OWH: Deep Dive into Oregon's Offense

[Mavric]

“I thought, ‘I don’t understand how they do this every practice. I don’t understand how this is possible,’ ” Prukop said. “I wasn’t in ‘Oregon shape’ at that point.”

Now he has the keys to the offense. It’s Prukop’s car to drive, and he’s a full convert to the Oregon way of football. When asked why the Ducks are so good, he makes a light joke.

“It must be a secret,” he says.

Oregon’s offense — fast, furious, fun, full of big plays — has taken on a mythic quality over the last half-decade. the Ducks have averaged 545 yards and 46 points per game since 2011.

Chip Kelly and fueled by gobs of Nike CEO Phil Knight’s money, the offense gets its potency from a blend of scheme, talent, facilities and practice philosophy. It inspires copycats and provokes the defensive coordinator who’s likely faced it the most — NU’s Mark Banker, formerly of Oregon State — into near-Shakespearean monologues.

“It’s controlled mayhem,” Banker said Tuesday. “It’s sleight of hand. Basketball on grass. Fast, fast, fast. They’ll catch you in a, ‘Oh, let me just rest on this’ type of play, an, ‘I’m so tired I can’t focus,’ or, ‘Oh, you get going and your heart rate’s up.’ And if they do get a big play, bang! — they’re at the line of scrimmage and they’re coming at you.

OWH

 

[Mavric]

Not gonna lie, this part has me pretty worried. I wonder if we might try Newby or MRI at DE some.

The Ducks’ scheme tends to leave one defender — usually the defensive end — unblocked. The quarterback reads the end. If the end crashes toward the running back, the quarterback can zip around the end with a keep. If not, the running back gets the ball and looks for a hole. Oregon backs — from Jonathan Stewart to LaMichael James to the current star, Royce Freeman — are adept at finding them.

“We’re going to see if we can block your six with our five,” Prukop said, referring to his five offensive linemen against six defenders geared to stop the run. The quarterback read option is a way to “keep defenses honest,” he said.

 

[TAKODA]

Yep, they are masters at this. We need to be light on our feet and trust our eyes and get to the spot. If we wait to react, their speed is what catches teams off gaurd.

 

[Lyons in the Sea of Red.]

The way to blow up Oregons offense is to attack from the inside. If you can get a successful push from the DT position and push guards back in the face of the qb, you will have some success stopping Oregon.

 

[swmohusker]

Not gonna lie, this part has me pretty worried. I wonder if we might try Newby or MRI at DE some.

The Ducks’ scheme tends to leave one defender — usually the defensive end — unblocked. The quarterback reads the end. If the end crashes toward the running back, the quarterback can zip around the end with a keep. If not, the running back gets the ball and looks for a hole. Oregon backs — from Jonathan Stewart to LaMichael James to the current star, Royce Freeman — are adept at finding them.

“We’re going to see if we can block your six with our five,” Prukop said, referring to his five offensive linemen against six defenders geared to stop the run. The quarterback read option is a way to “keep defenses honest,” he said.

Not sure having 2 of our best LB's that tackle in space well move to d end and play a position where the offense can always make you wrong is the solution. The D end will be read on their zone plays and you have to take away one. They are too good to play both even if we did have a faster guy playing DE. It all depends on your gameplan about where you want to force the ball and how you want to cover the perimeter key screens. Just bc you play Oregon good for a quarter or 2 they can adjust at the drop of the hat and take advantage of the defense if it doesn't stay on its toes. I would like to see us play some 3 front with more 2nd level defenders against this type of Offense and with our small amount of DL that we have that will be playing football faster than they have in their entire career you could give them a break and rotate more. You can vary your box looks with how many versatile LBs we have. If we sit in our base defense the whole game the floodgate will eventually open for Oregon I am afraid. They have better athletes on the perimeter than we do. Hope we have a few wrinkles that we are willing to show and are comfortable enough with to go to on the fly.

 

[RedDenver]

Not gonna lie, this part has me pretty worried. I wonder if we might try Newby or MRI at DE some.

The Ducks’ scheme tends to leave one defender — usually the defensive end — unblocked. The quarterback reads the end. If the end crashes toward the running back, the quarterback can zip around the end with a keep. If not, the running back gets the ball and looks for a hole. Oregon backs — from Jonathan Stewart to LaMichael James to the current star, Royce Freeman — are adept at finding them.

