Oregon has finally found its identity, which seems strange to say as we just wrapped up Game 10 in the regular season. This is a physical run team with a vertical passing offense that is also incredibly physical. But hasn’t this been Oregon’s identity all year long? Yes, this was the end goal for what this team’s offensive identity should ...

Oregon Has Found Its Offensive Identity

Thanks, David, for a wonderful article today!

You said, "Credit to Ra’Shaad Samples for doing some amazing work with this highly talented running back room." At the beginning of the season I felt that Noah Whittington was a finesse runner - always stopping his momentum looking for the open path to score a home run. So many times Noah would go down on first touch. These last two games convinced me that Whittington has changed.

I see Noah hitting the hole with explosive power, never stopping his legs to look for the opening, but bending the path getting as many yards as possible. Credit Coach Samples.

I was also impressed with Coach Samples after the almost fumble at the goal line. When Noah was sitting on the bench Coach didn't yell, he calmly spoke about the lesson to be learned.

A successful fade route in the end zone, to Sadiq no less. Where has this been?

47 minutes ago, Steven A said:

A successful fade route in the end zone, to Sadiq no less. Where has this been?

My initial reaction is, "Sadiq has been nursing some injuries and is returning to health (and form) at just the right time.

It's also pretty easy to imagine Stein has at least 2 or 3 plays he can now run from the same set with the defense anticipating "Sadiq on the fade route." Not a bad option to have in your arsenal with the biggest games of the year on tap.

Thank you, David.

I always look forward to the in-season Mondays with Marsh. Especially, the more mellow takes after a win! 😁

Very nice article David. It sure rings true to me. Our DUCKS are playing well on both sides of the ball. That balance plus our crowd and Autzen Stadium are going to produce a solid win on Saturday. It looks like good football weather. GO DUCKS!

4 hours ago, Smith72 said:

....

I was also impressed with Coach Samples after the almost fumble at the goal line. ...

I have a question about that almost fumble. He'd already had several steps into the end zone with (to my eyes) control of the ball. Why isn't that enough? I mean, sometimes players intentionally spike or casually drop the ball in the end zone after they enter the end zone and there's no question about it being a touchdown. What am I missing?

2 minutes ago, Annie said:

I have a question about that almost fumble. He'd already had several steps into the end zone with (to my eyes) control of the ball. Why isn't that enough? I mean, sometimes players intentionally spike or casually drop the ball in the end zone after they enter the end zone and there's no question about it being a touchdown. What am I missing?

The ball was babbled as he crossed the line. He regained control of the ball with both hands and then dropped it out the end zone.

So the only question was did he regain control of the ball... and the answer to that was yes. So there wasn't actually a fumble as the ball didn't hit the ground until after the touchdown.

Whittington was in the midst of pulling a Byron Marshall and dropped the ball before he cross the line but he never actually fumbled it.

It's looking like OBD is finding its' offensive identity, and I feel like there is still quite a bit of upside available. USC is going to score some points this Saturday, and while I am pretty crappy at predictions, I've got the Ducks winning by about 18. Something like 42-24, with pretty balanced passing and rushing numbers.

Although we rushed for 179 yards last weekend, which is nothing to shake a stick at, the running game was still very productive.

In addition, Moore look very comfortable, generally had decent time in the pocket, wasn't locking on to his first receiver choice, and just a fine job moving the ball around. The run game nicely set him up to have a lot of success throwing the ball.

GO DUCKS!

1 hour ago, David Marsh said:

The ball was babbled as he crossed the line. He regained control of the ball with both hands and then dropped it out the end zone.

So the only question was did he regain control of the ball... and the answer to that was yes. So there wasn't actually a fumble as the ball didn't hit the ground until after the touchdown.

Whittington was in the midst of pulling a Byron Marshall and dropped the ball before he cross the line but he never actually fumbled it.

Thank you! I get it now.

Thanks David.

So to clarify a little bit, we can do damage running or passing out of any formation, and now that we are using play action more, the front seven of the defense can't commit to run or pass until QB and RB are past the mesh point. While they are frozen for about half a second, the OL QB and RB are executing the offense at full speed.

Football may be a game of inches, but inches come from motion (distance per time), so it's also a game of milliseconds, and 500 of them is a big advantage.

An extra half second for Moore to survey the field would have a massive impact on yards per drop back.

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by Solar

1 hour ago, Desert Duck said:

Although we rushed for 179 yards last weekend, which is nothing to shake a stick at, the running game was still very productive.

In part because we only needed to run for that many yards. The run game did what it was supposed to do... get chunk yardage and set up the pass.

But Moore's passing game was so efficient that it did kinda skew the numbers. He was 27/30!!!! So with 30 pass attempts, a reasonable number, he completed 27 of them and many of those were vertical passes that ate up massive yardage. Think of that Sadiq pass(s) that put the Ducks on the goal line.

I think this offense is built around around a 70% completion rate. That would translate to Moore going 21/30 which might need more production out o the run game in some more potential 3rd and short situations, which we had very few.

With healthy receivers this team becomes one of the kinds of teams that is so hard to defend.

Some teams set up their passing with their running game. Others set up their running game with their passing game. The Ducks can do it both ways.

When a team loads the box against the run, this team can go down field with efficiency (a lot of teams pass down field trying to get lucky, not Oregon), when the D is playing off the line, trying to stop the pass this team can punish them with the run.

Being able to do both of those makes this team very hard to defend.

Great read on how weather forced the Ducks to discover their offensive self. While you could also say an offensive identity may change every week depending on the next defense they see, the kind of confidence built against Iowa and Minnesota remains the foundation.

Been saying it since the Penn St. game, we are a smash-mouth running team that kills teams off the play-action and vertical passing game. The thing that frustrated me most during our one loss was Stein not committing to this when it was working, we started getting cute and kept putting ourselves behind the eight ball.

Commit to the run and pass in order keep teams honest. We can certainly have success in the passing game, but our identity is running the ball in a multitude of ways and formations.

Best thing that Stein has done this season is the multitude of looks we give the defense. We can go 5 wide, we can go 2-1, 2-2, or 1-3 personnel, and at the same time have success in different ways in these sets. The RBs give different looks, the TEs can go legit 3 deep. The O-line is the best run blocking unit we've had under Lanning. We just need to get healthy at the WR position.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by spartan2785

Great article David, as our running game is really jelling, and once we get all the WRs back....

We relegated Davison to the "power-back" role early on, but the explosion acceleration on cuts when in the secondary has really emerged with him. It could be a big difference in key games to come.