After the Ducks’ impressive victory over Ohio State, I couldn’t help but to go a little tongue-in-cheek by lampooning my article from last week titled “Is Mario Cristobal the Next Les Miles?“ The Ducks finally put together the type of performance those critical of Mario Cristobal (including yours truly) knew they were capable of having, but hadn’t. After three years of …
Do you like the above nickname for the Oregon defense? I like how it rolls and rhymes so well, and I have to give credit to my friend, Ugly Duckling, for creating it with me. It just seemed so appropriate that an Oregon defense had some kind of moniker for what is evolving as a crucial element of this 2021 …
Don’t underestimate Mario Cristobal or his Oregon Ducks. For the past week, everyone from Ducks fans to mainstream talking heads did not know what to make of No. 12 Oregon Ducks‘ season opener against the Fresno State Bulldogs. While the defense was impressive, Oregon’s offense seemed kind of stale and uninspired in a game that was way too close for …
Look, I know winning in Columbus is not a high probability, and my head spoke yesterday with my predicted score. But the FishDuck heart bleeds green and feels there is always a way … and in fact my suggested game plan lines up with our personnel! Indulge me, humor me and let’s discuss before, during and after the game! The …
Mario Cristobal has built his coaching career on the offensive line. It has been both a point of pride and emphasis when it comes to putting his mark on the Oregon program. It is also the root of his desire for Oregon to be physical and to physically overpower and dominate the opposition into submission. The sad fact of the …
After a tough week one win against the Fresno State Bulldogs, the Oregon Ducks look to build off of the offense’s strong points. Though the Bulldogs are an extremely well-prepared football team, the Ducks often made things more difficult on themselves than needed, as they kept things as vanilla as a spring game. That was actually by design as the …
Oregon fans who were eagerly looking forward to an easy win over Fresno State in their opener, had a rude awakening at the end of the third quarter with a 21-21 tie, a defense struggling to contain the Bulldogs’ potent passing game and an offense that disappeared after putting up a two touchdown lead midway through the first quarter. With …
With all the negative vibes surrounding the Mario Cristobal offense, I couldn’t help but think back to a few years ago when a once-highly-successful coach of the LSU Tigers was run out of Baton Rouge for also being “offensively challenged.” Les Miles, best known for being the head coach at LSU from 2005-2016, was also a lover of the “shove …
The Oregon offense used to be a source of great enjoyment for Duck fans, while currently it has created a bit of angst among the faithful. My friends, there is too much to unwrap from that Fresno State game, but I must say that there have been astute comments below this article and this one that relay the feelings of …
Better buckle up, Ducks fans, this could be a bumpy ride. If there’s anything I have learned over the course of Oregon Head Coach Mario Cristobal’s tenure thus far, it’s that his teams are loaded with talent but they aren’t going to run away with every game before halftime by racking up video game stats. Cristobal delivers hard-nosed, smash-mouth, slow …
The wait for the 2021 season has not been that much different than prior years … it just feels that way. We are all so anxious to see how the team will perform after an under-performing 2020, (hampered by COVID restrictions) not having a full team present for 2020 games and finally–now having full fall and spring 2021 camps with …
The 2021 football season starts tomorrow! Yes, some teams have already played, but that is a sideshow to the main event. The early season is when most teams play their out-of-conference schedules and this is the time that these games become vital to a conference’s image. In the past five years or so, the Pac-12 has not fared well. It’s …