SB Nation - Nate Costa

Quack Fix: Practice update, the 1958 Rose Bowl and a JC commitment

ntrebon — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:23:25 -0000

Rose Bowl preparations are finally under way as the Ducks began practice last Friday. With that, we have a little more quack than last Tuesday. Enjoy!

In Monday practice news, Nate Costa was back after missing the first three Rose Bowl practices (all absences were excused). Moseley notes that both Diante Jackson and Cliff Harris made nice plays during the practice session. John Hunt has a brief blog entry up that notes the Ducks practice schedule until they depart for Pasadena on Christmas Day.
In today's Register-Guard, Ron Bellamy takes us back to the 1958 Rose Bowl against Ohio State. tOSU came in as 19-point favorites and escaped with a 10-7 victory. For those of you not familiar with the details, it's definitely worth a read.
Continuing the ongoing Register-Guard feature that spotlights members of this year's Rose Bowl team, today's Duck of the Day is John Boyett.
John Hunt and Jeff Smith have a piece that looks at the different paths taken by two of the top dual-threat quarterback recruits of 2008: Terrelle Pryor and Darron Thomas.
Mike Tokito has a blog entry up discussing a trend that most of us are aware of: Ohio State's recent inability to come through in the big game. This is, of course, all relative. OSU has lost three consecutive BCS bowl games, including back-to-back national championship bowl games. I wish I could say the same for Oregon. That said, once you begin reaching those levels consistently, simply being there isn't enough. Here's hoping Oregon makes it four straight BCS losses for the Buckeyes.
A little under the radar yesterday, but the Ducks landed a JC recruit, defensive lineman Isaac Remington who will have two years to play two. Bob Rickert notes that Remington plans to be on campus in January.
Luke Andrews of the Mail Tribune has a feature piece on E.J. Singler, who has now started three straight games after nearly redshirting this season. This week, the basketball team hosts Mississippi Valley State on Wednesday and Oakland on Saturday as they look to end their recent struggles that have seen them go 1-4 over their last five games. I will be in town for both these as well as the Idaho State game -- anyone interested in checking out the games?

As usual, post any comments or links below.

Go Ducks!

Happy Thanksgiving From ATQ

dvieira — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:02:09 -0000

Before we all descend into the triptafen-induced stupor, we here at Addicted to Quack would be remiss if we didn't thank you, the community of ATQ. All of the contributions you provide, both positive and negative, have made ATQ one of the premiere sports communities on the web and we couldn't have done it without you.

Not only have we reached major website traffic milestones, we have created a wonderful community centered around our mutual love for the Ducks. Whether it be ATQ readers answering the call to send kids to the Addicted to Quack Lacrosse Meetup earlier in the spring or the many, MANY community members that showed up to tailgate from all across the country (and the world in some cases). You were there.

From Jared, Dave, Nick, Jeremy, Paul and myself, have a happy and safe Thanksgiving and thank YOU for making ATQ part of your day. We have some other things we're thankful for after the jump.

Jared

I am thankful for LaMichael James.
Unless he's derailed by injuries, he'll be the best back in Oregon history. His combination of speed, agility, and power is a astounding.

I'm am thankful for the development of Jeremiah Masoli.
At the beginning of the season, he was a disaster. Inaccurate, poor decision making, you name it. But as the season has progressed, he's improved in every area of the game. His accuracy has improved dramatically, he's making all the right decisions. He knows when to make something happen, and when to not force the issue. His growth is the main reason for the success of the Oregon offense this season.

I am thankful for a top 20 defense (at least according to Football Outsiders).
They've taken their lumps recently, but they still lead the conference in passing efficiency allowed. They are second in the conference in sacks, and have looked incredibly stout at home. All off-season, we talked about how we needed a defense to match our offense, and it looks like we finally have it.

Nick

I am thankful for a Civil War with the Rose Bowl on the line.
Particularly after many of us were readjusting our expectations after the Boise State debacle and the uninspiring efforts against Purdue and Utah. The Ducks turned things around in a big way, setting up the showdown at Autzen next Thursday.

I am thankful for Nate Costa.
While Nate's collegiate career has not gone the way many of us had hoped, he has been the consummate teammate. What's more, his workmanlike performance notched an important win against UCLA and his clutch dig of an errant snap avoided disaster against Arizona. I am thankful that Nate has not only made meaningful appearances this season, but has played a significant role in multiple Oregon victories.

Jeremy

I am thankful for Steve Greatwood.
Most of the pre-season naysayers pointed to two things when reviewing Oregon. Chip’s first season as a head coach and a green offensive line. At Boise, the O-line did indeed look very green (and not the good, sexy alien kind). Every week from that point on that group has shown improvement. Folks, you don’t rush for 231 yards per game against the teams Oregon has played without an offensive line that is putting it on the opposing defense week in and week out. Greatwood – another amazing coaching job.

I am thankful for the Autzen experience and a bunch of you ATQ dudes.
I grew up going to Duck games, but am a season ticket holder this year for the first time. Through heat, cold, wind and rain I’ve enjoyed every minute of my time spent at Autzen. Even better, I’ve had the chance to tailgate with at least a dozen other ATQers. Several of which I now call friends. All of which seem to be great guys and the kind of Duck fans I am proud to be associated with.

