This has truly been a season of unpredictability. The Cal game turned out much different than I thought it would a month, hell, even a week ago. The good news is that things appear to be trending positively, as we all witnessed the improvement on both sides of the ball against the Golden Bears. I found some other improvements within …
The Grizzled Ol’ Coach, Mike Morris, has made a number of correct predictions about the Oregon football team and many of their players in our “Skull Sessions” at the FishDuck.com ManCave. It was he, who in June, explained the special skills of Vernon Adams that I wrote about this summer and we now see and analyze. The coach was talking about the following …
Much to many a Duck fans’ delight, Vernon Adams returned to the field to lead the Ducks in vanquishing the University of Washington Huskies. He was very effective converting on third down and made several great downfield throws when opportunity arose. This analysis focuses on one of Vernon’s traits that almost assuredly aggravates his coaches, but is even more aggravating for …
In the tradition of FishDuck.com articles that make you ponder, I ask Duck fans to address questions concerning a quarterback at Oregon most have already written off: Morgan Mahalak. You will learn some new things here, and they have not come from an interview with Morgan, but from snippets of interviews with other Oregon players who have happened to mention him. There are …
Sometimes the surprises from Oregon’s offense come from a natural evolution and progression against the defenses of the Duck opponents. This time we see a new play introduced (or a variation of one used in the distant past) due to the game plan of Oregon; in this case against the Colorado Buffaloes. I could list off a number of plays …
There’s a big banner at the Ducks’ practice field, that I’m going to have to paraphrase … “To be ordinary, keep doing things the way they’ve always been done. To be great, requires the courage to go against tradition.” This move would require a lot of courage, and I’m well aware it’ll never happen. But since when should reality limit our dreams? My …
Can we learn from a tough loss? In the case of last Saturday’s game, absolutely – especially with an opponent as talented as Michigan State. The Oregon game plan featured a new play variation of the new Oregon Power Play featured last week: a Quarterback Power Play. It sounds odd, considering Oregon QB Vernon Adams is on the smaller side, but let’s look …
The Oregon offense continues to evolve and progress since my instructional video series was created four years ago. Those videos have been viewed more than a million times in total! They have been helpful to fans, as well as to coaches looking to install the spread offense (Oregon style). However, defenses have become better at defending the spread, and thus the Oregon coaching …
Our recent articles re VA have stirred the feelings of some coaches in my network, and I received the following analysis (below) from one of them, that, while controversial, is also illuminating. I added the GIFs, picture, and my personal endorsement to what he wrote. This is fun stuff, my friends! Charles Fischer So – why would some stupid guy state the absurd: “Vernon Adams …
Legendary Minnesota Vikings coach Bud Grant was once asked what it takes to be a successful coach. He answered: You need a good wife, a good huntin’ dog, and a good quarterback … and not necessarily in that order.” If there was ever a team that quip applied to, our beloved Ducks fit the “bill” because some of the most …
While there are definitely physical and ability similarities between Vernon Adams and Russell Wilson, when he played at Eastern Washington, Adams’ passing game was much more comparable to Johnny Manziel at Texas A&M. There were a lot of “What are you doing?? Great pass!!” moments. Passes that looked like they shouldn’t be thrown — to covered receivers — off the wrong …
Offensive tackle Jake Fisher may end up leaving a legacy at Oregon far beyond winning a ton of games; he may have changed the perspective and attitude of the Duck offensive line forever. Tyler Johnstone said it well in a Chris Dufresne article for the LA Times. “He’s not a ‘win-one-for-the Gipper’ guy. He doesn’t give speeches. He’s just a …