Coach’s Comments: “Oregon will have TWO New Defenses….”

Coach Morris Analysis, Fish Reports, Learning the Jim Leavitt 3-4 Hybrid Defense

In the past I’ve frequently criticized peoples’ attaching far too much importance to the defensive front used by a team — and several other schematic suggestions. “It’s not important WHAT you do, but HOW well you do it” has been my standard axiom. Well … that’s not always true. An offense could run nothing but “perfect” QB Sneaks for the …

Oregon Fans: A Glimpse of a Jim Leavitt 3-4 Defense

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis, Fish Reports

Remember the announcement recently: I will continue to write as will a few other writers, but we will only be running two or three articles per week. Sign up for the newsletter above so you won’t miss any of my or the GOC’s articles, and to make sure you don’t miss upcoming videos!  –Charles Fischer It was fun in yesterday’s …

How Brady Hoke Got Mark Helfrich FIRED

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis, Fish Reports

I am done defending Oregon Head Football Coach Mark Helfrich. Sure … it really does not matter now as he twists in the wind during his final days at Oregon, but it is also because he no longer deserves my support with the travesty on defense that we saw in the 120th Civil War. He allowed what I have chronicled throughout …

Middle Linebacker Technique: Jimmie Swain Is Making Plays!

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis, Fish Reports

This fall, we have often used examples of the poor technique by the Oregon defense to help learn more football. However, the Utah game showed us glimpses of how Jimmie Swain is emerging as a solid player for the future of the Duck defense. He’s becoming a legit Pac-12 starting linebacker (good enough to be a defensive strength, instead of …

Linebacker Analysis: “Scrape to Contain” is a Fundamental

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis, Fish Reports

I continue to maintain that, as fans, the more we know about the game of football, the more we will enjoy the game - win or lose. This season has proven that principal to me, as I am learning why the Oregon defense is so bad, which stems the tide of frustration (somewhat). Previously, we have discussed the important “Fill-and-Spill” fundamental for …

Linebacker Technique Analysis: Taking on the Blocks

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis, Fish Reports

Much that has been written about the Oregon defense and why it is one of the worst in college football has been centered around recruiting and the lack of talent on the defensive side of the ball. “We are being overpowered on the line-of-scrimmage and do not have enough 4-star defensive players to take on the sophisticated offenses and talented …

How Oregon Destroyed the Blitz With the “Rub-Cross” Strategy

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis, Fish Reports

Oregon fans were understandably apprehensive going into the Arizona State game. They knew the Sun Devils blitzed a ton, which would be problematic for four redshirt freshmen offensive linemen and the Ducks’ true freshman quarterback Justin Herbert. Could Oregon counter these blitzes? How would the coaching staff handle obvious passing situations against the blitz and keep the coveted new QB protected? Fortunately, …

Linebacker Technique: Freshman Keith Simms Attacks the Blocks Correctly

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis, Fish Reports

As a fan, there are plenty of moments of dejection and frustration watching the Oregon defense, yet there are examples of hope on the horizon from Oregon’s younger defensive players. Following the new FishDuck.com method of showing what went wrong and how the same action is applied correctly – I am excited watching the play of Keith Simms, the freshman Middle Linebacker …

Learning More Football: Gaps & Techniques

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis, Fish Reports

In an effort to help us understand the FishDuck.com analysis articles going forward, it helps to have an understanding of how an offense views gaps at the line of scrimmage, and how a defense will line up in numbered alignments, or as coaches will call techniques correspondent to those gaps. Using the illustration below, let’s get started learning about what the different gaps (letters in …

Right and Wrong: Linebacker Leverage in a 4-3 Defense

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis, Fish Reports

Our beloved Oregon Ducks are going through some historic defensive difficulties, yet offer glimmers of hope that they will become better on this side of the ball. Today we look at the leverage of Oregon’s linebackers (courtesy of the Grizzled Ol’ Coach, Mike Morris) and learn how their gap assignments can be solved by looking at both good and bad examples. A …

What Went Wrong: Defensive Tackle Leverage in the 4-3 Defense

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis, Fish Reports

It is frustrating as fans to see gashes in the Oregon defense and know that something is going wrong, but not be able to pinpoint what it is. We are fortunate to have the guidance of the Grizzled Ol’ Coach, Mike Morris, to help us understand not only what went wrong in the game against Washington State, but to help …

Oregon Playbook: The Counter Play Reappears

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis, Fish Reports

After a tough loss we have to consider the prospect of learning more simply to enjoy the game of college football, but it is especially important when you lose a game. In my case, I wish to offer youth and high school football coaches around the nation a peek at Oregon’s playbook, which is large, yet the Ducks do not …