OBD’s Big George Wrightster (GW) provides his breakdown of how Oregon needs to attack Indiana:

1. As many of us have said, Dante needs to play better. GW provides some clips in the below video, over halfway through, that shows open receivers that Dante missed. I’ve also seen clips where the WRs did a nice job sitting in the zone and Dante just didn’t see them or pull the trigger.

2. Run the ball and don’t stop running the ball. Our offensive line was opening up some gashes in the first game and all of our running backs averaged over 5 yards per carry. Davison was particularly effective.

3. Win the turnover battle, like we did against TT. When Indiana is getting turnovers the game tends to snowball like it used to for Oregon under CK.

4. On defense, force Indiana into 3rd and long, beat the right side of Indiana’s OL, play more man-to-man coverage while mixing in some zone and contain Mendoza.

6 hours ago, Mike West said:

In my mind, the only difference between these two teams is the level of execution.

Oregon has more talent but tends to be more vanilla, especially on defense.

Indiana seems to be more experienced and better coached with more creative schemes. I’m shocked that Indiana’s coordinators have not gotten HC positions, yet.

11 hours ago, oregon123 said:

Does Dante need to play much better or is it on the offensive coordinator?

The answer is both.

However, Coach Stein is calling plays that are getting WRs/TEs open but Dante is not seeing them or is not willing to pull the trigger (see the video clip above for examples).

Many of the sacks in the first game were a result of confusion/hesitation by Dante.

Edited yesterday at 01:14 PM1 day by OregonDucks

11 hours ago, oregon123 said:

I also think we might see some extra offensive tackles to provide more blocking.

In watching breakdowns of Indiana’s defense, I wonder if the best offensive approach would be to play max protect (extra OL or TEs) - think Stanford’s offense under Harbaugh or what NE did last weekend with playing an extra OL, even using him as a full back occasionally.

Run the ball down Indiana’s throat with our 3-headed monster in the backfield and protect Dante against Indiana’s simulated pressures/zone blitzes letting him pick Indiana’s secondary apart with his excellent arm talent. Move the freakin’ pocket, if Indiana starts to get pressure, as Dante is extremely good at throwing on the move.

Coach Lanning likes to play aggressive but perhaps against Indiana the best approach would be to play for time of possession, which would keep Indiana’s explosive offense on the sideline and wear down their defense, as they are not as deep as Oregon and the most talented teams in the country.

Also, call more plays to take advantage of Indiana’s simulated pressures - RB/TE screens, draw runs, etc. If you guess correctly, it could result in a big play.

Edited yesterday at 01:58 PM1 day by OregonDucks

2 hours ago, OregonDucks said:

Indiana seems to be more experienced and better coached with more creative schemes. I’m shocked that Indiana’s coordinators have not gotten HC positions, yet.

No Joke. A Duck OC puts up 30 points on a top ten team and every commentator in the country has them penciled in as the next big head coach. Even Marcus Arroyo got a head coaching gig.

On 1/4/2026 at 6:27 PM, Mike West said:

I am at work

On 1/4/2026 at 6:27 PM, Mike West said:

After work

And here I thought the forum didn't allow profanity!