SB Nation - Walter Thurmond III

Remembering the Seniors

jtlight — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:00:45 -0000

When we look back on the seniors of 2009, I don't think they will be remembered in the same vein as some of the other Oregon greats. We'll remember 2001 for Joey Harrington. We'll remember 2007 for Dennis Dixon. We'll remember 2008 for the stellar offensive line and Jeremiah Johnson.

But 2009 is different. The face of the offense, LeGarrette Blount, was suspended for most of the season. The face of the defense, Walter Thurmond III, missed most of the season with a knee injury. And this year may end up being known as a year of transition, as successful as this team may end up being.

But this class is something special. They lived through 2006, when the team imploded down the stretch, and carried those lessons forward, helping to bridge the gap between 2007 and 2009, and providing leadership on a very young team.

Without the leadership and production of Walter Thurmond, Ed Dickson, Will Tukuafu, and T.J. Ward this team would not be where it is. On top of this, many other seniors who didn't see the field as much are just as important to the program. Morgan Flint, Andre Crenshaw, Rory Cavaille, Willie Glasper, Blake Ferras, Simi Toeaina, Titus Jackson are vital and productive members of the team, and worked their butts off day in a day out. Their hard work helped pushed other players to that next level. Lastly, we can't forget the contributions of three walk-ons, who all earned scholarships by their seniors years. Riley Showalter, Mike DiVincenzo, and Pono Kam earned their scholarships, and their play on special teams helped give Oregon one of the top special teams units in the conference.

Thanks for the memories guys. You will all be greatly missed. Enjoy your final game at Autzen.

After the jump, we have some videos, to remember the contributions of another special Oregon class.

Ed Dickson

In a long line of great Oregon tight ends, Dickson goes down as the most productive, with big plays over and over again during his career. His catch against Arizona was simply spectacular. Here are some of my favorite Ed Dickson moments:

T.J. Ward

He will be remembered as the enforcer of the Oregon defense, laying hits over and over again, and likely go down as the most YouTube'd Duck of all time (for exploits DURING the football game).

Walter Thurmond III

He had a knack for the big play. I feel cheated that we missed out on most of his senior year.

LeGarrette Blount

We'll ultimately remember Blount for his essentially lost senior year, which is too bad. He was utterly dominant as a change of pace his junior year. So let's remember him for that, and by one of my favorite runs of all time.

I'm sure I missed some big moments, so leave your favorite memories of our seniors in the comments. GO DUCKS!

Pregame Q+A with Addicted to Quack, Part 1

Jake Bertalotto — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:38:08 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

Jtlight says the biggest surprise of the year for Oregon is the defense... will they be able to slow down Jacquizz Rodgers and the Oregon State offense?

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To help us preview tomorrow's War for the Roses, we exchanged some questions with Addicted to Quack to get their feel for the game, among other things.AndyPanda responded to their questions and the result is this post... here is the first part jtlight's responses to our questions:

BtD: Sean Canfield is the most accurate passer in the Pac-10. Will the Ducks counter with pressure, and if so, how will they account for Quizz with that approach? Or will they go with max coverage, trying to force Canfield back into his historic tendancy to some times hold the ball too long, taking late sacks?

AtQ: The Ducks will do both. They will likely switch things up at all times. With their speed at linebacker and on the defensive line, The Ducks can bring pressure from different areas on every play. Nothing will be predictable. They may only bring 4-5 guys, but the goal will be to confuse the OSU offensive line. This approach will allow the Ducks to keep a safety/linebacker on Quizz if they play man/man, or they will account for him as normal if they drop in zone.

In other cases, they may drop into coverage, hoping to catch OSU in a max protect situation and let the superior coverage create a "coverage sack"

Whatever happens, the Ducks will mix things up greatly, and have the versatility to do a little bit of everything.

The Beaver run defense is the strength of that unit. Realizing that the Duck offense is designed around and dependant on Jeremiah Masoli's making reads to choose an option, what do they think will be the likely distribution/balance between LaMichael James, the new all-time best freshman rusher in the Pac-10's runs, and Masoli's counters, cutbacks, and spint outs?

It all depends on how the Beavers defend the play, that's the beauty of the spread option. If the Beavers collapse on Masoli, then he'll hand it off. If DE or DT makes the wrong play, Masoli will take it. So it's impossible to make any prediction on who will carry it more.

One aspect that's also important to note is that Oregon runs two variations of the inside zone. One isolates the DE, while the other isolates the DT. When Oregon can effectively block for these plays, it is simply devastating, because it means that both the DE and DT have a lot to think about on every single play, and can paralyze a defensive lineman. If the Ducks can get these plays working, I would look for Masoli to take the ball over and over again, like he did against USC.

