Anthony Brown was officially named starting quarterback a few days ago for Our Beloved Ducks in the season opener, which will be this Saturday against Fresno State. No surprise there. As fans, we’ve been clamoring over Oregon’s quarterback question all summer, so it’s nice to finally have a definitive answer from head coach Mario Cristobal on who will be leading our …
There are a lot of unknowns going into the 2021 football season for the Oregon Ducks and coach Mario Cristobal. It’s hard to tell from the spring football game so let’s look at the last serious competition, the Fiesta Bowl where tough Iowa State dominated the Pac-12 champions 34-17. Oregon’s offense, traditionally a national force, went meekly into the night, …
Finally, the football season is here. The roster is talented but after some dismal moments in 2020, exactly how the Ducks will perform in 2021 is a mystery. Last weekend, UCLA was the only Pac-12 team in action as they rolled 44-10 over a sub-par-to-average Mountain West team in Hawaii. This got me thinking about how the Ducks should fare …
A question I see often in the comments concerns whether Oregon will be running fast tempo this season. I am curious as to whether you think we will, or if we even need to run fast tempo and how often. We all know the story of how a former coach pulled that tactic out of the distant past and made …
We throw around a ton of stats and make our predictions, yet some fundamental ones are often bypassed. I am curious as to what your goals for the Oregon Football team in 2021 in terms of points scored and points allowed. You are also invited to give your numbers as to what you think they should be, and you think …
It is hard to believe that it has been nine years since Tim DeRuyter came to Autzen Stadium as a head coach (before he joined Cal), when he brought his Fresno State Bulldogs to Eugene to play Chip, Marcus and Oregon’s Spread Offense in 2012. Oregon raced to a 35-3 lead with 1:40 left in the second quarter, and this …
When the SEC poached Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12, it sent a shock wave through the college football world and challenged the status quo of the Power-Five Conferences. Speculation and conference realignment talk became the hot topic among college football fans, and rightfully so. Overnight, the Power-Five became the Power-Four. The Big 12, without Texas and Oklahoma, is …
The trend of receivers wanting quarterback numbers began years ago, and now has drifted to running backs. But to see Fat-Mac above with Joey Harrington‘s number–a Nose Tackle wearing a quarterback number? That is so wrong. So where did the No. 3 move to? On offense we saw Johnny Johnson III snag it, and now on defense we see that …
While Coach Chip Kelly was in charge, the Oregon Ducks often went to the Outside Zone to get around defenses. In this play, the offensive line would work laterally to get an angle on the defense and spring the running back to the outside. With Coach Mario Cristobal at the helm, the Ducks have often gone to the Wide Zone. …
And I’m talking about offense. Yes, Charles Fischer isn’t the only one at FishDuck.com who has problems with Mario Cristobal’s handling of the Oregon offense. I wrote a few articles during the 2019 season, hammering Cristobal for the lack of explosiveness and his underutilization of Justin Herbert. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love everything Cristobal …
I’ve never heard as much about “a tough culture” or “being physical” from any coach at Oregon as I have from Coach Mario Cristobal. There was a feeling of toughness from Coach Rich Brooks and his Gang Green defense, but he did not preach it like we’ve heard over the last three years. Nationally known writer Steward Mandel provided some …
A phenomenon that has never included Oregon is occurring before our eyes due to recruiting skills of Coach Mario Cristobal and his staff, and I was stunned at the recent numbers illustrating this trend. It has a profound impact on the future of the conference and begins to beg the question of “whether the Pac-12 is becoming the ACC of …