Going into last Saturday’s match-up against Indiana, the Ducks had one of the most dominant offensive lines in the country. That is no longer the case. On the very first play of the game, the Ducks gave up a sack, and the sacks kept coming. The Oregon offensive line was porous and had no answer for Indiana’s pass rush. To ...

Oregon's Offensive Line Folds to Indiana

Good topic to discuss David. Yes the offensive live deserve their share of the loss. I think it was a team loss starting with the coaching staff and all the players.

I specifically recall the running back Noah in the first half whiffing on one block resulting in a sack. Then on another play choosing to double team with the right guard and not seeing a nose guard coming up the middle to sack the QB. I wonder why the center chose to go left on that play leaving the nose guard unblocked.

I'm wondering why the freshmen running backs didn't get more carries and were not starting. I for one would prefer having Davison at 236 lbs picking up a blitzing linebacker than the starters for that last game.

In my opinion it wasn't just the offensive line who were not ready. The whole team was unprepared! What were they doing during their bye week?

Great topic and article. I also wonder why they would drift away from both Davidson and the power run game. Coming into this game, it felt like Indy was playing the role of the Kelly era Ducks (quick and scrappy) and the Ducks had become more like the Stanford and tOSU teams that could beat them (physical run games with top end QB and receivers). Indy then preceded to play to their strength but OBD did not. Instead, we seemed obsessed with bubble screens and running outside where Indy's quickness was having success.

The power game seemed to be effective most of the game but was never relied on the way Furd or the Buckeyes would have. I think long plodding drives would have demoralized them and worn them down like the Ducks back in the day. Second and six, third and two, first down, rinse and repeat all the way down the field for seven minutes would have worn them down and made them more vulnerable to some explosion plays. Davidson should have had twenty carries in this game not just eight. The quick three and outs and interceptions kept the D out there way to long and wore us down instead.

I hope the coaching staff learns a lot from this one because I feel the bulk of the responsibility for this loss is on them.

David, this article is right on the money reflecting on the performance of our Ducks on Saturday.

The O line had very little fight in them for the most part. They got smacked in the mouth, out hustled and out schemed. Worst part, as you stated, Stein was not patient offensively!

The runs up the middle coupled with uptempo kept IU just a little off balance. Who cares if we go 15 plays and chew up 7 minutes off the clock.

Other than the 44 yard TD pass, very little worked in the passing game. As you mentioned and we all saw, the Duck O line could not protect Dante. For some reason DL and Stein either couldn't see it. If they did they had no answer.

In just his 13th start, Dante lacked the game time experience to audible out, so he hit check downs to avoid sacks. Cosches offered very little help, imho!

Overall the loss doesnt bother me as much as the lack of performsnce, effort and coaching adjustments. Especially coming out of a bye week.

Every team has these types of games, unfortuneately OBD's had it on Saturdays biggest stage. Against a CFP caliber team no less. IU played a great game. They out played and out coached the Ducks. Yet the Ducks could have won this game! Playing as poorly as they did the Ducks had a chance to pull this game out. Coaches simply had no in game answers......

IU has a great chance to finish undeafeated. The teams they face are a combined 16-20. The bottom half of the BIG. Let their reward be in the title game against the Buckeyes.....

Five of the 6 remaining opponents the Ducks face have winning records. All 6 will see this game film and try to duplicate what they saw.

I am confident OBD's will grow from this and prove this was a one off game. This is the point in the season where DL, the staff and plauers decide to do what it takes to finish the season 11-1 or finish their season like Penn State

I am betting we go 11-1. Won't be easy but i belirve in our team....

GO DUCKS......

4 hours ago, Smith72 said:

I specifically recall the running back Noah in the first half whiffing on one block resulting in a sack.

Whittington missed several blocks and tried to get a big play instead of taking the first down yards on that first series.

The blocking was quite poor and it wasn't just the offensive line for sure.

The offense may be happy they have to leave early for a road game at Rutgers so they don't have to spend the next 6 days being forced to watch, and re-watch, the screwups vs Indiana.

With regards to the O-Line performance, Geoff Schwartz and I disagree with your title and synopsis. Yes it wasn't their best showing, they got some penalties and had a few bad blocks, but they were pretty consistently handling the rusher in front of them.

The bigger contributions were everything else, RBs, Moore in more ways than one, and Stein's play calling formations that took a middle of the road approach of not adding extra blockers or not adding extra WR to stress the LBs.

Read Geoff Schwartz Twitter post in the other thread.

31 minutes ago, Solar said:

Geoff Schwartz and I disagree with your title and synopsis.

Disagreement and discussion is good, but I've learned not to appoint any of the experts as "right," because I imagine the Oregon coaching staff might have some disagreement with their analysis. Remember, Geoff blocked in Chip Spread offense, and Wrightster was under Bellotti? Things in CFB have changed since then.

For example, they did not have to deal with "Simulated Pressures" back then....

https://fishduck.com/2023/10/keys-to-the-wsu-game-that-fishduck-is-watching-for/

Pressure can come from unexpected directions, as these “Simulated Pressures:” are an overload on one side.

Thanks, DM. It isn't easy having to perform an autopsy. 😧

The two starting OTs were exposed. Still, the defense after Finney's pick-6 could have preserved a victory. In the 4th quarter, the defense has been bad vs. B1G opponents. 2nd stringers on the field against Northwestern, but it's NW, man.

