Andrew Greif of the Oregonian points out that the Ducks were 94th last season in the red zone, and inefficiency in close killed them in the 42-16 road loss to Arizona.
The Ducks out gained the Wildcats and got inside the 20 six times but only scored twice, plagued by turnovers, penalties and broken plays.
This season they’ve been more efficient in scoring territory, converting on 85.7% of their tries.
It’s a trend that’s likely to continue, even with some problems on the offensive line:
1. Mariota is a year older and more seasoned than resourceful than ever. He goes through his progressions smoothly and uses his elusiveness and speed to extend plays. He reads coverages well and senses when it’s the right time to pull the ball down and take over himself.
2. Byron Marshall, Royce Freeman and Thomas Tyner give the Ducks three power options at the goal line. There’s always a fresh back with good leg drive.
3. In Pharaoh Brown and Dwayne Stanford, Oregon has two tall receivers that pose a matchup problem at the goal line. Darren Carrington is another one, 6-2 with great leaping ability and body control. Devon Allen can get open on anyone, and Keanon Lowe, much improved as a pass catcher, has proven himself to be a reliable target in clutch situations. When Mariota scrambles, he looks most often for Byron Marshall, who has a knack for working open as the quarterback buys time.
4. Scott Frost has improved as a play caller, using his options much more wisely in his second year in that role. Twice this season the Ducks have punched it in for a score on 4th down, and for the year they are converting 56% on 3rd down, 3-4 on fourth down.
Best of all, the Ducks are scoring touchdowns, not field goals. They’ve tallied 27 TDs this year against just 2 field goals, 26 of those touchdowns by the offense, the other one on a punt return by Charles Nelson. Stanford, by contrast, has just 13 offensive touchdowns, and they’ve settled for field goals four times. Against Washington they reached the red zone 5 times and scored tds twice, kicked the field goal twice, missed the FG wide right the other time. Against Cal, Arizona reached the red zone 8 times but scored touchdowns on just four.
Oregon’s explosiveness and offensive efficiency is big part of why they’ll be favored in all their remaining games. But the lesson of last year is that you have to execute, particularly in the red zone, every week.
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