Charles Fischer Administrator No. 1 Share Posted September 17 The most dangerous offense in CFB? We could be, as the potential upside is there, and most of the players have already proven themselves. The WRs are just crazy now, as Traeshon Holden is breaking out, Tez is...Tez, and now Stewart and Gabriel are beginning to connect. I think a long ball to Stewart is either a completion or an interference penalty more than 50% of the time, thus a good percentage play compared to the usual. Agree? The tight end room is one of the best in CFB with two seniors and an uber-talented sophomore. Running backs are good, not great due a lack of breakaway speed with James, or more inner-gap hard running by Whittington. I think he will improve, and I've already seen improvement in the last two games. I was disappointed with how Dillon Gabriel seemed to miss open receivers versus Idaho, but good-gosh, he was throwing strikes to small windows at times in the Civil War. An 84% completion percentage? Crazy. He can throw it all when he has time, or moves out of the pocket. Obviously his speed and mobility adds quite the added dimension to the offense.. If the blocking holds up...what IS the upside for this offense? 1 1 2 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 2 Share Posted September 17 James may not have the great break away speed.. he does seem to be one missed tackle away from a touchdown at least three times a game. But what he does have his chunk yardage. I haven't had a chance to look at his average but its pretty high. When the line is clicking and he picks up 6 or 7 yards on first down and sets up 2nd and short... the whole playbook is completely open. James can just match it down the field himself. Whittington has his moments but I still find him frustrating at times because he seems to get stuck in a hole and not come out the other side. James seems to hit a hole and slip through or just carry the pile for a decent carry. Whittington just sort of stops. Personally... I wouldn't mind see more run plays attack the edges. We have fantastic tackles and if we can leverage them more then we might make the middle easier to run through as well. 1 3 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notalot No. 3 Share Posted September 17 You are right, Charles. Other possible upsides for improvements are: Center play and recognition; More touches for Limar; More pressure from the DL group; Greater consistency from ILB. It looks like an everything is gelling. I am amazed at the balls Gabriel throws and how tight the spiral is and the touch. The ball is very catchable in most cases throw to the receiver’s advantage. Sweet indeed! 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastBayDuckDad Moderator No. 4 Share Posted September 17 I see the O-line coming together more as Pancho settles in at center and this group gets more comfortable working together. I would imagine Bedford rotates in against UCLA and Mich St, but I think the line can roll just fine with Strother at LG. We saw the night and day difference effective line play can do for both the run game and giving DG time to make those dime throws. Give Stewart an extra second and he will get open, particularly if the defense is trying to take Tez away as an option. Holden is looking to be a solid #3 and Stein needs to keep using TFerg and Sadiq as much as possible as they are mismatches for most LBs and edge players. It is the offense we all hoped would show up, and it starts up front. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Moderator No. 5 Share Posted September 17 The OL seems to be coming together. Gabriel is a Can't miss QB, the receivers are as deep as Oregon's ever had. The one thing missing that would truly make this offense the irresistible force that no immovable defense could stop, is breakaway speed in the RB's. They turn the corner, but Zoom, isn't there. 6.7 is great, but toss in a 60, once in a while and this offense would be off the charts. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 6 Share Posted September 17 On 9/17/2024 at 11:35 AM, Notalot said: More touches for Limar I am not impressed with his touches as a running back; yes, he can catch and run, but he does not appear to have power, no wiggle, and I have not seen any acceleration while running the football. Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirklandduck Moderator No. 7 Share Posted September 17 The RBs are good but make no mistake the strength of the offense is at QB and WR. I think going forward we're going see the passing game become the dominant aspect on that side of the field. DG has shown that he has the ability to consistently throw fast, accurate darts to his receivers in the short and intermediate zones even in very tight windows. That's what opposing defenses will have to stop and when they try, then the RBs do their work smashing for 7 yards a carry. It's a nasty double-edged sword that I wouldn't want to defend against. 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 8 Share Posted September 17 On 9/17/2024 at 12:25 PM, 30Duck said: They turn the corner, but Zoom, isn't there. 6.7 is great, but toss in a 60, once in a while and this offense would be off the charts. Agreed, as a LaMichael James with sub-4.00 in the 40 would be the perfect topping. I agree with you, as we do not have the explosion plays from the running game...yet. Whittington showed his superb speed on his bounce outside for a TD vs. Beavis, so there is some hope. 1 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solar No. 9 Share Posted September 17 On 9/17/2024 at 11:13 AM, David Marsh said: James may not have the great break away speed.. he does seem to be one missed tackle away from a touchdown at least three times a game. But what he does have his chunk yardage. I haven't had a chance to look at his average but its pretty high. When the line is clicking and he picks up 6 or 7 yards on first down and sets up 2nd and short... the whole playbook is completely open. James can just match it down the field himself. Whittington has his moments but I still find him frustrating at times because he seems to get stuck in a hole and not come out the other side. James seems to hit a hole and slip through or just carry the pile for a decent carry. Whittington just sort of stops. Personally... I wouldn't mind see more run plays attack the edges. We have fantastic tackles and if we can leverage them more then we might make the middle easier to run through as well. Attacking the edges is the one weakness of this team because our interior OL doesn't have the speed to pull and block in open space as well as prior years. Watching Cal play SDSU was an eye opener of how bad SDSU is. I'm sure the beavers defense is okay, but 49 points isn't as amazing as I thought. In the B1G I'd say Indiana has the best offense I've seen so far. