In the last couple weeks we have learned that Oregon’s offense going forward is going to be a mixture of what Willie Taggart brought from South Florida and the offense new play caller Marcus Arroyo helped orchestrate at Oklahoma State, with wrinkles from head coach Mario Cristobal’s days at Alabama. One of those Crimson Tide concepts is the Stretch running play. First things first, I’m going to …
Update: Mario Cristobal’s Sudden “Recruiting Reset”
Forget about the Triple Crown of Recruiting that I wrote of recently as that has gone out the window with some sudden pivots made in Oregon football recruiting by Oregon Head Coach Mario Cristobal. These shifts are significant compared to the direction in recruiting his predecessor took, and it is a subject I dropped everything else I was going to …
Taggart now Bad-Mouthing Oregon? No!
The skills of deception by former head coach Willie Taggart continue to be confirmed and it is so disappointing to people of even minimum morals. On both of the major Oregon subscription websites it has been reported that Taggart is actively negative recruiting, and talking trash about the University of Oregon and our beloved Ducks. It is not a surprise …
Early Signing: Can the “Triple Crown” of Recruiting still Happen?
Considering the early signing that took place–what is the probability of the Ducks achieving the recruiting “Triple Crown” I wrote of in this past week? I was curious, crunched some simple numbers and thought I would update you on the potential, and give us some discussion points as well. I really don’t have time/energy after a long work day to …
Ducks Not Ready to Play; Boise was…
In hindsight, it was inevitable. New head coach Mario Cristobal and the Oregon Ducks would be distracted by the two weeks of turmoil surrounding the departure of former coach Willie Taggart. But it was hard to understand the entirety of such a lackluster effort in losing to Boise State 38-28 in the Las Vegas Bowl. Before the game, ESPN ran a graphic showing what the …
Taggart Drama Hurts Oregon … Again
Did you recognize that Oregon team playing in the Las Vegas Bowl? Was that a scrimmage or a first game? That was such a mess that I am not doing my usual analysis after the game with slow-motion videos of plays to point out the differences in the game. Why? Because if I did, I would be showing bad plays …
Cristobal Can Set “Triple Crown” Recruiting Records THIS YEAR
So the Ducks have another disjointed football recruiting year? Lovely. Last year, the new staff and did the best they could in a short period of time and put together a great class, but this year was set up to be an epic LOI (Letter of Intent) day in February. After looking at the fall-out of verbal commits and considering …
Willie Taggart’s Legacy
Eugene and Duck fans are wallowing in shock, anger and despair with the departure of head football coach Willie Taggart. Right now the future of Oregon football as a major player rests in the hands of the athletic director, who was taken to the shed by the one-and-done coach. Rob Mullen’s announcement that co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Mario …
Mario Cristobal shares with FishDuck his Offensive Philosophy for Oregon
It was not that much different than 10 months ago when I heard Coach Mario Cristobal speak at Oregon’s recruiting luncheon in February. I came away impressed. I was motivated from his energy, his aura that shouts, “winner.” I remember writing back then that I was so enthused, that this old former offensive lineman was ready to leap out of …
Oregon Must Replace Coach but Maintain Winning Formula
It is rightly said that adversity brings opportunity. And when you are a cutting edge, forward thinking, innovation spewing machine like the University of Oregon, you don’t let adversity bring you down, you let it propel you to greater things. Beloved Ducks, there shall be no further whining and crying about the decision of Willie Taggart to leave. After all, …
Flash in the Pan: Oregon or Chip Kelly?
It was only a year ago that Oregon fans might have just have had confidence in Rob Mullens‘ and Phil Knight‘s ability to deal with the challenges that were on the plate with the football program. After all, Mullens is one of the top athletic directors in the country. And Phil Knight is the most successful athletics-related businessman in the …
Feeling the Juice: Offensive Line Awakens in Autzen
Dominant. If the performance of Oregon’s offensive line against California had to be summed up in one word, it would be dominant. We saw flashes from the offensive line early this season and then witnessed the hiccup against Arizona State. On Saturday night at Autzen Stadium, everything came together for the guys in the trenches. Mario Cristobal has done a fantastic job …