30Duck No. 1 Share Posted September 11 In the first two games, the Ducks look like a Broadway production full of actors who have all forgotten their lines. The big point I saw in this article is how minimal the passing game has been. Oregon Ducks offense is unsustainable due to glaring and crucial area of concern WWW.YARDBARKER.COM There's plenty of discourse happening surrounding the Oregon offense, and for good reason. Most of the time, through two... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 2 Share Posted September 11 They need to get a good chunk of it right this Saturday... I'd say be around 75-80% capacity. I'd say we are around 40-50% right now. That's a big jump but doable with adjustments. Then they have a bye to get more right. And then UCLA where they should be about 90% right. By Michigan State it needs to be 100% ready and rolling or we start seeing real problems. The passing game will get better when the run game gets rolling. In the second half last week we saw the coaches make a significant change to the run game, they had James attack the edges more. This puts more of the run blocking on the veteran tackles and James was picking up good chunk yardage that way. The interior of the line will continue to develop and as it does we will see more runs in the middle of the line. The run game opens up the pass and the pass in turn opens up the run. Need to enable these lineman to do their jobs and part of that is also pairing down the playbook a bit. Get rid of any unusual plays and focus on the fundamentals. I don't want to see Whittington and Sadiq doing fly sweeps! They aren't getting any yards. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solar No. 3 Share Posted September 11 We really need to add an old school screen pass to the running back. When your OL is getting beat, it's easier to fool the DL that they getting to the QB for a sack. It would also help take the edge of the DL aggression. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirklandduck Moderator No. 4 Share Posted September 11 I think the article points out pretty much everything we're aware of already. The real question is what is DL and company doing this week about it? Latest practice report seems to hint at what we might be looking at this weekend: Centers split reps, receiver still absent: What we saw at Oregon football practice on Wednesday WWW.OREGONLIVE.COM Iapani Laloulu and Charlie Pickard each took snaps at center and guard Wednesday morning at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex, same as Tuesday. Quote Iapani Laloulu and Charlie Pickard each took snaps at center and guard Wednesday morning at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex, same as Tuesday. The rest of the starting offensive line rotation was also unchanged from a day earlier, with Marcus Harper II at right guard, Matthew Bedford participating in the drill again and Nishad Strother at left guard, and some shuffling of personnel with the second and third groups. So it sounds like Nishad at LG, Pancho at C, and Harper at RG which makes sense as we saw hints of stability with that lineup against BSU. My guess is that's the interior lineup we'll see start against the Beavos and afterward until Bedford is healthy, then he goes back in at RG and Harper slides back to LG. Pickard should have as many practice reps as possible since he's the only other center. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 5 Share Posted September 11 On 9/11/2024 at 11:39 AM, kirklandduck said: I think the article points out pretty much everything we're aware of already. The real question is what is DL and company doing this week about it? Latest practice report seems to hint at what we might be looking at this weekend: Centers split reps, receiver still absent: What we saw at Oregon football practice on Wednesday WWW.OREGONLIVE.COM Iapani Laloulu and Charlie Pickard each took snaps at center and guard Wednesday morning at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex, same as Tuesday. So it sounds like Nishad at LG, Pancho at C, and Harper at RG which makes sense as we saw hints of stability with that lineup against BSU. My guess is that's the interior lineup we'll see start against the Beavos and afterward until Bedford is healthy, then he goes back in at RG and Harper slides back to LG. Pickard should have as many practice reps as possible since he's the only other center. I saw the interview the other day with Nishad that said he felt more comfortable at left guard than right. I know my article the other week about flipping the offensive line got some feedback that it wasn't so easy to just flip players around... and I get that it is the case... but it does feel like that is precisely what the coaches are doing. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastBayDuckDad Moderator No. 6 Share Posted September 11 On 9/11/2024 at 11:39 AM, kirklandduck said: I think the article points out pretty much everything we're aware of already. The real question is what is DL and company doing this week about it? Latest practice report seems to hint at what we might be looking at this weekend: Centers split reps, receiver still absent: What we saw at Oregon football practice on Wednesday WWW.OREGONLIVE.COM Iapani Laloulu and Charlie Pickard each took snaps at center and guard Wednesday morning at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex, same as Tuesday. Crepea points out in the article that Bedford is now taking two on two OL reps. He was repping with 2nd team RT Rogers as an OG/OT combo, but you don't let him go full blast against Harmon unless he is ready to play. Maybe not a full game, but more likely than not he is going to see some action Saturday. I really want to see Conerly, Harper, Pancho, Bedford and Cornelius as the starting L to R O-line, but I'd be optimistic if that combo was in at some point. