points. If I was in Vegas I would absolutely put a decent amount on Boise to cover. They have the ability to sustain long drives and keep the clock moving with their running game. Remember, the clock doesn’t stop on first downs anymore. They also have some good WR’s and an experienced QB in case Oregon tries to stack the box to shut down the run. These guys are no joke. As for the Ducks, they are what we saw on Saturday until they prove different. This offense doesn’t have Bo, Bucky, JPJ or Troy anymore. Those guys are all on NFL rosters. Those are significant losses. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 27 Share Posted September 4 On 9/3/2024 at 10:36 AM, Charles Fischer said: I was at first, but now looking at stuff in slow-motion...I am feeling better. Most is quite correctable....especially the attitude and hubris going into the game. Practice report today was reassuring from the Gabriel interview. He was saying the practice had picked up. Assuming it's true. That Idaho game was the least energy a Duck team has put forward from start to finish in the Lanning era. The Ducks have had slow starts and sloppy starts at times under Lanning. But that Idaho game has the offense feel comatose from start to almost finish. The defense saved the day with that last minute interception that allowed the offense to take a knee. I was having Cristobal flashbacks where the Ducks played down to their competition every game.. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanLduck No. 28 Share Posted September 4 This is why we play the games. In life, anything can happen. If you look at the game stats, and not the score, we massively outplayed them. We even had waaayy more penalties then them. We got beat by 2 well designed, well executed, well timed trick plays. And we shot ourselves in the foot time and again. I'm surprised there haven't been more comments about DL's play calling. 0 for 2 on 4th down? Fake punt? Using a pretty vanilla offensive game plan... Yes, I would have preferred a big win, but I'll take the W. It's a long season with several potential tough games. Don't sleep on Purdue or Maryland. I'm glad football is back, and I'm happy to watch them all one week at a time. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
