Hi all,

For those that don't remember me I'm a former OBD board member and FishDuck.com writer. My post below intended to focus us on some of the root causes of the offensive drop off and lay a positive path forward for Duck fans. All is not lost, please give this a read and keep steady your Duck faith.

Following a disastrous offensive showing, Duck fans are in an uproar, asking where the fault really lies. Is it offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer, offensive line coach A'lique Terry, or backup quarterback Dylan Raiola? Some are even questioning the talent, heart, and effort of the offensive line players themselves. While finger-pointing at players and coaches is easy, it causes you to miss the forest for the trees.

After Oregon’s disappointing 3-2 start to the season, marked by a catastrophic performance in the run game and lingering weaknesses in pass protection, Dan Lanning is faced with a critical choice: Does he stick with the finesse, horizontal RPO and zone-blocking scheme, or does he roll it back and embrace the downhill, power-gap identity of the Kenny Dillingham era that once gave Oregon a dominant rushing attack?

When Dan Lanning first burst onto the scene in Eugene, many fans remember a defining early moment—facing a highly ranked BYU team known for stout interior line play at home where the Ducks entered as underdogs. Dillingham’s physical offensive scheme came out and completely overwhelmed BYU at the line of scrimmage, setting the tone for a dominant win and establishing an unmistakable identity in the trenches.

The Philosophical Pivot and Its Fatal Flaw

The move away from Dillingham’s downhill identity was deliberate. When Will Stein was hired to run his horizontal RPO, zone-blocking system, Dan Lanning sought precision and control over the chaotic checks given to Bo Nix. The logic was sound on paper: use pre-snap reads to count box numbers, minimize execution error, and rely on a high-percentage, short passing game to eliminate turnover risk.

That strategic shift coincided with the exit of assistant head coach, run game coordinator, and offensive line coach Adrian Klemm. Klemm’s departure felt symbolic—a coach schooled in power-gap physicality walking away rather than teaching a finesse, lateral-stretch scheme. Under his successor, A'Lique Terry, the offensive line produced high statistics and Joe Moore Award nominations, yet warning signs persisted beneath the surface.

 

When Lanning needed guaranteed physical yards—like leaning on a 15 runs in 16 play sequence late in Madison to grind out a tough win over Wisconsin—the offense dropped the finesse and imposed its will. But against elite defenses, Stein’s scheme repeatedly stalled:

• Pac-12 Championship Game, Big Ten & Playoff Struggles: Washington completely shut down early, holding Oregon’s running backs to minimal yardage in the first half and neutralizing the offense.  Defenses from Ohio State to Iowa and Indiana cracked the code, refusing to respect vertical threats and crowding defenders within 10 yards of the line.

Opposing defensive coordinators no longer fall for the RPO numbers game. By slanting defensive linemen into specific gaps, they force double teams at the line, keeping interior guards occupied while linebackers run free. Behind them, safeties roll into run support late or jump perimeter screens and slants. Opponents are at times deliberately baiting Oregon into the exact looks they want to defend—leaving Lanning with only one logical escape: return to power-gap football.

The Band-Aid Fixes and Strategic Admission

Watching Oregon through five games, it is clear Dan Lanning and his staff recognize the scheme’s limitations and have attempted to make adjustments to shore up the ground attack. They’ve turned to heavy 12 personnel packages and tight bunch formations in a bid to create favorable numbers at the line of scrimmage. Yet, the results have been mixed at best.

The definitive tipping point came during the second possession of the second half against UCLA. Oregon rolled out a heavy 13 personnel Power-I formation, putting an extra offensive lineman in an eligible #80 jersey to line up at fullback with the quarterback directly under center. This was a clear philosophical retreat—and an implicit admission of the current scheme's failure to generate consistent push and leverage in the run game.

The Recipe for Success: A Power-Gap Blueprint

Going forward, my prediction is that Oregon will return to the heavy power-gap schemes that defined the Dillingham era. Fans will remember the physical dominance of guard-tight end pulls with Ryan Walk out front as a lead blocker, or guard-tackle combinations with Big Sala pulling across the filed and going 12 yards downfield to obliterate defenders.