“We’re going to see if we can block your six with our five,” Prukop said, referring to his five offensive linemen against six defenders geared to stop the run. The quarterback read option is a way to “keep defenses honest,” he said.

I'm a proponent of always tackling the RB, especially in this case where Freeman is a MUCH bigger threat than Prukop. Make the QB keep the ball and get tackled repeatedly. As the game goes on, those tackles add up and can make the QB less accurate throwing the ball.

 

[lo country]

Not gonna lie, this part has me pretty worried. I wonder if we might try Newby or MRI at DE some.

The Ducks’ scheme tends to leave one defender — usually the defensive end — unblocked. The quarterback reads the end. If the end crashes toward the running back, the quarterback can zip around the end with a keep. If not, the running back gets the ball and looks for a hole. Oregon backs — from Jonathan Stewart to LaMichael James to the current star, Royce Freeman — are adept at finding them.

“We’re going to see if we can block your six with our five,” Prukop said, referring to his five offensive linemen against six defenders geared to stop the run. The quarterback read option is a way to “keep defenses honest,” he said.

I'm a proponent of always tackling the RB, especially in this case where Freeman is a MUCH bigger threat than Prukop. Make the QB keep the ball and get tackled repeatedly. As the game goes on, those tackles add up and can make the QB less accurate throwing the ball.

This is exactly what UCLA did in the game against Martinez. The RB as hit every play. Same when teams go against the option teams. Penetration into the backfield disrupts a lot of those plays as well. Gotta get upfield.

 

[BigRedBuster]

Not gonna lie, this part has me pretty worried. I wonder if we might try Newby or MRI at DE some.

The Ducks’ scheme tends to leave one defender — usually the defensive end — unblocked. The quarterback reads the end. If the end crashes toward the running back, the quarterback can zip around the end with a keep. If not, the running back gets the ball and looks for a hole. Oregon backs — from Jonathan Stewart to LaMichael James to the current star, Royce Freeman — are adept at finding them.

“We’re going to see if we can block your six with our five,” Prukop said, referring to his five offensive linemen against six defenders geared to stop the run. The quarterback read option is a way to “keep defenses honest,” he said.

I'm a proponent of always tackling the RB, especially in this case where Freeman is a MUCH bigger threat than Prukop. Make the QB keep the ball and get tackled repeatedly. As the game goes on, those tackles add up and can make the QB less accurate throwing the ball.

Yes....Prukop has only rushed for 73 yards compared to 297 from Freeman. Take Freeman away and make Prukop work every single play.

Now...just make damn sure some is there to tackle him and not just let him gain 10 yards and run out of bounds.

 

[BoNeyard]

You have to be able to make one on one plays. You have to be able to prevent them from gaining much ground on 1st down.

 

[GBRFAN]

Young QB that is not comfortable with large loud crowds. Take the RB and deep ball out of play and make this kid beat us with his feet and a lot of short smart passes. If we can put the game on his shoulders and then put some pressure on him it should be a long day for them.

 

[SuperBigFan69]

Not gonna lie, this part has me pretty worried. I wonder if we might try Newby or MRI at DE some.

The Ducks’ scheme tends to leave one defender — usually the defensive end — unblocked. The quarterback reads the end. If the end crashes toward the running back, the quarterback can zip around the end with a keep. If not, the running back gets the ball and looks for a hole. Oregon backs — from Jonathan Stewart to LaMichael James to the current star, Royce Freeman — are adept at finding them.

“We’re going to see if we can block your six with our five,” Prukop said, referring to his five offensive linemen against six defenders geared to stop the run. The quarterback read option is a way to “keep defenses honest,” he said.

I'm a proponent of always tackling the RB, especially in this case where Freeman is a MUCH bigger threat than Prukop. Make the QB keep the ball and get tackled repeatedly. As the game goes on, those tackles add up and can make the QB less accurate throwing the ball.

Yes....Prukop has only rushed for 73 yards compared to 297 from Freeman. Take Freeman away and make Prukop work every single play.
Now...just make damn sure some is there to tackle him and not just let him gain 10 yards and run out of bounds.

Yep!

Ends should crash on the RB when the QB is not a crazy threat

 

[BoNeyard]

Nebraska also has to be prepared for 2 PT conversions, Oregon going for it on 4th downs, and some trickery along the way. You can't trust these guys to play conventional football.