FishDuck Article Administrator No. 1 Share Posted September 4, 2022 Yesterday's Adversity Is an Opportunity for the Ducks To Grow FISHDUCK.COM It wasn't a good day for Duck Nation. The collective groans were heard all over Duckworld. The frustration of some of my friends has been... 2 4 1 Two Sites: FishDuck and the Our Beloved Ducks forum, The only "Forum with Decorum!" And All-Volunteer? What a wonderful community of Duck fans! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quackanadian No. 2 Share Posted September 4, 2022 (edited) I agree with the article's assessment, especially after an early morning eastern time zone re-watch. The Ducks did move the ball well early on, so that line vs a fresh 5 star D line did pretty well at first. The offensive sets were refreshing vs Cristoballin' up the gut on 3rd and long. Georgia now has a passing game that I haven't seen from them... maybe ever??? Bama better have taken notice! I didn't expect this kind of beat down. I didn't expect that many missed friggin' tackles. Just get better every week and develop every week. Also, maybe Bo "Pick Six" Nix should ride the pines as the "senior mentor". Good grief. Edited September 4, 2022 by Quackanadian 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
12Duck72 No. 3 Share Posted September 4, 2022 Yesterday sucked, no other way to spin it. It was a tough match up even if the Ducks played well. I don't think anyone was surprised that Oregon lost but the way it happened was. Leading up to this game there was a lot of fan hype of Lanning because of his time at Georgia so I think people's expectations on this site and others went a little over board. This is a team that has gotten blown out 4 of its last 5 games. This is going to take time. The offense looked average, the defense had no fight, terrible tackling, didn't adjust at all to what Georgia was doing. And the coaches looked unprepared and disorganized. Having said all that, I still believe in this team. I believe in this coach and his players. They will get better. Sometimes you have to get knocked on your butt to learn valuable lessons. If there are people who are considering not rooting for the Ducks after this game I say "Bye Felicia!". Good riddance. Going through the valley makes reaching the peak that much sweeter. Let's see where this team is at the end of the year. Go Ducks! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smith72 Moderator No. 4 Share Posted September 4, 2022 It's hard when you prepare to face last year's offense, and then the new Georgia TE Air Raid passing offense shows up! Opportunity to teach! I too would like to see less musical chairs with the running backs. Fresh legs is great but play your top two more - Byron Cardwell and Sean Dollars! Mar’Keise Irving started and had five carries for 13 yards; Sean Dollars had four carries for 33 yards; Byron Cardwell had four for 28; Noah Whittington had three for 14; and Jordan James had seven for 15. Thanksfor a great pep talk and focus for next week! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
McDuck No. 5 Share Posted September 4, 2022 On 9/4/2022 at 6:12 AM, Smith72 said: I too would like to see less musical chairs with the running backs. Fresh legs is great but play your top two more. I agree. What I question is how Irving and Whittington got the early playing time. I probably missed something but the stats show Cardwell and Dollars averaged more than twice the yards per carry and appeared to be more reliable receivers. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalBear95 No. 6 Share Posted September 4, 2022 Yeah, this post, as is usual with Dazed, is spot on to my mind. The Ducks aren’t going to see anything like the Georgia team or that atmosphere for the rest of the year. IOW, the BYUs of the world, while likely formidable, are going to play at a speed and talent level that should be manageable for the team. Georgia is loaded across the board. They’ve had their baptism of fire and I’m glad they did. I expect this team to get off the canvas and apply that level of hurt to others. Duck opponents should not look at this game and see the Ducks as weak. They should see them as likely playing without fear. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pennsylvania Duck Moderator No. 7 Share Posted September 4, 2022 Kirby says he is going to be talking to Lanning soon about areas for improvement by Ducks. Thank you, Kirby! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 8 Share Posted September 4, 2022 This one hurts but there will be loads of growth. I expect in the next two weeks of play we should see the Oregon defensive line shedding blocks and getting after Eastern Washington and BYU. Some of trh pass rush wasn't bad. The problem was it couldn't get to the QB quite fast enough. Georgia probably has by far the best offensive line we are going to see all year. Probably all of next year too! It was a chance to learn. It also shows just the state of Oregon s defensive line after Cristobal left. A few transfers to stabilize it and it wasn't good enough. I think our offensive line is in better shape. At times it felt like Nix was just rolling out of the pocket preemptively. The run game never got started but had some good flashes... Against probably the best defensive line we are going to see all year. Oregon is not ready to compete for a national championship... Yet. On a side note... It will be interesting to watch recruiting and if the big doner aspect of NIL start adding more to the pot for Oregon recruits. We've missed out on quite a few recruits due to NIL not being as high as other schools. Do we are Oregon's NIL doners increase their spending in this department to get the players we need? That is probably a question for a whole other thread. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mic No. 9 Share Posted September 4, 2022 I guess we should have been more prepared for what happened ouselves. It's not like Georgia hadn't seen this type of defense before. They practiced against it everyday last season and probably everyday this one as well when the O's go against the D's. It was Oregon's (and DL's) bad luck to go against the one team in America that was most familiar with and best prepared for our type of defense. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pennsylvania Duck Moderator No. 10 Share Posted September 4, 2022 Did you know... 1 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noDucknewby No. 11 Share Posted September 4, 2022 As my moniker suggests, this isn't my first rodeo as a Duck fan. We've had some painful losses in the past (Nebraska 63-0 comes to mind), but also glorious wins (Oregon 59-FSU 20 in the inaugural CFP). I guess this one hurts a lot more because we all thought we were past this kind of beat down. Well for now (obviously) we're not. That said our expectations were probably too high for a first time head coach in a hostile environment against the defending national champions, who BTW look like they might be even better than last year's team. Other first-time HCs promoted from coordinator jobs inherited a system and long-time coaching staff. Chip was given the keys to a Ferrari and to his credit he tore off with it (of course after a rough start at Boise). Prior to that Bellotti inherited a program on the rise with a solid staff as well. Slick Willie came in and decimated a quarter century of progress in one fell swoop. Mario inherited what was left and IMHO did a pretty good job (we all know his weaknesses, nonetheless two P12 championships and Rose Bowl wins). DL comes in as first time HC with no carry over in coaching staff or team culture. Don't get me wrong I love our guys, but the team leaders have seen a lot during their careers, been told a lot of different things and seem a little bit shell-shocked. Then their first test is against Georgia, not exactly a recipe for morale building. Perspective says it's one game, move on, sometimes easier said than done. More than one knowledgeable analyst has predicted a 1-2 start because of a brutal September schedule. Our most important game is the next one, we just have to get right and beat EWU before we worry about BYU and then go from there. 1 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DazeNconfused No. 12 Share Posted September 4, 2022 (edited) I wrote an article last week how college football has turned into a passing league, and UGA showed us they have decided to join the club. Hats off to OC Monken; he used Stenson to throw his elite skill guys the ball and let them make plays. Now other teams will do the same - they won't want to run at our front seven, they want to pass at our back seven. The Ducks have some issues at the LB spot - Noah Sewell is a liability in pass coverage and so is LaDuke. They are big run gap fillers Sewell wasn't on the field the first drive of the game on a 3rd and long. Lanning knows we have speed problems. Flowe and Bassa have are much better in pass cover - and they will have to play more as teams look to exploit us with the pass. The Jack position is the other huge problem. Funa was dropped into coverage against RB McIntosh and got burned by the speed. I saw Funa exposed when he dropped into pass coverage - he is a liability in pass coverage. DJ Jonhson also dropped into pass coverage from the Jack, but even though he is a physical freak, why are we asking a 270lb defender to cover RBs and TEs? We have to figure some things out at the LB and Jack pass defense. Maybe playing lessor talent we get more QB pressure and our LBs cover better going forward... but if not, we are going to be attacked there all year! Wazzu, UW, OSU, even Cal with their new QB Jack Plummer will spread us out and pass the ball. If Lanning can't fix this, then we might have to go away from the Mint scheme or go to a base Dime defense and dare teams to run on us. I'm not sure what the answer is. But we either get better in the system we are running or make changes to the system. I know our Jack dropping to cover is a mismatch and Sewell in cover is too. Do we move Sewell to the Jack - putting Flowe and Bassa at the middle LBs? This gives us our two best pass cover LBs. Do we move Flowe to the Jack - putting Bassa and one of the freshman Jackson/Taggart in at middle LB? Do we go to a Dime with three DL guys - Flowe and Bassa as the LBs and six DB's (Gonzo-Manning-Bennett-Bridges-Addison-Stephans or Hill)? Do we play one of the DBs like Bennett up as a LB and do we mix putting one LB up on the line each snap? -- a Jack light LB? If we go this small will teams run the ball on us at will? Then we have small LBs who have to try to set a run edge? Lanning has some brain work to do, he is the genius defensive mind - we should expect that he sees the problems and will come up with a plan. Edited September 4, 2022 by DazeNconfused 1 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 13 Share Posted September 4, 2022 Yes, as I wrote in my article on Thursday...you need a real freak at Jack--to be able to cover passes, rush the passer and set the edge. Funa is good for setting the edge only, and they really caught us in a bad matchup. Sewell is a Mac linebacker, but I agree that he needs to be pulled on obvious passing downs. I think Swinson