Was the Blount punch a blessing in disguise (regarding the instant discovery of James)?

It most definitely was. Not only did it push LaMichael James into the forefront, but it also allowed Chip Kelly to take control of the team. At Boise, it wasn't quite his team yet. However, after his response to the BSU disaster, there was no question that this was Chip's team. And honestly, this was probably the best thing that could have happened to the future of the Duck program, as painful as it was in the short term.

What has been the biggest disappointment of the year? The biggest surprise?

The biggest disappointment would have to be the season ending injury to Walter Thurmond III on the opening kickoff against Cal. Thurmond was an absolute force over the first 3 games. He scoresd two touchdowns (one on an interception, one on a punt), and should have had another interception against BSU if not for a terrible call that brought it back. Walter was the leader of the defense, and though the pass defense has excelled without him, it's too bad we had to miss out on watching one of the top DBs in the country.

The biggest surprise is the Oregon defense. After having porous defenses over the past few years, many fans clamored for a top 25 defense, and they finally have it. Though the defense is quite young (especially in the secondary), they are making plays. The Ducks lead the league in passing defense efficiency (I don't look at total yards all that much simply due to the extra plays that are run during Oregon games due to their no huddle offense). They also give up the least amount of yards per play in the conference by a healthy margin. The defense has tremendous speed, which helps them mask their lack of size. The defense has simply been a delight to watch. Well, except for the Stanford game.

(Even though the season hasn't ended) You are returning a lot of young talent (Harris, James) and some core talent as well, like Masoli. Regardless of what happens the rest of this season, what are your (honest!) expectations for next year?

Honest expectations for next season is Pac-10 championship, and a legitimate run at a national title. Oregon loses one player on the entire offensive two deep (Ed Dickson), and loses only 2 1/2 starters on defense (I'm counting T.J. Ward as 1/2 because he hasn't started the whole season). This really is the best that Oregon has ever been set up in terms of experience, talent, and depth.

The only two concerns I have are defensive size, though Oregon has some young DT's that will hopefully be ready to contribute next year, and road performance, as Oregon plays @USC, @OSU, and @Tenn. If those areas can be addressed, Oregon will be in excellent shape to have a great year next season.

Thanks to jtlight and the Addicted to Quack crew! Also thanks to AndyPanda and the VD Special for help developing the questions. Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Q+A exchange.

--Jake | (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com) | Twitter

Quack Fix: Oregon fans are rude, and there's a 1-in-5 chance Chip Kelly ends up at Notre Dame?

PaulSF — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:00:13 -0000

Based on SI.com's latest Fan Survey, I'm guessing Full House's Stephanie Tanner wouldn't enjoy watching a game at Autzen Stadium.

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So, it's Friday. And that means it's almost Saturday. Which also means it's almost Gameday. College Gameday, more precisely. Treat this post as your "It's Friday, but I don't feel like working because I'm too nervous thinking about tomorrow's game in the desert" open thread. But first, your Morning Quack Fix:

As Stephanie Tanner often proclaimed, "How rude!" How rude? Autzen Stadium rude. According to SI.com's latest Fan Survey Results for the Pac-10, 26.2% of respondents think Oregon has the rudest fans in the Pac-10. I'm taking that as a compliment. And suddenly feel like taking in a Full House marathon.
On the heels of the R-G's George Schroeder's Tuesday column discussing exactly the same topic, The Oregonian's John Canzano thinks the University's got it all wrong by not letting senior running back LeGarrette Blount speak to the press. For once, I actually agree with Canzano. But I still don't like him.
Time to panic! Bodog.com released prop bet odds on who will be the coach at Notre Dame next fall if it's not Charlie Weis. Guess who made the short list with odds of 5-to-1? Yup, you guessed it: Chip Kelly. If you're a Duck fan, put down a hundred bucks on this bet. That way, if we do lose Chip to South Bend, at least you'll get a consolation prize of $500. You think I'm kidding.
Schroeder has a nice feature on Mike Bellotti's work as a color analyst on the rebroadcasts of Ducks games this year. Let's just hope Mike doesn't get so good at it that he ends up getting a job with ABC. He's a natural!
The R-G's Ron Bellamy reports on Oregon's graduation rates following a national report released Wednesday. Both the men's and women's basketball programs' rates are above the national average, but football declined, partially due to a small 2002 recruiting class that featured a few early NFL draft entrants, including Haloti Ngata.
Lastly, the RG has a feature piece today on Talmadge Jackson III, who has stepped up in the wake of injuries to Walter Thurmond and Willie Glasper. Jackson has been excellent all year, especially last week when he Oregon's defensive player of the week honors. However, just like the rest of the Ducks, he's never satisfied, and is always looking for improvement.

