Morning Quack Fix: 3.24.09
by ntrebon on Mar 24, 2009 6:07 AM PDT
in Morning Quack Fix
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PrintGood morning Duck fans. Here we are in Spring Break, and there is not a whole lot of news out there. Here's what I could find:
- First, I know Jared has posted this as a fanshot and comment, but I wanted to make sure everyone saw Miller's Q&A with Chip Kelly. Lots of good info in there, including answers on Blount's suspension, LaMichael James, and Nate Costa. Also, he mentions that Kelly expects to have a new assistant coach in place before spring practices start on March 30. And, speaking of the open coaching position, Moseley posts the job listing. Of note, calling plays is not explicitly listed as a responsibility. Moseley also writes in the comments that Masoli thinks Kelly will end up calling the plays from upstairs during games.
- With Kent and Kilkenny set to meet this week to discuss Kent's future, Bud Withers writes that Few has a better situation at Gonzaga. I think that's a valid argument, but I think he diminshes some of the potential advantages of Oregon and the fact that he may have done all he can at Gonzaga.
- Finally, Oregon opens up it's last non-conference baseball series today with Sacramento State. If Oregon can sweep the two games from Sac. State, they'll head into Pac-10 play with a .500 record. And, in case you've forgotten, the Ducks open up Pac-10 play on Friday at home against the Beavers.
As always, leave your comments and other links below.
Go Ducks!
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No, Quinn, you're not qualified.
One touchdown in a freshman game does not qualify you as Chip K’s next hot-shot assistant. I know you’re tempted. In this case, don’t just do it.
You cannot hide from our weapons of Masoli destruction.
Argh!
I even got that cherry-flavored resumé paper already.
Addicted To Quack [dot] com; Dear Joevan, Develop motor skills. Love, ATQ.
Your uncle say that to you much as a littlun?
Addicted To Quack [dot] com; Dear Joevan, Develop motor skills. Love, ATQ.
Anyone see Buster Sports RB rankings for next season?
Link here.
Somehow, Blount is 5th behind both Staffon Johnson and Nick Grigsby. Give me a break. I guess the suspension knocks him down a couple spots, but there are no indications that this will affect him in spring or fall.
Also, I don’t have a whole lot of reason to think this, but I think that Jacquizz Rodgers is headed for a regression. As the returning Pac-10 Offensive POY, he’ll have a target on his back. On top of that, I just don’t think he has the speed to take his game to the next level. I guess we’ll see, but if Riley makes him carry the load by himself again, I just don’t see his improving much.
--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog
The thing about Quizz is...
He’s powerful. He uses his power more than his speed. What makes it hard for me to see him regressing in this is that, with big bruiser power-backs, defenders just learn to get lower on them. Quizz lowering the shoulder is like one of those ground-level torpedoes.
See what you made me just do? Defending Quizz?
Addicted To Quack [dot] com; Dear Joevan, Develop motor skills. Love, ATQ.
Yeah, I can see that, but won’t defenses learn? They’ll have a year of game film to go over, and with the big time receivers graduating, Rodgers will be the #1 threat, and everyone will know it. They will practice all week to stop him, rather than multiple threats.
On top of that, if he carries the ball so much again, and in such a physical manner, he’s bound to get hurt.
--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog
But...
What do you coach towards? What do you tell your defenders? Get low? What do your 6’4" LBs do then, lie on the ground and put their hands in the air?
I guess you could tell them to just use blunt force and use their obvious strength to overpower him. I don’t really see coaches saying this to players though.
No less, you’re right. I’m surprised he made it 10 games. When you’re that small, in a contact sport, you better be samoan or elusive. Quizz is going to have problems I think, unless he learns how to juke, or practically live in the weight room.
Addicted To Quack [dot] com; Dear Joevan, Develop motor skills. Love, ATQ.
Riley’s a smart coach. He’s going to challenge his staff to find ways to protect Quizz against getting broken down by week 8. They’ll look for someone else to take a few carries here and there, distribute the ball to other offensive threats and continue coaching Quizz when to and when not to take defenders on head-first.
It’s safe to assume that the Beaver coaching staff recognizes where they are vulnerable and will make significant efforts to protect themselves from a repeat of last season. That is their job, after all, and they appear to be pretty good about it.
