The “Matured” Inside Zone: Cristobal/Moorhead’s Favorite Play

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis

One of the biggest bones of contention the fans have had with the Mario Cristobal era of nearly four years was pounding of the “A” gaps with the “Plodding-Pistol” formation. Late last year we began to see more of the Shotgun formation, and less of the Pistol to where now we simply do not see the Pistol formation at all. …

The Moorhead Offense: Oregon’s Newly Revised Shotgun DIVE Play

Coach Eric Boles Analysis

Prior to the 2020 football season it was unclear whether there would be any games played at all. The lack of clarity and the restrictions placed on practice once a season was confirmed, made the install of a brand new offense all that more difficult. Coach Joe Moorhead was tasked with implementing his RPO-heavy offense through Zoom meetings and a …

Feeling the Juice: Offensive Line Awakens in Autzen

Coach Eric Boles Analysis

Dominant. If the performance of Oregon’s offensive line against California had to be summed up in one word, it would be dominant. We saw flashes from the offensive line early this season and then witnessed the hiccup against Arizona State. On Saturday night at Autzen Stadium, everything came together for the guys in the trenches. Mario Cristobal has done a fantastic job …

Weapon in the Trenches: The Center in Chip Kelly’s Offense

Joe Kearns Analysis

When people talk about Chip Kelly’s offense, one of the most common buzz words they use is mobility. Although mobility helps running back LeSean McCoy burst through the line of scrimmage or receiver Jeremy Maclin get wide open, it is arguably more important for the offensive linemen who keep defenses out of the backfield. Kelly has been fortunate to have …

Oregon “Bangs, Bends, and Bounces” the NEW Inside Zone Read past Stanford

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Fish Reports

Oregon has changed its foundation play, the Inside Zone Read, from how they ran it three years ago! I covered part of it in a recent discussion about the components of the Pistol offense being added to Oregon Spread Offense, but we need something that covers this essential play from the perspective of how Duck running backs learn to read …

Teaching Running Backs How to Run the Inside Zone

Levi Steier Analysis

As pointed out in an earlier post here at FishDuck, the Oregon Ducks have become one of the premier rushing teams in all of college football and we’ll now examine another reason why. I have written other articles discussing some of the factor’s that play a critical role in their success running the football; including a breakdown of the zone blocking scheme …

Chip Kelly’s “No-Read” Inside Zone Play

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Fish Reports

The Chip Kelly Oregon spread offense is NOT zone reading on some plays?  This offense is known for the infamous read option of a defensive lineman or linebacker as we fans work to determine who is getting zone read on a particular play.  It seems that sometimes we are not reading or optioning anyone, yet the results on these plays …