Kris Wright of TheSabre.com stopped by with the five questions Virginia fans have about the Oregon Ducks:
1. Virginia has a lot of new faces on the coaching staff, but Oregon has a new head coach in Mark Helfrich. Is Oregon still doing the same things it did under Chip Kelly for the most part or has Helfrich changed things up?
It’s primarily the same. Helfrich retained nearly all of the staff, and assistants Steve Greatwood (offensive line), Nick Aliotti (defensive coordinator), Don Pellum (linebackers), Gary Campbell (running backs) and Jim Radcliffe (strength and conditioning) have each been with the program for over 20 years. After three straight 12-win seasons, four straight BCS bowls, being ranked 3rd, 4th and 2nd in the final AP poll, there’s no reason to reinvent the wheel in Eugene.
[Photo: Virginia quarterback David Watford delivers an 11-yard touchdown pass to Darius Jenning during the Cavaliers 19-16 victory over BYU last Saturday. Michael Ingalls, TheSabre.com.]
The Ducks may throw down field a little more with a savvy sophomore quarterback in Marcus Mariota, but the fundamental character of the team and their approach remains the same. The offense led the country last year, producing 49.6 points a game. The defense cranked up 40 turnovers, including an NCAA-best 26 interceptions, returned for 501 yards and four tds. Not much is broken in Eugene.
2. The Ducks’ offense is a high tempo, high production team. It seems like it is the spread read option all the time, but is that all the offense does? What’s your favorite non-read option play?
The Ducks run a no-huddle spread nearly 100% of the time, except for the swinging gate extra point and the victory formation at the end of games. They rarely huddle and seldom take a direct center snap, although a Deep Ace Formation (quarterback under center, one deep set tailback) showed up in the 2012 spring game, employed only a few times since.
Everything the Ducks do starts with the basic Zone-Read play and variations off that: the bubble screen, fake zone read and four verticals. They really have only eight basic plays, just a lot of options off those plays. It’s the primary reason, outside of fierce preparation, that they can play so fast and tax a defense so completely. The team often runs more than 120 plays in a two-hour practice. The secret is repetition, attention to detail and lots of fast athletes. Hoos coach Mike London said this week, “Everybody they’ve got is fast. Even the guy who runs out after the kicking tee is fast.”
The goal for a spread offense is to make the defense defend every square inch of the field and get athletic players one-on-one in space, and the Ducks do that with seemingly endless wrinkles and little innovations. They opened last week’s game against Nicholls with versatile slot receiver Josh Huff lined up as a second tailback next to Mariota and running back De’Anthony Thomas in what could be described as a Shotgun-Wishbone look. Mariota meshed with Thomas, keeping on the Zone-Read. He ran right, got the unblocked defender to commit to him, then zipped a lateral pass to Huff along the right sideline running parallel to the line of scrimmage. Huff made a great catch on a ball behind him and scooted up field for a nine-yard game.
With that kind of speed and athletic ability it makes the offense very difficult to defend, although the Cavaliers did a tremendous job last week against BYU and their no-huddle Pistol Formation. The Cougars ran 93 plays and gained just 362 yards, 3.9 yards per play in the 19-16 victory. First-year defensive coach Jon Tenuta disrupted the spread with blitzes and stunts, and his kids played an inspired game. The Ducks know they’re due for a much stiffer challenge after cruising to an easy victory at home last Saturday over hapless Nicholls State, one of the worst teams in the FCS, 2-20 over the last two years.
3. Offense, cool uniforms, loud stadium … then maybe the defense? Seems like Oregon’s D gets overlooked a lot but the Ducks led the nation in turnover margin last season thanks in large part to 40 take-aways. We’re hearing that the style is similar to Virginia’s newly adopted look under Jon Tenuta, meaning aggressive and pressure-oriented. What can UVa fans expect from the Oregon defense?
The Tenuta comparison is apt. Aliotti likes the same blitzing, aggressive style your coach used with such success last week. With a high-scoring, blur-fast offense Oregon’s defense tries to keep pace by employing a deep rotation, what the defensive coaches call “hockey line-changes.” They’ll use as many as 23 to 26 players a game on defense, two full rotations or more on the defensive line and secondary, 8 different linebackers.
It’s a 3-4/4-3 hybrid defense; last week the Ducks shifted in and out of various looks, two down linemen, three or four depending on the down and distance. Outside linebackers like Tony Washington, Bo Lokombo or Christian French will sometimes put a hand down and rush the quarterback, sometimes stand up and drop into coverage. Blitzes come from all angles. Aliotti is fond of saying, “We’ll start blitzing when we come off the bus.”