Damnit – now I’m propping the Beavs. This thread is going to the rodents.
You cannot hide from our weapons of Masoli destruction.
I'll wait and see for Riley...
He’s always been a one back type of coach. He could have gotten more carries to McCants or Francis or whoever, but didn’t. And Quizz broke down.
With how he’s handled running backs in the past, I don’t think it’s safe to assume anything.
--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog
Good point. If they make that mistake again with a guy Quizz’s size – and I’m not questioning his strength, desire or ability – I think you’d have to consider that epic poor coaching.
That said, Francis and McCants did combine for 120 carries last season, where J. Rogers had 259. Of course, that ratio is skewed by Rogers not playing in two games. As much as the Beavs may want Quizz to carry the ball 75% of the time, it may be that his body simply will not hold up against 25 carries a game.
You cannot hide from our weapons of Masoli destruction.
Like I said, I’ll wait and see. Riley has always been a great coach, this has just been one area where I’ve been like, wtf man, why not at least try two backs. We’ll see if he learns his lesson…I wouldn’t be surprised either way.
--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog
So, here's da Jared
And he’s all “wtf mate” to da Mike Riley. And Mike Riley’s all like “well duhh lulz.” and
Addicted To Quack [dot] com; Dear Joevan, Develop motor skills. Love, ATQ.
*and
then ATQ breaks off to form its own blog platform. And yeah I guess CGB can come too…
Addicted To Quack [dot] com; Dear Joevan, Develop motor skills. Love, ATQ.
The lack of a strong two-back rotation has always bugged me. In recent history we’ve done alright with our main-man feature backs (Bernard, Jackson, Quizz, Simonton) but I always wish we did more to spell these guys during games as well as have a contingency plan for if and when they are injured or ill.
Going with one back frustrates all Beaver fans, believe me.
Unfortunately McCants never showed he could be a consistent back. Sure, he looks like S. Jackson but he runs the ball like a power forward or center lumbering down the court, standing straight up and not showing a knack for lateral movement.
Francis had injury issues and then family problems that were a distraction for him. He’s a guy that (if he comes back next year—might take a year to care for his sick mother) I think all Beaver fans want to see get a better look. He’s a legitimate runner and receiver and that’s definitely a dimension we miss, post-Bernard.
Quizz breaking down and breaking a shoulder are two different things in my book. Not to go all Dixon-injury on you, but Riley didn’t rush him back at a time where it cost us big time to not have him. I think with a PAC 10 season under his belt he should show up in the spring in better physical shape, better prepared to take on the grind of an entire PAC 10 season. I can say after seeing him at two basketball games this year that the kid looks like a freaking ball of muscle, almost looking like he could be headed toward a Jones-Drew type build.
All that aside, I will agree that Riley needs to find a way to spread the ball around and not put it all on Quizz. He’s one of the best backs in the nation when healthy and will only stay healthy if defenses don’t just know that they can tee off on him all day because he’s our only guy. We have some good WRs coming up, so I feel good about next year’s offense…
I don’t have a whole lot of reason to think this, but I think that Jacquizz Rodgers is headed for a regression
Correct, there isn’t much of a reason to think that. The same could be said for Best or Blount, no?
Maybe regression isn’t quite the right word…but I just don’t see him improving on his performance last season. He is a freaking bull, I know and respect that. But at the same time, he’s got a bullseye now. There’s a very large psychological aspect to it. With opposing coaches gameplanning for Quizz, there will be more people to stop him, and more players wanting to knock the crap out of him. He thrives on his power, and I don’t think he has the speed to change his game.
And to be a great back, you have to have the ability to change your game just about every year. You have to be able to adjust, and I just don’t know that he has the physical talents to do that.
Now don’t get me wrong, he’ll still be very good, given that he stays healthy. And the more carries he has, the more shots he takes (which will likely increase next year), give a higher likelihood of any number of injuries.
But I don’t see how he significantly improves his carries, overall yardage or yards per carry in a significant way.
--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog
I won’t be crying in my beer if he repeats the same performance as last year but stays healthy and carries fewer times.