Quack Fix: Ducks lose to Montana and more from Saturday's big win

ntrebon — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:19:10 -0000

More photos » by Wily Low - AP

29 days ago: Oregon's Ed Dickson (83) celebrates after scoring a touchdown with six seconds left in regulation against Arizona in the second half of an NCAA college football game at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Ariz., Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009. Oregon won 44 - 41 in overtime. (AP Photo/Wily Low)

Browse more photos »

Ugh. What a deflating loss last night in basketball. Thankfully, we have nine more days of Civil War hysteria. Here's your morning quack.

The men's basketball team suffered an embarrassing 68-55 loss to the Montana Grizzlies at home last night. A poor first half did the Ducks in, as they managed only 20 first half points -- despite an early 12-2 lead. As some of you noted elsewhere, this result is quite a buzzkill. The Ducks are off until Sunday night when they host Montana State.
John Hunt has a blog entry with some quotes from Scott Frost talking about the impact of Saturday's dramatic win and reflecting on one of his own. Frost also notes that Jeff Maehl was the only receiver not rotated out late in the game on Saturday: "Jeff's earned the right to be in there when the chips are down because he's the kind of kid who makes big plays in big situations.'' Looks like that was the right call.
Rob Moseley's feature piece today takes us through the final drive against Arizona. That 18-yard run by LaMichael James on 3rd-and-11 is probably my favorite play of the drive, save for the touchdown catch by Ed Dickson.
George Schroeder also has a piece up that talks about Pat Kilkenny's decision to move the Civil War game to a Thursday night. While the move may be inconvenient for some of you attending, it's hard to argue that the date change and the fact that the game will decide the Pac-10 championship means that the nation's undivided attention will be focused on Autzen stadium next Thursday night.
Finally, the prolific Moseley also has a notebook entry up about Nate Costa earning conference player of the week honors for special teams after his game-saving hold on an errant extra point snap. Apparently the Sporting News named it the national "play of the week."
KEZI has a report up of a group of Oregon fans in yellow, including one dressed as the grim reaper, made their way through the OSU campus. I gotta say, I don't think a yellow grim reaper is all that effective.<sarcasm> Besides, isn't black one of our colors now too? </sarcasm>
Civil War baseball tickets for the May 26th game at PGE Park go on sale today. The game is officially a non-conference game, but will serve as the fifth game between the Ducks and Beavers in 2010.

After the jump are is a video of Steven Jackson talking Civil War, so check it out.

Here's Steven Jackson with some of his own thoughts on the rivalry between the Ducks and Beavers:

Quack Fix: Wrapping up a great win in Tucson

jtlight — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:13:49 -0000

What a weekend. The Ducks made it out of Tucson alive, though barely. It's always tough to go on the road, and this Oregon team has struggled to find consistency away from Autzen. However, the Ducks were able to pull it out, basically willing themselves to victory despite a number of mistakes and setbacks.

First of all, Jeremiah Masoli. It's not always pretty, but he gets the job done. His improvement from his early season problems has been the main reason for the Ducks offensive success, and he's earing lots of national recognition. He's being called a winner and unflappable by Ivan Maisel. George Schroeder has a column on him as well. Masoli, more than anything else, has learned to just allow the game to happen, and take what is there. He rarely makes bad decisions, and when he does, he doesn't let that affect his future play (like Dennis Dixon did in the early days). In a tough road environment where things hadn't been going well, Masoli and the offense came through when they needed to.
We're not the only people praising Nate Costa. Sporting News named his hold the play of the day. For a play as routine as an extra point, Costa and Flint handled the poor snap like pros, and allowed me to breathe a sigh of relief after a half second of sheer terror.
Both Masoli and LaMichael James set record this weekend. Masoli set the record for the highest scoring QB in Oregon history (passing Joey Harrington), while LMJ set the Pac-10 freshman rushing record, surpassing Jacquizz Rodgers' record from last season.
Jeff Maehl is also earning some well-deserved praise. He's received a lot of unwarranted criticism this year, but his rapport with Masoli was huge in moving the chains during the final Oregon drive, and the throw and catch for the first OT touchdown was a thing of beauty.
Ken Woody's blog on the game is an excellent read, as always. He's not as positive as many of us are, but that just means that there are some good things to work on in the week and a half ahead.
Arizona President Robert Shelton apologized to UO for the behavior of the Arizona fans. Hopefully this will be a lesson to Arizona and all other Pac-10 schools, and some of these issues can get cleaned up.

After the jump, a couple of videos on the game, including player reaction. As always, leave any other links in the comments. GO DUCKS!

Masoli, James, and Maehl react after the win

Inside the Pac recaps the weekend and looks forward to the Civil War

Postgame Open Thread - Oregon @ Washington

dvieira — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 22:49:07 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

about 1 month ago: Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli throws against Washington in the first half of an NCAA football game Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Browse more photos »

Here's your chance to talk about the Oregon victory at the "Mistake by the Lake". That makes 6 in a row over Washington and we remain in the drivers seat for the Pac-10 Championship. What went right, what went wrong and who is your MVP for the game. We'll get a more detailed recap up later.

Oh and here's to you jtlight. I should never have doubted your prediction of a blow out

Poll

Who is your MVP?

Jeremiah Masoli

316 votes

Kenny Rowe

24 votes

Javis Lewis

4 votes

Nate Costa

5 votes

LaMichael James

163 votes

Other (explained in comments)

9 votes

521 votes | Poll has closed

Roll On: How California Can Beat UCLA

Avinash — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:30:25 -0000

via sportige.com

Cal fans are sure eager to watch a January game in this House of Horrors.

Playing the Bruins has never been easy for Jeff Tedford. In our home victories, the Bears can never comfortably put UCLA away until late in the 2nd half. And when we go to LA, all sorts of foul bad luck bedevils us, things that belie strategy, planning, and even execution.

