Where I Come From: Expectations on the 2010 Oregon Ducks Football Season
by jtlight on Jul 12, 2010 11:00 AM PDT
in EA Sports NCAA FB 11
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PrintThis is the last of a week-long series of posts sponsored by EA Sports NCAA Football 2011
In our final installment of our sponsored series, we're gonna stop looking back, and take a look forward at the 2010 season. We'll take a look at both the offense and the defense. Make sure to leave your thoughts in the comments.
Offense (jtlight):
Oregon goes into the 2010 season in a bit of a strange position. Despite losing only 2 players off of the offensive two-deep, the offseason turmoil has caused many to question the effectiveness of the Oregon offense.
Unfortunately, those questions are incredibly legitimate. I honestly don't know what to expect from the Oregon offense. For most of the last 3 years, we have watched an offense that has had incredible success on the ground, led by Dennis Dixon and then Jeremiah Masoli, QBs that could make opposing offenses pay dearly for failing to respect their running ability.
Unfortunately, that time may be over. Whoever wins the QB position, Nate Costa or Darron Thomas, will not have the speed of these previous QBs, and will be much closer to Justin Roper than Dixon or Masoli. Yet, this isn't necessarily a bad thing.
With Jeremiah Masoli leading the Oregon offense, Oregon would not have won a national championship. On the offensive side of the ball, the Ducks were simply not consistent enough. When the Ducks were rolling, it was a thing to see, but how many times did the Oregon offense sputter to a halt? Oregon had poor offensive showings against Arizona and Oregon State for long stretches, couldn't do much against Ohio State, and you can even put a large portion of the blame of the Stanford loss on the offense, which couldn't get going early, and failed to convert late. An offense that is contending for a national title cannot go from putting 47 points on USC, and then at the end of the season put up 17 against Ohio State.
In 2010, Oregon will lose some level of its explosiveness. The last 4 years, Oregon has ranked in the top 5 nationally in PPP+ when running the ball (For those that don't follow advanced statistics, here is a good primer on the subject). This is a very good way of measuring the explosiveness of an offense. Under Dixon and then Masoli, this team could score just about any time it ran the ball. That will change. We will no longer have QBs that can take it to the house on every play.
But we will have QBs that can be successful running the ball. Over the past two years, Oregon ranked 14th in the nation in rushing success rate, while they were 2nd and 1st in 2006 and 2007. If the QBs can make the right choices, this will not drop. The QBs have the ability to make strong gains when taking the ball, but they may be 5-10 yards as opposed to 10-20 or more.
In the passing game, last season, Oregon did not even rank in the top 25 for passing success rate. Luckily, we have two possible QBs that will be passing game improvements over Masoli, who was simply too inconsistent, and good teams made that apparent. The passing game success rate will likely rise as Oregon receivers are more experienced and more accurate QBs are brought in.
Where I hope this puts the Duck offense this season is in a less explosive, more consistent place. Oregon has the talent and experience to be one of the top offenses in the country. The have speed all over the field, strength on the offensive line, and QBs that can (hopefully) distribute the ball effectively. We may not be seeing huge plays at every turn, but we will hopefully be seeing a lot fewer three and outs.
Defense (Matt Daddy)
With this being an EA NCAA 11 sponsored post, I’ll start off my expectations of the defense with this: I am so excited to play with Oregon on my PS3 and set the defense to base 3-4 and finally have the right personnel to play it with. If you think I’m that excited just think about how Aliotti must feel. This Oregon defense is LOADED!!! There is speed everywhere, and not just 1 deep, but at most positions 2 deep and some positions 7 deep.
Personnel:
The Ducks return 9 out of 11 starters from last season on defense. The defensive line is going to take the brunt of the reloading bringing in Terrell Turner and Zac Clark to support returning NT Brandon Bair. All three guys saw extensive playing time last season, and I expect that Azzinaro will have his guys ready. Plus, with the additions of Ricky Heimuli and the change of Dion Jordan to DE the D-line will have plenty of weapons to attack gaps and create holes for the most talented group on defense, the linebackers.
All 4 starting linebackers are returning and 3 of them are seniors (Pleasant will move to safety, but more on that later). Even with Kiko Alonso out for the season (first on suspension and later with injury) the linebackers still go seven deep (Rowe, Paysinger, Matthews, Kaddu, Clay, Lokombo, and Littlejohn). Also look for Anthony Anderson (RFr) to play a similar hybrid role like Rowe (plus, I expect Dion Jordan to be doing a lot of the same work by the end of the season).
If the linebackers are the most talented and experienced, the secondary is easily the deepest part of the defense. Harris, Mitchell, Mathis, TJ3, Gildon, Peppars, Patterson, Boyett, Lewis, Johnson, and now Pleasant. That’s 7 corners and 4 safeties to play 4 positions. While at first the move of Pleasant to safety seems odd considering how much depth Oregon already has in the secondary, as we look at expectations for the scheme, I think you’ll understand a little more clearly why the move was made.
