Ducks Have a Magic Formula for the Final Four

Amanda Brenner Analysis

2016 has played out like an episode of The Twighlight Zone. The Chicago Cubs just won the World Series for the first time in more than 100 years, the Warriors blew a 3-1 lead in the NBA finals for the first time ever, and now the country is calling Donald Trump its president-elect. The year for Duck fans has been even …

Linebacker Analysis: “Scrape to Contain” is a Fundamental

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis, Fish Reports

I continue to maintain that, as fans, the more we know about the game of football, the more we will enjoy the game - win or lose. This season has proven that principal to me, as I am learning why the Oregon defense is so bad, which stems the tide of frustration (somewhat). Previously, we have discussed the important “Fill-and-Spill” fundamental for …

Linebacker Technique Analysis: Taking on the Blocks

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis, Fish Reports

Much that has been written about the Oregon defense and why it is one of the worst in college football has been centered around recruiting and the lack of talent on the defensive side of the ball. “We are being overpowered on the line-of-scrimmage and do not have enough 4-star defensive players to take on the sophisticated offenses and talented …

How Oregon Destroyed the Blitz With the “Rub-Cross” Strategy

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis, Fish Reports

Oregon fans were understandably apprehensive going into the Arizona State game. They knew the Sun Devils blitzed a ton, which would be problematic for four redshirt freshmen offensive linemen and the Ducks’ true freshman quarterback Justin Herbert. Could Oregon counter these blitzes? How would the coaching staff handle obvious passing situations against the blitz and keep the coveted new QB protected? Fortunately, …

Linebacker Technique: Freshman Keith Simms Attacks the Blocks Correctly

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis, Fish Reports

As a fan, there are plenty of moments of dejection and frustration watching the Oregon defense, yet there are examples of hope on the horizon from Oregon’s younger defensive players. Following the new FishDuck.com method of showing what went wrong and how the same action is applied correctly – I am excited watching the play of Keith Simms, the freshman Middle Linebacker …

Learning More Football: Gaps & Techniques

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis, Fish Reports

In an effort to help us understand the FishDuck.com analysis articles going forward, it helps to have an understanding of how an offense views gaps at the line of scrimmage, and how a defense will line up in numbered alignments, or as coaches will call techniques correspondent to those gaps. Using the illustration below, let’s get started learning about what the different gaps (letters in …

Which Quarterback Can Pick Up the Pace?

Amanda Brenner Analysis

After their fourth loss of the season, it is clear Oregon is in a rebuilding year. The defense is currently ranked 117th in the nation. And while this accounts for a lot of Oregon’s recent woes, quarterback Dakota Prukop’s underwhelming performance might also have something to do with it. His overall numbers through his first five games have been decent, but …

Right and Wrong: Linebacker Leverage in a 4-3 Defense

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis, Fish Reports

Our beloved Oregon Ducks are going through some historic defensive difficulties, yet offer glimmers of hope that they will become better on this side of the ball. Today we look at the leverage of Oregon’s linebackers (courtesy of the Grizzled Ol’ Coach, Mike Morris) and learn how their gap assignments can be solved by looking at both good and bad examples. A …

What Went Wrong: Defensive Tackle Leverage in the 4-3 Defense

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis, Fish Reports

It is frustrating as fans to see gashes in the Oregon defense and know that something is going wrong, but not be able to pinpoint what it is. We are fortunate to have the guidance of the Grizzled Ol’ Coach, Mike Morris, to help us understand not only what went wrong in the game against Washington State, but to help …

Oregon Playbook: The Counter Play Reappears

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis, Fish Reports

After a tough loss we have to consider the prospect of learning more simply to enjoy the game of college football, but it is especially important when you lose a game. In my case, I wish to offer youth and high school football coaches around the nation a peek at Oregon’s playbook, which is large, yet the Ducks do not …

The Run-Pass Option: A Mid-Line Sweep Read w/Bubble Threat

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis, Fish Reports

As a fellow fan, it’s tough to lose a game – especially the way the Nebraska game transpired. Nonetheless, we wish to continue to build the “Oregon Playbook” within FishDuck.com and continue to learn from the evolution of the Oregon Spread Offense. There are ongoing permutations off of fundamental plays such as the Sweep Read, which we wish to identify and understand …

Oregon Stuns Opponents With New Inverted Veer Play!

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis, Fish Reports

The Oregon offense under head coach Mark Helfrich continues to progress and add new components to keep its attack fresh. I was pretty surprised to see a new play that seemed to have elements of an Outside Zone Read combined with a Power Play, and the Grizzled Ol’ Coach identified it as the Inverted Veer play! It was made famous …