After three weeks of college football, the Oregon Ducks offense has emphatically declared its identity. They are a physical unit based around the run game, that is also going to stretch defenses both horizontally and vertically through the air; they’re going to attack. One of the run concepts that these Ducks have used to set a tone the last couple …
Since Coach Mario Cristobal arrived in Eugene as co-offensive coordinator in 2017, there has been a single play to endure three different offenses. That play is the Outside Zone from the Pistol. Some of Oregon’s longest run plays in the last four years have been the product of that play. One thing that could make this version of the Outside …
Oregon’s “smash mouth” offense was put to the test in the 2020 Rose Bowl. The Ducks produced only 204 yards of total offense due to Wisconsin aligning one or two more defenders than Oregon could block when running the inside and outside zone read. Yet Oregon was able to adjust the assignment of one player in the backfield, producing all …
Alright … I was wrong in last week’s article. And not just once, but in a couple of places. I was erroneously applying prior knowledge of the Oregon Spread Offense to the new Oregon Offense that features the Pistol formation the majority of the time. In this article, I will apologize, own up to my errors (each of them) and …
If you want a fluffy editorial, this ain’t it. I am not going to cover the same stuff as other media — that everyone can already see, such as dropped passes, elite throws by Justin Herbert, improvements on the defense, etc. I will focus on what I am passionate about on offense, and I was dismayed at what I saw …
The Zone Read has been a staple of the Oregon offense for more than a decade now. Since the day Chip Kelly first set foot in Eugene, the Duck offense has used this play to punish even the most tenacious of defenses. Indeed, the Zone Read has become one of the pillars of Oregon football. Traditionally, Oregon has run the Zone Read …
The Oregon Defense: DEFEATING THE ZONE READ (4 Analyses) —1. The Coach’s Corner: Defending the Zone Read http://fishduck.com/2012/08/the-coachs-corner-defending-the-zone-read/ Text Analysis Published 8-17-2012 However, there are counters to the Zone Read, as there are defensive maneuvers aimed at disguising or disrupting the zone read. Our team has learned to use our 4-3 Defense to scheme the opponent, forcing the offense to …
Oregon Spread Offense: Zone Reading Analyses of Coaches Chip Kelly, Mark Helfrich and Scott Frost (19 Analyses) —1. The Fish Report: New Wrinkles Against Nevada http://fishduck.com/2011/09/the-fish-report-new-wrinkles-against-nevada/ Video and Text Analysis Published 9-13-2011 This video shows the variations of Zone Read Attack with the Bubble Threat by the wide receivers, but also from the running back going in motion helping the …
Welcome to a special edition of X’s vs. O’s! Whether you are a die-hard Oregon Duck fan or a casual observer, I don’t think anyone expected Oregon to keep pace with Arizona in their November 18th showdown. To come away with such an emphatic victory is even more impressive. The defensive game-plan deserves much of the credit, and is worth studying. Today, …
In a previous analysis I discussed Oregon’s Run-Pass Combo. In this follow-up analysis, I will look at how the Ducks use the same strategy to attack defenses by focusing on a single player. With the Duck offense, any defender can be the focus of an offensive play. Tendencies, leverage and spacing are all key points that coaches ponder when calling a specific play. In the …
Head Coach Mark Helfrich has brought new life to older plays in the Oregon playbook, but few are as odd as the Mid-Line Zone Read play. It seems to violate what we have learned about the Zone Read at Oregon, and it is a play that we rarely see. Readers of these Tuesday analyses are becoming as amused as I …