So I write up this preview with total certainty that about 95% of what I write will be invalidated by a few fluky plays or some utter nonsense that'll end with one team's fanbase churning. Beating the Bruins has never been easy, and based on what I've seen of both teams this season, I don't see that changing that much

UCLA Pass Offense versus Cal Pass Defense

Kevin Prince isn't under a huge a microscope as Kevin Riley. But, as we saw from the stats, I'd say they have a similar problem: Accuracy. In terms of physical ability though, their issues differ.

via www.latimes.com (Image from Robert Gauthier)

Riley has a fairly strong arm that can take the ball to most places around the field, but he's scatter-shot. The ball he throws can reach anywhere on the field, but as of late has sailed wide, high, or long of its intended target.

Prince, by contrast, doesn't have a particularly strong arm yet. Oh, there are times he can put it up for a receiver (including that play action fake to Randall Carroll that the frosh dropped), but those moments are few and far between. When asked to throw anything that isn't a three step drop, he's erratic, and his throws often end up nowhere. With slants, screens, dumpoff options, and anything short range he's excellent though, which makes him the closest thing to the reverse of Riley.

In other words, he can do exactly what Oregon did to destroy Cal--throw the short pass and break down the zone defense. That's always a worrisome sign. Hopefully Gregory will be a little bit more aggressive (he showed signs against USC) with an offense that just doesn't have the wheels, and let his secondary get a chance to make plays and shut down UCLA's passing.

If Prince can get into his five step drop and find his receivers for 15-20 yard gains like Barkley though, then I'll start popping out the scotch and drink drink drink.

UCLA Run Offense versus Cal Run Defense

via cjonline.com (Image from AP)

Although the Bruin run game has not lit it up, they shouldn't be underestimated. Jonathan Franklin is very capable of hitting the holes, has a good command of what to do behind his offensive line and hit the holes. He's lacks the breakaway speed and only has limited cutback ability, and he struggles rushing to the outside. But he's strong, and he grinds yards, and that's what exactly you want from a guy with a youthful O-line that can't execute all its blocks.

UCLA does have a platoon of running backs: Damien Thigpen, Christian Ramirez, Chane Moline, Derrick Coleman. They all saw action in the Furd and Oregon games, and you'd expect a healthy mix of at least several of these guys trying to spell Franklin with some quality carries.

This is a battle Cal must win. Although they settled down after the McKnight TD run, they've still got a lot of improving to do. This is a young, inexperienced offensive line and Cal's defensive linemen need to punish them like Muhammed Ali on Ernie Terrell. Make sure that Bruins offense knows your name when you're done, Tyson.

UCLA Playcalling

Norm Chow's playcalling reflects that: He hasn't really taken many risks with Prince back there. His team practices a very conservative, some might say stodgy form of offense on the field, where they generally run the ball on 1st down, run the ball backed up in their own end zone, run the ball in the red zone. Between the margins Chow lets the Bruins pass a little bit more since there's less risk of a disastrous error.

via cdn2.sbnation.com

via cdn0.sbnation.com

(Image from jtthirtyfour's excellent post about playcalling)

It's funny that people criticize Tedford and Ludwig's playcalling when Chow is probably the standard bearer of conventional. And he's supposed to be the offensive master.

A few little tidbits I saw from Chow's offense

The Bruins ran a wildcat formation once and handed off for a modest gain. They also did it against the Furd with Ramirez.
The Bruins ran some formations out of the Pistol (mostly running), and used plenty of pre-snap motion.
Chow likes bringing his running backs out of the backfield as a dumpoff option, similar to how he used Reggie Bush in 2004. He used the fullback on one 3rd and short and occasional screens to the running back in both the Furd and Oregon games.
There was a lot of max protect schemes that put more guys in coverage, sometimes having them slip off to be the dump option for Prince. Chow seems concerned about making sure the Bruins don't give up sacks and make things manageable for his quarterback, so he doesn't get pressed into making serious mistakes.
Chow still exploits mismatches, although most of the time it's just making sure Prince throws to the guy that's less likely to be covered. In essence, the mismatch Chow tries to find is receiver guarded by no one.
In general, you see few risks from Chow, since it's clear he doesn't (and probably shouldn't at this point) trust Prince to throw to the flats. He wants safe spots for Prince to pick up safe yards. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn't.
The one time Prince tried a lazy throw to the outside against Oregon, pick-sixed, game essentially over. I'd be very surprised if Prince threw anything to the outside that wasn't a screen or didn't involve a receiver getting huge coverage space. Will Bob Gregory concede that space?

Cal Offense vs UCLA Defense

The UCLA front seven is only a step down from USC's. Now, USC's current front seven isn't as great as their 2008 incarnation, but they're pretty good. However, not even the Trojans have a gamechanging tackle like the monstrous Brian Price, who can alone disrupt what an offensive line wants to do. Good luck to Summers-Gavin and Cheadle, who will likely draw this monstrous assignment.

Watching a few series on the Furd-UCLA game, this Bruins D-line can be dominated for periods.

However, tell me if this sounds familiar. UCLA set up to stop the opponent's stud running back, dared the Furd to throw deep and burn them. The Cardinal utilized the power run scheme with Gerhart, but also (most importantly) were able to connect on deep throws to their receivers (interesting note: Harbaugh seemed to watch last year's Cal-UCLA game too, using the flea-flicker to draw the Bruins deep and complete a big throw that set up the third Cardinal score).