As always, leave any relevant links or comments below. GO DUCKS!

Injuries to Gresham, Bulaga, Thurmond, Johnson may alter draft stock

Mocking Dan — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:51:31 -0000

More photos » by Greg Wahl-Stephens - AP

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Oklahoma senior tight end Jermaine Gresham had the option of redshirting this season following a major knee injury. He's chosen not to and will enter the 2010 NFL Draft.Gresham's talent is undeniable. He has good hands, can block and possesses optimum size.

However, his draft stock will ride heavily on if he can participate at the NFL Scouting Combine. Should he run poorly, it could push him to the third round. If he runs how he's expected -- between the 4.65 and the 4.75 range -- he should be a fringe first-round pick.

Iowa left tackle Bryan Bulaga is one of the more dominant players in the country, but he's missed the last three games due to a thyroid issue. He's been cleared to play again, but it's a little difficult to tell what kind of impact this condition will have on his NFL future. It will likely have some impact on how teams view Bulaga. The interview process and medical check will be keys if Bulaga decides to skip his senior season.

Walter Thurmond, the talented senior cornerback from Oregon, has torn his ACL, MCL and PCL in his right knee. Viewed by most by a probable second-round pick, this will be hard for Thurmond to come back from. Ultimately, this could be a case similar to that of Jack Ikegwuonu of the Eagles. Coming out of Wisconsin, Ikegwuonu was considered by many early in his career as a top cornerback prospect. Knee injuries slowed him down and pushed him to the fourth round. The same could happen to Thurmond.

By now, you're probably aware of the unfortunate incident that happened to Southern California running back Stafon Johnson. While it might not seem that a throat injury of this nature would impact his football career, consider that Johnson won't be in football shape for the foreseeable future, and that's assuming he'll even be allowed to play again. For a player who likely would have been a late-round pick, free agency might be in Johnson's future.

Walter Thurmond III out for season with knee injury

jtlight — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:56:06 -0000

More photos » by Greg Wahl-Stephens - AP

Oregon's Walter Thurmond III (6) begins his touchdown run against Utah's John Peel (82) during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Eugene, Ore., Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009.

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The University of Oregon is reporting that Walter Thurmond III will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury. The specifics of the injury are not being released, but it is assumed that Thurmond has torn his ACL, suffered on the initial kickoff of last weekend's game against the California Golden Bears.

This is a large blow to the Ducks, as Thurmond had been the best player on the team over the first 3 weeks of the season by a large margin, scoring two touchdowns, and playing excellent defense.

It will be a tough road for Walter, but if there's a place to rehab a knee injury, it's at Oregon.

One thing's for sure, Walter will continue to be an integral part of the team, and will provide much leadership off the field, much as Dennis Dixon did in 2007. Good luck to Walter. We'll have more on how this impacts the Oregon team over the rest of the week. For more from Walter, here is a video interview with him from after yesterday's practice.

[UPDATE] According to the Register-Guard, Thurmond tore his ACL, MCL, and PCL. Check out the article for some comments from Walter, including the work ahead and his role with the team moving forward.

Morning Quack Fix: Still no Thurmond update, Looking at the polls, and more Cal fan reaction

jtlight — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:28:17 -0000

I'm still giddy from the weekend victory, and was fortunate enough to be at Autzen for the first time since Oklahoma 2006. For all the talk the last few weeks about the crowd at Autzen, they made up for it an more, as Autzen was again deafening on every play. The crowd smelled blood early, and they never let up on the Bears. On to the quack, and make sure to check out Dave's reaction to the Cal game, as well as the links after the jump.

Well, still no update on Thurmond. There have been rumors of a sprain, or an MCL or PCL tear. We'll have more info posted as soon as it's available.
I don't often take a look at the polls, but when I do, it simply reminds me that there is only one poll that's worth anything. The coaches have once again proven that they are a total joke, ranking Oregon 25th and Cal 19th, along with a number of rankings that are indefensible. But let's give some credit to the AP, who have actually taken into account what's happened on the field. I enjoy Chip Kelly's attitude on the subject, and his refusal to take part in the coaches poll.