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Moderator No. 10 Share Posted September 17 On 9/17/2024 at 12:59 PM, Solar said: In the B1G I'd say Indiana has the best offense I've seen so far. The best team they've played so far is UCLA, so there's that. But they have a good shot at being 6-0 when they get Nebraska at home after a Bye. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 11 Share Posted September 17 On 9/17/2024 at 1:23 PM, 30Duck said: The best team they've played so far is UCLA, so there's that. But they have a good shot at being 6-0 when they get Nebraska at home after a Bye. I think Nebraska is scary... they're not getting a ton of respect right now but I think they'll surprise many. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyToBeADuck No. 12 Share Posted September 17 The upside for the Ducks is fantastic. As the line gels and the Duck O finds their rythmn, then the play book really opens up. We saw Stein open it up more against tosu littles. Expect smash mouth football against ucla and michigan state. The goal should be to keep them off balance while putting up 6 or 7 scores. Then open it up against tOSU Buckeyes. Expect tOSU to be favored by a few points on the Ducks home turf. I feel its a toss up as long as OBD's keeping building on their upside. Expect the Buckeyes and Ducks to play 3 times this season. The tie breaker game in the CFP. GO DUCKS..... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haywarduck Moderator No. 13 Share Posted September 17 I miss Bucky, no doubt, but Haasenritter at the bottom of the depth chart always amazed me. Maybe it was just junk time, defense was tired, but the guy runs through people. Two things I like to see if guys who run over people and those who make players miss. The main think lacking is yds after contact. The first guy rarely got a paw on Bucky and it took more than one to take him down. Nice to see Bucky making the Bucs and having an impact already, great story with that guy. Maybe as the long ball game gets going these RB's will get better open field runs, I hope so! 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 14 Share Posted September 17 After Week 3 James is the 3rd leading rusher in the B1G. DM's take on Nebraska to date is spot on. Dowdell has looked darn good for the Huskers. Will the Illini give the Huskers a battle Friday? Yes, the Illini defeated Kansas but UNLV did likewise. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cartm25 No. 15 Share Posted September 17 If the OL issues are fixed and they can play to the level of their perceived talent . . . the upside to this offense is real. I echo thoughts expressed here that the only thing missing is a "can't catch him"-type running back. Pretty remarkable that we haven't seen an RB like that since the LaMichael James / DAT days. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Moderator No. 16 Share Posted September 18 On 9/17/2024 at 3:35 PM, cartm25 said: If the OL issues are fixed and they can play to the level of their perceived talent . . . the upside to this offense is real. I echo thoughts expressed here that the only thing missing is a "can't catch him"-type running back. Pretty remarkable that we haven't seen an RB like that since the LaMichael James / DAT days. Bucky Irving wasn't on the LMJ, DAT level, but he had more breakaways than this year's flock. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cartm25 No. 17 Share Posted September 18 On 9/17/2024 at 7:56 PM, 30Duck said: Bucky Irving wasn't on the LMJ, DAT level, but he had more breakaways than this year's flock. Yep, Irving was better than the current rotation for sure. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicroBurst61 No. 18 Share Posted September 18 (edited) The upside to the Oregon Offensive is apparent. Talent at All levels. OL "gelling" as a cohesive unit over the next two weeks will be key. Lots of promise shown on the road last week, but has to become The norm. (Playing to Oregon's standard). I believe when this happens the running back room will be more able to show their full potential. Wide receivers are going to stretch the field and open up the field more for Gabriel (especially in a "floating" pocket) to pick and choose his targets, or take off for a long run of his own. The OL is the key to allowing ALL of this to become available to Oregons offense. If what we saw on Corvallis becomes the "floor" for this OL, then watch out B1G!!! Conference scoring records Will fall to the all mighty Duck!! 's! Edited September 18 by MicroBurst61 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhioDuck No. 19 Share Posted September 19 Wow, been out of touch for a while. No TV options recently to watch the Ducks, so highlights and box scores are all I have. Good to hear that the O-line improved vs. the Beavers. I thought the game would be a little closer and figured something good came together for the Ducks when I saw the score. I was concerned seeing the boxes of the first two games. Looked like a lot of complete passes for not that much yardage and the running game wasn't producing so well either. I wonder how many shots have been taken down field. We certainly have the receivers to do that, has their just not been enough time to set it up? I'm really asking here because I haven't seen the whole games. I was afraid Stein in all his brilliance (not kidding here I think he is brilliant) was falling in love with the nickel and dime stuff. Glad to see Gabriel running some too. That has often been what opened up the Duck's offense. In any case, the players are certainly there for this offense to be one of the best in college football. Here's hoping the O-line continues to improve. Everything else seems to be in place. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYDuck No. 20 Share Posted September 19 Honestly... the only things that have worried me this season have been the OL and the conservative/bland play calling. We know what Dillon is, James/Whitt were going to find the holes, and our WR's are SUPREMELY talented. Ferg, Herbert, Sadiq are awesome. We just looked in a state of disarray, it was never a question of the talent or potential that this offense had. I believe this offense is ready to explode the next two games. As they continue to gel and learn each other's tendencies, the chunk plays will begin to stack up more and more... I am sure of it. Don't want to look past our next opponents but we will have to be clicking on all cylinders and play a disciplined yet explosive offense game against the Buckeyes. With all this being said, our offensive upside is truly outstanding. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
