Stopping Oregon is a terrible task for a defensive coordinator, especially during the middle of the season with little time to prepare between games. The schematic bonuses given to the Ducks through spreading a defense out, then isolating and rendering a defender useless, truly makes a defense overmatched schematically in every way. So that brings up the inevitable question–how does …
The FishDuck Minute #16: Combating the Scrape Exchange
In 2011, Southern Cal knew they had to change something up on defense against Oregon. Monte Kiffin’s game-plan included one of the most standard mechanisms to stop the Zone Read plays that teams like Oregon run called the “Scrape Exchange.” This video will go over how the scrape exchange works, and how Oregon uses a multitude of different constraint plays …
The FishDuck Minute #15: Staying a Step Ahead of the Rest
Oregon’s matchup with Southern Cal in 2010 was hyped up to be the Trojan’s return to the nation’s elite. The game did not disappoint, as Oregon traded blows with the Trojans until late in the second half. In this FishDuck minute, we’d like to show some great examples of constraint plays used by Coach Kelly in the 2010 USC-Oregon game, …
PAC 12 Spread Laboratory: How Chip Kelly’s Offense Can Learn From Mike Leach’s “6” Route
If there was a primary reason to adapt a spread offense, it usually would be a desire to put fast athletes into open space. The fact that the spread works hand-in-hand with modern zone-blocking schemes and the no-huddle system is just icing on the cake for any team that has made that transition from a traditional offensive scheme. For Oregon, …
The FishDuck Minute #14: Oregon’s Mid-Level Read
Oregon’s offense boils down to a series of constraint plays. One of those “counters” is the Midline, or Mid-Level read, where the QB reads an interior defender rather than a defensive end or linebacker. Examples from both the 2010 and 2011 seasons are included as FishDuck.com gives you an exclusive look at one of Oregon’s most dynamic running plays. “Oh …
Keeping the Dream Alive: Life as an Undrafted Free Agent
Life after playing a sport is tough for any athlete, at any level, with the prospect of having to give up the sport they love. Only a select few get to continue their careers at a higher rank, whether in college, or at the professional level. For those lucky few athletes picked in the draft, their departures are considerably easier …
Building a Program In the New Pac-12: It’s as Simple as Simple as Simple as Repetition
Creativity is something that is trending in the PAC-12, just look at the new hires for evidence of that, with two new coaches in the state of Arizona as well as at UCLA. Modeling Chip Kelly’s wide open spread laboratory is now a mainstream practice on the west coast, but the matchup that football strategy junkies everywhere are looking forward …
A Step Away From College Football’s Elite
When College Football fans list off the best games in recent history, it usually starts with the USC-Texas National Championship matchup in the ’05-’06 season, the OU-Boise State game, or the Texas Tech-Texas matchup in Lubbock. All, “usual suspects,” when it comes to instant classics, and are definitely deserving of their ranking, but there is one game from the 1998 …
Look Who’s Back: Oregon Baseball’s Triumphant Return
Being emotionally invested in the Oregon football program is something that nearly all Duck fans have in common. All the sights, sounds, even the smells of a cloudy fall afternoon in Autzen Stadium are things that Oregon fans young and old all share and love equally. But an afternoon in PK Park next door is, quite literally, still wearing in …
FishDuck Minute #12: Oregon’s Deadly TD Pass Play
If there has been one play that has provided better results and more unforgettable moments in the past few years it has been the perfectly placed pass to the back of the end zone. Chip Kelly’s go-to plays have always been on the ground, but when he needs some points in crunch time, he pulls out one of these two …
The Official End of an Era, The Hope For What Yet May Come
When Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson’s last-second effort to stop the clock failed, his attempted spike coming a moment after time had expired in Pasadena this past January, one era of University of Oregon football officially ended, to great fanfare and jubilation. This was an era of dazzling numbers, of ESPN specials and weekday bouts. It was an epoch containing three …
The FishDuck Minute #10: PAC 12 Spread Analysis – Short Pass
Part 3 of the PAC 12 Spread Analysis, this time, we’re going to cover the short passing concepts. We’ll go over the different uses of the concept, and the different concepts coupled with the short passing strategy. “Oh how we love to learn about our beloved Ducks!” Josh Schlichter Oregon Football Analyst for FishDuck.com Eugene, Oregon Top Photo from FishDuck.com …