Cal's passing game hasn't been able to step up when the run game fell apart. We should expect the Bruins to do exactly the same. No defense in the Pac-10 is going to respect Riley until he shows he's worthy of it.

What gives you hope? The list of quarterbacks UCLA has shut down: Nate Costa, Jonathan Crompton, Carson Coffman. The one quarterback they haven't shut down was Andrew Luck, and he's far from a finished product. Unfortunately, at this point I have no idea which category Riley lies in--at this point it's a tossup, but he does have the potential to play like Luck. He hasn't shown it in conference play though.

Although Bear-killer Alterraun Verner is still back here, the rest of the UCLA secondary is young, so hopefully Cal's receivers can take advantage of that. Play-action roll-outs (which Luck did well on a few occasions) could be just the trick for Riley, as long as his receivers can evade man coverage. Having Boateng back could be critical to break down the open areas UCLA's coverage schemes provide (usually 8-10 yards down the flats or 5-10 yds around the hashmarks). Also, look for Anthony Miller, Vereen and Best to be featured in the passing attack if Riley and his receivers continue their connection issues.

Cal run game versus UCLA run defense

As for Cal's offensive line against UCLA's front seven, the pass protection should hopefully be alright. The Bears were much improved against USC (giving up three sacks is pretty good, although they're still vulnerable off the edge), so you have to figure the line will play better, especially with Summers-Gavin coming back burning for redemption after Oregon. UCLA is good but not great in pass rush, although we did say the same things about Oregon.

The Furd ran a lot of power run by pulling a guard, but also some sweep plays where they pushed Gerhart toward the outside and had the O-line run with him. Cal's O-line is much heavier though and really can't provide that mobility, and Best is the furthest thing from Gerhart. So that's probably not the best equivalent, although we might see some power blocks here and there.

The better model for us is probably Oregon. Oregon's zone blocking had pretty good success racking up 200 yards, and this was with Nate Costa fairly shut down. The Bruins have had a lot of trouble defending outside runs, especially if they're able to seal off Price. It would be interesting to see of the Bears try pulling their guards a little more to force Price out into the open and away from the action, since you figure the Bruins would commit more men to the side of the line where Price is not.

If Cal's O-line can replicate the successes of zone blocking with Oregon (LaMichael James ate UCLA up, and he's probably the closest equivalent to Best in the conference), and get some success in the air, it might be all the Bears need from their offense to hold on.

For those who are confused with everything I just said, Bruins Nation broke down Cal's running game pretty well, including a nice look at how we utilized the Wildcat last week.

Cal has shown a direct snap look as well as a Wildcat in their last game against USC (the two aren't the same). The direct snap plays they showed against Oregon and USC mainly involved snapping the ball to Jahvid Best and letting him run - nothing fancy. It worked once against the Ducks because someone missed a tackle. They also tried to get fancy and run a sort of counter-type play out of the direct snap, but they didn't get anywhere with it. The TV announcers were talking about this being their "Wildcat", but I don't agree - it's just a direct snap to your great athlete and letting him work.

As far as the "true" Wildcat, Cal's version isn't full-grown yet. Not sure if they just installed it for USC week, but they didn't really seem to be all that comfortable with it, and just used it on a few drives late in the game. For those of you who didn't get to see the original Wildcat as run by Darren McFadden and the Arkansas Razorbacks, the Wildcat is three main things:

Unbalanced line - providing a different look to align against, tilted towards the speed sweep side

Fly motion across the formation - immediate threat to the outside

An athlete to receive the snap - this is the most obvious trait and the one that gets pointed to first

Series-based football of plays that complement each other

It'd be fun to see the Wildcat this week, although I'd prefer we use it when we're ahead rather than behind, just to give the defense we're facing something to think of.

If Cal can put up 20+ points on the board, I'll be very pleased, since I'm not sure if the Bruins offense is capable of three touchdowns. If they can get to 30+, I'll be ecstatic--a performance like that will show us that the Bears offense is back on track

So I felt alright after reviewing both offense and defense. Looks like it'll be closely contested, but these are usually ones the better teams win, especially since our offense, despite its ineptitude, is better than UCLA's offense. Their defense might be better than ours, but someone's got to put the points up on the board, and it's likelier a better offense will ultimately prevail against a better defense.

Unfortunately, I neglected one little part of this game.

Cal Special Teams vs UCLA Special Teams

Percentage of field goals made? UCLA 9th, Cal 111th.
Punting? UCLA 6th, Cal 69th.
Punt returns? UCLA 44th, Cal 88th.
Kickoffs? UCLA 10th, Cal 99th.
Kick returns? UCLA 35th, Cal 44th.
Punt return coverage? UCLA 21st, Cal 110th.
Kick return coverage? Cal 32nd, UCLA 118th.

5 special teams advantages for the Bruins in what figures to be a low-scoring, defensive battle. Why shouldn't we be worried?

via brokentoys.org

Morning Quack Fix: defense, conference rankings and Jamil Wilson

ntrebon — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:01:56 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

Is Chip Kelly the early leader for conference coach of the year honors?

Browse more photos »

Oregon has made it to the halfway point of the season at 5-1 and sits alone atop the conference standings. Here's your bye week fix.

