Defense Tutorial #1: The Amazing Nick Aliotti Hybrid 3-4 Defense Defense Tutorial #2: The “Fire” Zone Blitz Defense Tutorial #3: The Dreaded Inside Zone Blitz Defense Tutorial #4: Oregon’s Bizarre Radar-Psycho-Times Square Zone Blitz Defense Tutorial #5: Oregon’s Cover One Defense: Turnover Heaven The FishDuck Minute #13 “The Toughest Concept to Coach” Arkansas State and the “I-Spy-3” Alignment Go to …
Next Oregon Head Coach: The Case For Kevin Sumlin
This week has been a gut punch to the University of Oregon and its community. I know as well as any just how tough things have been with Willie Taggart deciding to take the Florida State head coaching position. I have defended Taggart a good number of times in my articles this season. I’ve defended his play-calling when it was …
Herbert Returns and Ducks Roll
With that very first play from scrimmage — a ten yard completion from Justin Herbert to Dillon Mitchell — you could feel Duck Nation let out a collective sigh of relief, as if to say: “Our long offensive nightmare is over.” Good times are here again as the flash n’ balls of the Oregon offensive showed up for the first …
Charles’s FishWrap: Taggart Tactics Topple ‘Cats
Takes you back to the old days doesn’t it? You know, Oregon scoring 45-50 points, the other team scoring 27 to 34 points and the fans screaming at Nick Aliotti for allowing that much? Boy, has our perspective changed! That was the biggest darn victory that I did not see coming, and yes … my perspective has changed, and I …
Ducks (Coaches and Players) Need to Focus Against Arizona
Last week, the Ducks came to Seattle to play tough, hard-nosed football and scored on their first possession for a 3-0 lead. After stopping the Huskies on their next possession, they marched down the field only to fumble on UW’s 16-yard line. This mistake was the first of many to follow that would undo the Ducks, mistakes they could not …
Power on the Edge: Buck Sweep in the Willie Taggart Offense
With it being a bye week for the Oregon Ducks, I have decided to go back a couple weeks and take a look at a play Oregon used against the Utah Utes. The play is Buck Sweep, often referenced by Mr. FishDuck on the site as the Sweep Read. This is a play Gus Malzahn has famously run at Auburn; former Duck …
First Growth Spurt: Burmeister Shows Progress
Against the Utah Utes, we didn’t have to wait very long to see where Braxton Burmeister’s game has improved. On the first drive of the game we saw a good amount of growth in the passing game from the young quarterback. In this analysis, we take a look at four plays in the game’s opening drive that show how Braxton is …
X’s vs. O’s: It’s Blitz! Blitzing vs. Full Slide Pass Protection
Welcome to the sixth installment of X’s vs. O’s. In this series, we will analyze ways in which Oregon utilizes different schemes and techniques to both attack and defend the opposition. Today, we are looking at a play-action pass scheme against a zone blitz. We’ll briefly review the passing concept, the QB’s play fake, and the pass protection scheme before …
You’re Making Me Dizzy: Duck Basketball at Rare Heights Indeed
Yes, hoops season is finally here. Every team is undefeated, and optimism runs high. In basketball, the Ducks are a bonafide contender again for the BIG Dance under the tutelage and direction of Dana Altman and staff. In his eighth season at Oregon, a tradition of winning and excellence has been established. It wasn’t always that way. Time travel back to his first …
Oregon Basketball Recruiting: Miles Norris, Louis King and Wow … Look at What Might Be Coming
Oregon’s 2018 recruiting class looks like it might be the best in Duck history. With a little luck it might be the best in the nation as well. The Ducks have three players who’ll be leaving the program after this year: Roman Sorkin, MiKyle McIntosh and Elijah Brown. High 4-star Miles Norris and 5-star Louis King are already committed. The list of …
Coach’s Opinion: “It’s Time to Calm Down”
My Friends, this article refutes much of what I’ve written over the last month and is an example of how we do not censor writers to be an Oregon “Pravda” like the official Oregon site and others that follow the Ducks. The readership here is professional, high-brow, and cannot be snowed. Thus, I present all sides of the discussion and let you, …
Making Excuses for Willie Taggart
In his first press conference as the Oregon Football head coach, Willie Taggart presented his organizing mantra: ”Make no excuses. Blame no one. Do something.” With few exceptions, Taggart has stuck to his commitment to make no excuses. But if Taggart won’t make excuses for the Ducks, somebody must because our expectations for this year should be tempered by the good …