Overloaded 4 man pass rush

How Stanford Attacked Oregon’s Pass Protection

Curtis Peterson Analysis

Watching Stanford take on Oregon recently has been brutal for Duck fans, but interesting for coaches, specifically on passing downs as Stanford’s three and four man pass rush really caused Oregon problems. Stanford does a terrific job of making things look much more complex than they actually are for offenses, as we’ll examine. Against Oregon, Stanford targets the Ducks’ offensive line …

Exploring Tight End Principles That Boost the Ducks’ Running Game

Curtis Peterson Analysis

The Oregon Ducks use formations incredibly well on offense. Many also categorize them as a “spread offense,” which to most people means 4 wide receivers and 1 running back, or “10 personnel” in coaching speak (1 running back, 0 tight ends). Without getting too nit-picky about the “spread offense” phrasing, I’d like to bust one myth. They use a tight …

Taylor Hart: From Duck to Eagle

Joe Kearns Analysis

Chip Kelly didn’t just bring his offensive scheme with him to the Philadelphia Eagles. For the second time in his coaching career, he changed a 4-3 base defense to his 3-4 scheme. To ease this transition in Year 2, Kelly drafted a player in the fifth round who he relied on during the defensive scheme change at Oregon: defensive lineman …

Oregon’s Preparations for Stanford in the Spring

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis

The window for us fans that is the Spring Game revealed much more this year than many would believe as I too had a hard time fathoming what I was seeing on the field from Head Coach Mark Helfrich.  Just as he has been aggressive in recruiting and charging ahead faster than previous coaches in pursuing recruits–he is doing the …

A Husky Sack from Oregon’s Great Zone Coverage

Joe Daniel Analysis

The “Fire Zone Blitz” is one of the effective blitzes that the Oregon hybrid 3-4 defense uses to pressure a Quarterback. The Ducks do a great job of bringing heavy pressure with 5-man zone blitzes, and then bringing 4 or often, only 3 pass rushers, but there’s another weapon that helps Duck defensive linemen get to the passer. Having success from a …

The FishDuck.com 2014 Spring Game Analysis

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis

By Charles Fischer and the “Grizzled Ol’ Coach” Mike Morris We have ALL been fooled by Spring Games of the past, as players who starred in these May games would not ever see the light of day on the football field in the fall – or they transferred out.  Yet other times they have shown us glimpses of the potential some of …

Empty & Full: My Favorite Play of the Oregon 2014 Spring Game

Brian Flinn Analysis

Thanks to my friend, Charles Fischer, I have had the great opportunity to write about many of my favorite offensive schemes here on FishDuck.com.  From the Zone Read Bubble to One Back Play Action to Packaged Tempo Plays, these analyses have been about concepts that are the heart of my own personal offensive philosophy. One of the few core spread …

Oregon Receivers Are the Key to Ducks’ Explosive Run Game

Levi Steier Analysis

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 …

A Solution for Stopping Stanford on 3rd Down

Levi Steier Analysis

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 …

Timing, Rhythm and Deception: The Oregon Passing Game in the NFL

Brian Flinn Analysis

“It’s going to be interesting to see if this style of offense projects to the NFL.  I’m going to say no.  I just don’t see NFL passing concepts in this offense.” – Ron Jaworski “There’s just so many holes to this offense when you transfer it from college to the pros.” – Heath Evans Despite bold predictions to the contrary, …