What was your expectation of what Oregon would become when Coach Mario Cristobal took over as head coach? How different is it from nearly two years ago when his command of the Oregon program began? Consider what your vision of Oregon football was going to become in your fantasy (c’mon … we all do it), and ask yourself if that …
Yes, alliteration is a thing with me (the title), but look past my succumbing to OCD impulses and consider the truth of what awaits our Beloved Ducks in Tempe today. A team that is 5-5 is an opponent that the Ducks should beat and is easy to look past. Yet if Oregon does look past them, and everything goes the …
While our usual Arizona Gameday banter will be interesting, watching for a defensive strategy used by Jim Leavitt to stop the rushing attack of the Wildcats two years ago will contain its own drama. Khalil Tate can chew any defense to bits if he has the running room, and Oregon squeezed that away from the Arizona star that prior day; …
If ever there was a time for Marcus Arroyo to shed his image of being predictable, the second half of last Saturday’s game was it. Justin Herbert’s Helter-Skelter first half performance last week cast a chill through living rooms of Duck fans across the nation. Memories of flame-outs in Pullman and Salt Lake City last year reared their ugly heads …
The Featured Photo above is a dandy, as it is from the 2011 game when Nevada came to town. This was a swing pass from Darron Thomas to De’Anthony Thomas that went for one of five touchdown passes that day, and it was a sweet memory in so many ways. The FishDuck.com era had just begun, and when the video …
We all know Charles Fischer, aka The FishDuck, host and moderator of FishDuck.com, chieftain of chatboard chivalry, dean of Duckfan diplomacy. But from what humble beginnings arose this Charles Fischer, The FishDuck? And more importantly, who is Charles Fischer, the Man? Charles started FishDuck.com in 2011 out of pure fandom. He recognized the power of social media, the appeal of …
The further removed we get from the 2018 Oregon Duck football season, the more I am convinced that many varied weaknesses raised their ugly heads last year. The team’s struggles and fan frustration resulted not from one or two specific issues, but from the cumulative effects of: 1. New schemes 2. New coaches 3. The cumulative effects, on both players …
I’ve often wondered if Mario Cristobal has a sense of humor. Here’s a man who intentionally replaced the vaunted Chip Kelly spread offense at Oregon, featuring an awesome running game, with an offense led by a coordinator whose strength is his passing background. How’s that for a head scratcher? But guess what? Old tricks are new tricks in football. Just …
The question I’ve posed aloud numerous times on this site for the current coaching staff at Oregon that has never been answered is a big one … “When the Oregon Spread Offense under Chip Kelly/Mark Helfrich from 2008 through 2016 averaged nearly 43 points a game, (42.8) and it became the brand of Oregon football and what we were known …
Blur. No huddle. Hurry-up. These were the defining characteristics of Chip Kelly’s hyper-exciting offense. But was that the whole story? Kelly perfected a strategy that forced lumbering defenders to make split-second decisions in space, play after play, with little or no rest intervals. That much is clear. But what made his offense revolutionary was its relative simplicity, transferring a “shell …
After the Oregon spring game, Duck fans bemoaned the end of the blur offense for good. Angst returned to Oregon fandom like a lightning bolt despite positive signs of improvement on defense. In Eugene, it’s all about the offense. And on that front, nothing has changed, they say. What is Mario Cristobal thinking? Let’s take a closer look at the Oregon …
It is always interesting how something “sits” with you after the immediacy of an event passes and you have a day to let it all sink in. I am referring to the 2019 Oregon Spring Game, and my overall reaction is one of being-surprised-at-being-surprised. I had questions to be answered, but frankly expected “more of the same” of what I …