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Coach Lanning hired one of the worst offensive coordinators in all of college football. What did we honestly expect?

Great post. Admittedly, I don’t know much about blocking techniques but it’s been eye opening seeing former offensive lineman point out the technique flaws on video. A'lique Terry should be fired now or immediately after the season. Despite what Coach Lanning says, he has lived on Mario’s recruits and transfers. This year it’s perfectly apparent that he can’t develop (e.g., teach fundamentals).

Thank you for the informative analysis, Dazed. Two observations. The staff apparently agrees with you about Crader; he was moved back to left tackle. I am curious why he was put at right tackle at the beginning of this year, considering how well he played at left tackle last year. If I recall, Iuli was a league honorable mention player last year. I wonder if he ever fully recovered from his injury.

Yes Not so much

I love sitting near x players. I sit just above a former BSU and NFL lineman and BSU basketball player. You can learn a lot if you can get them to talk. I do agree that a Stein led offense would have smoked the Huskers.

As I predicted, Oregon switched to a gap running scheme in this game, moving away from the zone blocking scheme after failing to consistently generate a run game or push with zone blocking all year. To mask those struggles earlier, they had moved to heavy use of 12 personnel and bunch formations to get bigger at the line of scrimmage and add numbers at the point of attack in the zone scheme. I made this prediction because the struggles of the Oregon offensive line were so glaring and puzzling. I felt that by switching to a gap scheme, we would be able to find out where the rubber meets the road—revealing exactly how deficient our offensive line was, and whether out of the eight or so blue-chip offensive linemen on our roster, we could find five who can actually play. In this game, Oregon consistently ran counter plays—accounting for roughly 80% of their run calls. It's clear Dan Lanning decided to revisit elements of the Kenny Dillingham era, when pulling guards and tackles blew defenders off the ball and established Oregon as a dominant run team. Unfortunately, the execution was not there. Discipline BreakdownsThe discipline breakdowns were evident right from the opening drive: First Run of the Game: On a guard-tight end counter, tight end Jamari Johnson (#9) came through and directed his block toward a defensive lineman who was already double-teamed. Instead of picking up the safety crashing down from 10 to 15 yards out, Johnson left him unblocked for a tackle at the line of scrimmage for no gain. A correct read on the safety and that turns into nice play. (In the fourth quarter, the star tight end also missed his assignment again on another guard-tight end counter, which is unacceptable for a top-tier prospective NFL player on a foundational football play.) Second Run of the Game: On another counter play, the pulling guard completely missed the edge defender, running right by him and allowing the edge defender to make the tackle for no gain. Third Run of the Game: On a counter, the guard pulled across, but the edge defender completely stood him up at contact. (I saw multiple plays of pulling guards getting stood up, Addison on one play had his head snapped back as the edge got under his pads) Second Half Opening Drive: Guard Addison (#58) was responsible for down-blocking to set the wall for a counter play. Instead, he back chipped with the center before realizing his mistake; by then, his defender shot through his gap assignment and blew up the play. This is mentally inexcusable; how do you know what you're doing on the 15th counter play of the game and how many reps of this play did you do in practice this week? Second Play of the Opening Half: The Ducks ran what appeared to be the same counter play. This time it was blocked correctly, and quarterback Brock Thomas explicitly pulled the ball from the RB and kept it himself when the play was set up to go. (Thomas also ran a counter QB run that was blocked correctly but he chose not to run to the Gap) Second Possession of the Opening Half: The Ducks came out and ran two zone-blocking plays that went for good yardage. They then turned around and ran a counter play with a swing pass to Jamari out the backside that went for decent yardage, followed by a play-action pass down the sideline for a good chunk play to Dak. It was nice to see us start to mix in the zone with the gap plays. Add in the swing to the backside off the counter look and the deep play action shot was the best play call sequence I saw all game. Scheme Failures and RB Brandon SmithTelegraphed Personnel Formations: Bringing in offensive lineman #80 as a tight end or fullback in heavy sets (like Power I) telegraphs run plays, allowing defenses like Nebraska did to stack eight or nine men in the box at times. Defensive Anticipation & Trench Preparedness: Nebraska was completely unfazed by Oregon's heavy gap game plan. After Oregon leaned heavily into gap runs in the second half against UCLA, Dan Lanning's public comments hinting at structural offensive changes likely gave Nebraska all the film keying they needed to scheme for a run-heavy, gap-centric attack. Play-Caller Experience & Structural Flexibility: Offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer's lack of background in gap concepts showed. Effective gap