Defending as many plays as they do and playing in a lot of blowouts, the Oregon defense doesn’t compile the kind of statistics defenses do at LSU or Alabama. They won’t win games 17-13. Instead they try to force turnovers and mistakes, thriving on defensive big plays and getting the ball back to the potent offense. It’s a different philosophy, Nike-driven, with an emphasis on entertainment. Last season the Ducks beat USC 62-51 in the Coliseum, a score that was a little deceiving because the Trojans scored in the last 7 seconds of a game that had already been decided.
The Ducks had 83 touchdown drives in 2013, and 45 of those took less than two minutes, 23 of them in 60 seconds or less. When an offense is designed to score that often and that quickly, the defense has to adjust its philosophy, because they are going to be on the field a lot. The Ducks almost always lose in time of possession. Saturday Nicholls was on offense for 40:14, the Oregon for 19:46. Final score, 66-3.
4. What are the key match-ups – 1 for offense and 1 for defense – that you are focusing on for the game?
Defensive end Eli Howard was a terror for the Cavs against BYU, with two sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss. Oregon’s starting left tackle Jake Fisher, an NFL prospect and preseason all-conference selection, left Saturday’s game early with an unspecified injury. The Ducks don’t disclose injury information or provide updates, and practice is closed. If Fisher can’t go this week, Everett Benyard III (6-7, 308) Tyler Johnstone (6-6, 277) or Andre Yruretagoyena (6-5, 279) will have to slide over to block Howard. A disruptive edge rusher can wreak havoc on a spread offense, so Oregon must look for an answer against Howard.
The Virginia secondary also did a tremendous job containing the Cougs dual-threat quarterback Taysom Hill, harassing him into a 13-40 passing performance. Strong safety Anthony Harris was Walter Camp Defensive Player of the game with 11 tackles, a sack, a blocked punt and an interception. He’s lined up across from Oregon tight end Colt Lyerla, an athletic 6-5, 246-lb. beast who had 25 receptions last season for 392 yards and six touchdowns.
Defensively, Oregon struggled last week covering passes out of the backfield to Nicholls tailback Marcus Washington, who led his team with 11 catches for 92 yards. Look for offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild to slip the ball to Kevin Parks and Taquan Mizzell out of the backfield, challenging Oregon’s young linebackers to make plays in space.
5. Virginia managed to slow the tempo down against another no-huddle team Louisiana Tech last season. Have you seen anyone slow down Oregon’s tempo? Is there a secret to reeling in the Ducks?
Secret? If I told you I’d have to kill you :). Some teams have gone the unscrupulous route and had a player fake an injury to force a timeout, getting a breather and an extra chance to substitute. But the clearest way to stop Oregon is the way you stop any style of offense, by executing, disrupting their timing and getting off the field.
It’s a rhythm offense, the tempo is best when the Ducks can avoid negative plays, 2nd and long, third and long. Stanford completely stymied the Quack Attack last November with great lateral pursuit and penetration; the #2-rated Ducks couldn’t get to the edge and were frustrated all game long by an athletic defense that owned the line of scrimmage. But those same elements will beat anybody. It also helps to have a power running game that keeps De’Anthony Thomas and Marcus Mariota on the sideline.
Bonus question: Are you expecting a lot of Oregon fans to make the trip?
Increasingly the Ducks have a national following and there are displaced Ducks in the Washington D.C. area and up and down the East Coast. With success the number of fans who travel to even distant away games has grown also, but the green and yellow contingent for this game still won’t number above 4,000. Duck fans generally are congenial guests, passionate but not boorish. The fan base is very excited about an intersectional game on national TV, with the program getting valuable exposure on the East Coast.
The Cavaliers victory over BYU opened eyes out here. We’ve tried to familiarize ourselves with the great tradition of Virginia as a university and a football program. Conceived and designed by Thomas Jefferson, it’s the school of Bill Dudley, Tiki Barber, Chris Long and Matt Schaub. You’ve had recent bowl success under Al Groh and George Welsh, longstanding rivalries with Virginia Tech, Maryland and North Carolina. Last year wasn’t a great year but there were wins over Penn State, North Carolina State and Miami. The Duck players are taught not to overlook any opponent, and this game has their attention.
Good luck to the Wahoos this season, and thank you for your questions.
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