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 Breakdowns

The 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 Smith

• Telegraphed 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 Defense

Give 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 OL

Beyond 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.

Edited 41 minutes ago41 min by dazednconfused

Thank you for the informative analysis, Dazed.

Two observations.

1. 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.

2. If I recall, Iuli was a league honorable mention player last year. I wonder if he ever fully recovered from his injury.

25 minutes ago, dazednconfused said:

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.

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).