schemes don't require telegraphing intent with heavy formations; they can be run out of standard 11 personnel with the proper execution. Hard play action pass should be used to target the TE’s over the middle and there should be some boot plays to get the QB out away from the pass rush. Quarterback Freedom to Check at the Line: Running a pure gap scheme requires empowering the quarterback with the pre-snap authority to check out of bad looks. While RPO concepts rely on post-snap reads to count defenders in the box or read a conflict defender, gap blocking doesn't afford that flexibility once the ball is snapped—leaving the offense vulnerable to running straight into a stacked box if the defense presents an unfavorable front. To make a gap-centric attack work, the quarterback must have full freedom at the line of scrimmage to audibilize and check into a more favorable play based on the defense's pre-snap alignment. Bo Nix did this well, but we ran too many runs into stacked boxes in this game. Brandon Smith in Zone Scheme: The Ducks had some of their best run plays with Zone blocking (were the Huskers busy preparing for gap and didn't do the zone homework) and Brandon Smith (#26) ran well in this scheme. It’s obvious to me the coaching staff like Smiths feel for finding creases to run through in the zone scheme and I’m looking for him to get more reps in Zone going forward. Some backs run better having a set gap and others run better in Zone where they have to see a crease then hit it. Smith showed good vision and feel; he put his foot into the ground and made some nice cuts. Credit to the Nebraska DefenseGive credit where credit is due: Nebraska's defense and defensive line are no joke, featuring real dudes up front. Nebraska entered the game averaging only 97 rushing yards allowed per game and held Indiana to just 65 rushing yards (3.0 yards per carry) the previous week. Oregon managed 129 rushing yards on 38 attempts (3.4 yards per carry), with numbers improving in the second half with zone runs mixed in. While 3.4 yards per carry is not where Oregon needs to be, Nebraska boasts a top-tier run defense, and Oregon will only see another defensive of this quality again when they play Ohio State and Michigan. My Assessment of Our OLBeyond errors in assignment discipline, baseline technique at the line remains a major issue. Linemen are missing key blocks, while pulling guards are getting stood up at contact despite having a full head of steam. While our down blocks didn't look terrible, pullers looked slow, are playing with poor pad level, failing to generate power on kickout blocks. Watching this live rather than just reviewing tape afterwards, the hard truth is that running a gap-heavy scheme through a game strips away any hiding places—it reveals immediately who you are as an offensive line and exposes every missed assignment, lack of unit cohesion, and failure in physical dominance. Having eight blue-chip talents on this roster makes it baffling why we cannot field five decent players who play as a cohesive unit without someone breaking down on at least half the snaps, forcing us to question what's being taught in the OL Room and worked on in practice. Oregon's offensive line play has all the elements of a poorly coached unit and it’s obvious for all to see after this game. We can’t pass block, run outside zone or gap well, we aren't physically dominant. We have no strong suits to play to and that means being multiple in scheme and making great play calls to crutch this OL. Going forward, finding the best five requires stabilizing the trenches: Fox Crader (#59) must anchor left tackle as the most promising upside among our tackles despite pass-pro vulnerabilities and at least two missed run blocking assignments. Crader and the left side did show they can run a proper counter play, the left side struggled to do so. Freshman Tommy Tofi (#77) belongs at left guard after showing poise when rotating in for Douglas Utu to end the game. Poncho (#72) holds down the center. David Luli (#74)—who started last year and whose mysterious part-time rotation baffles me—needs to return full-time at right guard. Michael Bennet (#75) must step in at right tackle to provide veteran discipline, assignment soundness, and baseline technique over Wilson and Addison. If Bennet needs help, then we need to provide him with a chipper. If he cannot secure the edge or Luli cannot lock down guard full-time, the staff will be forced to shift Bennett back inside to right guard and scramble for answers on the right side.

Two thoughts on this... I think that was the logic behind the Mehringer promotion. Mehringer was apart of that original Lanning staff and in a lot of ways has been brought along for this job. I think it has backfired but I think that was the logic. Lanning needs to talk to Bellotti because how he worked with Chip feels like the relationship needed here. Keeping in mind that to make Chip's offense work it did require bringing Allioti in to ensure the defense aligned with the same mission. The defense had to adjust to being on the field longer because the offense either scored lightning fast or was 3 and out fast. Which also changed how the defense acted and reacted to the game situation. If the Ducks were up the defense got more aggressive at trying to force take aways... If the offense was down it was about trying to avoid digging a hole and putting the team more behind. Didn't always work but adjustments in game were always needed.

