Good ole’ figures of speech such as “going down swinging,” “take a roll of the dice” and “gotta’ be in it to win it” didn’t apply to the Ducks on Saturday. The Ducks offense was the equivalent of a baseball team whose batters stood at the plate all game long with the bat firmly resting on their shoulders. They were …
Isn’t this lovely? Writing and reviewing a game such as that one is truly like consuming the “Hair of the Dog” to offset the effects of it upon you. It is hard to not reach some conclusions, yet I am wary of over-reacting in either direction as I have in the past. It is difficult to be measured and reasonable …
After disposing of Utah 41-20, the Ducks travel to Seattle and take on highly-ranked Washington, boasting a defense that is coming of age. Defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt and a staff of energetic, talented coaches have transformed a corpse into a fighting defense worthy of respect in the Pac-12. Despite inexperience, and in some instances limited athleticism, coaches have molded the …
I have been appalled by the behaviors of Husky fans over the many decades of my life, and in my personal experiences with them. Note that this article is not about the UW football team or the Washington coaching staff, but the Husky fans, which are simply the worst ever I have ever witnessed. Let’s look at why…. A fascinating …
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 …
In the beginning, Oregon’s 2017 season did not feel like its disastrous 2016 season, which resulted in the firing of the entire coaching staff. A new coach had already won the recruiting season by convincing key veterans to return (Royce Freeman and Tyrell Crosby), bringing in a stellar 2017 class and building the foundation of an historic 2018 class. But …
My friends, in the last week I had disconcerting conversations with two other FishDuck.com writers Dr. Mark Weinrott, and Dr. Steven Smith, (who both wrote articles in the last week) about the stagnant Oregon offense under Coach Willie Taggart. I sadly came to a conclusion that unless Coach Taggart changes and looks at opening his offense up some more–much of …
Coach Willie Taggart has shown remarkable restraint on the sidelines the past three games, all defeats for his Ducks, who have gone down under a flurry of penalty flags, missed assignments and classic gaffes that border on insubordination and attention deficit disorder. Against UCLA, Oregon fell behind quickly 14-0, but worked their way back into the game to tie at …
Three years of college football playoffs have clarified the team selection criteria. The most heavily weighted variable, aside from won-loss record, seems to be strength of schedule. The 2017 College Football Playoff committee looks favorably on those who challenge themselves out-of-conference even more than it values a conference championship. Recognizing that schools have no discretion in their league schedules, the only …
Can you believe what a cool picture (above) that is featuring Max Unger, Jonathan Stewart, and Dennis Dixon? Unger looks like he is taking aim on the linebacker he is going to cream and has proven with Hroniss Grasu, that agile, athletic offensive linemen can play in the NFL. Fun memories… My friends, you simply need to know to look …
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 …
It could have been worse. It could have been 2007, on the heels of Dennis Dixon’s knee injury against Arizona, when the Ducks stumbled into the Rose Bowl and couldn’t score a point, losing 16-0 to a hapless and free-falling UCLA. Though the Ducks had national championship aspirations that year, which had vanished in Tucson the week before, they still …