Ducks

that's true, but it was more a matter of necessity than intention

all the way thru Rich Brooks --> Mike Bellotti --> Chip Kelly --> Mark Helfrich, Oregon's M.O. was to recruit lighter, rangy O-Linemen and build them into bigger mobile linemen with many all-conference selections.

I can't recall the exact stats, but IIRC for about 11 straight seasons from Bellotti to the fist couple of seasons of Halfrich, Oregon led the Pac-12 in rushing. And they did so at the same time that they had one of the lightest O-Lines in the conference. The advantage they utilized was mobility and the ability of the O-line to make initial blocks at the LOS then attack the 2nd level and initiate blocks on LB's and safeties. You always saw Duck O-Linemen further downfield, sustaining blocks than other teams' OLines. It worked great and made Oregon extremely successful....

....until the Ducks came up against big physical...and mobile....front-7's like Auburn, and Ohio State, and LSU (and even Stanford). The Ducks just didn't have enough of a mobility advantage to offset the physicality of those elite SEC-level front-7's

but all of that was making the best of a situation; and the situation was Oregon simply couldn't recruit elite OLinemen. They had to recruit 3-stars and turn them into 4-stars, and an occasional 5-star

Chip Kelly brought 2 major innovations to the Ducks. One was a spread offense that relied on a spread-power attack; the other was extreme tempo. Opposing defenses weren't prepared and they couldn't react well enough; not with just a week to prepare. A month, yes, a week, no. And those mobil OLines fit perfectly into those offenses and innovations

but more and more teams, not only at the NCAA level but the high school level, began to copy and run spread + tempo. Meaning that defenses, and defenders, became familiar with both concepts and the lightning-in-a-bottle that Chip caught at Oregon was no more

so, in a real way, it evolved backward to standard OLines. But Mario Cristobal proved that Oregon COULD recruit elite OLinemen, so that's where the Ducks are. The problem is that Oregon has not landed a single commitment from an offensive linemen that cycle. And a team need to land at least 3 every cycle. Now, part of the issue is that the current OLine class out west is one of the weakest ever. But the Ducks have missed on at least 4 OL recruits they did target. reportedly, they are still chasing a couple of 4-stars, but they are getting close to the semi-desperation of 'we-need-bodies', which is not a good place to be

 

Yeah those chip Kelly teams had their offensive lineman running to block down field usually as soon as the ball was snapped.

We have a very experienced o line on this years team so I think they should fare okay today. But Georgia is a whole different beast. They can keep rotating fresh bodies.

Qb play will be important today. I’m not really sure what to expect with Dillingham calling plays but I’m hoping it’s less vanilla than what we saw with Cristobal teams.

But I agree if we want to win a natty. They better stock up the o line with some SEC caliber line. On both sides.

 

Anybody remember the spread of the game last year vs. Ohio State?

 

Ducks offense looks more comfortable on that first drive. I’m worried about 2nd half west down on the line though

 

Duck D getting curb stomped while looking baffled, lost, and confused

 

Yes. I expected way more from the defense

 

Well, that was certainly worse than expected. Not an auspicious start to the Lanning era. Not great for Bo Nix either. Bo Picks?

 

Nix threw a bad pick that killed an early drive. Gave me flashbacks to Anthony Brown. But he really didn't look that bad, IMO. Worst was that he sure seemed to lock on primary receivers and not go thru progressions. He is pretty mobile though. Didn't really get a chance to see his game management since the game ended in the 1st Q

but it was on the other side of the ball the Ducks got curb-stomped. The defense was a mess and the tackling was terrible, mainly because of bad angles to the ball.

 

The game was over in the 2nd quarter. Nix’s picks were bad. Georgia receivers were wide open, Oregon’s not so much. No pressure by the Oregon D on the QB added to craptastic tackling. Georgia played well in all phases — as they should.

Next week’s game better not be remotely close at the end of the first half. Thompson should get major burn in the 2nd half or Nix should not be QB1.

 

Man how garbage is Ty Thompson at this point he STILL can’t get any burn?

 

The empty talk about great recruiting classes is getting real tiresome.

 

Exactly what I mean about TT. It’s clear at this point he must be just really bad..

 

I don't know how good TT actually is; however, if he was "garbage" or nowhere near his ranking from HS, that would have come out by now. But I will say, again, that Nix will have to show out over the next two games. No point in wasting time on an upperclassman transfer if it doesn't work. If Nix does show quality play -- and the Ducks dominate in games -- then send in TT for extended minutes.

 

If Nix was actually good, that argument would carry more weight.

 

This is what made Chip's offense tough to handle. Nobody could rotate in fresh bodies. No Huddle and blast them with speed.

 

Good point on bad angles to the ball. Is that a scheme/lack of adjustment problem? Or an execution problem?