New Oregon Duck defensive coordinator Andy Avalos prefers that his defense stay multiple and mix up its coverages, but quarters coverage may be his most dependable scheme on the back end. Avalos plays quarters in a more aggressive fashion, allowing his corners to play closer to the line of scrimmage in order to jam receivers and knock them off their routes …
An aging Mr. FishDuck cannot change his look, but he can change the theme or appearance of the site! The photo above was taken at a UO Job Fair four years ago and I’m seated with Pat Pannu, who wrote over 100 articles for FishDuck.com over her college career. I enjoyed working with her and with another Job Fair coming …
This article is about liberals and conservatives, but we won’t be discussing politics. Instead, we’ll be pondering all the different types of people that come to this site. We have readers in both political parties in varying degrees of intensity, as well as quite a cross-section of ages. I received a phone call from an 11-year-old in Brooklyn recently, and …
For most of the season, we heard how the Pistol was the sole culprit of a dwindling run game. While I do not believe that the Pistol is responsible, I do believe that the manner in which it was used, is. It is possible to be creative with the formation. There’s more to the Pistol than the Inside Zone and …
One of a few aspects of the Oregon Ducks offense that seemed unusual to me, as the season progressed, was the lack of gap schemes. Not to say there weren’t any, but for a team that was thought to be a power run team, the scarcity of these plays was puzzling. That was until Oregon’s game against the Arizona State …
My friends… we have had great fun discussing our Beloved Ducks after the games over the last month in the comments below the articles. I thought I would start it early — for those who want to weigh in before the game, during the game, and after the game. Like before — this discussion will continue into Sunday and I …
BRUTAL SPEED: A Marriage Made in Heaven? Mario Cristobal and Nebraska’s Scott Frost have expressed remarkably similar strategies to pursue a national championship. This season, the two coaches plan to deliver two what-should-be-fascinating examples of combining Oregon speed and tempo tactics with brute-force football learned at Alabama and Nebraska. The goal: punish your opponents with dominating physicality, while simultaneously dazzling them …
When running a spread offense that utilizes a power run game, the H-Back position is key. The position opens up a variety of possibilities in the run game that are not usually afforded the offense with an in-line tight end. The position was used some during the Chip Kelly/Mark Helfrich era, but was a staple of the offense that Willie …
No, my friends, the title is not “clickbait.” What I wrote is true. You all are acquainted with me well enough by now to know that I am frequently guilty of sizzling titles, but I also back them up with facts and reasoned arguments. I do not present a title to lure a reader in and then pull the bait-and-switch …
There are a couple of areas that the Oregon Ducks are certainly emphasizing under Coach Mario Cristobal. The first is a physical run game, a main component of offseason work. Yes, Oregon is still going to run all of the things that propelled them to the upper echelon of the college football world, but when push comes to shove, the staff wants to …
Agony & Ecstasy in Cornhusker Land Full disclosure: I moved to Nebraska in 2016 to marry my wife Debra. My mom was born and raised in Nebraska and was a Big Red fan; but I never lived here and had only an occasional interest in the Huskers. The “Agony“? The Mike Riley Years, Of Course. By the end of the …
With Coach Marcus Arroyo taking on duties as full-time offensive coordinator for the Oregon Ducks, I thought it would be worth continuing to look at a few plays he picked up with the Oklahoma State Cowboys. A play that I would love to see implement into the Oregon offense is a variation of the Split Zone that the Cowboys like …