Today I want to stomp out the notion that the design of Oregon’s passing game under OC Marcus Arroyo is an unsophisticated attack that only sends receivers on long-developing deep routes. It wasn’t true last week, when the narrative started popping up across message boards, and it certainly isn’t true after the game against Portland State. After diagraming all of …
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 …
It hasn’t been pretty. It rarely is. Braxton Burmeister is a true freshman quarterback thrust into a starting role before he’s ready for the speed and complexity of the college game, and he has looked the part. This whole situation really started to take shape in the spring. Oregon had good depth at quarterback going into the 2017 season, and …
Oregon fans were understandably apprehensive going into the Arizona State game. They knew the Sun Devils blitzed a ton, which would be problematic for four redshirt freshmen offensive linemen and the Ducks’ true freshman quarterback Justin Herbert. Could Oregon counter these blitzes? How would the coaching staff handle obvious passing situations against the blitz and keep the coveted new QB protected? Fortunately, …
The stunning preseason predictions from Pac-12 sports journalists have placed Oregon third, or even as low as fourth (courtesy of Sports Illustrated) in the North division, let alone the entire conference. For long-term Oregon fans, this is scarcely believable; how can the first nine-win season in nearly a decade of double-digit wins be the inception of upcoming mediocrity for Duck football? The answer from many …
In a previous analysis I discussed Oregon’s Run-Pass Combo. In this follow-up analysis, I will look at how the Ducks use the same strategy to attack defenses by focusing on a single player. With the Duck offense, any defender can be the focus of an offensive play. Tendencies, leverage and spacing are all key points that coaches ponder when calling a specific play. In the …
Understanding the game of football can be a complicated process, but just being a fan and sitting down with your friends and family to cheer for your favorite college football teams on Saturday afternoon is simply fun. There are many words a football coach in Kentucky could use to describe the Oregon Ducks, but the one word that I always equate …
From Video The “Air Raid” passing attack is among the most popular offenses in college football today, yet you can actually see components of it at Oregon! It has a passing philosophy and scheme that can trace its roots back as far as San Diego Chargers Coach Sid Gilman and BYU Coach LaVell Edwards (and my college head coach Larry …
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 …