Nick Daschel thinks the Oregon defense is the biggest (pleasant) surprise of the season thusfar. Rounding out his top three are UW's turnaround and the league's non-conference performance.
Bob Clark has his conference rankings up, and wonders if Chip Kelly is the best bet for the Pac-10's coach of the year. At the midway point, I'd say Steve Sarkisian and the (early) turnaround at UW is probably his biggest challenger. Ted Miller also has his own conference rankings posted. The biggest difference between the two lists? Clark has Cal 3rd while Miller has them at 9th.
Jason Vondersmith has an article up about Nate Costa's performance this past weekend. Nate avoided any talk about a QB controversey -- which is a good thing because I don't think there is much of one if Jeremiah Masoli is healthy.
In basketball news, Bob Clark has a feature piece on freshman Jamil Wilson, who was the top recruit signed by Ernie Kent last year. And, it sounds like he was impressive in early workouts, with Ernie Kent calling him, "probably the best athlete we’ve had here since Fred Jones." Though, Kent appears to have learned from past mistakes and repeatedly tried to dampen unreal expectations by reminding us that he is only a freshman.
This was posted yesterday, but it in case you missed it, Kenjon Barner was named the Pac-10 special teams player of the week for his game-changing kickoff return to start the second half. As a side note, I keep reading about about how it's the second-longest in UO history because the NCAA no longer recognizes yards accrued in the endzone. I know it is probably not possible to update all the records this accounting change affected, but it seems silly to me to have a record that not only is impossible to break, but impossible to tie when, by many accounts, Barner should have at least tied the mark. I mean, in the current era of baseball, no one is going to break Cy Young's 511 wins, but it is not because MLB decided to stop counting victories after 400.
The Register-Guard has a story on the injury to South Eugene's Gabe King. Even if surgery is scheduled for this week, it sounds like they are optimistic that King could still play again this season.
Ted Miller claims this will be a weekend of desperation and separation in the Pac-10. I think Miller's classification is right on and I am definitely interested in how the Stanford-Arizona and UCLA-Cal games play out. I wish there was some sort of forum where we could all put our predictions on record...
In other conference news, Miller also posts a brief injury report for each team. Because of the bye week schedule with practices only on Wednesday and Friday, I assume we won't have any further updates on Jeremiah Masoli and T.J. Ward until then.

Go Ducks!

The Oregon Ducks Elevator - Nate Costa, Cliff Harris and ESPN Coverage

dvieira — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:00:22 -0000

We're 5-1 overall and sit atop the Pac-10 standings at the midpoint of the season. If you would have told me that we would only have one loss by this point given our schedule, I would have been very pleased. I had pretty much penciled in losses to either Boise State or Utah, plus Cal given our inexperience on the offensive and defensive lines. So far, I'm +1 on my predictions,with our only loss to Boise State in the perfect storm of a game. Let's check in on this bye week version of the elevator.

Nate Costa: Before the game started, I was a bit nervous about our chances against UCLA, mainly because of a new quarterback making his first ever start in Pasadena. As the game kicked off, I found myself at peace with the idea that here was a man that personified grit, determination and never giving up in the face of extreme adversity. No matter the outcome, I was proud to a witness to a guy who had conquered his demons and became the starter for the Oregon Ducks. No one could take that away, no matter of the outcome. Oregon could have lost the game by 50 and I would have still been proud. Here's to you Nate and your journey back. Elevator: Up 2 Floors

Chip Kelly: It's easy to move someone up or down in the elevator based on the outcome of the game but this isn't one of those times. You want to know how good a coach Chip is? Look at him talk to Nate Costa after his pick in the endzone. He was joking with him, getting him to relax, smiling, doing all the right things. Some coaches could yell at a guy, destroying his confidence before sending him back out there to finish the game with a monkey on his back. You already figure that Chip knows the personal side of the game with the LGB situation but this moment with Nate was just another indication of the human side of the coach. Elevator: Up 1 Floor

ESPN Coverage: Look, I understand you're trying to give Van Halen some pub but did we really need the music history lesson? This is coming from a guy that studied music history, has a degree, and loves talking about stuff like that. We didn't need to hear about it for 5 minutes DURING THE GAME. Call the game, that's what you get paid to do. Elevator: Down 1 Floor

Jerry Azzinaro: I admit, I didn't know what to make of you before the season started and I'm sorry. You took a group that had a lot of question marks coming into the season into a powerful force in a great defense. The goalline stand against UCLA? Priceless. Jerry has inspired confidence in a unit that has more than delivered, especially in the last 3 games. Elevator: Up 1 Floor

Kenny Rowe: You're a monster. I don't know what else to say. Ridiculous play big man, just flat out. You were all around the ball, sacks, fumble recoveries, huge stops. Elevator: Up 2 Floors

LaMichael James: If his game stats of 20 carries for 152 yards wasn't enough, his 49 yard run from his own goalline should do it for you. The speed by which he makes cuts and decisions is just unreal. He's been the offensive MVP of the season for Oregon this year. Who needs thunder and lightning when you got one big giant storm coming at you? Elevator: In the Penthouse

Cliff Harris: Cliff saw his first real action on Saturday, working against UCLA receivers. By all accounts, he did very well in his role. Anthony Gildon was supposed to get the start but have we seen the Harris-era begin? Elevator: Up 1 Floor

Morning Quack Fix: Getting ready for the bye week

jtlight — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:24:58 -0000

It's bye week. A great time for our 5-1 Ducks to rest up from the multiple bumps and bruises they've acquired. And a time for us fans to rest up for Hate Week. Here's your quack:

