After we covered Jim Leavitt‘s overall structure in our first analysis, we will now get into where it all starts: up front and in the middle. While Jim Leavitt primarily runs what we will be calling a 3-4 Base defensive front, he has four others he can use situationally in order to put his players in the best position. These four …
Understanding the Jim Leavitt Defense: Oregon’s Basic 3-4 Structure
Being that I live in Oregon (though not a Duck fan myself), I’ve had a sort of voyeur interest in watching both the collapse and rise of Oregon’s defense in recent years. For a decade and a half, the Ducks defense was guided by the adaptive hand of Nick Aliotti. Following his departure, Oregon enjoyed one more good year on …
The Arroyo Effect: Split Zone
With Coach Marcus Arroyo taking on duties as full-time offensive coordinator for the Oregon Ducks, I thought it would be worth continuing to look at a few plays he picked up with the Oklahoma State Cowboys. A play that I would love to see implement into the Oregon offense is a variation of the Split Zone that the Cowboys like …
The New Oregon Offense: PA Stretch WR Screen
At the risk of triggering some of you, last year’s Las Vegas Bowl is one of those games Oregon Duck fans would like to forget. however, although the offense was inconsistent and ineffective for a good portion of the game, there were some bright spots, one of which is the focus of this article. While re-watching the bowl game, I stumbled upon a play …
The New Oregon Offense: Receiver Splits and Alignments
Throughout the spring, we have received a few clues as to what the Oregon Duck offense will look like under new head man Mario Cristobal and new offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo. Taking these clues, we can make several educated guesses as to what we’ll see come payoff time this fall. Today I want to look at how Cristobal may use wide receiver sets …
Inside Look at Multi-Back Sets in Oregon’s Offense
Today, we’re going to take a look at some possibilities for the Oregon Duck offense, specifically the running game, this coming season. We’re at a point in the offseason where we don’t know a whole lot about what the coaching staff is planning for this offense. We’ve seen a couple scrimmages so far that have told us a little, but after …
Cristobal Offense: Can Oregon Overcome a Patsy Passing Attack?
In my discussions with retired college coach Ken Woody, we have noted the decline of the Oregon passing game beginning in 2016 and how far it appears to have descended. Is it due to limited routes and pass plays, the lack of receivers’ skills or a lack of confidence in the wide-outs? Let’s take a look at a few examples from …
The Mario Cristobal Offense: Zone Read from the Pistol
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 …
What ABOUT Running the QB out of a NEW PISTOL Formation?
My friends, let’s accomplish a “two-fer” in this article and dispel two questions that Oregon fans (some that read this site too) have been articulating. The videos will be short and easy to watch, and the text is purposely going to be quick and to-the-point. Learning something new for discussion will never be easier than in this analysis! The first …
The Mario Cristobal Offense: Pin and Pull Technique
The Pin and Pull is something I’ve lightly touched on twice in the past year. Once was in the article about the Oregon’s Buck Sweep play, and the other was in a piece I wrote on the Stretch play that the program started to run at the end of the season. The fact that Coach Mario Cristobal brought the scheme …
The Mario Cristobal/Marcus Arroyo Offense: The Mills Concept
One of the strongest passing plays in the Oklahoma State Cowboys’ playbook during Marcus Arroyo’s time in Stillwater, and one that is still persistent in the offense today, is the post/dig concept. Post/dig is really just the explanatory title for the Mills Concept. Any time that an offense pairs a post route with a dig route, this is known as …
Jim Mastro Brings More Firepower to the Ducks Offense
More than any other hire that the Oregon has made this off-season, I am excited about the hiring of Jim Mastro as running backs coach, whom Head Coach Mario Cristobal was able to lure away from Mike Leach and Washington State. Mastro’s biggest calling cards is that he helped Chris Ault create the Pistol Offense while at the University of Nevada. A …