I think more likely it hasn't gained many new wrinkles or changes in the past few years. I think everyone has seen enough film now to know how this offense works and how to stop it. Or slow it. And it takes more than a wild cat package to make DCs second guess themselves. However, in final drive there was some great coaching. I think it was one of the 4th downs (it could have been a third down) and the Ducks show Davison wildcat. Nebraska didn't have the personnel on the field or aligned correctly so they call a time out. Great play call because either they get the defense on wrong place and convert the down or they force the timeout burning Nebraska's options later in the game. Now that alone doesn't convert that situation. The Ducks came out of the timeout with a DIFFERENT play call and converted. If they came out in the same package that would have been pretty dumb because Nebraska could have adjusted. There is some talent in this coaching staff but is there enough expirence? I don't think so.

Or worse 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage. I know those plays have a place but they don't work unless there's a deep threat. I much prefer throwing pass the first down marker.

Dose Sabine or Smart call those timeouts when their team was struggling like that? The answer is NO they just try to get out of the half and make adjustments at halftime. Lanning still needs to improve on his situational awareness. Got to know when to fold them and get ready for the next hand.

How many of those 50 yards of first half offense were 5 yard passes on 3rd and 9? In that context, the offense was even worse than the abysmal stats.

I generally like trying to create one more opportunity for the offense like that. But when we've had more negative or zero yard plays than positive plays, and only 50 yards of offense in the entire first half, I think the odds are more likely that the one play or one missed assignment would have gone against OBD than for them at that point. I tend to agree with Zachary Neal's take. Let the half die and try to regroup. But, obviously, hindsight is 20/20. https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/football/5-takeaways-from-oregon-s-17-14-comeback-win-over-nebraska/ar-AA2etTee?cvid=6ad4fb993dd74dacad05c271f6481668&ocid=hpmsn

The defense is Chris Hampton on display. As bad as the OC promotion was. The DC promotion was good.

The O line is the second biggest issue for the offense. However , with a better OC there would be adjustments that would compensate. There was clearly a miscalculation on how the offensive line would perform. But remember it is also missing a starter. One thing it is not is want to and fire. When your offensive line is unable to create holes it's almost impossible to run the ball. And Nebraska was getting pressure at times with three rushers. Missing four of 11 starters on offense will affect any team. Look at the trouble Notre Dame had getting pressure with their top defensive player out. Imagine if they had four starters missing on defense.

Whoa! Nice work Pitt and Steven!

Starting time was likely a factor, but it can't be the only one IMO. Our play was better with backups for the past three games. To me that means the team is somehow limited, but once a backup enters, winning becomes the entire focus. To my eye it looks like the receivers get open more and catch more, the line suddenly creates running lanes and the offense is suddenly playing closer to an intensity foreshadowed by their reputation. I had thought that it was play calling, but I didn't see that this game. Overall the backup being the catalyst isn't sustainable. They still need to figure this out and right the ship. After all not every game will start at 8pm.

Come on Joey what else you have to do in retirement? Chalk it up as community service I'm sure Lanning will get a free golf membership at the local country club. Lol

Even with our stud back there, we still had issues with the Broncos and the Cowboys. For my money, I’m putting the majority of the blame on the play calling and the offensive staff. At some point, when the talent is clearly there and the same problems keep showing up regardless of who’s under center, you have to start looking at the people designing and calling the offense.

Couldn't they just bring in Joey to mentor the QB room for the second half of the season? I mean the dude did nothing but win for the Ducks sometimes on will alone. He was the number 3 pick in the NFL and yet we're letting a galaxy of stars in the QB room be lead by a first time position coach that played tight end. How has this not been done already?

I still feel like Lanning is just a few great coaching hires away from winning it all. The talent is there. The resources are there. The culture is there. What’s missing is a staff that can consistently get the absolute most out of these players and, just as importantly, outscheme and outcoach the teams standing in Oregon’s way.

That result fits perfectly with yesterday's chaos. 😆 Gratz to the winner, but great job both of you!

It only takes one play, one missed assignment. Why not try and get the ball back? There was no reason to believe that the D couldn't get a stop. Nebraska got lucky. But I think everyone in Lannings position would try and get the ball back.

I will add that on Talking Ducks Joey brought up a game he had with Miami against Buffalo. He pretty much sucked big time. There was no answer for him and he just did not have it that day. The game before he had a 107 passer rating against unbeaten Chicago. The he laid a turd against Buffalo. 0.0 passer rating. He said it happens. Is that what happened to Dillon? Was it just not his day? Maybe we'll find out next Saturday if Dante sits out again. I can't see DL starting Thomas again.

It looked like Nebraska's D was gassed in the 4th quarter, while we kept 3 running backs in rotation. O-Line is terrible, but the Ducks D kept them in the game.