At the halfway point in the season, it's fun to look at the Ducks statistically. My go-to place for stats is cfbstats.com, which has added some awesome filters to all the data it has. For instance, in 3rd down situations of more than 7 yards, Oregon is holding opponents to a mere 7 conversions in 37 attempts. For all the grief that Aliotti has been given over the years, he has this defense playing well in what previously was one of its weakness areas. Also, Moseley rounds up where the Duck's stand statistically as we enter the bye week.
For more fun random facts, GoDucks.com's Andy McNamara has a UCLA roundup post, which includes and number of milestone's and tidbits on the Ducks. My favorite: Oregon has scored five non-offensive touchdowns in six games to date: 2 INT, 1 FR, 1 PR and 1 KR.
What should surprise no one, is that despite the 5 game winning streak, Chip Kelly isn't satisfied, and says there is still a lot of work left to do. What I really like about this team is that they never stop working, and have shown incredible focus. I think that the BSU disaster really instilled that into this team, and they have yet to overlook an opponent.
Steve Summers of eDuck lets us know what to expect during the bye week: weights and recruiting. Kelly states that the team will also spend some time honing fundamental skills such as blocking, which left something to be desired against UCLA.
Ken Woody has his take on the UCLA game up, and it contains a lot of praise for the defense.

That's all for now. As always, leave your links and comments below. After the jump, we have a number of videos, including post-UCLA interviews, and highlights from the UCLA game.

UCLA Highlights from OSN broadcast, including Mike Bellotti in the booth

Chip Kelly post-UCLA interview

Nate Costa post-UCLA interview

LaMichael James post-UCLA interview

Kenjon Barner post-UCLA interview

Inside the Pac-10, Week 6: Big Plays

Avinash — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:00:41 -0000

In my mind, the three marquee conference matchups came down to those cliched big plays. Small individual moments helped decisively swing each of them one way or the other.

So I didn't take much from the results of these ones about how everyone stacks up, other than, "These last seven games for Cal are going to be real tough."

Washington 36, Arizona 33

Mike Stoops bewilders me. Every now and then his Wildcats lose a game they shouldn't. This is one of them. Although I hardly blame him for the defeat, he did make some questionable decisions down the stretch.

1) Kicking a field goal up 9 (two score game) facing a 4th and 3 at the 7 with 4:45 left. Here's the issue. You kick the field goal, you're up 12 (still only two scores, albeit two touchdowns). If you go for it and make the first down, you have the opportunity to go for the touchdown to make it a two touchdown, two two-point-conversion game to tie (or if you make it and go for two, it's a three possession game).

Even if you don't make it, you leave Jake Locker and the Huskies offense to go 93 yards for a touchdown that would only cut the lead to two, and they'd almost certainly need an onside kick or might've burned a timeout here and there. As it is, the Wildcats curiously poor kickoff team let a return go back to the 45 yard line, and it takes Locker 80 seconds to put them in the end zone and make it a one score game.

2) Coming out and passing on 1st down with 2:50 left. Why. WHY? WHY??? Even if you run three freaking dive plays with Nwoko, you burn those two timeouts Washington have. Worst case scenario, you give the Huskies about two minutes to go, needing to drive a likely 60-70 yards with no timeouts. Even with Locker back there that's a tall order.

Yeah, that was a terribly fluky play, but Arizona shouldn't have been throwing in the first place. While I'm not saying Stoops was the reason they lost (he wasn't), he probably could've made the final decision easier for his Wildcats to escape undefeated in the Pac-10, and likely a ranked team

As for the game itself? Great one, all the way around. Between that fantastic rocking Husky crowd, and Locker and Nick Foles tearing the defenses apart, it was a sweet West Coast shootout. Interestingly, the quarterbacks are a stark contrast in style and method. Locker had about a dozen great long throws that have become his trademark. Although he still struggles with anything intermediate (52% completion rate won't get it done most days), his play-making ability is unparalleled in the Pac-10 (who else can scamper for a 56 yard TD rush?) and keeps his Huskies in ballgames they would probably lose otherwise.

Foles, by contrast, is Willie Tuitama, version 2.0. 39 of 53??? Through his two starts in conference he's now averaging a 72% rate. Although the Huskies defense couldn't stop paraplegics from throwing on them (they were giving up a 63% completion rate and 9 passing yards per attempt BEFORE this game), that's mighty impressive.

It's safe to say a lot of Pac-10 quarterbacks are passing Kevin Riley by these past few weeks. What will be his response in LA?

Despite the clutch QB play from both sides, these offenses have huge weaknesses, notably in the run game. Running backs from both sides were able to combine for barely 100 yards, which just isn't enough to beat stingier defenses. Foles was able to guide the Wildcats down the field several times but the red zone offense stalled from there, settling for four field goals on seven tries. The Huskies scored their touchdowns by evading the red zone entirely, relying on Locker's arm to get them there.

While the Huskies can get by with Locker doing some of the pounding on the ground, I'm not sure what the Wildcats can do. They probably need Keola Antolin back, because neither Nic Grigsby nor Greg Nwoko were able to penetrate a Husky defense giving up 178 rushing yards a game and 5.4 rushing yards per carry. Next week's game hosting the Furd will be critical, with the loser pretty much out of the Pac-10 race (neither of those teams is sweeping the Oregon-Cal-USC trifecta).

Reactions to Arizona-Washington

John Berkowitz, UW Dawg Pound: "The Wildcats dominated time of possesion 39:19 to only 20:15 for Washington. The Wildcats outgained the Huskies 461 to 256 yards! Jake Locker was only 12-23 with one interception for a total of 140 yards. He did run for a season high of 92 yards. Jake was responsible for over 90% of the Washington offense tonight. What was key for Jake and Washington was a 56 yard TD run in the first quarter plus three TD passes and the pass for that important two point conversion."