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJacksPlaidPants Moderator No. 7 Share Posted September 11 Remember in the 2010 National Championship game against Auburn when the OL got completely destroyed, but the defense played good enough to keep them in the game and the offensive skill players showed flashes of brilliance? This team reminds me of that team. Only it's every game instead of just against Auburn. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirklandduck Moderator No. 8 Share Posted September 11 On 9/11/2024 at 11:42 AM, David Marsh said: I saw the interview the other day with Nishad that said he felt more comfortable at left guard than right. I know my article the other week about flipping the offensive line got some feedback that it wasn't so easy to just flip players around... and I get that it is the case... but it does feel like that is precisely what the coaches are doing. That makes sense since Nishad primarily played LG at East Carolina. Even if Marcus Harper's productivity is diminished at RG, increased productivity from both Nishad and Pancho at their respective positions is a net positive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 9 Share Posted September 11 On 9/11/2024 at 1:11 PM, DrJacksPlaidPants said: Remember in the 2010 National Championship game against Auburn when the OL got completely destroyed, but the defense played good enough to keep them in the game and the offensive skill players showed flashes of brilliance? This team reminds me of that team. Only it's every game instead of just against Auburn. Stay tuned for tomorrow... this year reminds me of 2014 actually and my article tomorrow will break it down. There are some interesting similarities. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikethehiker No. 10 Share Posted September 11 On 9/11/2024 at 1:25 PM, David Marsh said: Stay tuned for tomorrow... this year reminds me of 2014 actually and my article tomorrow will break it down. There are some interesting similarities. Intriguing thought David. Could be an interesting parallel. Team flirted with disaster the first half of the season until it finally happened at home against Arizona (aided by a ridiculous unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Tony Washington following his 3rd down sack late in the game). The following week, OBD rebounded for a tough road win against a 10-win UCLA team and went on to realize their potential and obliterate everyone by an average of 29.4 ppg (including PAC 12 title and the first CFP game) until the National Championship game. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirklandduck Moderator No. 11 Share Posted September 11 On 9/11/2024 at 4:29 PM, mikethehiker said: Intriguing thought David. Could be an interesting parallel. Team flirted with disaster the first half of the season until it finally happened at home against Arizona (aided by a ridiculous unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Tony Washington following his 3rd down sack late in the game). The following week, OBD rebounded for a tough road win against a 10-win UCLA team and went on to realize their potential and obliterate everyone by an average of 29.4 ppg (including PAC 12 title and the first CFP game) until the National Championship game. If I recall correctly, they lost to Arizona because the OL was decimated by injuries which impacted the offense heavily. By the time the Pac12 championship came a couple of the starters were back and Oregon destroyed Arizona in that rematch. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJacksPlaidPants Moderator No. 12 Share Posted September 12 On 9/11/2024 at 7:29 PM, mikethehiker said: Intriguing thought David. Could be an interesting parallel. Team flirted with disaster the first half of the season until it finally happened at home against Arizona (aided by a ridiculous unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Tony Washington following his 3rd down sack late in the game). The following week, OBD rebounded for a tough road win against a 10-win UCLA team and went on to realize their potential and obliterate everyone by an average of 29.4 ppg (including PAC 12 title and the first CFP game) until the National Championship game. I was there. I was also in Pullman two weeks prior when Mariota was limping on the sideline. Helfrich didn’t let Mariota run against Arizona on that fateful Thursday night, so he could get healthy. Aside from the unsportsmanlike penalty there was a huge dropped pass and a long run by Arizona on 3rd and 20. The one big similarity to 2014 was Matt Pierson. He was a walk-on OL who was absolutely horrible when he had to replace an injured starter (Fisher?). The Ducks were barely hanging on with him in the lineup. Fisher finally came back, but I think he ended up getting better and earned a few more starts. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 13 Share Posted September 12 Spoilers people! But yes .. you're onto what my article is about tomorrow! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJacksPlaidPants Moderator No. 14 Share Posted September 12 On 9/11/2024 at 8:40 PM, David Marsh said: Spoilers people! But yes .. you're onto what my article is about tomorrow! Actually, the similarities to 2014 have been running through my head, but I have found a way to articulate them. I’m looking forward to your article. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Duck No. 15 Share Posted September 12 "The offensive line has allowed seven sacks through two games, two more than they did the entirety of each of the last two seasons." Yikes! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...