Joe Moorhead has been the Oregon offensive coordinator for almost a calendar year and no one knows what the Ducks are going to look like under his direction.
All of that changes Saturday when No. 12 Oregon takes the field against an unranked Stanford team for the 2020 season opener.
Moorhead will be dealing with nearly a blank slate with a new quarterback and a brand new offensive line. How that line protects the new signal caller whether it be Tyler Shough or Anthony Brown, and how they open holes for the running backs will go a long way to determining if the Ducks go 1-0 this week.
According to Moorhead, they have to watch out for stuff even before a play begins.
“We want to do everything we can in a preparation standpoint to minimize pre-snap penalties over the course of a drive that can knock you back,” he said. “We have to play well as a unit, we have to be cohesive, be great at communication, or do things adversely even before the ball is even snapped.”
In first season, Moorhead is presented with an offensive unit that is a balanced with a power back as in CJ Verdell, a speed back like Travis Dye, a group of outstanding receivers and a stable of tight ends that can make a defense pay in a variety of ways.
“I think we can be very balanced and that’s exciting,” Moorhead said. “When you have to lean too heavily on one side or the other you’re not as versatile as you should have been, but I think we can run the ball and pass with equal effectiveness.”
One immediate change Oregon will see under Moorhead is that he’ll call plays from the sideline instead of from the booth. It’s something he has done throughout his career and it started out of necessity.
“When I went to Fordham to be the head coach and play-caller, I didn’t have much of a choice, so I had to call it from the field,” he said. “I was pleasantly surprised with what you could see down there and I think there’s a certain part of the motivational aspect, to be able to look the entire unit and the quarterback in the eye and communicate with them.”
OREGON OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR JOE MOORHEAD TALKS STANFORD AND NEW DUCK OFFENSE
ELECTION DAY; OREGON COACHING STAFF TOOK EARLY STEPS TO GET TEAM READY TO VOTE
As it so happens, a Tuesday practice is a lot more than a game plan and a walkthrough for Saturday’s opponent, but since it’s Election Day in America, the Oregon student-athletes were given the day off in order to vote.
According to Moorhead, he hasn’t had to say a lot to his players about the significance of this day.
“They already knew.” explained Moorhead.
“I haven’t had to say a word about it. Coach (Mario) Cristobal has done a fabulous job in addressing the team over and over about the importance of this day as it pertains to the individual guys and to the overall fabric of the state and country.”
Early on position coaches went to great lengths to prepare the team for this day, especially since a majority of the team is from different states where there might be different early voting rules.
“I think the way the process works currently, a lot of the guys have already taken care of that prior to today in terms of the voting and stuff” said defensive coordinator Andy Avalos when asked about election day.
“The registration to get signed up to vote, we were way out in front of that with 100% of our team registering to vote. Each of the position coaches jumping out in front of that way back in the beginning of September,…and checking with all of our position groups and making sure our guys were going through the necessary steps and understanding the steps.”
OREGON DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR ANDY AVALOS DISCUSSES STANFORD