Scott Cushing, Seattle PI: "All night long, and I mean ALL NIGHT LONG, Arizona ran that wide-receiver screen play. First to one side, then the other. Play after play after play. And why not? It kept working. Desmond Trufant broke it up once, but it worked to perfection every other time. It's almost as if Seattle was Zaire for one night; UW as Ali Arizona as Foreman and that screen pass was the rope-a-dope. I don't know how else to explain it. It's as if Holt and the defense were baiting Foles into throwing that one errant pass at just the wrong (or right) time because they knew that that the ball would bounce off of Delashaun Dean's heel right into Mason Foster's waiting arms and he would sprint untouched into the endzone. How else do you explain it? They must have known it would happen.

I'm only half kidding, but it's amazing that they decided to, at that time, during that play, blow it up. They knew it was coming and smothered the play, confusing Foles, who had been nearly perfect all night, into making a terrible pass."

Bobby Stover, Arizona Daily Wildcat: "It was (the coaching staff’s) fault for leaving the option on," head coach Mike Stoops said. "Nick was doing what he was supposed to do and it just falls on us as coaches for make a tactical error late in the game...I’m disappointed we didn’t win but I’m not disappointed in the way our kids played tonight...We probably played good enough to win. It just came down to finishing and then that freak play. But that’s just part of college football and the swings of the game."

Oregon 24, UCLA 10

What the hell do I make of this game? Just like Oregon State-Washington, everything changed on one play.

The Bruins had a great chance to knock the Ducks off the pedestal and gagged it away. In terms of offense, it was Oregon 10, UCLA 3 (and even then, that Duck score came off a midfield fumble by Kevin Prince, so it's hard to say). Both sides had a mind-numbing pick-six, and Kevin Craft wasn't even involved.

The only bright spot on other side was the re-emergence of the Oregon run game. Redshirt freshmen LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner (who scored the kickoff return) could be supplanting Best and Vereen as the most potent Pac-10 running back duo. No offense to Blount, who is a physical horse, but he lacks the speed and agility of these two guys to make moves into the holes and cut in the spread offense. James continues to impress with the spinning and the juking, and Barner has pure velocity that can terrorize any defense he faces. Nate Costa wasn't really impressive, although he did make two nice throws on 3rd down on one second half drive, including the touchdown.

However, on defense? These guys are solid. Not sure what happened that morphed Nick Aliotti into Buddy Ryan, but his units are coming out firing. The pass rush schemes are sweet to watch--delayed blitzes with the linebacker looking like he's dropping into coverage, sending the corner from the side, sometimes pure manhandling one-on-one, etc. The UCLA offensive line was one step short, especially with Breahaut came in and Oregon sent pressure on every other play. And that goal-line stand in the first half changed the complexion of the game; Kevin Prince could never play loose enough with the Bruins either playing in a tight matchup or in comeback mode.

As for UCLA? They had a sixteen-play, eight minute drive that ended with Kai Forbath connecting on a 52 yard field goal. I'm guessing they'll be emphasizing ball control in beating Cal next week, since it doesn't seem the Bruins come by their points easily.

Kevin Prince started out the game okay and seemed to get in rhythm in the 2nd quarter against the zone defense, but had all sorts of trouble when his team fell behind, and Richard Brehaut didn't fare much better being thrown in there in the 4th quarter. The Bruins also could not run the ball, putting up around 70 yards on the ground, 22 of those by Prince. Norm Chow also had some quizzical playcalls--two successive QB sneaks at the 1 on 3rd and 4th and goal?

Logically, next week against Cal, they'll explode for 200 yards rushing, Prince will go out and complete 65 percent of his passes and he'll lead the Bruins to four scores. That's how the script goes with us this year, right?

Reactions to Oregon-UCLA

mdjohns4, Bruins Nation: "But it has become all too clear that Brehaut needs to play. If we have a quarterback making elementary mistakes (like Prince and Craft) why not have the highly recruited, Elite 11 camper that has been bred to be a quarterback learning from them when he makes them? The fact that our quarterbacks are relatively even in terms of effectiveness right now should show that the one with the potential to turn this offense into one that can make plays downfield needs to play. We don't need a "game manager." That is coach-speak for "he sucks too much to make plays himself". We've got a young team with raw talent and the potential to go to a bowl game this year, as well as prepare for the ensuing dynasty over the coming years. Coach, stick with Brehaut. Please?"

jtlight, Addicted to Quack: "I said earlier in the week that this game would tell us a lot about the Oregon defense. And, I think we saw exactly how good this defense can be. After letting the UCLA grind out a 9 first downs and 148 yards in the first half, the Oregon defense brought down the hammer in the second, scoring a touchdown, forcing 3 turnovers, and holding UCLA to 5 first downs and 73 on 2.35 yards per play. Besides one long drive in the first half, the Oregon defense did what it should have done: dominate the Bruins offense."

Chris Foster, LA Times: "[Norm Chow on the quarterbacks]: "I don't know, it's too early to call. I think Kevin Prince gives us the best chance to win. That's one man's opinion."...[Chow on the offensive struggles]: "We have a freshman at left tackle, three sophomores on the offensive line, a junior college transfer, a freshman at running back, a freshman at quarterback and two sophomores at wide receiver.""