Ted Miller has Oregon #1 in this week's Pac-10 Power Poll, and despite the early struggles, I think this is about the only team that can go at #1. Cal was absolutely killed, USC lost to a now-exposed UW team, and couldn't break 30 against WSU. Oregon State lost at home to Arizona. Stanford and Arizona still have a lot to prove. The Pac-10 is more open than I've seen it in a long time, and Oregon has a one game head start on the rest of the preseason contenders.
Avinash from Cal Golden Blogs is devoting as much time to analyzing the Bear's defeat as he did to previewing the game, and he says the whole game down to line play. Jahvid Best has never looked very good when he doesn't have decent holes, and the Oregon front 7 simply dominated the Cal O-line, and though Best turned some losses into gains, he just never had any room to work.
In recruiting news, Oregon had 4-star O-lineman Nick Rowland visiting, and he loved his visit. He was impressed by every aspect of the school. Nick is one of our top O-line targets, so picking him up would be huge.
Lastly, in TV News, the Oct. 10th game against UCLA has been moved to the 12:30 time slot.

As always, leave your thoughts and links below. GO DUCKS

Q+A with the California Golden Blogs North

TwistNHook — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:30:31 -0000

"Because we can never be too professional around here" via www.zingerbug.com

We have a great relationship with CGB North (rarely referred to as Addicted To Quack). Not only do they provide us with all the minerals and nutrients we need to life this leisure life-style, but they tell us things. Important things. Like when we have food on our face. Or we need to brush our teeth again.

But, the most important thing they can tell us is information about our upcoming college football game against the Oregon Ducks. So, we've done a Q+A with them. We're posting it now, because we're about to death panel the lot of them and we wanna get this info first. So, check behind the fold for their answers to our questions about the Oregon football team. And here are our answers to their questions. Try to guess which Marshawnthusiasts answered which questions! Yay for BFFs!

1. Is the tradeoff for selling your soul to Phil Knight that you have to wear uniforms that would only be seen at a European technobar?
PaulSF: Last I looked, I believe I saw an University of Oregon student-designed Nike Swoosh on Cal's uniforms. At least we got more than a logo for selling our souls.

2. How has Oregon handled the loss of TJ Ward to injury?
PaulSF: I think the Ducks have handled Ward's absence well. Our defense continues to execute the bend-don't-break philosophy perfectly, and that system relies heavily on smart and patient free safety play. Ward isn't exactly your prototypical free safety, so I'm not sure his absence has been felt as much as you might think.

Redshirt freshman John Boyett from your neck of the woods (Napa, CA) has filled in nicely thus far, but we're going to need Ward back for the highlight reel.

jtlight: As Paul said, the Ducks have done a great job of handling Ward's absence. We have missed his run-stopping, big play ability. However, our pass defense has been improved with his absences. He simply is not a very good cover safety. While Oregon has been able to handle the rushing games of Purdue and Utah without Ward, Cal will be a different story. I don't believe Ward will be 100% for this game, and will not have the impact we'd like, and if he's not 100%, I don't want him to play, because of his pass defense issues. Either way, to me this seems to be a case of picking your poison. If Ward plays, the Cal rushing attack will have a tougher time getting going. But if he doesn't, the Oregon secondary should be stronger. If Ward plays, the cornerbacks and other safety will have to stop Riley and the passing game. If Ward doesn't play, the linebackers will have the massive task of limiting the Cal rushing attack. Either way, it will be very interesting to watch.

3. How has Oregon handled the loss to BSU? Soul crushing? Or ball crushing?
PaulSF: You tell me? We're 2-0 since the Blount Debacle, including a win over then-No. 18 Utah that ended the nation's longest winning streak at 16 games. I think at the end of the season, we might actually look back at that incident and say it helped the Ducks.

jtlight: Agreed. This team could have rolled over and died, but it didn't. They have worked their butts off, and fought hard in every game. That won't be enough to beat Cal, they must execute, but this team won't give up, and that's always fun to watch.

4. Do you agree with Chip Kelly's decision to keep Blount on the team?
PaulSF: Absolutely, but it's about a lot more than keeping him on the team. It's about letting him keep his scholarship. He sent a bold message to the country, future recruits and fans: We'll take away football, but we won't take away your future. I'm not sure most FBS schools would have done the same. From everything I've read, Kelly truly does care about his players beyond just football, and that was yet another excellent example. I'd say it was handled really well, if not too harshly.

5. Often times your secondary receives a lot of hype going into each year. Yet, each year it never seems to play to the level of that hype. Why is that?
PaulSF: I actually get pretty tired of explaining this one, so I'm going to substitute my answer with a short quiz: What part of a team's defense determines its success at stopping its opponent's passing game? Is it A) its secondary; B) its pass rush; or C) its scheme. Obviously all three play a factor, but the pass rush would be the correct answer. Which is why, typically, teams with outstanding offensive lines (read: Oregon in 2008) have a lot of success on offense. The more time a quarterback has to throw the ball, the more likely it is one of his receivers will get open. It's a pretty simple equation, really.

