Oregon coach Mario Cristobal had his greatest victory as a head coach and by the most satisfying means possible — a tough, resilient defense and a powerful offense that mixed creativity with hammer and tong to knock off Washington 35-31 after playing much of the game behind on the scoreboard. There were many surprised by the creative use of screen …
After Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert was 10-of-15 in the first quarter against Colorado, passing aficionados were giddy at the prospect of their Beloved Duck having the opportunity of throwing 50 or 60 times in one game. Unfortunately, Herbert cooled, hitting only 8-of-17 in the final three quarters, but that was plenty because the defense absolutely ate the Buffaloes up, defending …
Oregon’s defense was tooled for the first touchdown it allowed in four games, but recovered enough to shut down Cal 17-7. Coach Mario Cristobal’s offense had to work hard to get only two touchdowns and quarterback Justin Herbert squirmed, having an off day, throwing his first interception of the season and gaining only 214 yards through the air. Herbert’s timing …
A bye week gives Oregon players time to heal and coaches time to fix problems that may have reared their heads in the first third of the season, which finds the Ducks at three wins and one loss. They should, however, be 4-0, as they gave away the opener against Auburn in the last minutes after leading most of the …
Coach Mario Cristobal and Duck fans everywhere enjoyed a measure of revenge for last year’s debacle loss to Stanford with a satisfying 21-6 win over the Cardinal in Palo Alto. Although most would have preferred six or seven touchdowns, three were enough and the defense continued to keep players out of their end zone. The Ducks had problems blocking on …
Oregon’s Justin Herbert continued to pad his passing resume with an impressive 30-of-42 attempts for 316 yards and five touchdowns and the Ducks did as expected, dominating Montana 35-3. Herbert’s first scoring toss was an NCAA record 31st straight game with a touchdown pass, although his longest completion was only 21 yards. The Duck offensive line afforded Herbert solid pass …
Coach Mario Cristobal must have heaved a sigh of relief at halftime with the Ducks ahead of Nevada 35-6. Now, all his team needed to do was “finish” the job in the second half, which they did in resounding fashion, scoring 42 points and shutting out a Wolf Pack team that scored 34 the week before against a Big Ten …
My friends, we have a treat every Wednesday during the season with an analysis of the prior game from Coach Ken Woody. It is a tremendous opportunity to learn more football from a coach who played at Oregon and coached college football for his entire career, and we welcome him back for the 2019 season. To see his prior analyses, …
Oregon fans are breathless with excitement and anticipation for football season and the opener against the SEC’s Auburn Tigers. Some have the Ducks as the favorite, others the Tigers, but this game will be won by the team whose quarterback plays the best and whose team has the best play calling. That would seem to favor Oregon at quarterback, as …
The Duck defense showed up for the Redbox Bowl in Santa Clara, but the offense, as happened several times during the past season, missed the team bus. In a first half that brought to memory the infamous 1983 0-0 Toilet Bowl tie with Oregon State, the mighty, physical Oregon offense was able to achieve four first downs in the first …
Head coach Mario Cristobal savored two Thanksgiving treats: dinner with his team and family, and the next day, for dessert, a 55-15 win over rival Oregon State in a Civil War game that was never as close as the final score indicated. The outcome revealed that Oregon could dominate the line of scrimmage and run roughshod over the worst Pac-12 …
Coach Mario Cristobal had a chance to see what his offense should always look like, scoring 28 points in the first half of their win over Arizona State. In the second half, the offense and their coaching staff were strangely absent. The freewheeling game plan, so successful in the first two quarters, was put away, or forgotten, in the vault. …