John Hunt & Jeff Smith, the Oregonian: "Oregon's defense wasn't about to let this one get away. In these three conference games, the Ducks have yet to give up an honest touchdown. Now having outscored California, Washington State and UCLA by a combined 118-19 score, the two opponents' touchdowns have come on drives totaling one yard.

"I think people are starting to jump on the bandwagon," Oregon coach Chip Kelly said. "They're as good a defense as I've seen in a long time.""

Oregon State 38, Furd 28

via a.espncdn.com (Image from Don Ryan, AP)

In the other two marquee matchups, it was about unexpected plays changing the complexion. In this game, it was a surprise play not being converted that made the difference.

First play from scrimmage, Andrew Luck executes a perfect playfake that the Beavers bite on, then throws it perfectly in stride to Chris Owusu. Owusu snares it, looks like he's about to break for the score...then looks ahead a step too early before securing it. Dropped pass, opportunity lost.

If that play converts, the crowd's deflated, the Furd are up 7-0, they can establish Gerhart more thoroughly, etc. etc... Instead? We get a virtual carbon copy of Oregon-Cal (with the caveat that Oregon State isn't quite as potent, and the Furd performed much better in rallying). Jacquizz Rodgers took the role of Jeremiah Masoli, accumulated 134 yards and 3 TDs on the first three drives, putting the Beavers up by 21. Goodnight to the Furd.

On defense Oregon State bottled up Gerhart with seven or eight in the box (rarely nine, they respected Luck's ability to pass). The Beavers always looked a step ahead in the pass coverage, forcing Luck into completing 40% of his passes, including 0% in the first quarter. These are growing pains for the freshman quarterback, although it seemed like he made a valiant comeback effort late. His defense didn't do him any favor, giving up 359 yards of total offense to the Rodgers brothers, including a backbreaking 16 play, 7 minute second half drive where the duo picked up the last 56 of the 80 yards.

So Oregon State's now 2-1 in the Pac-10, 2-0 in October, rolling toward a showdown with USC at the Coliseum in two weeks. Can Mike Riley and Quizz do it again?

Reactions to Furd-Oregon State

Jake Bertalotto, Building the Dam: "Danny Langsdorf brought the Oregon State rendition of the trendy Wildcat formation out of the lab Saturday afterno on. On it's debut play, it produced sophomore tailback Jacquizz Rodgers' longest rush of his OSU career-- a 61-yard scamper that set the Beavers up for their second touchdown of the game. Jacquizz would score four touchdowns on the afternoon and account for 271 yards of total offense-- almost certainly his best game since the Beavers downed USC last season."

Elliott Almond, San Jose Mercury News: "But more than anything, Stanford just couldn't recover from a devastating 21-0 deficit by the second quarter. Jacquizz Rodgers, who had been held to fewer than 100 yards rushing in the three previous outings, slipped underneath defenders in the middle, or wiggled out of the grasp of tacklers in the open field. He looked capable of breaking a big gain almost every time he touched the ball. "We weren't making tackles," Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh said."

Arizona State 27, Washington State 14

via a.espncdn.com (Image from Dean Hare, AP)

The Sun Devils fumbled the ball six times. They turned it over six times in total. Their starting quarterback Danny Sullivan got rotated in and out of the game with Brock Osweiler (only for a series though). And they still had a 20 point lead going into the 4th quarter, with the Cougars needing a 99 yard TD pass to cut it to the respectable two touchdown margin.

Key stat #1: -54 yards rushing for Wazzu. Key stat #2: Their punter was the leading rusher (on a fake punt for 15 yards).

Sigh. Is this what the Tom Holmoe era was like at Cal?

Reactions to Arizona State-Washington State

Grady, Coug Center: "In the end, this game played out the way most of us expected. Two anemic offenses and one stellar defense giving us an ugly game, but also a closer game than we're used to seeing. As one would expect, the stellar defense won out. ASU was too much to handle, with Vontaze Burfict, Mike Nixon, and co. dominating this game from the opening snap. The Cougs faced one of the best rushing defenses in the country, and boy did it show - between numerous tackles for losses, broken plays and sacks, the Cougars ended up with negative 54 yards rushing. Negative 54."

Pitchfork Nation: "[Dennis Erickson] was nailed pretty good on the sideline by Gerell Robinson midway through the 3rd quarter. Originally, the ASU radio broadcast designated a WSU player had run into him. Tim Healey, Jeff Van Raaphorst and Doug Franz described the scene as Erickson laying on the sideline and then being directed to the bench by the team doctor. He got up and stood on the sideline for one play a few moments later, then retreated to the bench once again. However, in classic DE fashion, he basically told the doctors, in no better way, to screw off."

Only Cal fans care about these

Minnesota 35, Purdue 20

The Daily Gopher: "The Mulligan Offense still reared it's ugly head with some occasional plays called that made you scratch your head. But the offense committed just one penalty after the first quarter, the OL played their best game of the year and Adam Weber threw one pick but completed 4/6 with a touchdown run. He wasn't asked to do much (and he didnt') as the Gopher ground game really took over."

Wake Forest 42, Maryland 32

Testudo Times: "Outside of an 85-yard kickoff return from Torrey Smith and a minor emergence by Gary Douglas, there was basically nothing positive for Maryland. Sure, there was a slight comeback, but the game was well over at that point. Wake won 42-32, but the score isn't anywhere close to how one-sided this game was. Want to know how bad it was? Wake had 381 yards of offense...in the FIRST HALF. Maryland barely broke 100. They were on pace for 762 yards!"

Also a hilarious animated image of Debbie Yow (Maryland's AD) looking distressed on the sideline.