Triphibius

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.

Can OBD improve on offensive enough to achieve a 9-3 season? Andrew Nemec's recent interpretation was interesting. He made very specific criticism of Mehringer: he has so many bright ideas that he establishes no "tendencies" that set up "sequential plays and possibly gives the OL too much to learn. That can be corrected without his dismissal. George Wrighster points out that good coaches make bad player evaluations. The evaluations underlying the OL decisions were undoubtedly wrong. That said, was the problem talent or development? If the latter, things can improve. George W. said that several of Mehringer's run plays vs. UCLA would have been long gains except for one missed or poorly executed assignment. The combination of Fox at LT and Gernorris at RT seemed to work better, at least according to my superficial observation. Oregon has a superb kicking game and the defense may be reaching the level we hoped. (Perich was much improved and impactful vs. UCLA.) If Brock can be an effective "game manager," that is, get the ball to Johnson, Hill and Dak Moore while avoiding turnovers, we may have enough to beat everyone on the schedule but the Buckeyes. Minus the TOs, OBD probably would have defeated UCLA. In addition, Brock's speed (10.8 in the 100 meters) possibly can be exploited with some play calls. For instance, the inside read option?

The problem noted in the excellent Sco Ducks video someone kindly provided yesterday is that Dylan was indecisive. This was convincingly shown by their expert commentator in his film study. There were completions available if only he had pulled the trigger. Brock was much better.

I understand the pessimism, and it may well be warranted. In the spirit of free discussion, I will try to build a more optimistic case. John Neal stated in his interview with John Canzano that UCLA played press coverage well, thereby taking away the shorter routes. Raiola had trouble finding open receivers in part because the short routes were well covered. Future opponents can watch the film, but they may not have the personnel to do what UCLA did. The offensive line played better in the fourth quarter with Crader back at left tackle and Gernorris at right tackle. OBD also brought in a lineman, Tofi I think, to play as a blocking fullback in the second half. I recollect that they had some success with this. John Neal said the offensive line was generally befuddled by stemming before the snap. If so, this seems more a matter of inexperience than lack of talent or physical development. Perhaps improvement can be made there. I could not find anything through an internet search regarding responses to stemming. If pass protection remains an issue, Brock does have mobility. We could alter the playbook to emphasize his strengths, if he is going to play. Coach Neal pointed out that if you don't run well on first down and don't protect well in third and long, it is not illegal to throw the ball on first down. I don't like playing the game that way, but it may be OBD's best chance. It worked for UCLA on their first play of the game, after all. Enough of this for now.

Happy, they were practicing two point conversions and trying to turn Jordan Davison into an option quarterback. Thanks (sincerely) for your hypothesis.

That is a pertinent question, Oregon Ducks. When World was hurt last year and Crader took his place against USC, Crader appeared to be a competent left tackle, that is, a good pass protector but not a road grader in the run game. I assumed he would step in as left tackle this year, but another player was named starter and Crader was put at right tackle. This surprised me, but I was inclined to give Coach Terry the benefit of the doubt based on his track record. I am beginning to wonder whether Coach Terry evaluated his talent accurately. At some point in the second half, I thought they moved Crader to left tackle and inserted Gernorris Wilson at right tackle. I thought the line play improved, but maybe it was just Brock Thomas's appearance. At the guard spots, Iuli is a good pass protector but has never been a road grader. They tried a number of players at left guard, including Tofi at one point. I don't know whether Utu is healthy. We miss Pregnon.

Thanks for the analysis, Mr. West. Very informative and presented well. I apologize for changing the subject. I am in the east and up earlier than most of you. My thinking is that run defense will be a bigger issue against UCLA. They run it much better than they pass it. Aaron Flowers is out, which is unfortunate for OBD, as this should be very much an Aaron Flowers sort of game. ATQ had an analysis yesterday of UCLA. I know their track record on prediction is not spotless, but they provide some interesting information. Two things stood out. First, UCLA has benefited from short fields resulting from turnovers. They are not as good at sustaining drives as one might expect. Second, their linemen are heavy and possibly not that mobile. They do have depth, however. I wonder if it would make sense for OBD to pull on DB off the field to add another defensive lineman. I think our DL is probably more athletic but lighter on the outside with Matayo and Teitum. If we can put them in second and long consistently, I like our chances. This is assuming that Hampton can work out the coverages with a 5-2-4. He has had two weeks to install something. Just a thought.

Actually, someone else is responsible for USC's problems. Don't put the stink on Link.

His return is neither feasible nor desirable. However, kudos to Chip and his players for the beautiful running game they executed vs. PSU.

Don't get too hopped up that they barley lost. I just can't beer it.

This thread may be winding down, but I will add one other thought. I am not able to watch much film, but I am certainly willing to take the word of Solar and Schwartz regarding Perich. The puzzle is his apparent regression from his play last year at Minnesota. If I remember correctly, Chris Hampton is not only acting as DC, but is still coaching the safeties. I wonder if his dual responsibilities are part of the problem. On the other hand, this may be one of those things that is fixed during the bye weeks. On another matter, Missouri put on a clinic in run defense yesterday. Perhaps there is something to learn from them.

Thanks to Mike West for the extended commentary. I was especially interested in the observation regarding the MINT. Further thoughts from this amateur observer, on the defensive side. They did play rather well against USC, considering that USC is a good offensive team with talent and clever schemes. The run defense was better. They got stops on third down. Our DBs rose to the occasion late with some timely pass breakups. And they did blitz a little. I wonder whether Washington's explosiveness would be better utilized in a gap penetration scheme. Someone posted an assessment from a trio of guys, one of whom is a coach named Eric. Thanks for that. He pointed out that Matayo actually did pretty well in setting the edge in the run game. Again, I wonder whether the scheme they are playing offers him the best chance to get sacks. Prehm and Skopil at Duck Territory are saying that the biggest disappointment has been with the safeties. One of our safeties is a thumper who has generally struggled in coverage. That should not surprise anyone. The unpleasant surprise has been Perich, who was supposed to an all-league quality player. Buried in the comments at ATQ was the statement that Hampton has tried to use him close to the line of scrimmage, as he did with Thienemann, and that is not working. According to that theory, Perich would be better as a deep safety focusing on coverage. This is possibly the biggest mystery about the defense to this point. Thoughts?

Thanks to Mr. Fishduck and all participants for the question and discussion. Random thoughts... Oregon is ranked #15 now and has played #18, #19 and #22. Are the Ducks overrated at 15? What would our statistics look like if we had played the schedules of some other supposed contenders? Is Oregon underperforming its talent? Offensive linemen are 5-6 of the 11 starters, plus or minus the tight end. Does Oregon have the offensive line talent of a top five team? Coach Terry's units have often been in competition for the Joe Moore award. Has he lost his touch or is he working with less talent this year? Or perhaps with talent that he not had enough time to develop? Joel Klatt said that Oregon's defensive line is playing a "read and react" concept not an aggressive shoot the gaps concept. I cannot tell, as I do not do film study. Is the lack of TFLs and Sacks partly a result of the scheme not the players?

Collin Simmons is the sort of knucklehead who, when using a public lavatory, misses the toilet and hits the seat.

The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that a former walk-on quarterback at the University of Southern North Dakota noticed that Raiola taps his foot to the rhythm of "Shout" every time a pass play is called.