Scheme:
I highly expect Aliotti to continue his progression of the 3-4 Hybrid defense we saw installed last year, but to an even greater degree. With so many guys returning that have experience (19 guys saw time on defense last year), it stands to reason that Aliotti will make a concerted effort to build on some of the fundamentals that we saw. Confusion, misdirection, angles, and blitzes will be a part of that.
One area specifically that I think we will see a lot more of is bringing confusion from the secondary. I think Pleasant was moved to safety to allow Oregon to bring more safety blitzes and let him truly roam the field. A lot of the blitzes we saw last year were from the linebacker positions and even when Ward returned he played around at the line of scrimmage for run support, but rarely to go after the QB. Pleasant has just as good if not better coverage ability than Ward, and he played all last year as a linebacker, is still one of the fastest guys on the team, and knows the blitz schemes and how to get after the QB. Plus, Lewis and Boyett have shown they are more than sufficient at covering the pass and supporting the corners. I expect to see Pleasant lined up on a slot receiver and then come on a blitz, or have Paysinger drop into zone deep coverage as Pleasant shoots up the middle after the QB. Just like moving Rowe into that hybrid DE/LB position allowed the defense to add another layer of confusion and attacks, so will the move of Pleasant to safety. You could see a time where there are 8 guys in the box on defense all moving before the snap as if they were going to blitz, and only 4 of them are actually coming and the offensive line has to be able to pick this up and protect the QB (just watch the Rose Bowl again, they did this a couple of times).
Predictions:
I think Oregon’s defense will be better than their #1 ranked defense in the Pac 10 last year. They have more experience, more depth, more speed, and guys who now have a full year plus under Aliotti’s new system. The one weakness for this defense is a power running game behind a huge offensive line, and Gehart is gone (thank god). The "Pro Style" systems are going to have a hard time picking up where the blitzes are coming from and getting to the edges against all the speed Oregon is going to have on the field. The 3 toughest QB’s in the Pac (Locker, Luck and Foles) all have to come into Autzen to play this year. You think reading the blitzes and this defense is tough? Try doing it when you can’t hear your QB. Good luck with that guys.
All in all, I expect great things from this defense this year. How about you? What are your expectations?
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Pac-10 champions
And if we get lucky, possibly a national title shot.
That’s what I expect from this team.
The only thing that gives me some pause is the tougher schedule with having to go to USC (even with their penalties they are still dangerous), Cal and OSU.
"Good evening Blazer fans, wherever you may be!"-Bill Schonely
I think the inexperience at QB is going to lose us a game on the road somewhere..
Which means we won’t contend for a National Title, but will definitely be in the hunt for a Pac-10 Title. I would consider this season a complete success if we can repeat as Champions and beat the Bavers again.
"KENNY WHEATON'S GONNA SCORE!! KENNY WHEATON!!--Jerry Allen, 1994"
Here's how I think our schedule goes, and we'll see how it looks in december.
Sat, Sep 04 New Mexico Eugene, Ore: W 45-17. I think both QBs will get a look in this game, although I feel Costa has the job in his hands at this point. Don’t discount Costa’s running ability, he’s deceptively fast and while less powerful, will not turn the ball over as much as Jmas.
Sat, Sep 11 Tennessee at Knoxville, Tenn: W 28-10. I think this game will be a little less of a challenge than people think. Sure we’re going to SEC land, and to one of the top home-field advantages in rocky top, but Tennessee has just been decimated by losses and personnel issues this offseason. they’re already down (as of Jan 1 projections) their starting QB and RB, 2 WR (possibly a 3rd), starting SS, and with probably 4 more charges coming in this bar thing, they could be down to 2 scholarship DTs. Plus their going with a completely new OL. Remember Boise? Yeah that should be the story @ Neyland.
Sat, Sep 18 Portland State Eugene, W 56-10. FU Central Michigan for making us have to play a throwaway game. That being said, this should be a great opportunity for Darron Thomas, Lache Seastrunk and other new-comers and key reserves to see extended time. That could prove vital later in the season should the injury bug strike. Spring game part II, but this one we can actually count.
Sat, Sep 25 Arizona State at Tempe, Ariz, W 31-14. (Insert starting QB here) will be facing a Pac-10 defense for either the second, or the first time, and surely for the first time with an open playbook. Dennis Erickson is fighting for his job, so I expect ASU to come roaring out of the tunnel, only to by stymied by Mr. Win the Day.
Sat, Oct 02 Stanford Eugene, Ore, W 33-24. This game scares the crap out of me. Andrew Luck will be the first competent QB we’ve faced all year, let alone a candidate for #1 overall pick in the NFL. The loss of Gearhart means that the Defense will have to defend the pass a ton, and I expect Stanford to be trying for an upset to spark a pac-10 run. that being said, if we rattle luck early, this could be much better, but it could also be much worse.
