If I told you that Chip ran a new formation last year that nobody wrote about or even noticed and it put THREE Tailbacks on the field at the same time—would you believe it? Hard to think of something that bizarre, yet he wants to put the best talent, especially the speed guys in space as much as possible. Right? …
How well does a Zone Read work when the opponent has six DL and two or three LBs stacked up close on short yardage situations? We have all complained about using a shotgun formation in the Red Zone, especially inside our own and the opponent’s five yard line. Imagine my surprise when I see us run an “ACE” formation for …
The new SLASH formation and plays at the game in Glendale received universal derision from Oregon fans that were unaccustomed to the new look and at the subpar results. Yet Chip is not one to jettison a strategy after the first time and it aroused enough curiosity in me to study the different attack strategy behind these formations that could …
What is the biggest reason as to why Oregon has lead the Pac-10 and been one of the nation’s leaders in rushing since the Spread Offense was introduced at Oregon? You may recall that a crucial component to the success of the Zone Read is when a Defensive End is left unblocked and “Read,” on the backside of the play. …
For over a dozen years now, I have been writing reports about Spring Football describing the blossoms coming out with the warmth of the sun thawing the slight chill in the air. In so many ways….this is NOT the usual spring; this last week we had darkness and rainstorms in Eugene during the day that looked like late November, and …
(This is the last of the Summer Series of Fish Reports with Fall Camp starting next week. It was an eventful summer as the Fish Report was the first from the web or any media source in the state to identify, describe, and announce the New 3-4 Defense that Oregon transitioned into this last year. On offense, the Fish Report …
It was like the Boise State game…behind by at least ten points, with the home crowd stunning our team with their energy and the defense of that team stopping our running game. Last year we had a QB who could not throw well in such an environment when we NEEDED to, and we didn’t even have a first down until …
(Note: This is a time that the Oregon Athletic Dept. is concerned about too much disclosure in reports given to the public over the internet. Note that I do NOT speak of injuries in my report, (I leave that in the good hands of Rob Moseley of the R-G who gets it straight from Chip) nor do I talk about …
I’ve been to a ton of these over the last twenty-some years, and this August 2010 practice did not stand out or provide much beyond what you have already read from the good updates we have been getting. For the first day of pads…I was disappointed as the players appeared lethargic to me at times, although we did get some …
The weather report for today was for sunshine and some clouds with a warming temperature that promised to take the rigid chill of winter away. Yesterday gave us that warmth with blue skies in the background of some lovely pink flowering cherry trees. Today—all we got was the promise; it started and remained in the low-forties, and the frigid breeze …
We have the sun out, the ground wet, and blossoms emerging in Eugene Oregon, as I walk into the Mo Center for this first contact practice with pads. The Sideline today was packed with High School coaches, fans, and some impressive HS players that were here for Junior Day. I also noted outside that the mother Osprey was back with …
We know its spring with new blossoms, new buds on trees, and our Osprey friends nesting as usual in the corner of Autzen. The footballs are flying, so it has to be April—right? Baloney. It felt like a December Civil War game as that was one of the coldest scrimmages that I’ve ever been to and ill prepared for! My …