The Seven Wonders of the World – The Pyramids, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the statue of Zeus at Olympus – were built with grandeur in mind. Move over Zeus, Phil Knight, Nike magnate and Oregon philanthropist, also thinks big. His latest wonder is a 100,000 square-foot temple to football, a $68-million dollar edifice intended to take Duck football to …
Oregon Analysis: Change of Flight in the Secondary
When the Ducks face a potent running game, how does the secondary adapt? In my first analysis we discussed the Cover 2 Shell and the coverage strategies that Oregon’s Defensive Coordinator Nick Aliotti runs in the secondary. Today, we will take a look at how Coach Aliotti injects the Single High Safety alignment into the secondary to stifle offenses with …
Devil’s Advocate with Duck Football
Featured image courtesy of Kevin Cline photography. As the summer months grind along, anticipation for the new football season begins to build among fans everywhere. Recruiting, pre-season watch lists, conference media days, and even the annual release of the football video games all have a way of adding fuel to the fire. At this time of the year, every team …
Are the Ducks in for a Letdown Season?
On paper, this Oregon Ducks football team looks strong. Marcus Mariota, DeAnthony Thomas and Josh Huff all return as starters. The offensive line looks tough, as does the defensive secondary. In fact, there isn’t a single position that looks particularly weak, yet there are some vulnerabilities that should be troublesome to Duck fans. One of the issues Oregon fans should …
When Ducks Truly Went to War…
“A day that will live in infamy.” President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke those words to the United States Congress Dec. 8, 1941, a day after the Japanese surprised the world with their attack on Pearl Harbor just the day before. Of course this had great consequences throughout the country and the world, but on the Oregon campus, it would dramatically …
Ducks Add the Long Ball: The Power of the Bubble Zone Read!
There is a misconception in the pass game that the more wordy and complex the play call sounds, the more effective it is. Generations of fans and coaches grew up on NFL Films and remember audio of long and seemingly never-ending play calls by legendary coaches. These intricate sounding schemes allegedly created wide open receivers, yet this perception is quite …
A Real Pain in the Pass
How do the Ducks stop 1,200 pounds of defensive muscle with exceptional speed from crushing our quarterback? What are the tactics to stop blitzes? It is only fitting to give some recognition to the big boys up front, since this is not an easy assignment. The men who battle in the trenches every single offensive play are the reason big …
Freshmen Who Can Lead the Ducks to Pasadena
It’s summertime here in Eugene, Oregon, and that only means one thing to the Duck faithful; football season is looming right around the corner. Summer workouts have officially begun as the new highly touted freshman class flocks in from all over the nation to join one of the most dynamic and explosive teams in college football. Having lost key pieces …
Stanford Has Oregon’s Number–Is There A Bright Side?
A missed block here, a couple missed field goals there and a missed opportunity on a loose ball in overtime. If the Oregon Ducks had avoided even one of these unfortunate mishaps during their showdown against Stanford last season, they likely would have taken on Notre Dame in the national championship game. The point here is not to commiserate or …
TAKE AND GIVE: Oregon’s Bubble Zone Read Philosophy
This is THE definitive analysis for understanding the Bubble Zone Read–a key component of the Oregon Offense. For those who take the time to learn from this analysis, a massive number of questions will be answered in this keystone article. This will be included in the Tutorial Series in the Directory. My personal thanks to Coach Brian Flinn of Villanova …
Expert QB Analysis of UO Commit Morgan Mahalak
We have a unique treat never before done on FishDuck.com, or any other football site, as we learn what to look for in a Quarterback prospect for Oregon! Forget the million details—what can a fan easily look for to see if a player can help us? We are fortunate to have two specialists who teach young QBs as their profession …
FishDuck.com Featured in the Washington Post!
We received an endorsement from an unexpected source today as the sports section of the Washington Post ran a wonderful article by Keith McMillan about learning from our site, FishDuck.com. His article, Zone Read Crash Course is generous in his praise of what we are about at this site. He embedded two videos, and had some quotes that help make …