Sat, Oct 09 Washington State at Pullman, Wash, W 38-3. I think CK will be looking to rest guys in the 2nd half to jump-start what is a shortened bye week thanks to ESPN. The main goal here is to A) Not pull a swan dive and B) stay healthy. Easy win in the Pallouse.
Thu, Oct 21 UCLA Eugene, Ore. 6:00 PM, W 41-21. UCLA is still a year+ away in my opinion, although they have a lot of young pieces to build around. That being said, they’re still too raw of a team to make a big push against the Ducks, although this game could be tight going into the 4th quarter. Expect Alliotti to blitz the shit out of Kevin Prince to start the game.
Sat, Oct 30 USC at Los Angeles, Calif., L 49-45 3OT. I can’t figure this one out. It’s literally a coin-flip. We’ll be coming in off an elongated week thanks to the thursday game, but USC has a full week before us. We’ll have probably the smartest QB we’ve had going into LA since Joey, but USC still owns us @ their house. USC is getting rocked by scandal and could be a little sick of playing for nothing at this point, or they could view us as their bowl game. I dont know. I really dont. This comes down to 3 things in my opinion: Injuries, Punters and Poise. Really, I have no freaking idea how this one will go. could be 20 one way or 20 the other, but I think we lose it here in Arizona-like fashion.
Sat, Nov 06 Washington Eugene, Ore, W 51-19. Hello wrong-place-at-wrong-time, have you met the Fuskies? If we do lose in LA, we’ll be fired up to keep our Rose Bowl hopes front-and-center against the Huskies. If we pull of what I think will be an upset in LA, then we’ll be fighting for BCS positioning at this point, and looking to make a statement. Plus, I think we all want Licker to go 0-fer against the ducks. Have fun in the Papa Johns bowl kiddies!
Sat, Nov 13 California at Berkeley, Calif: W 31-30. Cal has stocked up on young talent for the future. Unfortunately, they can’t make them grow by 2 years in 4 months. So I think that they’ll be really tough, score a late TD to make it interesting, but not be able to finish the comeback. Unlike 2008 in the downpour, Costa should be able to manage the team well here if we get into trouble early. I would look for a heavy dosage of misdirection with multiple RBs here because Cal’s defense really isn’t that fast by pac-10 standards.
Fri, Nov 26 Arizona Eugene, Ore: W 38-28. This is a huge trap game in my opinion (and probably the majority as well), but I think that with all the huge seniors we have (costa, maehl, DJ, Thran, Holmes, Bair, etc) they’ll be wanting to make sure that they go out in the right fashion from the land of Autzen. The key to this game is to try and shut down ASU’s rushing attack. If Foles is forced to pass often, he’ll make mistakes. He’s only a sophomore. We could also look at a 2nd loss here quite easily, or a 3rd even if we’ve slipped up prior.
Sat, Dec 04 Oregon State at Corvallis, Ore: W 42-28. I think this is the year that Mike Riley figures out that he simply cannot keep up with Oregon’s offense when it’s running on all cylinders. The reason they were in the game all the way to the end last year was due to the mistakes and turnovers the offense committed. Also, putting someone else on James Rodgers would be a fine idea.
Final Prediction: Rose Bowl vs. Ohio State.
My god, they should take [The vuvuzelas] into the mountainous caves region of Pakistan and play them until Osama bin Laden comes running out, screaming, "OK, OK! I give!"
--Rick Reilly
Like this but could see dropping the CW as all bets are off in terms of season form. I think we still make the Rose, no Title, but this time we beat Penn State.
Hoover: They confiscated everything, even the stuff we didn't steal!
Penn State won't make Rose Bowl
Looking at the Big 10 this year, no wait Big 11, no wait they have 12 with Nebraska… ohhh I’m so confused!, I think Penn State will finish behind Ohio State, Wisconsin and Iowa. We will learn a lot about PSU when they visit Tuscaloosa the same night the Ducks are in SEC country too (actually 15min. they kickoff after we do on the ABC national game of the week). Penn State has to replace some key pieces, and how far can the feeble legendary Joe Paterno take them? I love the guy, but it’s time for him to hang it up.
Iowa and Wisconsin are a tad under the radar nationally, but look for one of them to challenge Ohio State for conference title. I just can’t pencil the Buckeyes in the national title…. Haven’t made my predictions yet but I believe the Big 10 could place two teams in the BCS. They make a real comeback. Iowa’s game in Tucson in September will show a lot about both programs in 2010.
Friends dont let friends go to Oregon State, hell, even root for them.
by WashingtonDCduck on Jul 12, 2010 2:57 PM PDT up reply actions
Kicking Game? And DB's need to creat turnovers in 2010.
Great post, excellent analysis. I agree that the offense will be less explosive but much more consistent, especially in stretching teams vertically. Ohio State had a script in how to beat Oregon, they watched the Boise State film over and over. When Masoli was throwing bricks to his receivers, the defense threw in both safties and stacked the box with 9 guys. Try running on that, and add to that Ohio State’s elite defensive front seven. Tough to grind out yards. Oregon has to, and I mean they must, throw the football 10-15+yds to be successful this year. They have to.
The defense may be the more entertaining unit this year. I mean, how often with Oregon’s explosive offenses of years past have we said "I’m more excited to watch our defense play than our offense"? Might be true this year. Oregon’s defensive gut is the key, will they be ripped apart at the belly like Stanford did last year (don’t say Ohio State please, that was a case of multiple arm tackles and exceptional QB play)? Key to defensive unit will be play and leadership of Paysinger and Matthews, also, this is huge: DB’s need to create turnovers. They need to be ballhawks and take advantadge of all the pressure the front 7 will create along with other corner, rover blitzes.
BUT…. What about special teams??? I’m very concerned about KICKING GAME. True freshman coming in to take the job? This guy was just renting his tux for prom, and in 6 months after that he could be kicking game winning field goal in front of 100,000+ fans in hostile Knoxville. Uh-oh. Circle that position as top 3 most critical to keep an eye on in early part of the year. Rob Bear is not the answer.
All in all, 2010 should be a great year. I’m not overly concerned, Chip has proved with his staff they can truly game plan with the best of them and deliver. I’m very thankful for the whole coaching staff and what they represent.
Friends dont let friends go to Oregon State, hell, even root for them.
by WashingtonDCduck on Jul 12, 2010 12:23 PM PDT reply actions
Oregon has to, and I mean they must, throw the football 10-15+yds to be successful this year. They have to.
This is exactly why I am not that upset about losing Masoli. I honestly think that if he was our starting QB, and he didn’t learn to be an accurate and consistent passer, we probably would have lost at least 4 games.
I don’t make predictions.
Don't look those hoodie-clad Huskies in the eyes. They'll give you lupus.
by TennesseeQuackAttack8 on Jul 12, 2010 2:54 PM PDT reply actions
my predictions
With all the new bodies on D line, including Hemuli, the D line and all the D will be fine.
D. Thomas running the ball (and Hawkins?) will be fine for the zone read. Costa is too slow and he will be pulled because of that if he starts the season.
I am concerned about the receivers ability to break free of coverage. With Gaines and Jackson out, we have no one who can get open.
So I say, look for Hawking to move to receiver and look for the incoming freshman class to catch a LOT of balls.
Costa is more mobile than Thomas.
Don't look those hoodie-clad Huskies in the eyes. They'll give you lupus.
by TennesseeQuackAttack8 on Jul 12, 2010 3:27 PM PDT up reply actions
With Gaines and Jackson out, we have no one who can get open.
It wasn’t guaranteed that they would have done any better. I’m more than a little tired of people acting like either of those 2 had ever done anything other than be hyped up.
Yeah, uh, Jeff Maehl and DJ Davis much?
Don't look those hoodie-clad Huskies in the eyes. They'll give you lupus.
by TennesseeQuackAttack8 on Jul 12, 2010 3:29 PM PDT up reply actions
It’s not even that, it’s this idea that guys have accomplished anything before ever even starting or playing in a single game. Gaines and Jackson could have turned out to be flops … Darron Thomas could in fact turn out to NOT be the next Dennis Dixon. SHOCKING!!!!
Supposedly Jaison Williams almost never dropped a pass in practice, and Jamere Holland and Derrick Jones also were sure-handed superstars inside the Mo. It’s what happens on the Autzen turf that matters.
Wasn’t Jamere Holland one of the stars of last spring? It seemed like every Moseley update raved about the Masoli to Holland connection, and it sounded like he was about to explode. I think Ted Miller even listed him as our preseason “star ready to break out” or something like that based on all the hype and supposedly good practices.
So yeah.
LT? Every time they needed a first down and threw it to him, it seemed like he caught it and stepped over and around guys until he moved the chains.
"If you can't copy 'em, don't imitate ''em."
YOGI BERRA
Tuinei is awesome. I was pleasantly surprised with how much he contributed this past year.
The downfield blocking was incredibly useful too.
Chip Kelly is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.
even though jason williams had hands like stone
he could light people up blocking downfield. if you watch the long run by JJ for the first touchdown against ok st in the holiday bowl, jason williams blew 2/3 people up
Watch Ed Dickson’s TD in the 65-38 game. J-Will knocks down two guys at once with a block.
They call him Rags. Where he goes, no-hitters follow.
Addicted to Quack, the home of Tako Tuesdays
I want Canzano to stand there in that [expletive] white uniform, and with his Harvard mouth, extend Chip some [expletive] courtesy! Addicted to Quack
Man, that game was fun. I was there, I talk about it all the time, but I still get butterflies in my stomach when I watch clips. Man, that game was FUN!
They call him Rags. Where he goes, no-hitters follow.
Addicted to Quack, the home of Tako Tuesdays
It’s watching plays like that which make me miss Masoli. I don’t think I’ll ever get over what a rih-tard he was for throwing away what could have been a memorable career and a legend at UO. Now, he’s just a tragic story.
From famous to infamous.
I want Canzano to stand there in that [expletive] white uniform, and with his Harvard mouth, extend Chip some [expletive] courtesy! Addicted to Quack
ugh...again with people overrating J-Will's blocking abilities
again with J-Will’s blocking. It’s rose colored glasses, one or two memorable plays makes everyone forget a subpar career.
J-Will finally learned how to block his senior year.
Prior to that he was subpar at best, in fact his big motivation to get off his ass and actually learn how to block downfield was because Jeremiah Johnson’s torn ACL can be directly attributed to J-Will’s inability to block well. People look at the final results when he became good at it, which oddly correlated with his regression in ability to catch a pass.
J-Will went from a physical freak of a downfield threat who could catch and score but not block, to a big guy who could block but couldn’t catch a cold.
You want to see a guy who was a ferocious blocker and maintained them downfield, look no further than Jason Willis. Jason would just destroy corners and safeties, or light up a blitzing LB trying to come around the edge if he was going in motion. The real J-Will that all of you should be talking about when it comes to blocking ability was Willis, not Williams.
I may be mistaken but I always thought Williams went from physical freak of a downfield threat who couldn’t catch and not block, to a physical freak of a downfield threat who couldn’t catch but could block
I want Canzano to stand there in that [expletive] white uniform, and with his Harvard mouth, extend Chip some [expletive] courtesy! Addicted to Quack
I'm with you.
Duck fans have pretty close to no reason to give J-Will the benefit of the doubt on his ability to do anything, but I was very impressed with his blocking ability his senior year. That was a huge boon to our highlight reel backfield’s running stats.
Chip Kelly is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.
Hate to bring this up, but wasn’t it a missed Williams block that led to the tackle against ASU that blew up Dixon’s knee? Wasn’t JW standing there with his arms up as if to say “Gee, Dennis, hope that didn’t hurt too bad!”? Did I hallucinate that?
[em] this sig for rent [/em]
3 injuries
were the result of J-Will’s assignment getting release from his block in 2007: JJ, Colvin, Dixon.
The most obvious one was JJ’s, Dixon and Colvin tough to gauge if it’s directly J-Will’s fault, those were just more so bad luck of a bad twist, but with a defender right there that was supposed to be blocked by Williams.
by keeerrrttt1 on Jul 12, 2010 11:19 PM PDT up reply actions
Let's not play this game.
J-Will was a good blocker, especially his senior year. Let’s not blame J-Will for the entire slough of 2007 injuries.
Chip Kelly is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.
My collar bone is finally healing, you can relax now.
Thank you track, baseball, softball, and golf for ending my summer hibernation.
by Bill Musgrave on Jul 15, 2010 7:46 AM PDT up reply actions
I expect a deep playoff run this year. Anything less would be failure.
I think a lot of people think the spread system is all about a blazing fast QB running 25 yards off the zone read and miss the big picture. We were lucky to have a couple guys who could run really fast, but the system does not pass or fail based on long QB runs. Dixon wasn’t effective because he could beat the secondary deep when he scrambled, he was effective because he could get to the first down marker and get out of bounds. I remember him doing that far more than 80-yard TD runs.
If Costa or Thomas can make the smart play and move the chains we’ll be fine, and we might have less heart attacks if those guys are smart enough to get down instead of trying to truck somebody out of their cleats. Dixon also gave us a deep passing game that mostly vanished with Masoli, if we can bring that back it will more than make up for the lack of long QB runs.
If our QB (probably Costa) has an accurate arm on medium throws and can bomb it deep every now and then, he doesn’t need to be a track star. Keep them honest, run for a first down when it’s there, and spread the field in all directions so our fastest players have the most room to work.
by JonathanPDX on Jul 12, 2010 3:47 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
I really hope that the first couple of games people load up on our RB and force Costa/Thomas to beat them getting 11 yards and running out of bounds. The 2 headed monster Barner-James will demand that an extra set of eyes be watching them and that is going to leave plenty of room for Costa/Thomas to find space for throws or yards with their legs. Having that 2 headed monster in the backfield makes life a hell of a lot easier for the QB.
I want Canzano to stand there in that [expletive] white uniform, and with his Harvard mouth, extend Chip some [expletive] courtesy! Addicted to Quack
If Seastrunk learns the playbook fast enough to contribute as a freshman does that make it a 3-headed monster? Or do we just call it a Hydra?
by JonathanPDX on Jul 12, 2010 4:48 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Are you guys talking about playoffs?
They call him Rags. Where he goes, no-hitters follow.
Addicted to Quack, the home of Tako Tuesdays
Pac 10 champs
After Dennis Dixon, it was really hard for me to imagine us being successful with a different style quarterback. Shame on me – didn’t I learn my lesson that year after the Sun Bowl win? So, I actually feel better this year when quarterback is our big question position. I’d feel less optimistic if the question was about the offensive or defensive line, or our secondary. We might have a wobbly game or two at the beginning of the season, but I am fully a Disciple of Chip and I’m glad that the position in question is quarterback because by God, he’s going to turn Costa or Thomas into the Next Big Thing. And we’re going to win the Pac10 as a result.
My boy Darron Thomas is gonna show all the doubters up. He is frickin’ fast.
<img src=“http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/wNK1632wkxM/Utah+v+Oregon/8ZzBR2V9d6h/Jeremiah+Masoli”/
IN FRONT OF JEREMIAH.
Duck season tickets for Christmas = Best Christmas EVER.
Huh?
Dennis Dixon was a very average quarterback until Chip Kelly came along and turned him into a Heisman candidate.
Masoli was a “1 Star,” fifth string recruit that no one expected anything from…Then Chip Kelly started working with him, and turned him into a Heisman candidate.
Thomas has all of the raw talent that you could want from a quarterback, and more importantly- HE HAS CHIP KELLY.
While I agree with you about Chip Kelly's importance in both of their developments...
Dennis Dixon had all the physical tools in the world as a passer and was a 4-star recruit.
Jeremiah Masoli was also a consensus 3-star recruit. It makes for a fun story to say he came out of bumfuck nowhere, but he was quite the prize recruit in the summer of 2008.
Chip Kelly is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.
I wouldn't call the City College of San Fransisco exactly "Bumfuck Nowhere"
OJ Simpson came from there too.
Official officer of the office of official blasphemy. Where what you say works 60% of the time, every time.
He was also a prize recruit because he led his team to the JC National Championship Win.
I don’t care if it is only JC… that’s still an impressive feat.
it’s spelled "S-H-U-F-E-L-T-A-L-I-T-T-L-E-H-O-S-T-I-L-E"
Masoli was unrated. Not that ratings mean all that much...But he was unrated.
I think that people are confusing the fan rating with Rivals.com’s rating.
by PresidentGSP on Jul 13, 2010 10:20 PM PDT up reply actions
They changed it about a year after he signed. No idea why. And no, I don’t have a screen shot.
[em] this sig for rent [/em]
by benzduck on Jul 13, 2010 8:36 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
I never saw 5-stars on him, but maybe you looked closer than I did.
Chip Kelly is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.
1 Star is hardly an indication of talent. With 1 star, it usually is telling that the scouting service doesn’t know anything about the player outside of his name and where he plays (and maybe his position). Now, this is probably because the player hasn’t done anything noteworthy or been recruited by big schools. But I don’t take 1 Star rankings as serious as 2 star or 3 star (because that’s probably where the player’s talent really is).
And, coming out of JC, Masoli was a 3 star recruit from Scout.
it’s spelled "S-H-U-F-E-L-T-A-L-I-T-T-L-E-H-O-S-T-I-L-E"
Masoli came in as a 3-star guy who had done some good things at a JC but wasn’t a prize catch. I remember he looked like an afterthought in that class, and with 4 QB’s ahead of him it didn’t look very likely that he would be anything but a bench guy. If we didn’t have the string of injuries that year who knows how he would have developed or if he would have ever been our starting QB.
I just wonder how much of Masoli’s success came because he came to Oregon as a really great QB, and how much of it comes from Chip Kelly knowing how to make a QB thrive in his system.
Masoli came in looking to compete for the starting job, and he never thought he was going to just be a bench warmer.
When Harper couldn’t throw, they wanted to redshirt DT, and Roper was just the more Oregon experienced QB.
I still think Masoli was a better passer than Roper was. His skills and athleticism were superior to Roper. It was just a matter of time and the fact that Masoli gave us our best chance to win football games. He was 5th string because he was only a few weeks in the system. Roper had over a year, and DT and Harper had months.
it’s spelled "S-H-U-F-E-L-T-A-L-I-T-T-L-E-H-O-S-T-I-L-E"
I legitimately do not see us dropping a game this year. Yeah that may be overly optimistic and/or a homer-ish prediction, but I don’t think anyone can say it’s out of the realm of fair-to-good possibility, at the very least.
The O is the new U
its not out of the realm of possibility sure
I do think we’ll only be underdogs @ USC and maybe OSU
Official officer of the office of official blasphemy. Where what you say works 60% of the time, every time.
See, that’s where I get confused. Other than the D-line, in what aspect does USC outshine us? I’ll take the superior secondary, offense (our superior rushing and o-line more than make up for them having better receivers), and special teams over only having the d-line advantage any day. I think our d-backs neutralize, or at least temper, USC’s advantage in the passing game (assuming Barkley doesn’t throw another 14 INT this year—why isn’t Mustain playing again?…), which takes away their offensive strength. Yeah they have decent RBs and our d-line is a tad weak, but our 3-4 scheme is a perfect matchup. Sure they’ll get some big receptions, and have some runs for 5-8 yards, but it’s not enough for them to win I think.
And OSU we’re quite obviously the better team, on paper. But in rivalry games the paper can be thrown out—that’s the only game I’m even a little nervous for.
The O is the new U
you're discounting their home dominance over us
Official officer of the office of official blasphemy. Where what you say works 60% of the time, every time.
Home dominance? There’s simply not enough visits to the Coliseum to make that statement. Oregon has played in the Colesium a mere 6 times in the last 20 seasons. Oregon has won two of those (94 and 2000).
Granted, the last two visits were spectacular defeats. But that was not because of home field. It was because those USC teams were far superior to the Oregon teams at that time.
--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog
While I agree in that it wasn't really about advantage for USC in those games...
I would agree with axemen in that not being at Autzen for those games was a disadvantage for us.
Also, he did actually say “home dominance”, as opposed to home field advantage. And he’s right. The last two times we’ve gone down there with an inferior team to them, we’ve been dominated in USC’s home. So, he’s partially right.
Chip Kelly is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.
His implication is that USC dominates us at the Colesium, regardless of the teams on the field, which I disagree with, because those past events have pretty much nothing to do with our current team.
I agree on playing away from Autzen, Oregon was significantly worse on the road last season than at home. However, I could see it being the opposite case at USC. Strong mental teams play the same on the road and at home. Oregon was still very young last season, and I hope that this season they can correct that. If they are focused for the game (and I see no reason they shouldn’t be), I don’t see home field being a significant factor.
--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog
I'm pretty sure you're wrong here, and Quinns right
His implication is that USC dominates us at the Colesium, regardless of the teams on the field
Don’t put words in my mouth Jared. I make enough mistakes without your help.
Official officer of the office of official blasphemy. Where what you say works 60% of the time, every time.
Wrong about what? I agree generally with what Quinn said. But you said the following:
you’re discounting their home dominance over us
Past performance of USC and Oregon teams will have absolutely no bearing on the outcome of this years games. Your comment implies that there is this dominance that will happen playing at USC, above and beyond the typical home field advantage to a significant degree. This is simply not the case. Is this what you believe? Hell if I know, but that’s how you wrote it.
So once again, we have a situation where you say something without actually thinking it through, and without explaining what the hell you’re talking about.
--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog
dude are you just out to get me
They’ve recently kicked our butts in LA. If i’m a kid on that team who was at both games, its in the back of my head. please stop trying to make it seem like every thing i say that you have a problem with is some retarted piece of shit. It isn’t all the time. Im getting sick of it.
Official officer of the office of official blasphemy. Where what you say works 60% of the time, every time.
to clarify
you dont usually respond to my comments. you only seem to when you want to call me out on something.
Official officer of the office of official blasphemy. Where what you say works 60% of the time, every time.
It’s hardly just you. Jared never resists going after anyone he thinks has a bad argument. Gorby and Dominic could probably back me up on that. (Those two just are the other examples I can think of off the top of my head that have had their horns lock multiple times)
It’s not you, exactly, but your arguments/opinions.
it’s spelled "S-H-U-F-E-L-T-A-L-I-T-T-L-E-H-O-S-T-I-L-E"
Now back the original issue, I disagree that the players will be dwelling on the previous USC game. First, the roster has undergone significant turnover and growth. Only 3 starters are still on the team, and it was one of their first starts. USC has undergone similar changes. Those games will just not have an impact on those teams, in either way. In fact, due to last years victory, that could add extra motivation and focus for payback from the 2008 loss, for those players that still remember that defeat. This isn’t a situation where the players will go in thinking they don’t have a shot. They’ll know they have a shot, and a very good one, and should practice and play accordingly.
There are definitely times in sports where poor expectations can adversely affect how a team performs. This is a case where that will not have an impact.
Now, there are countless things that affect home-field performance, but what you described should not affect on-field performance. USC will obviously have home-field advantage. I just think it will be the normal type. It will not be anything different or out of the norm of playing on the road.
--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog
what you said above is just fine
theres just no need for any form of a personal shot if you’ve got a different opinion.
now anyway, I just think that with USC out of any bowl picture, they’ll be looking at us as their “national championship game” if we go in there as the team to beat in the pac-10. Furthermore, I don’t think they’ll like the memory of 47-20.
Official officer of the office of official blasphemy. Where what you say works 60% of the time, every time.
While the whole thing should probably be shoved aside…
Where did he form a personal shot at you? You just got tired of him disagreeing with you, or calling you out on weak/unclear opinions. Then after that you’re the one that fired the ad hominem personal attack.
it’s spelled "S-H-U-F-E-L-T-A-L-I-T-T-L-E-H-O-S-T-I-L-E"
The closest I made to a personal shot was this...
So once again, we have a situation where you say something without actually thinking it through, and without explaining what the hell you’re talking about.
This isn’t a personal attack. You made statements that were not explained, and left me confused as to what you were talking about. I could have been a bit nicer regarding your arguments, but I was irritated at your making bold statements about be being wrong about something without an even cursory explanation as to why.
As for your other reasons that USC may win, those are all very true. There are a whole lot of intangibles to playing USC this year. But none of those reasons you listed have anything to do with the game being played at home or on the road.
--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog
Maybe, but let’s get back to the original statement.
you’re discounting their home dominance over us
This does imply something about us playing them at the coliseum being a factor, when the teams we fielded were significantly worse than the ones USC fielded. Those years, it wouldn’t have mattered if it was at Autzen, the Coliseum, or a neutral site. Oregon loses to USC in ‘06 and ’08 and tt’s because of the discrepancy of talent between the teams.
it’s spelled "S-H-U-F-E-L-T-A-L-I-T-T-L-E-H-O-S-T-I-L-E"
its the fact that USC has whipped us the past couple times down there
And i’m sure that its in the back of the minds of some kids.
Official officer of the office of official blasphemy. Where what you say works 60% of the time, every time.
Except we kicked their asses handily last time. The mental prowess of beating their actual players is way more of an impact than remembering you lost somewhere before.
There’s nothing magical about the Coliseum that makes Oregon play poorly, or USC play better against Oregon. The only impact is field familiarity (A very MINOR factor), and crowd noise (Which has zero influence with blowouts).
The back of the mind argument is pretty weak, I think. Not being at Autzen is a disadvantage for us – but it is hardly one that would be a prevalent reason blocking us from actually winning.
it’s spelled "S-H-U-F-E-L-T-A-L-I-T-T-L-E-H-O-S-T-I-L-E"
thank you for at least not assuming the worst
i should have included the word “recent”
Official officer of the office of official blasphemy. Where what you say works 60% of the time, every time.
I think we’ll be a competitor in every game, but we could drop a couple. We could have a Boise State melt down any time in the season and lose to who the eff knows. (Not New Mexico, Portland State or WSU)
it’s spelled "S-H-U-F-E-L-T-A-L-I-T-T-L-E-H-O-S-T-I-L-E"
I think we’ll be a competitor in every game
My inner grammar Nazi would like to thank you for this opportunity to make fun of you, Captain Obvious.
OK, I knew what you meant. I’m just on an undercaffeinated mean streak this morning.
Matt Daddy is ATQ’s #1 WNBA Fan.
Grammar Nazis always reply fail.
It’s a rule of the internet.
Matt Daddy is ATQ’s #1 WNBA Fan.
by HoodRiverDuck on Jul 13, 2010 9:50 AM PDT up reply actions
Yuh Vowel Mine Furruah!
Get Yuh Vol..Yuh Vowel.
nevermind.
Hoover: They confiscated everything, even the stuff we didn't steal!
you’re on an under-caffeinated reply fail grammar nazi a-hole with a terrible sig streak this morning
I want Canzano to stand there in that [expletive] white uniform, and with his Harvard mouth, extend Chip some [expletive] courtesy! Addicted to Quack
I fixed one of those qualities.
Matt Daddy is ATQ’s #1 HRD Fan.
by HoodRiverDuck on Jul 13, 2010 4:06 PM PDT up reply actions
Eh. Your right. But guess how much I really care about being grammatically correct and to actually clearly define what I meant?
I believe that I do a reasonable job communicating most of my thoughts, that when I do get “grammar nazi’d”, I’ll still be happy to know that I can worry about more important things like “What type of beer will I drink tonight?”
it’s spelled "S-H-U-F-E-L-T-A-L-I-T-T-L-E-H-O-S-T-I-L-E"
Your priorities are in order, mein guter Mann
And so may your beer choice be!
Matt Daddy is ATQ’s #1 WNBA Fan.
by HoodRiverDuck on Jul 13, 2010 4:04 PM PDT up reply actions
Your priorities are in order, mein guter Mann
And so may your beer choice be!
Matt Daddy is ATQ’s #1 HRD Fan.
This reply fail made me laugh more than most because it came AFTER a reply win. You just couldn’t help yourself could you?
I want Canzano to stand there in that [expletive] white uniform, and with his Harvard mouth, extend Chip some [expletive] courtesy! Addicted to Quack
I took a nap after that one
and I feel no smarter having done so.
Matt Daddy is ATQ’s #1 HRD Fan.
by HoodRiverDuck on Jul 13, 2010 8:02 PM PDT up reply actions
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![My apologies for spamming the ATQ with comments where I included this link. Here it is, in the proper location on the blog, the 2010 Oregon Ducks Football Year In Review Highlights with soundtrack. Highlights from throughout the year, some telling stats in the credits. Getting good feedback on YouTube. Cheers.
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