One of the biggest bones of contention the fans have had with the Mario Cristobal era of nearly four years was pounding of the “A” gaps with the “Plodding-Pistol” formation. Late last year we began to see more of the Shotgun formation, and less of the Pistol to where now we simply do not see the Pistol formation at all. …
The interest in the success of the running game at Oregon has generated a number of comments about Duck Quarterback Anthony Brown our leading the blocking at times. Is this part of the offensive game-plan, or part of a particular play design? Before many of you become concerned about all the screenshots and a video–this article will take you less …
We all grew up hearing “Defense wins Championships,” and the early Nick Saban National Championship teams at Alabama epitomized this mantra. Yet college football has begun to change: Alabama scored 45 points against Auburn in 2019 and lost, and it took over 50 points to win the SEC Championship in 2020 over No. 7 Florida (52-46). Everyone watched the carnage …
Ten years ago, Oregon burst onto the national scene with an offense that had never been seen before. The Ducks used warp-speed tempo, multiple formations and unconventional schemes that had defenses scrambling to line up before the snap. From 2009-2014, the Ducks appeared in two National Championship Games and four Pac-12 Championship Games while winning two of three Rose Bowl …
In retrospect, the final result of the last season was the best that I could reasonably see the 2019 edition of Oregon football achieving. I was more pessimistic at prediction time last August due to my concerns about the offense, but in the end it was the mental component of the competition, not the Xs-and-Os or a particular strategy from …
It is going to drive me crazy, like Willie Taggart running Justin Herbert between the tackles and the predictable injury (I called it a week in advance) occurring in 2017, trashing my season tickets. Injuries to QBs ruined seasons in 1988, 1991, 1993, 2005, 2007, 2015 … and then 2017, too? Going into 2018 and 2019, we fans did not want to see …
The period before spring training begins MLB is sometimes referred to as the “hot stove” time. The season is late winter with spring and baseball just around the corner. There’s little happening for avid fans beyond sitting by the fire and speculating about the season to come. That’s the same place we Ducks Football fans find ourselves in. Some hot …
The question I’ve posed aloud numerous times on this site for the current coaching staff at Oregon that has never been answered is a big one … “When the Oregon Spread Offense under Chip Kelly/Mark Helfrich from 2008 through 2016 averaged nearly 43 points a game, (42.8) and it became the brand of Oregon football and what we were known …
Ask recruits in Mario Cristobal’s remarkable, star-studded 2019 class why they considered Oregon and I’d bet first and foremost they would trace it back to the glorious Chip Kelly tenure of their formative years. That success was astounding— not just a fluke year (such as can occur in a “wonder year” among Willamette Valley Pinot Noir producers), but a succession …
My friends–we have progressed as a site because such an amazing group of Oregon fans who have turned the comments below articles into a “high-brow” discussion of Oregon sports that will always be “TROLL-FREE.” I am always interested in a short article to start a discussion, a “Ponder-Point” if you will, and a reader brought us a tremendous topic for …
I could not believe my eyes. I have written extensively about how this staff could not win a National Championship someday unless there were massive changes and Coach Mario Cristobal became more flexible on offense. I felt there was a very low chance of that happening, as it appeared that he was going to be stubborn about “establishing the run,” and …
There are some people you always want to learn football from, especially when they understand the game so well and played college football. Guest analyst Justin Samples is one of those people, and he has written many acclaimed opinion/analysis articles at FishDuck.com. I thought I would check-in with him concerning his thoughts about the team after the first two non-conference games. …