I think in his first year Riley learned that Quizz is special, is a strong runner and CANNOT be a literal every down, up the gut back. Few people can be. Even Jackson didn’t carry like he did last year and SJ was a freaking specimen.
That said, I still think that Quizz will make improvements to his physique, his flexibility and his speed. The kid was a true freshman and was a great bonus for OSU during a season that we thought McCants would finally step up and take the reigns of the running game. By all means he’s a capable athlete and I’m not promising or really even predicting anything other than that he will come back stronger and quicker and will perform. Increasing yardage totals? Probably not. YPC? I expect fewer carries and similar yardage so in this category, yes, I’d say there will be improvement here.
It’s as hard for me to say Quizz won’t be successful next year as it is for Duck fans to say that Kelly’s offense won’t be successful next year. Anyone can doubt Kelly or Quizz in their young careers but has either one (albeit in totally different roles on their teams) given anyone any clear reason to do so? Not that I can see.
And not to harp on that comparison too much, but you can attempt to prepare for anything in football, be it a spread option offense or undersized, up the gut freak running back. There’s no guarantee that you’re going to be able to stop that offense (trust me on that one… sigh) or that running back (ask every PAC 10 team to face Quizz… he got his yards and we got the win). Every year coaching staffs and teams show that preparation and game film aren’t everything.
Plus I’m hoping Riley and Co. come out with some new sets to use Quizz and our new speed at WR. We now have a straight up track team lining up at the receiving positions which is nuts—we’re used to not so fast and sure handed with one or two fast guys, now we’ve got burners everywhere. Warrick Dunn’s cousin Reggie, Canadian nat’l sprint champ Keynan Parker and Markus Wheaton are all supposed to be retarded fast, so I’m excited to see those new faces out there with James Rodgers.
How long until football again?
Doesn’t OSU use a type of 2 running back system given the flysweep? It seems that giving carries to a wideout running around the end seems like a good way to reduce the number of carries on Quizz and it was fairly effective, even if it wasn’t run as much last year.
Maybe it isn’t so much having 2 running backs share the load as it is having more of the entire Beaver offense sharing the load. When Quizz went down, things were ok…not great. With both Rogers brothers down, that was a HUGE chunk of offense to lose and no one could step up to account for it all.
--Dominic
Autzen Stadium is where great teams go to die." - J. Brady McCullough, The Michigan Daily.
OSU couldn’t be called a 2-back system simply based on the number of carries Quizz had. During his time as a starter while he played the whole game, he averaged 26.7 carries per game. He carried the ball, A LOT. Also, as much credit as the flysweep gets, James’ effectiveness was reduced from 2007, and wasn’t used as much, because they were giving the ball to Quizz instead.
So, it seems that James Rodgers numbers went down partially due to Quizz getting MORE carries.
Also, Quizz’s carries could have been due to no other decent running backs, but this has been something Riley has done for some time, so I’m not entirely buying it. While I think McCants wasn’t very good, he could have been developed much better into a solid #2, rather than only being used in mop-up and disaster situations.
--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog
Well…whatever you tell them, with the emphasis on Quizz, he’ll have more people around him, and more chances to get tackled. You gameplan to eliminate holes, etc. Tackling won’t be easy, but you can definitely get your players into better positions to make tackles.
And with people keying on him, does he have a good chance to improve? He’s gonna have more people trying to tackle him and gunning for him. You’re not gonna stop his strength-to-size combo, but you can certainly limit it.
--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog
game film
I feel like this is often overlooked. Teams can not only watch him run in every game last season, but most importantly, they can watch him run against themselves. Figure out how he beat them and adjust. The PAC-10 could be a beast next season. I dont see him getting any better.
Ducks Go!
Already miss you MB
by trumpetduck on Mar 24, 2009 10:44 AM PDT up reply actions
Also of note...
This fan will be at the game Friday. I hope to see some of you there (Dom, Jeremy?)
Addicted To Quack [dot] com; Dear Joevan, Develop motor skills. Love, ATQ.
On the Few - Kilkenny column...
This piece is nothing more than a Seattle columnist telling Husky fans what they want to hear. Which is too bad, because Withers is normally much, much more interesting and insightful.