is the best choice at Jack, but he is going to have trouble setting the edge... Your thought about switching to a defense that doesn't require a couple of freaks might be spot-on...because you need three freaks on the field all the time; at Jack, at Money, and at Star. And it would appear we do not have the right player profiles yet! 2 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mic No. 14 Share Posted September 4, 2022 On 9/4/2022 at 9:33 AM, DazeNconfused said: If Lanning can't fix this, then we might have to go away from the Mint scheme or go to a base Dime defense and dare teams to run on us. I'm not sure what the answer is. But we either get better in the system we are running or make changes to the system. I think you've probably hit the nail on its head here. As much as Lanning has confidence in the so-call 'Mint Defense' O doesn't seem to have the player personnel to make it work against a team of Georgia's caliber. If he's the genius we've all be told he is then he needs to figure out something that will work with the players he has - and fast! EWU might be a God-send for us (maybe not?) to get ready for a big, strong BYU team and then conference play. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duck Fan 76 No. 15 Share Posted September 4, 2022 On 9/4/2022 at 2:05 AM, FishDuck Article said: "It’s back to the basics for the Ducks on both sides of the ball. Open field tackling needs work, and the cover schemes need to be dialed in. The offense needs to work on holding blocks better, and pass protection needs to be better." Great article! How the players and coaches react will determine the outcome for this season and likely help shape the next 4 years of the program. Remember, there were a bunch of very young players on the field for Oregon this Saturday and they got really embarrassed. There is real program value in having that happen as long as the coaching is there to shape the fuel into fire. Justin Herbert's first game as a starter was a 70-21 blowout by Washington at Autzen in 2016. (I'm NOT comparing Bo to Justin... In this scenario Bo is likely Dakota Prukop) What did Justin do with that loss? He turned it into work ethic... Oregon will be building this season, we need to see coaching that shapes shame into work ethic. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DazeNconfused No. 16 Share Posted September 4, 2022 On 9/4/2022 at 11:56 AM, Mic said: I think you've probably hit the nail on its head here. As much as Lanning has confidence in the so-call 'Mint Defense' O doesn't seem to have the player personnel to make it work against a team of Georgia's caliber. If he's the genius we've all be told he is then he needs to figure out something that will work with the players he has - and fast! EWU might be a God-send for us (maybe not?) to get ready for a big, strong BYU team and then conference play. I just said this on another thread... from jump street we get to see Lanning work to solve problems -- he could get it wrong. Maybe he sits with what we have, and BYU throws the ball all over the field and we lose. Maybe he moves personnel in the Mint scheme this week. Maybe he throws out some change and Dime package stuff. Part of being a coach is figuring out the style that best suits your team to winning games. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woundedknees No. 17 Share Posted September 4, 2022 "Don't Let This Loss Define The Rest Of This Season!" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Duck No. 18 Share Posted September 4, 2022 On 9/4/2022 at 7:07 AM, CalBear95 said: "The Ducks aren’t going to see anything like the Georgia team or that atmosphere for the rest of the year." This is true, but only because we now play relatively soft OOC & PAC-12 teams. And I'm sorry to say this, but unfortunately, your true statement only serves to further expose how soft PAC-12 football has become, and how far behind we are relative to the SEC. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudslide No. 19 Share Posted September 4, 2022 Another fine article, DNC. Thanks. I do take a tiny exception with one thought that the db's were burned by Georgia's sophisticated scheme. That happened in the second half, for sure. But the first half saw primarily flares and sweeps. The D-line and backers were continually in the wrong positions. The obvious bugaboo that everyone saw was the horrendous tackling. What was giving them coaching on technique? I do hope DL owns the poor performance publicly and with the team. And his encouragement for the team to "EAT" didn't seem to do much. The players are better athletes than they showed yesterday. And in terms of improvement....it certainly can't get worse (I hope). Go Ducks. Gather up, learn, and have confidence. Flush this game like the bad nightmare that it was. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
