A lot of people will blame either aggressive game management or play-calling for the Oregon Ducks’ loss to the Washington Huskies. But aggressiveness has successfully been a calling card of this team and play-calling is often the low hanging fruit used to explain why a play didn’t work out. However, the way a play is executed in key moments can …
Oregon Ducks Football: No Half-Measures in 2022
Oregon Ducks football has the opportunity to become a top-five program in the nation. In the past decade, Our Beloved Ducks football program has produced numerous top-ten picks in the NFL Draft, battled for recruiting supremacy on a national stage, and even molded a Heisman trophy winner (who will be an honorary captain next week, I might add). But we …
An Open Letter to Dan Lanning and Kenny Dillingham: Bring Back the Oregon Brand!
My FishDuck Friends, it is my earnest hope that this message reaches Head Coach Dan Lanning and Offensive Coordinator Kenny Dillingham, as what I am writing represents the feelings and hopes of hundreds of thousands loyal Oregon fans. We want to see a return to the Oregon Brand, which consists of an offense that is high scoring and entertaining for …
Moorhead Offense: Fly Sweep Threat Enhances Oregon’s Speed Option
The Oregon Ducks offense has been consistently good at running the ball through the first half of the 2021 football season. They are one of just two teams to rush for at least 180 yards in each of their games while averaging 210.3 yards per outing. They have done so with a great stable of running backs, and an offensive …
The Shotgun is Working: Time to Send the Pistol Packing?
The Oregon offense used to be a source of great enjoyment for Duck fans, while currently it has created a bit of angst among the faithful. My friends, there is too much to unwrap from that Fresno State game, but I must say that there have been astute comments below this article and this one that relay the feelings of …
Offense/Defense: What are Your Number Goals for 2021 Ducks?
We throw around a ton of stats and make our predictions, yet some fundamental ones are often bypassed. I am curious as to what your goals for the Oregon Football team in 2021 in terms of points scored and points allowed. You are also invited to give your numbers as to what you think they should be, and you think …
The Moorhead/Cristobal Offense: Oregon’s Wide Zone Play
While Coach Chip Kelly was in charge, the Oregon Ducks often went to the Outside Zone to get around defenses. In this play, the offensive line would work laterally to get an angle on the defense and spring the running back to the outside. With Coach Mario Cristobal at the helm, the Ducks have often gone to the Wide Zone. …
Has Cristobal’s “Physical” Offense Worked? Will It?
I’ve never heard as much about “a tough culture” or “being physical” from any coach at Oregon as I have from Coach Mario Cristobal. There was a feeling of toughness from Coach Rich Brooks and his Gang Green defense, but he did not preach it like we’ve heard over the last three years. Nationally known writer Steward Mandel provided some …
After Taggart: Would You Have Wanted Chip Kelly?
It wasn’t going to happen, but if Chip Kelly could have returned to Oregon again–would you have wanted him back? This is an interesting question because a ton of people have declared that “FishDuck wants Chip Kelly back, and would have passed on Mario Cristobal.” I’ll give you my answer on that if you give me yours, and we can …
The Joe Moorhead Offense: The Bash Triple Option Appears!
Some time ago, I wrote an article about three plays that I would like to see added to Coach Marcus Arroyo’s playbook, the offensive coordinator at that time. They weren’t schemes that I thought would actually show up, but ones that would compliment the offense and was mostly wishful thinking on my part. Well one of those plays was deployed …
Forget Next Year: Oregon CAN Win the Natty in 2020
Chip Kelly arrived in Eugene as a virtual unknown from the University of New Hampshire. From 2007 to 2012, Kelly changed the landscape of college football with his blur offense, transforming Oregon into a national title contender in the process. Following a lull under Mark Helfrich and Willie Taggart, Mario Cristobal started restoring dreams of a “Natty” in 2018, inciting FishDuck’s …
Cristobal’s Biggest Lesson? The END GAME
We know that Mario Cristobal is still relatively new as a head coach in a Power-Five conference, and many of us have sputtered about his learning curve. Strategies and tactics that many of us “Greybeards” have watched over the years with other coaches seemed to be either unknown or ignored by this coaching staff. Now granted, going from 7-6 to …