When Coach Joe Moorhead was hired as the new offensive coordinator for the Oregon Ducks, folks started to wonder how often the quarterback would run in the new system. Some believed that the coaching staff would continue to curb the number of QB carries, while others believed that the end-of-season success with zone reads signaled a change. We would later …
How Einstein Avalos Saved Roller Coaster Arroyo in the Rose Bowl
There was much dismay among Ducks fans when Andy Avalos’s Boise State defense overwhelmed Marcus Arroyo’s offense in the 2017 Las Vegas Bowl. FishDuck fans across the nation fretted over Arroyo’s up-and-down, “roller coaster” tendencies. Little did we know it would be Avalos’s defensive brilliance that would redeem Arroyo’s roller-coaster offense just two years later. Even when Coach Eric Boles …
Oregon Basketball: Breaking Down The Pick And Roll
The pick-and-roll is one of the most frequently utilized offensive plays in all of basketball. In order to generate good shots out of the pick-and-roll, a team needs to execute three elements–adequate floor spacing, good screens, and adept ball-handling–and it needs to do so aggressively. While the men’s basketball team consistently struggles with their pick-and-rolls, often not even leading to …
The Joe Moorhead Offense: Personnel and Formations
The Oregon Ducks have found their guy in offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead. Coach Moorhead has found success at multiple levels, and his offense has been record-setting. The offense was created while he was the head coach of the Fordham Rams in the FCS. Over his final three seasons at Fordham, before he left to become the offensive coordinator for the …
“Roller Coaster” Arroyo Saves His Best For Last
Oregon’s now-former offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo took us on a bit of roller coaster ride this year. While his offensive play-calling was at times boring and predictable, at others it looped and zoomed with the excitement of a Disneyland thrill ride. Extending his tenure to coach the Rose Bowl game, Arroyo came California Screamin’ out of the chute, engineering a …
Analysis: How Oregon’s Zone Read Won the Rose Bowl
Oregon’s “smash mouth” offense was put to the test in the 2020 Rose Bowl. The Ducks produced only 204 yards of total offense due to Wisconsin aligning one or two more defenders than Oregon could block when running the inside and outside zone read. Yet Oregon was able to adjust the assignment of one player in the backfield, producing all …
Cristobal’s Biggest Lesson? The END GAME
We know that Mario Cristobal is still relatively new as a head coach in a Power-Five conference, and many of us have sputtered about his learning curve. Strategies and tactics that many of us “Greybeards” have watched over the years with other coaches seemed to be either unknown or ignored by this coaching staff. Now granted, going from 7-6 to …
Analyzing Read Keys: Did Justin Herbert DEFY the Experts?
Oregon won the Pac-12 Championship game over Utah for a variety of reasons on both sides of the ball, but the most noted tactical change in this game was the running of Justin Herbert in the Outside Zone Read plays out of the Shotgun formation. Coach Ken Woody pointed it out in his analysis article, as did Eric Boles in …
Herbert’s Feet Take Oregon’s Offense to the Next Level
It took just a couple of adjustments for the Oregon Ducks running game to take it to the next level against the Utah Utes in the Pac-12 Championship game. Against a Utah defense that had only given up a little more than 50 yards per game on the ground, Oregon managed to rush for 269 yards. Running back CJ Verdell …
How Oregon’s Offense Evolved Under Marcus Arroyo
As we look back on the roller coaster ride recently departed offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo and Mario Cristobal have taken us on this season, I want to share some thoughts you might not have considered. Many an Oregon fan — especially on this website — have criticized Arroyo for “dishonoring” the blur offense we so adored. One major gripe fans …
Big Touchdown: “Ignoring Throck on the Combo-Block Is a CROCK”
Analyzing all the tiny details that led to a Pac-12 Championship will be great fun for the analysts of FishDuck.com over the next six months, and certainly … you can assume that yours-truly has an abundance of commentary to offer. There were so many big plays versus Utah, but whenever the sportscasters make an egregious mistake or omission concerning one …
Kayvon Thibodeaux Is Heating Up at the Right Time
It’s a beautiful thing when elite talent meets proper technique. That’s what’s happening with Oregon’s all-world freshman pass rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux as the season nears its end. After a relatively quiet start to the season, Thibodeaux has emerged as Oregon’s best pass rusher, leading the team in tackles for loss and sacks. Thibodeaux’s physical attributes (size, length, athleticism, etc.) have …