From my 14 months recently living in Seattle… Husky fans think Kent is a joke. They compare him to UW coach Lorenzo Romar and ultimately come to the conclusion that Ernie doesn’t stack up. Their rationale – every so often Oregon’s talent is up and UW’s is young, so Ernie gets a win or two, but in general Romar will out-coach Kent every time.
I’m not arguing either way. They may be right.
Bud Wither’s most passionate followers don’t want to see Few go to Oregon. Few has a rich history of kicking UW’s ass. Gonzaga and UW played six times between 2001 and 2006, with the Zags winning all but one (Romar arrived after the ’02 season, and did get the one win over Few in 2005).
I’m still supporting Ernie until someone informs me he’s out. As for Few, if the job comes open, I think he takes it. He’s a top-shelf D-1 coach, and I’m not convinced that a guy like Few aspires to be the winningest coach in WCC history. At some point he’s going to want more.
You cannot hide from our weapons of Masoli destruction.
I agree with most of that — I did notice where the article was coming from, but I don’t think I have ever read anything by Withers before.
That said, I have to believe that Few could land a significantly better position than Oregon. That’s not to say that he would not agree to replace Ernie — just that he would really have to value coaching for his alma mater and being closer to his parents.
Arizona comes to mind. I believe Russ Pennell is still interim head coach, though he’s made a strong case for keeping the job in the past week.
You cannot hide from our weapons of Masoli destruction.
They have said it doesnt matter
This tourny fun can not help Pennell. I have also heard that he is basically co-coaching and the other guy, his name escapes me, is doing just as much if not more work. I dont think Pennell can win the job this weekend. I heard this on national sports radio from some cbs writer, so here is a grain of salt also.
Ducks Go!
Already miss you MB
by trumpetduck on Mar 24, 2009 10:48 AM PDT up reply actions
Dr. Saturday proves...
That Chip Kelly is pretty awesome.
--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog
Hahaha...
Look at the Ludwig era…
Addicted To Quack [dot] com; Dear Joevan, Develop motor skills. Love, ATQ.
One game of >35 points?
I was actually surprised at how decent our numbers were in ’06. I recall that year being a crapshoot, but it was apparently not all that bad by that statsheet there.
Addicted To Quack [dot] com; Dear Joevan, Develop motor skills. Love, ATQ.
That was just when Crowton went into overthink mode, and didn’t give the ball to our best players.
--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog
fun article, followed the link trail
Love this quote from CK about Bryce Brown and NFL readness
“I must not have done a good enough job educating him,” Kelly said, “on how productive our backs are. Our offense produced two thousand-yard rushers this year” — Jeremiah Johnson (1,201 yards) and LaGarrett Blount (1,002). “And I’m not exactly sure, but I think Jonathan Stewart was the 13th pick in the draft” after the ’07 season. “I guess we gotta get a kid in the top 10.”
He could post with comments like that, great stuff.
Ducks Go!
Already miss you MB
by trumpetduck on Mar 24, 2009 11:05 AM PDT up reply actions
Do you get the impression he maybe thought he had Brown in the bag?
You cannot hide from our weapons of Masoli destruction.
no i like the part about Jstew, he makes brown sound like a dumb guy who cant see that we are producing nfl rbs
Ducks Go!
Already miss you MB
The best part of Ted Miller's column
…has to be all the moronic comments made by non-Ducks and Ducks alike. Jesus.
I especially love the UW fan saying that no one cares about Oregon football. I feel for all those purple fans. Life just hasn’t been the same for them since Washington dropped varsity football in 2004.
You cannot hide from our weapons of Masoli destruction.
ESPN commenters are the one of the lowest forms of internet life. I love SBNation. :)
--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog
Deadspin commenters are pretty awesome too.
Addicted To Quack [dot] com; Dear Joevan, Develop motor skills. Love, ATQ.
But they are awesome on a totally different level, and most of them know they’re insane, unlike ESPN.
--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog
Speak of the Devil...
There’s been some talk about Will Tukuafu around here, and he checks in at No. 18 in the top 30 players in the Pac-10, according to Ted Miller. He’s also the first duck to be seen on the list.
--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog
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