The Ducks only returned one starter on the defensive line this year (Will Tukuafu), so we aren't getting nearly the push up front that we need. That said, we're still having success in the secondary this year because we have some great athletes, namely Walter Thurmond III. So, I guess it's not ALL about the line of scrimmage, but pretty damn near.

jtlight: Also, safety play. I can't stress it enough, but early last season, the passing defense of TJ Ward was simply terrible. Our secondary has looked good this year, despite the lack of a pass rush, because it's not all on the cornerbacks. They have safeties that are making plays and can back them up if they make mistakes.

6. How much blame would you put on Masoli for the Ducks awful passing numbers? How much on the receivers for drops/bad routes? How much on the offensive line for not giving Masoli time to throw? The coaching staff for poor playcalling? Give your answer in terms of percentages, and show your work.
PaulSF: You have to pass the blame around, but I'd rank it like this (in order of biggest effect to littlest effect):
1. Offensive line 40%
2. Timing/execution issues due to the new OC 25%
3. Masoli 15%
tie Receivers 15%
5. Poor play-calling (at least for Oregon's personnel) 5%

jtlight: I am gonna disagree with Paul on this one, mainly because in terms of pass protection, I think that the offensive line has been just fine, and I'd put them to about 15% of the problem, as in most cases, Masoli has had plenty of time.

The rest of the blame can lie on Masoli and the receviers. Both have been put in positions to succeed, and neither have consistently made the plays that are there. Masoli has missed wide open receivers, and when he has gotten them the ball, they haven't held onto it consistently. Masoli has also shown an inability to consistently read his progressions, and has failed to find his best weapon, Ed Dickson.

7. What's with your running backs having names that start with "La"?
PaulSF: You get what you recruit. LaMichael and LeGarrette are southerners, and it's common in southern culture. But don't act like you don't know about it. I'm guessing there are plenty of LaRichards and LeGeorges just south of Berkeley. I've been on that daily Southwest flight from Oakland to Houston, and I considered introducing myself as LaPaul. (Note: JaMarcus Russell was on the same flight. Seriously. You can't make that up.)

8. Tell us of Diante Jackson. We so dearly miss him!

jtlight: He hasn't seen the field at all in a game, and may redshirt, but he's been doing very well in practice. Our own version of JO can't stop praising his scout team work.

Roll On: How Cal's Offense Can Attack Oregon's Defense

Avinash — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:41:29 -0000

I'm so relieved Pac-10 season is here.

It's not that I don't like the OOC schedule; it's always fun to face new teams, and gauge ourselves to other teams around the country. But it makes things easier for me in terms of figuring out offenses and defenses. There's a familiarity with breaking down Arizona that isn't there with Minnesota or even Maryland. Figuring out what type of coverage packages UCLA will throw your way with their excellent secondary, or whether Oregon State is going to gap-cancel the shit out of you, or how many times Oregon will hit you over and over again with their zone read--these things I can deal with, I've seen them before.

Plus speculating about what an offense or defense might or might not do sucks, since there's a good chance you're going to look real stupid by the end of the game. At least here, there's a much better chance of nailing the general gameplan.

Let's get the ball rolling, shall we? We start with Andy Ludwig's Cal offense versus Oregon and Nick Allioti's hard-hitting, ball-hawking, tackle-missing defense.

(Major thanks to ieeebear for cutting videos for this post, you can see them after the jump! He deserves half the credit for the post.)

Oregon's run defense versus Best, Vereen, and Cal's O-line

I can't really dissect this properly, because one player could be the difference between Cal getting bottled up or taking the Ducks to task. You should see him plenty in the reels after the jump.

Hydro mentioned after last year's game how Allotti loved to bring a defensive back to take out the running back. You can see several times the defensive back (usually the free safety, which usually meant TJ Ward) sizing up the hole, then at the moment he senses run, starts targeting like a heat-seeking missile. One of the times the safety missed was when Best broke free for that long gain, albeit it ended in a fumble.

TJ Ward's health is crucial to Oregon's success at containing the run. You can see from this clip above how crucial Ward was in containing Best and Vereen; his ability to sniff out the run and quickly plug the gap kept the running backs from breaking into space. The dropoff is considerable after Ward, and I don't know exactly how the Ducks safeties stack up behind Ward.

You can also see that Oregon hits hard, so Cal's runners have got to be ready to maintain control of that football. Three rushing turnovers last season nearly cost the Bears dearly.