VegasDuck No. 20 Share Posted September 4, 2022 BYU QB is just as good if not better than Georgia's. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Duck No. 21 Share Posted September 4, 2022 "Probably gotta go back to 2009 for an opener that went like this for the Ducks." C'mon... as bad as that 2009 Boise State loss was, we lost by 11 points. A far cry from 46 points and the 3rd worst opening loss in Duck history going back to 1916. Again, I know we're all looking for some sliver of silver lining after yesterday's abhorrent debacle, but I'm pretty sure there is not much of it to be gleaned --- other than our Ducks doing everything they can to learn from it, and then flush it down the proverbial toilet and press on. This may be where the game of golf comes into play and that need for a short memory. One day, one week, and one game at a time. Win the day... and make your bed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mic No. 22 Share Posted September 4, 2022 On 9/4/2022 at 1:37 PM, Desert Duck said: This is true, but only because we now play relatively soft OOC & PAC-12 teams. And I'm sorry to say this, but unfortunately, your true statement only serves to further expose how soft PAC-12 football has become, and how far behind we are relative to the SEC. Don't forget Utah ( very tough loss to Florida in the swamp) and don't underestimate USC, nor OSU. 'Soft' is relative right now given the Duck's question marks going forward. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalBear95 No. 23 Share Posted September 4, 2022 On 9/4/2022 at 12:43 PM, woundedknees said: "Don't Let This Loss Define The Rest Of This Season!" Exactly because then this game would then truly be a debacle. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Duck No. 24 Share Posted September 4, 2022 On 9/4/2022 at 2:23 PM, Mic said: Don't forget Utah ( very tough loss to Florida in the swamp) and don't underestimate USC, nor OSU. 'Soft' is relative right now given the Duck's question marks going forward. Yes... the #7 ranked team lost to an unranked team on the road. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mic No. 25 Share Posted September 4, 2022 On 9/4/2022 at 2:31 PM, Desert Duck said: Yes... the #7 ranked team lost to an unranked team on the road. They probably spank us again - unless we get this new defense (and lack of offense) figured out by November. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Duck No. 26 Share Posted September 4, 2022 On 9/4/2022 at 2:21 PM, CalBear95 said: "Maybe I am misreading your post but Rome wasn’t built in a day and it isn’t like the Ducks lack a lot of good materials in that venture" Again, you are absolutely correct. It took a few centuries, in fact, to build Rome. And I certainly wasn't expecting Lanning to come in and walk on water either. But I believe honesty would dictate us admitting that virtually none of us expected to see anything remotely occur like the catastrophe we witnessed yesterday. Fortunately, we are done with the "Georgia's" for the rest of the season and now we're going to begin to start learning exactly what kind of head coach we have at Oregon. And frankly, I'm actually optimistic. We have a rather favorable schedule as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
McDuck No. 27 Share Posted September 4, 2022 On 9/4/2022 at 2:19 PM, Desert Duck said: "Probably gotta go back to 2009 for an opener that went like this for the Ducks." C'mon... as bad as that 2009 Boise State loss was, we lost by 11 points. A far cry from 46 points and the 3rd worst opening loss in Duck history going back to 1916. Another way to frame the BSU loss is to say we only had six first downs and 152 yards total offense. That is on a par with what we saw yesterday. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Duck No. 28 Share Posted September 4, 2022 On 9/4/2022 at 2:40 PM, McDuck said: Another way to frame the BSU loss is to say we only had six first downs and 152 yards total offense. That is on a par with what we saw yesterday. Thanks for looking this up. This is a great point. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalBear95 No. 29 Share Posted September 4, 2022 (edited) Text is many times a poor medium. My comments were meant more in the spirit of perspective as to how freakishly good Georgia is and to not apply that to the Ducks relative to the better SEC teams. I would not be surprised to see Georgia to that to a lot of teams this year, even those of quality. As to the stats question, I didn’t come into the game with any predictions (and that will always be the case. That’s not how I consume the game as some do) but I definitely acknowledge I didn’t expect that kind of showing. To this though, I would just say ‘they did get destroyed, OK.’ As Charles and Dazed noted in great detail and analysis, this team has holes that need to be addressed via either personnel and/or scheme. Ultimately I take a long view though I can most certainly appreciate your extreme frustration with the result. It is frustrating. So apologies if my comment came off as anything other than simply to convey that this is going to be a multi year journey but to my eyes one of optimism It’s a good lesson and I will be more more mindful in how I frame my response going forward Be well Edited September 4, 2022 by CalBear95 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mic No. 30 Share Posted September 4, 2022 On 9/4/2022 at 2:40 PM, Desert Duck said: We have a rather favorable schedule as well. Yes, we do. And I'd like to see Coach Lanning take full advantage of that by playing the other two QB's in the rotation whenever possible. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Duck No. 31 Share Posted September 4, 2022 On 9/4/2022 at 2:46 PM, CalBear95 said: So apologies if my comment came off as anything other than simply to convey that this is going to be a multi year journey but to my eyes one of optimism It’s a good lesson and I will be more more mindful in how I frame my response going forward Be well No worries from me. And if anything I said came off as snarky, my apologies. I like your comments. And to one of your comments above, keystrokes are definitely a tough way to communicate -- especially after a butt whoopin' like yesterday Onward and upward! Have a great rest of your Labor Day weekend. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
