Do you remember playing the game Popcorn in school growing up? One person starts reading and then Popcorn’s to another person in the room that way it’s not the same person reading the entire time. If you are the reader, you have the power to choose anyone to read next, the cons are if you’re not the reader you have no idea who’s going to get called on next.
That is what came to mind when I listened to Devon Allen’s interview from this morning with Caleb Coutourie of FishDuck.com at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex. During his interview, he was asked how he likes the ball being spread around the field more and responded saying, “Having a high-powered offense makes it hard for any defense.”
This past weekend the Oregon Ducks defeated the Washington Huskies for the eleventh straight year. It was almost as though Mariota was playing Popcorn with his offense. The game saw the football in various different players hands, much like a game of Popcorn.
Much like the game of Popcorn there are pros and cons to spreading around the ball. When we spread the ball out more on offense and transition back and forth between passing and rushing it makes the defense very unsure about what is coming their way with every snap of the ball.
In the game against the Huskies, there were 336 overall passing yards and 218 rushing yards. The distribution of passing to rushing and vice versa this weekend combined with a faster pace of game offensively definitely played to an advantage for the Ducks and it was evident in the final score.
Heading down to Cal this weekend, I hope to see the same game from our Ducks. Mariota is our initial reader with every play, who’s he going to Popcorn to with each snap of the ball? I’m on the edge of my seat waiting to find out and I bet those Bears down in Cal are too.
Top Photo by Gary Breedlove
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McKalie Bellew just moved to Oregon from Arizona. She is a sophomore at Lane Community College and moved here to pursue her dream of studying Sports Journalism and Broadcasting at the University of Oregon. Her passion for sports is admirable and her determination and hunger for success in the sports field is fascinating; if you ever have the chance to talk to McKalie face-to-face about sports, you’ll know how much she loves these games just by the way her eyes light up during the conversation. When unable to attend Ducks home games you can find her in front of a television on the edge of her seat, cheering her crazed-fan-head off. McKalie appreciates your feedback and constructive-criticism to help her become a better writer and reporter.