2016 was the last year the Oregon Ducks fielded an elite offense. Justin Herbert was one of the best QBs in Oregon history, but constantly finding himself in shootouts kept the young player from achieving greatness in his inaugural season. UO’s era of elite offense started in 2007 when Dennis Dixon had the Ducks on the precipice of the BCS National …
West Coast football runs strong in the Millen family. Former NFL quarterback Hugh Millen played for the University of Washington, even leading the Huskies to a victory at the 1985 Orange Bowl before continuing his career professionally. Millen’s second son Clay Millen recently committed to Arizona. And Cale Millen, Hugh’s eldest son, signed with the Ducks in December of 2018. …
Oregon experimented with graduate transfer quarterbacks in both 2015 and 2016 and—needless to say—both years left a bit of a sour taste in Oregon fans’ mouths. Was Oregon truly unable to recruit and develop a quarterback and forced to dip into the graduate-transfer pool to find a signal-caller? Twice! Now, in 2020, Oregon, with a completely different coaching staff, is …
The blog Bear Insider published this article to preview each Pac-12 team, and it included some interesting comments about Oregon concerning the 2019 season and the upcoming 2020 campaign. I thought it would provide us some information about the other conference teams going into the season and some discussion points about Oregon’s prospects this fall. (I list their bullet points …
We touched on the idea a couple times this offseason that the biggest difference between the 2019 Ducks offense and the one to come in 2020 will be by way of the passing game. It’s no secret that Coach Joe Moorhead likes to push the ball vertically downfield, as evident in his fade smash concept that we covered a couple …
Few things have impacted the game of football like the spread offense. The revolutionary concept of spreading the field to dictate the box count and to get athletes in space wasn’t widely accepted by the football community at first. But now, it’s the base offensive system for nearly every team at every level. With offenses rarely employing multiple running backs …
A recent report by sportsbettingdime.com shows that, with the COVID-19 pandemic, college football attendance could drop by an average of 74 percent. At Oregon, a 74-percent decline means an average attendance of 13,933. Yikes. Imagine a rip-roaring, louder than hell Autzen Stadium only playing at 25 percent of its capacity. That is like taking a sold-out Matthew Knight Arena and …
The Oregon Ducks’ 2020 receiving corps has inspired legendary broadcaster Keith Jackson to use his favorite catchphrase “Whoa, Nellie!” Mario Cristobal has his work cut out putting a depth chart together for these guys. That said, deciding which play-making wide receivers are going to start over others is a good problem to have. The lack of depth and experience in …
The Ducks need a star to emerge at wide-out in 2020. The 2019 Oregon Ducks had a versatile and effective ground game complemented by a receiver-by-committee air attack. However, despite the passing attack being orchestrated by veteran signal caller Justin Herbert, no single receiver was able to eclipse 1000 yards or catch double-digit touchdowns. Although those receiving metrics aren’t necessarily …
From the angst-filled opener in Dallas, to the dramatic finish in Pasadena, Duck fans marveled over Andy Avalos‘ 2019 Oregon defense. No amount of glowing anticipation could match the outstanding improvement Avalos’ troops demonstrated in just one year. With only two key additions, Oregon’s defense garnered 97 tackles for loss, 41 sacks, 20 interceptions, 42 quarterback hurries and yielded only …
What if the Ducks’ success boiled down to a single play? Let me take you back to a moment that changed the trajectory of Oregon football. It was the fourth quarter. No. 6 Oregon trailed No. 8 Wisconsin 27-21 in the Rose Bowl game. Quarterback Justin Herbert already had two first-half rushing touchdowns but struggled to find his passing rhythm. …
My friends, I felt the same as the majority of those on the Oregon message boards last Friday concerning the announcement of the change of name of our rivalry game with Oregon State. I thought at that time that it was a knee-jerk reaction to the trendy topic of the day, and I was not happy, as a 34-year season …