Although Riley appears to be a much better passer than he was a few seasons ago, I expect Oregon to, at least at the outset, play to contain Best and Vereen I doubt we'll see much difference in strategy from last season, especially on 1st and 2nd downs when the probability of run and pass are approximately equal. For all their struggles this season in various areas, one place the Ducks have remained consistent is guarding the run, and you can see from the video that their front seven has been equal to the task of pushing around Cal's usually solid offensive line.

This season there hasn't been a big dropoff. Yes, Boise State gashed them for 164 yards, but they needed FIFTY NINE CARRIES to get there. Utah, Boise State and Purdue are all upper tier schools in rushing yards per carry, and Oregon held them well under their respective averages.

Oregon has held Cal the last two seasons to an average of 3.38 rushing yards per carry, well below our general rushing average. So they've pulled all the stops to contain Forsett in 2007 and Best in 2008. If the Ducks are expected to pull out the stops against the run, the Bears will have to strip them will have to be won through the air.

Cal pass protection versus Oregon pass rush (or How I Am So Fucking Relieved Nick Reed is in the pros).

Reed was a one man wrecking crew in last year's game. Mitchell Schwartz did well for us in relief last year at left tackle, and Reed just chowed him down like moo goo gai pan.

1) First clip, :11-Reed blows by Schwartz, forces Riley to throw the football like a Thanksgiving turkey. I'm not sure whether Riley's trying the Tim Tebow leap pass here. It's close though.
2) :35--Cameron Morrah probably should've blocked a little bit better on that play before moving into receiving mode, Schwartz didn't seem like he had any chance of taking him up and can only manage a few weak arm shoves before Reed targets Riley.
3) :52--Right side completely collapses. Three defenders get untouched to the quarterback, it's a miracle Longshore even got that pass to Tucker.
4) 1:17--Perfect spin technique by Reed to blow by Schwartz, breaks up what might've been a touchdown to Morrah (although a safety was coming in fast).
5) 1:55--Reed lined up to the bottom against Edwards, and he absolutely smokes him. Plus there was a holding call. Safe to say the O-line was scrambling at this point.
6) 2:12--Mitchell is again caught looking with the spin move. GRAPPLE HIM Mitchell.
7) 2:41--"Sorry Mr. Schwartz, I do not want to participate in this tango." Gets up, screen pass broken out.
8) 3:00--Next play, lines up on Edwards, gets in unimpeded, even if a second too late. Longshore gets twirled like a Twizzler.

Nate Longshore and Kevin Riley were dinged around plenty, as they forced bad throws into traffic, or took sacks they shouldn't have taken. He'll make his mark with the Seahawks soon enough.

This year, the roles are reversed. With Reed gone, the responsibility for pass rush was supposed to fall to Will Tukuafu. So far he's been quiet, with fifteen tackles, but none for a loss. Oregon's pass rush this season has been non-existent. The Ducks averaged nearly 3 sacks a game last season, tied for 9th in the country. This year, they only have four through the first three games, along with only three quarterback hurries. Opposing quarterbacks have had their time to throw so far.

Cal's pass protection, however, has only been slightly better than it was last season (on average in terms of sacks, giving up five sacks and several hurries early on. Hopefully with Tepper and a maturing Schwartz, they can protect damaging sacks on the edge. Kenny Rowe (who has 2.5 of Oregon's sacks from the defensive end slot) seems the likeliest to get pressure, so watch what he does against the tackles.

Oregon's pass defense vs. Kevin Riley and his receivers

Defensive coordinator Nick Allotti is not a favorite of Oregon fans. He didn't look exceptionally good after USC's 44-10 trouncing of the Ducks, where Sanchez burned Oregon for 332 yards, 3 touchdowns on 68% completion rate. Although some of it was cover packages, it was also a case of corners cheating to stop the runs, biting on the play-fakes and getting burned for only putting one free safety in deep coverage.

Luckily, neither quarterback for the Bears could throw that well last season. Against Cal you saw a lot of soft zones, a lot of coverage packages determined to keep Best or Vereen from breaking into the screen. On one occasion when Oregon played close up man coverage they were scorched for a touchdown.

(Note: Understand I'm not an expert on defense. If I made any errors in formation or strategy please correct me and I'll edit them in, and attribute you for the help.)

1) (0:05) I think this is a Cover 4 deep (corners are playing back, safeties too). Best way to attack this is the outside flats (between the hash marks and the sideline), and Riley finds a wide-open Tucker along the out of bounds line. This could also be zone coverage (much like what Gregory runs on passing downs), since the corner seems to be playing a particular zone, trying to make the quarterback complete the throw. Also he could be trying to prevent a long run from the quarterback.

