After the tough loss in Seattle last year, the teeth were gnashing in Eugene about some fourth down-short yardage play calls by Oregon Offensive Coordinator Will Stein. While it was true that quarterback Bo Nix missed an open receiver in one of those plays, the focus of the blame from the Duck fans were directed at Oregon’s young OC. In an interview last spring, Coach Stein admitted to “not being as prepared” as he wanted.
He also vowed to “never let that happen again.”
For many Duck fans, this was surprising to hear him own it as he did, and gave us all encouragement about the future of the Oregon offense that averaged 44 points, the second most in the nation last year. How would he handle key moments on third or fourth down this year? What would he come up with for those very-tough short yardage plays that must be converted? I had to take some time from my fun at join 777Bet to analyze what his response would be.
The good news is that we saw three examples in the game against Michigan State where the play was a high-leverage make-or-break moment that had to be converted. Coach Stein unveiled new plays that worked wonderfully and impressed this hack-analyst, as well as those in the broadcast television booth for the B1G game. Let’s take a look…
So much deception in this play creation! (Screenshot from Fox Sports Video)
The video below has two of the “must” plays that had to be executed in a short yardage situation. Look at the screenshot above from the first play in the video; note the green circle on the left, and do watch the incredible block by Patrick Herbert No. 88 in the video below. Note Josh Conerly Jr. No. 76 in the red circle; he is supposed to be our left offensive tackle, and they have him on the right in a tight end H-Back position?
At right tackle is Ajani Cornelius No. 65 as usual, but who is the tight end to his right? (Red arrow) It is No. 52 A’Mauri Washington, the 320 pound defensive tackle! This is a formation that shouts a power play to our right. Note the green arrows, as this is the offensive line doing a kick-step to the right. They do this when they want to run outside in that direction, and are trying to get leverage.
This also is a “key” or a “tell” for the defense, because when they see it–they will immediately move to that side. (This kick-step is also evident in the second play in the video) In the end, the kick-step, and the power formation shouting an Outside Zone play to our right was truly a head-fake. But if you were the defensive coordinator, you must stop this obvious powerful play coming to you from our right side.
These two plays in the video below are quite the new short yardage plays that worked!
So much deception, and yet the power aspect could be run later out of the same formation. Note how the play ended up going the opposite of the man-in-motion, and because the timing was so rapid and extraordinary…these plays above were almost impossible to defend. Stein was ready for the crucial short yardage plays!
Oregon’s New Straddled Double Option with an Inside Zone Read one direction, and a QB Sweep going the other direction! (Screenshot from Fox Sports Video)
Back about 13 years ago–I introduced the Straddled Triple Option to Oregon fans, as Chip was attacking two sides of the field with three options within the play. What we see in the play below in the video, and in the screenshot above is a variation that is updated to our current players, and I call it the Straddled Double Option. To me it is “Straddled” because the play can go either direction, and we have two options of an Inside Zone Read to the left, or a Quarterback Sweep to the right.
Note in the screenshot above, that Dillon Gabriel is truly zone-reading the defensive end who is unblocked. (Red dotted line above) This means we have an extra blocker on the left side, and you can see the five Duck offensive linemen blocking three Michigan State defenders. In another instant, a blocker with each double-team will peel off and attack/block the linebackers, thus we have a sweet Inside Zone Read play set up to the left.
But wait! The Spartan defensive end above is crashing inside, to chase the running back! You can see that Gabriel sees him crashing, (Red dotted line above) and the Oregon QB pulls the ball from the belly of the running back to sprint to the end zone. Note how Evan Stewart No. 7 (Green dotted line above) is pulling his defender inside, and Terrance Ferguson No. 3 (Blue dotted line above) is leading the way on the sweep, and will implement a fantastic block on the corner.
Good gosh I love this play! The defense must stop the Inside Zone Read to the left, and that leaves few defenders remaining to stop the Quarterback Sweep. To add to the difficulty to the opposing defense, Dillon Gabriel is fast and leaves them little time to react, and if needed–can do some jump cuts. Another brand new play for short yardage “must” situations that worked wonderfully.
Note also how this time the man-in-motion went to the playside, unlike the other two. Hence Coach Stein is not tipping any “tells” to future opponents. This play is not only new, but is an instance where Gabriel was doing a genuine zone-read, whereas many in prior games were simply a decoy action. It is apparent that they practiced his zone-reading extensively, as he made the right read in just milliseconds.
Good gosh I love this play!
An observation about us fans? (And this includes yours-truly) We only notice plays when they don’t work, as we saw in Seattle. We fry the offensive coordinator when the plays fail, but when they work well, are incredibly innovative and help the offense score three touchdowns?
Nobody notices.
Consider how there were a hundred articles written about the game, and not a single one noted these new plays, how they worked, and how Coach Will Stein is following through on his vow to be ready for these crucial downs? I have every confidence that if he unveiled three in this last game….he has a boatload of them in his back pocket for the remainder of the season.
Ready to forgive Stein? We all grow and learn, and to me…he really killed-it. Let me know in the only free, civilized Oregon forum because….
“Oh, how we love to ponder about Our Beloved Ducks!“
Charles Fischer (Mr. FishDuck)
Eugene, Oregon
Top Photo by Steven Chan
Related Articles:
Charles Fischer has been an intense fan of the Ducks, a season ticket holder at Autzen Stadium for 38 years and has written reports on football boards for over 26 years. Known as “FishDuck” on those boards, he is acknowledged for providing intense detail in his scrimmage reports, and in his Xs and Os play analyses. He is single, has a daughter Christine, and resides in Eugene Oregon where he was a Financial Advisor for 36 years.
He now focuses full-time on Charitable Planned Giving Workshops for churches and non-profit organizations in addition to managing his two Oregon Football Websites, of FishDuck.com and the Our Beloved Ducks forum. He is a busy man!
He does not profess to be a coach or analyst, but simply a “hack” that enjoys sharing what he has learned and invites others to correct or add to this body of Oregon Football! See More…