Part 3: Going Their Separate Ways — Friends Struggle to Succeed On Separate Paths For The First Time For friends Jaiya Figueras and Kenny Wheaton, their first couple of years at the University of Oregon had seen the pendulum swing wildly. After their redshirt season in 1993 watching their teammates struggle to win, the two roommates had spearheaded the improbable …
Part 2: Jaiya Figueras: The hero’s coming out party arrives early in 1995 The 1994 season was special for the players and fans alike. The sting of losing seasons had been washed away with an improbable run to the Pac-10 title and Rose Bowl berth. It was a huge surprise to everyone, except roommates Jaiya Figueras and Kenny Wheaton, who …
Part 1: Jaiya Figueras and Kenny Wheaton: Freshmen Roommates Driven to Succeed Every Oregon Duck fan can probably recite verbatim the infamous Jerry Allen call of Kenny Wheaton’s interception versus Washington in 1994, or fondly remember Joey Harrington hitting Samie Parker in stride for an 80 yard touchdown in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl, or Marcus Woods flattening BYU quarterback Ty …
I have been asked often for an archive, a place for Fish Reports, and now that I’m going forward with tutorial videos along with diagrammed pictures…it made sense for “FishDuck.com” to be a reality. Like any new project — it grows much bigger as we explore all that we can do, thus it will be much more than just an …
If I told you that Chip ran a new formation last year that nobody wrote about or even noticed and it put THREE Tailbacks on the field at the same time—would you believe it? Hard to think of something that bizarre, yet he wants to put the best talent, especially the speed guys in space as much as possible. Right? …
How well does a Zone Read work when the opponent has six DL and two or three LBs stacked up close on short yardage situations? We have all complained about using a shotgun formation in the Red Zone, especially inside our own and the opponent’s five yard line. Imagine my surprise when I see us run an “ACE” formation for …
The new SLASH formation and plays at the game in Glendale received universal derision from Oregon fans that were unaccustomed to the new look and at the subpar results. Yet Chip is not one to jettison a strategy after the first time and it aroused enough curiosity in me to study the different attack strategy behind these formations that could …
What is the biggest reason as to why Oregon has lead the Pac-10 and been one of the nation’s leaders in rushing since the Spread Offense was introduced at Oregon? You may recall that a crucial component to the success of the Zone Read is when a Defensive End is left unblocked and “Read,” on the backside of the play. …
For over a dozen years now, I have been writing reports about Spring Football describing the blossoms coming out with the warmth of the sun thawing the slight chill in the air. In so many ways….this is NOT the usual spring; this last week we had darkness and rainstorms in Eugene during the day that looked like late November, and …
(This is the last of the Summer Series of Fish Reports with Fall Camp starting next week. It was an eventful summer as the Fish Report was the first from the web or any media source in the state to identify, describe, and announce the New 3-4 Defense that Oregon transitioned into this last year. On offense, the Fish Report …
What do I write about our offense this last spring that hasn’t already been written or commented upon? I believe…quite a bit! I got so focused upon the research project of the New Oregon Defense, and it took so much of my spare time, that I didn’t get to my usual wrap-up after the Spring Football game. The last two …
Why so many “Fish Reports” lately? I like to write when most are not, or about conclusions that I haven’t seen elsewhere, so I frequently let some time pass before applying my own analysis. (or I’m waiting long enough for all of you to forget enough of the games to make you reluctant to disagree!) My game-plan is to write …
