Envisioning what this Oregon offensive attack would look like at full speed and without critical injuries is something most of college football has thought about.
At full strength, and with the number of weapons available to them, Oregon was thought to be one of the best offenses in college football coming into the season.
On Saturday against a very defensively disciplined UCLA team, we got a pretty good idea of just how dangerous this Duck team would be at full strength.
Minus the two late interceptions by Anthony Brown, the Oregon aerial attack was in sync and exploiting every mismatch and open lane on the field.
It’s an old football adage, but they really did take what the Bruin defense gave them.
“Number one, we want to make sure our best players have the best chance to make plays. Number two is what they ( UCLA ) play. They are a very complex defense” explained Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal when asked about the improved aerial game of Brown and the Ducks.
“You saw they play trap coverage, a ton of zero, they’ll play some post safety cloud. I mean every single snap is something different and you’ve got to get them to tell you what they’re doing with their shifts, motions and alignments, and whatnot. That’s where I think our quarterback today really excelled and took advantage – when I say advantage, it’s making plays that you need to make against tough looks in tough situations.
“We were really close on some other ones. Real, real close. I think we’re just scratching the surface on the passing game. Hopefully, we’ll get healed up front so we can continue progressing with both the running game and passing game and take another step as on offense.”
The downfield passing attack is what makes this Oregon offense click. When the Ducks run the ball successfully, they’re able to attack from every position and angle.
And that starts with the correct reads by Brown.
What is overlooked by fans and college football in general, is Brown is extremely smart in deciphering defensive looks and where to attack on the field, not to mention his ability to run the ball.
His experience with two different systems has allowed him to see a lot of defensive schemes, and therefore learn how to attack them.
“Anthony did a great job dissecting their coverages,” said Cristobal.
“The O-Line held up. We mixed and matched some guys and he made some unbelievable throws. Guys made some big catches. We put one on the ground we’d like to have back, but aside from that, there’s a lot of positive progress in the passing game. We know because we see in practice every day how dangerous we can be in the passing game, so this is a great step in that direction and we expect to take another step this week in practice.”
Much of the Ducks success comes from their off-the-field film study, but you still have to go out and execute what you’ve learned, and also adapt to on-the-fly changes which the Bruins did exceptionally well.
“Well, I mean just intensive film study. They do what they do and they’re very good at it. They’re chaotic” explained Cristobal.
“They bring pressure from all over the place. It looks like Star Wars. There’s just stuff everywhere. And you got to block it and you got to beat it. Credit to the quarterback. Credit to the offensive line. Credit to the running backs. Just everyone stepping up.
You know, Anthony just did a great job dissecting them. The offensive line did a really good job of not falling for their stems. They do what they do and they’re very good at it.”
MARIO CRISTOBAL BREAKS DOWN 34-31 WIN OVER UCLA