Throughout the season we’ve done snap count takeaways after certain games that give us a glimpse at the depth on the roster, and see what we can learn about how much some players played.

 

With so many young players getting a chance to play during the Holiday Bowl, we figured it would be a great time to dive into the snap counts and see what they tell us.

 

It's too bad we weren't able to get a large lead to see even more young players.

Here are the snap counts from Wednesday, followed by some of our major takeaways.

 

Oregon Football: Usage report takeaways from Holiday Bowl vs. UNC

DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM

---

A deep dive into the snap counts for Oregon during the Holiday Bowl, seeing which young players got the biggest chance to shine.

 

I do think Brown and Bassa are looking to take those middle linebacker spots next year. 

 

Granted Justin Jacobs will be interesting to see where he fits in. He is taller and bigger so does he play one of those edge positions that still need to go into coverage from time to time? 

 

But I do feel like we saw the best overall performance from our linebackers this year during the game. Far from perfect but linebacker has been a liability all year. 

I am rooting for Keith Brown to have a breakout season next year. He played well in Bowl. 7 tackles, 4 solo. 

 

 

A bit off topic, but Forsythe was replaced by Walk at center when AF's shoulder was reinjured. I saw AF look tentative on several blocks when the offense was sputtering mid game. Walk played some of those snaps at LG but then did a great job at center for the two TD drives late in the game.

 

Kudos to both for their line play this year. They will be missed.

Below are some things that I was surprised by:

 

1) Linebackers Brown, Funa and Bassa played around the same number of snaps 65-68.  I would have expected two to have more snaps than the third. 
 

2) Irving and Whittingham having an even split of snaps. I love Whittingham as a change of pace back but believe that Irving has earned to be the featured back given his production. He should also be a better pass protector given his size. I was disappointed he didn’t get the carry late in the game.  
 

3) Kris Hudson didn’t get more snaps. I would have though that with all of Oregon’s 3 receiver sets that Hudson and Cota would have almost as many snaps as Franklin. 

 

 

On 12/31/2022 at 11:56 AM, OregonDucks said:

Below are some things that I was surprised by:

 

1) Linebackers Brown, Funa and Bassa played around the same number of snaps 65-68.  I would have expected two to have more snaps than the third. 

 

It's likely due to the fact they are at different positions in Lupoi/Lanning's defense.

 

Brown (Money LB) and Bassa (Mac LB) are ILBs and Funa (Jack LB) an OLB/Edge so they would all be out there at the same time in the basic D. They were all listed as starters pre-game.

On 12/31/2022 at 1:04 PM, EastBayDuckDad said:

Brown (Money LB) and Bassa (Mac LB) are ILBs

I disagree.  The Mac is the run-stuffer, and I believe Brown is in that position.  The Money is fast, fluid LB who can run-stuff, pass-rush and provide coverage against passes.  Bassa is a converted safety, hence why he is in the Money spot.

My bad, then. I took it from the Oregonian and they had Brown as the Money (I assumed old middle) LB.

 

 

 

Right.  The Oregonian is great at reporting the news, not so at analysis...

 

Green Blitzes: Lanning Begins the New Mint Defense at Oregon

FISHDUCK.COM

---

For the first time in nearly a decade–watching the defense at Oregon is going to be highly entertaining again due to the new Mint defense and pressure packages...