The offense has not been impressive in three games vs. B1G opponents, including at 4-2 (!) Northwestern and at 3-3 Penn State. Both the offense and defense failed against quality 6-0 Indiana. As he admitted, Dan and his assistants were schooled by a guy with far more coaching experience.

I liked your noting Sappinton's misses on important FG tries. Will OBD ever find a clutch you don't have to pucker up when he walks on the field, FG kicker?

Two very disappointing efforts coming off the last two byes. Something needs to change in the off weeks. A sense of urgency in the Rose Bowl and on Saturday was lacking. Badly outcoached off the last two byes.

Time to get right at Rutgers, a team with a good offense and a crummy defense. If OBD cannot cover -14.5 at Rutgers, then DUCK! I'm looking at the game vs. Indiana as an anomaly and hoping I am correct in doing so.

Wins at Rutgers and against Wisconsin should be no problem. (Knock Wood.) But at Iowa, the following Friday night against a Gophers team coming off a bye, and USC, and at UW will not be easy wins.

Indiana has handled its trips to the Pacific time zone perfectly. Without a word of whining.

OBD has no chance to hand the Hoosiers a regular-season payback before 2028 in Bloomington. 🤬

For the record I don't think this offensive line is bad... I think they played badly.

Their inside run blocking was quite good but they were getting beat on the edges. It felt like the line was struggling and it didn't help Moore's struggles because he did have open receivers but he didn't have the time and comfort to find them.

The reality is that this game was pretty close. The missed field goal was a six point swing for Indiana but if Oregon made that field goal at the end of the half they would have gone into the half up 13-10. There were a few holding calls that killed drives, if those calls don't happen I am sure the Ducks put up some points. Cut back on the interceptions down to one and the Ducks probably win this game by a score or two. Credit to Indiana, they needed the Ducks to play poorly and force them into bad play and they did just that.

But if a rematch comes in the playoff... don't expect the same result.

I am expecting this offensive line to have a chip on their shoulder for the rest of the season.

27 minutes ago, David Marsh said:

they would have gone into the half up 13-10.

Or, it could have been 13 - 13 or 17 -13 as we don't know what Indy might have done after a kickoff.

That 58 yarder is quite the weapon.

I went back and watched the interception that sort of ended the game. There were over six minutes remaining and it was only 27-20. This play sort of summarizes the day for me.

The Indiana DT plows into one of the B gaps and the DE loops around him stunting and fills the spot left by the DT. Harkey picks up the DT and shoves Luli back to pick up the looping DE.

This should look pretty familiar to the Duck OL from practice (as the Duck D has been doing the same thing regularly this year). I'm not sure if the shove from Harkey is the usual way the OL trades rushers, but the shove is so hard it actually pushes Luli several steps and spins him (you can see he actually is all the way over to where the ball was snapped) and he is now facing Dante Moore instead of the Indiana rush. That leaves a big gap for the looping DE to run through untouched.

Dante is looking for Dakorian sort of slanting in at about 8-10 yards, that might have been there without the free rushing DE. Moore almost has no way of not seeing the rusher -- if he isn't totally staring down the WR from the snap.

The announcers say something like "I'm not sure who got their big paw up there on that"; but, it looks more like the defender throwing his arms up and knocking it high in the air because of a surprise reaction to a ball coming right at his chest or face.

The previous 1st down play is almost as bad. WRs overloaded right, it looks like a bit of misdirection where the OL pushes all their DLs left and the play is to the right, which they all do except Harkey who gets turnstiled by his DE. Moore avoids him and steps up but as the whole OL has gone left, there is no pocket to step into.

Moore gets sacked by four arriving Indiana defenders (two LB who just sit on the play, one DE who gets off a Sadiq block, and one DT who spins out of the block by the Duck RG). It looks like the WRs are there mostly to run off their defenders (and block downfield if the play gets there) and the pass is to the RB coming out of the backfield (from what I can tell); but, Harkey's man is on Moore so fast, there isn't even time for a throw (or even for the RB to get to where he is trying to go), nor anywhere for Moore to really go as Harkey's loose man prevents him from rolling or drifting right.

I don't see any actual run option, and it doesn't seem like a deeper route as there is no pass protection. Misdirection, overload set, TE in motion, all for one option to try to get the RB in the flat out of the backfield? Maybe if someone else watches it they can tell me if it supposed to be something else (6:23). In the end there is an illegal shift penalty on the offense and the thing wouldn't have counted anyway.

That is why I say microcosm of the day. Simple slow developing play with a lot of eye candy but not a lot of options, blown up by a missed OL block, that wouldn't have counted anyway, followed by an interception where the Duck OL "friendly fires" one of its own leaving a free rusher the QB fires the ball right at, while he is staring down a single WR.

2 hours ago, Jon Joseph said:

... Will OBD ever find a clutch you don't have to pucker up when he walks on the field, FG kicker?

...

Hoping the Ducks will soon sign Gus the Mule (or his equivalent)!

2 hours ago, Jon Joseph said:

The offense has not been impressive in three games vs. B1G opponents

Agreed, it's not been good

Quick clarification on the stats below: "Off. Points per Game" is points scored by offense in regulation (i.e., no D/ST/OT points)

Offense including non-conference games:

Offense conference games only: