By Ken Woody
A standing room-only crowd of 38,419 mostly Beaver boosters, roared their approval as Oregon State tied the score at 7-7 at the beginning of the second quarter. Oregon fans, frustrated by their teams’ disorganized and sloppy play in winning their first two games, squirmed in their seats or where they stood. It looked like this was going to be a typical Civil War game: back and forth, the last team scoring would be the winner.
The Ducks proceeded to score five touchdowns and two field goals in their next seven drives not stopped by the end of the first half or game. Now, this was more like it: Oregon 49, Oregon State 14. An unbiased assessment of Oregon’s two wins over lesser teams from Idaho showed the Ducks undisciplined on both offense and defense: penalties, missed assignments, sacks and turnovers. After particularly unimpressive performances by the offensive line and even coaching, head coach Dan Lanning promised the team was going to work harder and the coaches were going to “coach hard” and get his over-ranked team back on the track preseason pundits had selected as number-three in the country.
The offensive line had been criticized heavily, and justifiably in their two wins, able only to rush the ball with obvious physical advantages, for only a little over 100 yards per game, giving up seven sacks and a slew of penalties. Saturday Coach Lanning put Iapani Laloulu at the starting center position and left him there, made some adjustments as to providing better pass protection and play selection and Voila’, the old times were back again.
The big boys upfront gave up no sacks, converted 4-of-6 third down conversions, were not forced to punt, and most importantly, rushed 32 times for 240 yards, an average of 7.5 per pop. There was little substitution and it paid off, the first unit played better and better as the game wore on and it was clear they really needed more playing time together as a unit. Lanning should be happy with the o-line’s improvement and his coaches’ efforts to bring that about.
Quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who went into the game with an 80-per cent completion rate, completed 85-per cent against the Beavers: 20-of-24 for 306 yards with two drops in the second half when the receivers seemed to let up a bit. Fox television commentator Brock Huard insightfully pointed out several instances of the improvement up front: from blockers staying square to the defenders on both run and pass plays, getting a better push off the line of scrimmage due to lower pad levels and providing Gabriel with the quality pass protection Lanning promised in recruiting the enigmatic quarterback to transfer from Oklahoma to the bountiful Northwest.
It’s weird to see this and try to explain why it happens, after-all, no coach ever teaches his players to have poor footwork or have high pad level trying to block a defender. It’s obvious everyone dug down deeper, including the coaches; working harder in practice with a different and better focus. Hopefully the team will be able to draw on this for further improvement in games ahead. They are a game behind on the improvement they did not make between the Idaho and Boise State wins, and it will depend on the bye week ahead and the next week before their first official Big 10 game with UCLA to catch up.
At one point, Huard counted out loud as Gabriel dropped back to pass: “one Mississippi, two Mississippi…” all the way up to “five Mississippi” before he threw the pass, which was complete. The Duck signal caller faced heavy pressure in his two previous games, was sacked seven times and took more than just a few heavy hits. Credit o-line coach A’lique Terry and play caller Will Stein with improving technique and assignments along with changes in formations and motions to improve the pass protection. It helped to have Dillon Gabriel throw from a variety of positions in different formations and run an option for a 54-yard touchdown. Defensive coordinators world-wide will tell you their greatest nightmare is to try and defend teams that can pass and run the option effectively. It only took one play for Gabriel to establish that fact.
The defense continues to mostly shine, although there were several missed tackles, caused more by not wrapping up the ball carrier after contact rather than loafing. By and large, the Ducks have been a good pursuing defense but they’ll need some work finishing the job after contact. The secondary continues to break up more passes than an average team: against the Beavers, seven, to go with their 12 last week against the Broncos. The past several years, the Ducks have rarely had more than four per game.
Oregon’s front four needs to force more sacks and tipped passes. In the first half the Ducks came hard on the rush, but because the rushers often ended up deeper than the OSU quarterback, Gavin McCoy, he was able to step up away from the over-committed d-linemen and gain positive yardage down field. In the second half, it seemed defensive line coach Tony Tuioti had his charges rush in a more thoughtful way, rarely continuing their out-of-control rush of the first half. As a result, the Ducks were able to get two sacks, tip at least two passes and hold Oregon State to only 15 yards rushing in the second half.
One of the most difficult things for a pass rusher is to rush hard, but smart, because you have to cut back your effort a bit and remember it doesn’t do any good to come like a wild bull (or, in this case, a wild beaver), and run past the quarterback, leaving the quarterback with room to run or find an open receiver. It’s also bad for the secondary who are mostly concerned with their coverage responsibilities. If the passer has broken past the front defenders, they may be forced with a difficult decision of leaving their receiver to come up and tackle the quarterback who is running free—that is, if they see him.
Lanning will note that his defense gave up several different plays that had one thing in common. They included quarterback scrambles, screen passes to both wide receivers and running backs, all plays that the Ducks had overrun. It’s great to have hustle on defense, but you have to see the big picture, not just the ball carrier, but also the blockers that may be giving you a clue where the play is headed.
Jordan James averaged 7.2 on 12 rushes for 86 yards and two scores. He ran with more abandon as he had more touches and Noah Whittington also had a 9.1 average on seven rushes and one touchdown. It may be difficult for the play caller, Will Stein to not want every opportunity to cash in on his wealth of receivers to go along with Gabriel, but there is still the necessity of feeding the offensive line early and often–it determines the mindset you need to beat good football teams.
This next week is the bye week, and it comes in handy for a team that is still not at its best. Although much improved, this team still has a lot of work to do and not having a game this weekend gives Lanning and his staff additional time to work on furthering the fundamental improvement they will need when playing for keeps in the Big Ten. Once players have a concrete understanding that hard work alone does not a successful player make, but that effort must come with additional skills in poise and concentration. Guess what? The offensive line did not have a holding or false start penalty in a loud, abusive environment. Before the game, Lanning said his coaches were going to coach “hard” and the performance of the offensive line and the entire team, is evidence of growth and success.
There’s an old saying in the world of coaching (parenting too): “You can EXPECT in games, what you ACCEPT on the practice field.” This was never more apparent than the results of the well-played Duck win over their Civil War rivals. Good luck to the Beavers and the Pac-12 Conference, until we meet again. Then, all bets are off.
Ken Woody coached college football for 18 years as an assistant at Oregon, Washington, Utah State and Washington State and as a head coach at Whitman College and Washington University-St. Louis. He conducts a coaching clinic, free to all, at the 6th Street Grill every Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. during the season. Plays from Oregon games are analyzed, there are scouting reports for opponents, and highlights from referees; all to learn and enjoy football and understand why the Ducks win or lose.
Questions and comments welcomed.Contact Ken at: woody8783@comcast.net
