Football is a game of position and space, and coaches spend a great deal of time analyzing their schemes to incorporate wrinkles and techniques that will influence the opposition. In most cases, causing a slight hesitation, or a few small steps in the wrong direction, can result in a big play. Option football, which includes the zone read, is predicated on this. …
In my last analysis, I took a look at the linebacker position, giving some thoughts on why backer play was inconsistent in 2014 and why I believe it will be better in 2015. In that analysis, I discussed how linebackers are taught to “read” keys to help them diagnose and react to the play. Let’s quickly review these reads and how …
When looking at Oregon’s linebacker unit from 2014, a common theme often arises — inconsistency. FishDuck.com discussed it here and here, as others did here. In my experience, inconsistency typically stems from player inexperience and mental overload, both of which seemed to be confounding factors for the Oregon linebacking crew — as they were a bit inexperienced and working under a new …
I used to have a coach that said the key to winning football games was winning the war in the trenches. Obviously, there are many factors involved in winning football games, but it is hard to argue against the importance of controlling the line of scrimmage. Early in 2014, Oregon suffered multiple key injuries to the offensive line, resulting in a scenario …
Charles Dickens famous opening to A Tale of Two Cities perfectly captures Oregon football and illustrates the vast range of emotions that its fans have endured in the last five years. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, …
The Ducks will kick off their 2014 campaign against the University of South Dakota (USD) on August 30. As members of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, the Coyotes will be outmatched at virtually every position on the field and will have to play an amazing game, as well as catch a few breaks, to stay competitive against Oregon. South Dakota’s Strength USD, …
As pointed out in an earlier post here at FishDuck, the Oregon Ducks have become one of the premier rushing teams in all of college football and we’ll now examine another reason why. I have written other articles discussing some of the factor’s that play a critical role in their success running the football; including a breakdown of the zone blocking scheme …
When analyzing Oregon’s offense, it quickly becomes clear they have an uncommon number of explosive plays. According to ESPN’s PAC-12 Blog, an explosive play is defined as any play that gains 20 or more yards. In 2013 the Ducks were able to gain 20+ yards on a single play 106 times. 42 of these were rushing plays; 14 of which …
When the Ducks travelled south to play Pac-12 rival Stanford, there were predictions of a Duck victory. De’Anthony Thomas predicted the Oregon offense would put up forty points, and many others had Oregon at least securing the W. Vegas even had the Ducks as a 10+ point favorite. The Duck faithful had high hopes, and with good reason. Leading up …
It is well established that the zone scheme, including the Inside Zone, Outside Zone and the Zone Read, is the key concept of Oregon’s Spread Offense. As such, there has been a great deal of attention paid to these schemes, including my previous article on developing offensive lineman for the zone. To complement the zone scheme, it is also important …
When watching the Oregon Ducks execute their high octane run game it is easy to get caught up in the play-making ability of their skill players. Watching guys like Marcus Mariota and De’Anthony Thomas is exhilarating. What some fail to realize is the success or failure of the run game hinges on the offense’s ability to control the line of …