2) (0:36) Again, Riley targets the sideline to Tucker, who makes a great adjustment on the ball

3) (1:02) I believe this is Cover 1 Free (free safety is back to watch both sides of the field, see the replay at 1:19). Oregon stacks. Riley checks off the receiver on the strong side, freezes the free safety (notice him trailing to the top, where Riley's eyes are focused), then goes back and find Ross with a perfect strike. It helps that Wlater Thurmond was slow in recovering to Ross's original move.

4) (1:32) Iffy interference call on Thurmond, who seemed to play Tucker very well on the play, but it does show the benefit of having a receiver who can elevate on a dime and make it tough for the ref to judge whether the defender came too early or not.

5) (1:56) 3-2 Dime package. Six defensive backs and Longshore routinely completes a 4th and 14 on man-to-man? Talmadge Jackson III had some real passive coverage on this one. This play surprised me the most. (Note: Jackson will be Oregon's other corner in this game).

6) (2:23) 4-1 Dime package. Again another great pass to the sidelines to Sean Young, as Oregon's defense seems determined to play their zones and dare Cal's quarterbacks to make that throw to the sidelines. So far Riley and Longshore have converted three crucial 3rd downs aiming at the outside flats, two that broke down the zones in the right places (one was just a great adjustment and catch by Tucker).

7) (3:02) This should be noted for all Nate-haters out there, but Longshore KILLED Oregon. He didn't have achieve greatness by any means (13 for 27, 1 TD), but over his career he threw for a solid 57% completion rate, 6 touchdowns and 1 interception. You can get a sense of how he did it from plays like this; his ability to break down zone defenses and read coverages was impeccable. Danzig has more on his 2006-2007 exploits here.

8) (3:50) Another break down of the zone coverage at the sidelines to Tucker. I'm guessing we might see this play a bit.

Note to self: Watch Verran Tucker (who I assume will be the #1 receiver) versus Walter Thurmond, who I'm guessing will be assigned to him. This is a critical assignment for Thurmond, who must bottle up Tucker on man packages so the rest of the coverage can focus more on Marvin Jones and Ross.

The Ducks have played aggressive, breaking up 19 passes (top 10 in the nation!), including four interceptions, but I'd be very surprised to see Aliotti utilize a man-on-man strategy and not go back to deep coverage zones. Riley isn't Sanchez 2008, but he has been capable of throwing the deep ball properly this season. Expect plenty of cover schemes on obvious passing downs, in addition to the base 4-3 Oregon runs.

If Ludwig can show the multiplicity that he displayed in last week, will Oregon's secondary be able to read and react? The last three seasons the Ducks have lost the Bears game in spite of slowing the run game. It's been their touted corners and safeties who haven't been able to finish off Cal's receivers.

If Kevin Riley can throw a precise, 63-65% completion rate against Oregon's zone coverages, or open up the deep routes, which will in turn force more defensive backs into the game, which will in turn allow the offensive line easier blocking...it's Duck season.

Coming soon: Breaking down Oregon's zone read.

Poll

Who has to be the best offensive performer for the Bears to beat Oregon?

Kevin Riley

145 votes

Jahvid Best and Shane Vereen

81 votes

The receivers (Tucker, Jones and Ross)

32 votes

The offensive line

111 votes

369 votes | Poll has closed

The Oregon Ducks Elevator - Masoli, LaMichael, and the Fans at Autzen

dvieira — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:00:59 -0000

Welcome to another edition of the Oregon Ducks Elevator. The football team has moved to 2-1 on the season, mainly because of inspired defensive play. Be honest, how many of you honestly thought we would be 3-0 going into the Cal game? I would have been thrilled but 2-1 is still pretty good, especially since we were still in the Boise State game and had a chance to win. On to the elevator.

Jeremiah Masoli: 4-for-16 passing for 95 yards. 12 carries for 47 yards and 2 touchdowns. 2 fumbles and an interception. It says something that Oregon only called 5 passing plays in the second half. Masoli just didn't have it. That interception was in the red zone and one of those fumbles was picked up for a Utah score. Even if you count the two touchdowns and his good execution in the zone read, you can't get past the point swing 14 to 21 point swing. Without those turnovers, we are looking at possibly a 38-10 victory and fewer questions going into Cal… like what are we going to do for a passing game. Elevator: Down 2 Floors

Rob Beard: Had a fantastic game kicking off. Rob routinely kicked the ball into the corner on kickoffs, making Utah routinely return the ball from inside their 5. Plenty of height in the kicks translates into good coverage. Elevator: Up 1 Floor

LaMichael James: 152 yards on 27 carries with a 45 yard long and a touchdown. Most importantly, he carried the load for the offense in the second half with the passing game struggling. I don't like to see James getting so many carries. If he goes down, we'll be struggling to find an offensive threat unless our passing game improves. Elevator: Up 2 Floors

