Battered Ducks Playing for Pride

Coach Ken Woody Analysis

Head coach Mario Cristobal has to be frustrated with the Oregon football team he inherited. Going into his first season, with a couple of all-stars on defense and a Heisman candidate quarterback leading his offense, it seemed that contending for the Pac-12 Conference championship was a goal within reach. Unfortunately, injuries and the collapse of both his defense and offense …

The Oregon Offense: GT Counter Read

Coach Eric Boles Analysis

Writing this article came about by way of a strange coincidence. The morning of the Oregon v. Washington game, I received a text message from a coaching friend in Oklahoma. His question was simple: “You think GT Counter Read works from Pistol?” Neither of us had seen anyone do it before, so we weren’t sure of how the timing and exchange …

Kelly, Bruins get Run Over by Ducks

Coach Ken Woody Analysis

Coach Mario Cristobal had to be thankful that UCLA made a ton of mistakes in Chip Kelly’s return trip to Autzen Stadium. The Bruins are very young, with fewer senior starters than Oregon: one on offense and two on defense — which might account for the five turnovers and 11 penalties, not to mention a flurry of dropped passes. Cristobal …

What HAPPENED to the Oregon Ducks?

Coach Ken Woody Analysis

The question on everyone’s mind is “what happened to the Oregon Ducks?” after they were pasted by a mediocre Arizona team in Tucson. The Duck offense was somnolent and quarterback Justin Herbert sank into a fog, without getting any help from his offensive line, receivers or coaches. For the second week in a row, coach Mario Cristobal‘s physical running offense …

Coach Boles’ Extra Point: Oregon’s Rushing Attack

Coach Eric Boles Analysis

I’ve seen a lot of discussion over the last few weeks about why the Oregon Ducks are not putting up the kind of rushing numbers this season that they traditionally have. The two areas that are super easy for fans to grab at are scheme and play calling. Any time the offense has a letdown in the scoring column, you’ll be sure to …

Game Day — A Perfect Storm for the Cougars

Coach Ken Woody Analysis

The Duck defense couldn’t tackle or put pressure on the quarterback, and the offense had an Alamo Bowl half where it couldn’t get the snap count right or protect its own quarterback. The end result was a perfect storm for Washington State as the Cougars had their best day ever in knocking off a no-longer cocky flock of Ducks. Oregon …

Nobody Saw THIS Coming — Ducks Pound Huskies

Coach Ken Woody Analysis

In one of the most gut-wrenching Husky-Duck football games ever, coach Mario Cristobal saw more evidence his pursuit of a highly physical football team was headed in the right direction as Oregon topped tiring Washington 30-27 in overtime. A jam-packed crowd of over 58,000 was treated to a high-energy contest where no play was inconsequential. To be truthful, the Ducks …

The Oregon Duck Offense: Misdirection in the Play-Action Game

Coach Eric Boles Analysis

This week, we’ll dive into one of the many benefits the Pistol formation has extended the Oregon Duck offense. On deck in this article is the variety of play-action pass looks the Pistol allows. Where all play-action passes from the Shotgun look pretty much the same, those from the Pistol can look very different, depending on the call. It even allows for a cool little misdirection that …

Ducks Make a Psychological Rebound vs. Cal

Coach Ken Woody Analysis

Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal realized his first Pac-12 victory Saturday with a resounding 42-24 win over the previously undefeated Cal Bears in Berkeley. His defense scored two touchdowns at crucial junctures of the game and finally shook the ball loose of its opponent five times, and also made a timely goal line stand for another turnover on downs. This …

Deeper Dive: Freshmen and Offensive Line Improve Against Cal

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis

There was much to wring our hands about in the Cal game, but there is also improvement on this team that doesn’t always get noticed. Although yesterday’s article was the primary discussion piece for the Cal game, I thought I would touch on a few other points that time and space did not allow for. There are many more aspects …

Ducks Show Promise; Coaches Need to Catch Up

Coach Ken Woody Analysis

Even after playing a tough, physical game that was nearly perfect at times, Oregon found a way to lose to a shocked Stanford team that was dominated nearly the whole game, except at crucial times when the Ducks mentally and physically collapsed. The result was a 38-31 overtime victory for the Cardinal, who was lucky to get out Eugene alive. …

Coach’s Analysis: Are the Safeties and Corners on the Right Page?

Coach Ken Woody Analysis

It was bound to happen: just as everyone was satisfied their Ducks were looking sharp and coordinated, everything went bonkers with Oregon staggering against San Jose State 35-22. The offensive line committed its first false start and the Ducks committed three major penalties — one of which was a 10-yard holding penalty which negated a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown …