Since before the turn of the 20th century, Oregon and Oregon State have competed on the football field in what is known as the Civil War. Although this interstate battle is not scheduled until late November, the rivalry deepened this past weekend when USC transfer Devon Williams flipped from Oregon State to Oregon in a matter of hours. On September …
It should be apparent by this point in the season that Oregon offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo is a creative dude, and he can certainly string together effective constraint plays. Those are obviously two very important traits for a play-caller to have, and in this article I want to dive into a set of two plays that demonstrate both of those …
“Tough … Physical … Impose our will … Dominate the line of scrimmage … Win the trenches,” etc., etc … All are terms that Mario Cristobal loves to throw out when describing his new identity for the Oregon football team. But there’s a term I’d like to hear more of around the Oregon offense. Smart. Before I dig into my …
A third of the way into the season, there’s plenty to be excited about as an Oregon fan. The Ducks’ defense is playing historically well, Oregon finally kicked its Stanford curse, and it even has one of the best punters in the country. Sitting at 3-1, with a clear path to a Pac-12 title and even an outside shot at …
It is becoming clearer by the week the kind of passing wizard we have in Marcus Arroyo. While some fans have criticized Arroyo for his lack of creativity, my goal today is to remind you that Arroyo is a passing specialist, tasked to bring a physical brand of football to Oregon. Indeed, in back-to-back weeks, Coach Eric Boles introduced more …
Coach Mario Cristobal and Duck fans everywhere enjoyed a measure of revenge for last year’s debacle loss to Stanford with a satisfying 21-6 win over the Cardinal in Palo Alto. Although most would have preferred six or seven touchdowns, three were enough and the defense continued to keep players out of their end zone. The Ducks had problems blocking on …
‘Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore …” Week 3 was largely forgettable. There wasn’t a single matchup between top-25 teams. Nevertheless, the Sunflower State bloomed like it hasn’t bloomed — CFB-wise — in, well, forever. The Mad Hatter took his crew to Boston with the CFB world expecting Kansas to be no more than a crumpet …
Oregon beat Stanford on Saturday, and the result was never really in doubt … Well, to everyone except Stanford Head Coach David Shaw, apparently. Shaw didn’t think that his team was far from pulling off the upset, opening his press conference by saying: “The game boils down to five or six plays, and the score will look like we’re not …
Most of the pundits see Oregon rolling against the Cardinal, while I do not. I believe it will be a close, hard-fought game that the Ducks can prevail in, but it will not come easy at all. Part of my reasoning comes from the match-ups, but I also take into account which strategy will be used by the Mario Cristobal …
After another commanding win last weekend, Oregon’s defense has proven to the rest of the nation that it’s legit. However, due to the constant rotation of players in college football, in order to maintain strong defensive continuity, the coaching staff needs to plan ahead to replace their current superstars whenever they depart. With former number-one overall recruit Kayvon Thibodeaux a …
Perhaps Marcus Arroyo’s biggest challenge when he took over as lone offensive coordinator and play-caller for the Oregon Ducks was building an offense that would marry his own experience with the kind of physicality that head coach Mario Cristobal was looking for in the run game. I believe that his answer has been to infuse a heavy dosage of RPOs (run-pass options) …
Oregon’s Justin Herbert continued to pad his passing resume with an impressive 30-of-42 attempts for 316 yards and five touchdowns and the Ducks did as expected, dominating Montana 35-3. Herbert’s first scoring toss was an NCAA record 31st straight game with a touchdown pass, although his longest completion was only 21 yards. The Duck offensive line afforded Herbert solid pass …