Walter Thurmond III: He got the crowd and the Ducks into the game by taking the opening punt return back for 78 yards and a touchdown. He also batted down several balls and played lockdown coverage in the secondary. Outside of LaMichael James, he just might be our biggest scoring threat. Did I mention that Oregon is 5-0 when Walter scores a touchdown? How about a flysweep? Elevator: Up 2 Floors

Kenjon Barner: No one can disagree with the potential talent but Kenjon didn't have a great game. He only averaged 1.9 yards a carry on 9 carries. As the most likely candidate to give us another threat in the backfield, Kenjon will need to step up next week if we will have a shot against Cal. Elevator: Down 1 Floor

Nick Aliotti: How about that defensive performance? Not only is he putting players in a position to win, he's making the right calls at the right time. If the offense hadn't put the defense in horrible positions through turnovers, the score would show just how much of a performance the entire unit put in. After three games, the defense has kept us in each one and was responsible for winning at least 1 of those. Don't worry Nick. Duck Fans will be back to hating you after Cal this week when Jahvid Best comes to town. Elevator: Up 2 Floors

Fans at Autzen Stadium: I hate to do it but a few of you ruined it for the rest of us. Chanting "overrated" at the end of the game? Going up to the Utah fans afterwards and again chanting "overrated"? If those events aren't damning enough, you actually CHEERED Washington's win over USC. Since when do you cheer Washington for anything? Have they been down so long that you are starting to feel sorry for them? You should be ashamed of yourselves. The only reason you don't go down more was the great turnout on a rainy day. Elevator: Down 1 Floor

Oregon Ends Utah's 16 Game Winning Streak

Jeremy Mauss — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 05:18:17 -0000

Final - 9.19.2009	1	2	3	4	Total
Utah Utes	7	0	17	0	24
Oregon Ducks	14	7	7	3	31

Complete Coverage >

Oregon handed Utah its first loss of the season, snapping the nation's longest active win streak at 16 games. The loss also snapped a nine-game road win streak for the Utes and a five-game win streak against BCS-conference opponents.

Neither team played all that well as both teams combined for six turnovers, 16 penalties, and less then 33 percent on third downs. Oregon just happened to play a little better and that punt return for a touchdown by Walter Thurmond III was huge. On that punt return CB RJ Stanford was one of the last players to make a play but it seemed like he was jogging 20 yards out while being within range to tackle Thurmond. This was odd because Stanford allegedly has sub 4.35 speed but used none of it to make a play.

Currently on Stanford he did not get beat all that much, but it was bad enough --at least in my amateur scouting eye-- and will be replaced by Justin Jones with Stanford going to be the first nickle back.

The run defense which was to be Utah's strength but in this game Oregon ran all over Utah. Oregon was lead by LaMichael James who had 152 yards, also QB Jeremiah Masoli made timely runs to keep drives going and happened to score two touchdowns. However Oregon was able to win by only completing four passes.

This game was the first big test for the young QB Terrance Cain who threw for under 200 yards and threw two bad interceptions. The big pick was thrown to Duck linebacker Eddie Pleasant which set up a 31-yard field goal that gave 31 points and extend their lead to seven.

The big reason Utah was struggling in this game was that RB Matt Asiata was not 100 percent with his shoulder injury, which left the Utes to rely on no quarterback Terrance Cain. Cain was inaccurate and not able to connect to open receivers down field. Asiata was only able to gain 54 yards on the afternoon, which meant Cain had to pass the ball more then they really wanted to. One surprise is that Utah has not used the wide receiver in the jet sweep or end around plays as they did in the past. This game seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring that play back to be able to create a running game.

Also, as I mentioned last game is that Terrance Cain either does not have the confidence or has not run the zone read option. He did run the play once and beat the defensive ends for a modest gain, but that was only once. Cain needs to learn to take the ball and run to the edge, even if the gain would be modest. The reason is to keep the defense honest and not just attack the middle.

The down fall for Utah was that Terrance Cain was asked to make too many plays on offense which forced Utah into too many third and long plays which then again extended the burden placed on Cain; Utah was five of eighteen on third downs. The weather and lack of a kicking game changed the Utah game plan. If Utah had a capable kicker the Utes could have had a few more points on the board with a field goal or two, plus the play calling is different on third down when kicking a field goal was not going to be an option on fourth down.

Utah fans and the players should not be discouraged, because Utah was able to come back from a 21-7 deficit to get within four points before that late game interception; Autzen Stadium is one of the toughest places to play and with a young quarterback and receivers can be seen as a good thing.