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Really Interesting Analysis of Oregon Defense over at eQuook
AZDuck
Member Posts: 15,381
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=128&f=1423&t=13365831
Basically, this guy looks at defense through the lens of the offense - maximizing offensive possessions. I'm not sure I buy the whole thing, but I will say that it is interesting and is worth re-reading and thinking about. That link is as much for me as any of you fucktards.
Something I have noticed is that having watched so much Oregon football over the last 20 or so years, I've kinda cracked the code. For Oregon, everything is predicated on getting two scores up on the opponent, preferably two touchdowns. Our defense does not back the other team into the end zone, but does sell out the pass to stuff otherwise productive running games, and is often more vulnerable to the sidelines than over the middle of the field. This is consistent with "Anatidae in Paradise's" link above.
It's maddening for me because I played defense, and I want to crush the other team into submission, Alabama-style. But that just isn't how Oregon plays. We want to get into a shooting match with the other team, and our defenders are also coached to go for turnovers and forced fumbles. It is not a fluke that Oregon is regularly at the top of the NCAA charts for turnovers (on the plus side). One or two years is an anomaly, but Oregon has been at the top for like 8 years running. That also frustrates me when I see guys trying to put their hat on the football or force fumbles rather than wrapping up and tackling. We give up a shit-ton of yards.
But the fact is, when Oregon goes up two scores, it puts pressure on the other team to make a big play, and as often as not, those big plays turn out to be big plays for the Oregon defense. That's when we ladle three quick TDs on the opposition and just make them look silly.
The way to beat Oregon is to drag out possessions and end each possession with a TD. Keep the game within one score. Utah was executing this very gameplan when two very bad things happened to them in quick succession: (1) their QB who was a credible rushing threat went out of the game with a knee injury, (2) the Kaelin Clay drop-the-ball thing. Even so, Utah played a good disciplined game and clawed their way back into it, being down only by 3 in the second half, before a Utah turnover gifted us a short field and some easy scores that made the final score seem much more lopsided than the game actually was.
Viewed through this lens, it's almost like Oregon is playing checkers while everyone else is playing chess. Or something.
It still makes me very uncomfortable because I'm not sure how we adjust when a team is able to get us into the proverbial knife-fight-in-a-phone-booth. Of course, the other way to beat us is to just shut down our offense. That doesn't happen very often.
Anyway, read the poast. It's pretty interesting.
Basically, this guy looks at defense through the lens of the offense - maximizing offensive possessions. I'm not sure I buy the whole thing, but I will say that it is interesting and is worth re-reading and thinking about. That link is as much for me as any of you fucktards.
Something I have noticed is that having watched so much Oregon football over the last 20 or so years, I've kinda cracked the code. For Oregon, everything is predicated on getting two scores up on the opponent, preferably two touchdowns. Our defense does not back the other team into the end zone, but does sell out the pass to stuff otherwise productive running games, and is often more vulnerable to the sidelines than over the middle of the field. This is consistent with "Anatidae in Paradise's" link above.
It's maddening for me because I played defense, and I want to crush the other team into submission, Alabama-style. But that just isn't how Oregon plays. We want to get into a shooting match with the other team, and our defenders are also coached to go for turnovers and forced fumbles. It is not a fluke that Oregon is regularly at the top of the NCAA charts for turnovers (on the plus side). One or two years is an anomaly, but Oregon has been at the top for like 8 years running. That also frustrates me when I see guys trying to put their hat on the football or force fumbles rather than wrapping up and tackling. We give up a shit-ton of yards.
But the fact is, when Oregon goes up two scores, it puts pressure on the other team to make a big play, and as often as not, those big plays turn out to be big plays for the Oregon defense. That's when we ladle three quick TDs on the opposition and just make them look silly.
The way to beat Oregon is to drag out possessions and end each possession with a TD. Keep the game within one score. Utah was executing this very gameplan when two very bad things happened to them in quick succession: (1) their QB who was a credible rushing threat went out of the game with a knee injury, (2) the Kaelin Clay drop-the-ball thing. Even so, Utah played a good disciplined game and clawed their way back into it, being down only by 3 in the second half, before a Utah turnover gifted us a short field and some easy scores that made the final score seem much more lopsided than the game actually was.
Viewed through this lens, it's almost like Oregon is playing checkers while everyone else is playing chess. Or something.
It still makes me very uncomfortable because I'm not sure how we adjust when a team is able to get us into the proverbial knife-fight-in-a-phone-booth. Of course, the other way to beat us is to just shut down our offense. That doesn't happen very often.
Anyway, read the poast. It's pretty interesting.
Comments
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Oregon's one really great team didn't give up a point in the fourth quarter until like week ten. There was a reason they played for a National Title. Auburn just happened to do the same thing with a bigger, faster, and stronger roster.
If you're just going to outscore everyone and not control the game your defense has to be dominant like Florida under Spurrier, Florida under Meyer, or Oklahoma when Leach was there.
Oregon's offense used to play the numbers game and run as many plays as possible and use all for downs as much as possible. If you have a lot of speed the more you get them the ball the better the chance they make an explosion play. Oregon's offense used to revolve around home runs under Chip. It's just more of a regular style of offense now. Chip also changed the way 4th down is handled in college football. The other team would be running out their punt return unit as Chip just lined up and pickup two yards. Now everyone does it so it's just a factor of the game and also why there is more scoring across the board.
You can try to church up mediocre defense all you want, but it's still mediocre defense. If Alabama started running 90+ offensive plays a game their defense would still bash the fuck out of people. More of Alabama's defense just means more of the offense getting its ass kicked.
Football is very simple. Other that stupid fucking A-11 offense (now illegal) has ever been more that a strategy either tough very well or not very well. You can bounce the numbers to see who falls where.
I've noticed over the years that Oregon's defense plays for the turnover and as you mentioned, they aren't against giving up some points to play to their desired outcome.
As the opponent, you need to think like Oregon does to stop them and throw away most of the things that you've learned over the years. They've definitely changed many of the ways that people look at the game (some good and bad in my opinion).
The HUNH offense was built because we were never going to out pro-style USC. And you'd have to be the most grizzled of Doog, Beleaver or Negaduck to argue it hasn't worked. You could also argue it's how the Baylors of the world have turned the tables on their version of USC, and by their version of USC I mean Texas and Oklahoma. But the defensive equivalent of the HUNH to equalize talent has yet to be invented. And despite sanctions and Kiffin/Sark, elite defensive linemen continue to look to USC first, UCLA second and the rest of the Pac-12 third. It's hard to build a Bama-style defense without a Bama-style recruiting class. So what's the answer?
With all that tl;dr said, I see the path to Oregon beating Alabama and FSU in the playoffs being laid out (An interception-prone, squinting Winston especially favors Oregon if they can get Ifo back to 100% by January 1st). I also see how they lose (D-Lines that can contain Mariota and force Oregon's D to hold them under 30). All you can do is LIFPO.
If we're not yet in the world where the five-star kid from California is going to favor Oregon over USC, can we really think it's ever going to be a possibility?
No.
So we need to adapt to that reality.
Bama has figured out the spread and mobile QBs. They see enough of them now. Tide Rolls Oregon.
Best hope for a Natty is a big 12 then FSU match up
FYI. End the prevresoin.
oh yeah, also
DC