By pivoting back to this concept, Lanning achieves several critical advantages:

1. Simplifies and Empowers the Line: It unleashes an offensive line room stacked eight-deep with blue-chip talent, allowing them to rely on pure athleticism and physical dominance rather than overthinking complex lateral reads.

2. Dictates Pace and Punishes 4-2-5 Defenses: Downhill power creates overwhelming numbers at the point of attack, punishing lighter Big Ten 4-2-5 nickel defenses built purely to defend spread concepts.

3. Stays Ahead of the Chains: Consistent early-down yardage keeps Oregon ahead of the sticks, eliminating predictable third-and-long passing downs where pass protection has broken down.

4. Unlocks the Tight End Room & Play-Action: Oregon's elite tight end unit—Jamari Johnson, 5-star freshman Kendre Harrison, and Andrew Olesh—becomes a weapon. Slipping Andrew Olesh into the backfield at H-back/fullback gives Oregon a hard-nosed lead blocker who can seamlessly leak out on play-action into the seams behind aggressive linebackers.

5. Hijacks Opposing Game Plans to Stop the RPO Game: Defenses expecting a soft, horizontal zone-RPO will be forced to adjust, committing extra defenders and heavier personnel to the box—opening up Oregon to counter, much like Kenny Dillingham would, with edge sweeps, perimeter screens, or going five-wide empty.

Conclusion: Time to Go Dilly-Dilly

It is my firm belief that Oregon will make this switch because Dan Lanning is backed into a corner. To salvage the season, he needs a dominant ground attack that guarantees a 200-yard rushing floor each week—sheltering the offensive line and protecting the quarterback room, especially with Dante Moore's status uncertain. Furthermore, a physical power-gap identity is built for the cold, rainy weather awaiting the Ducks down the stretch.

 

Dan Lanning is not a quitter. I still believe Oregon can make a strong run and achieve a successful season—if we just embrace the trench warfare and go Dilly-Dilly.

 

An excellent post with superb analysis, but in the end....I personally disagree. I do not believe we have the O-Tackles for a power-gap look at this time, and I believe the passing game will be altered, and stepped up this week.

This is all very interesting to watch for, and welcome back!

Thank you for that detailed analysis! I'd be happy to see the offense go back to the old Dillingham schemes, though I share Charles' concern that the tackles we have now may be inadequate for this (or any other offense for that matter). But who knows, maybe this helps simplify their assignments and allows them to concentrate on fewer things as they're learning and growing.

I think everyone has looked worse than they are due our horizontal RPO zone blocking scheme being so predictable and soft. Drew's play calls look bad; Terry looks like a coach who can't develop the OL, and our blue-chip OL players look like they aren't good. It's a snowball effect.

I'm keying off Dan. He said we didn't have a good enough plan for Riola to succeed after halftime, he said UCLA had a better plan than us post-game.

Edited 35 minutes ago35 min by dazednconfused

Love the read! And welcome back!

For the remainder of this season, I like the idea of incorporating more of this, particularly if it simplifies things up front and allows the OL to play faster and more physically. I'm not sure this personnel necessarily lends itself to becoming a predominantly power-gap offense overnight, but there's certainly value in making it a bigger part of what we do.

More than anything, I'd like to see them identify what this group does well, simplify the offense around those strengths, and finally establish an identity. Use the run game to create opportunities for all that talent we have at the skill positions instead of trying to completely reinvent ourselves halfway through the season.

Beyond this year, I'd like to see Lanning bring in someone with a fresh take on offense. A rising star or veteran matters not to me so long as they have a proven philosophy and the ability to adapt it to the personnel they have.

Edited 9 minutes ago9 min by Krsmqn

Great idea for next year, but there is only so much change you can install mid year.

I just hope the highly rated OT's that are true freshmen will stick around and develop, if they can move with 360 lbs (or maybe get down to 330 for next year without losing strength) maybe the future for 2-3 more years at OT will be grand, with improved OLine coaching we'll bring in more 5* linemen and portals