Post Fresno State- Where Do We Stand?

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lukeyrid13
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Re: Post Fresno State- Where Do We Stand?

Post by lukeyrid13 »

Quietduck wrote:Lukeyrid I'm thinking that this O line will go the opposite of last year. Start out shaky end up good from what I can see all the linemen made both good plays and bad ones. The bad ones looked more like rust and inexperience working together than long term fatal flaws.
It is still frustrating that simple stunts and twists completely baffles our line though.

There were a lot of concepts, like pulling guards, or chipping and then getting to the second level that were fairly well executed....but typically another lineman totally whiffed their blocks, so our RB couldn't even get to the second level where the pulling lineman had opened a large seam.

In the second half we played a more straight up style as opposed to zone blocking and that seemed to work much better overall.

From my stance, Sala clearly outplayed Jones and I hope that we see more of him moving forward. Jones' feet were just way too slow a lot of the time which led to edge rushers getting around him or Jones getting off balance on inside swim moves.
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Re: Post Fresno State- Where Do We Stand?

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Re: Post Fresno State- Where Do We Stand?

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After re-watching, here would be my grades for each position group.

QB: B Brown made mostly right reads in the RPO, made some downfield passes without a clean pocket, but had some throws he'd definitely want back. All-in-all, he did pretty OK considering his line/TEs weren't great, as he made plays with his feet to keep the chains moving.
RB: B- Dye just isn't terribly physical, and Verdell's stumble in the backfield killed a drive. They did get steam as the game went on and picked up chunks, and actually made some plays in the pass game besides one Dye drop.
OL: C Moseby owned Steven Jones, who's one of the most athletically gifted Oregon OL of the last twenty years (so probably ever), and the interior struggled with stunts and twists. They weren't physically dominated, and gained steam as the game went on.
TE: D- Spencer Webb can't/won't block. Ferguson and Matavao were clearly freshmen and struggled with strength and leverage in blocking. Not much receiving to be noted. I expect DJ Johnson to get a lot more run in the Ohio State game, but unfortunately that limits the passing options.
WR: B- I almost want to call this "incomplete," as there was so little passing. JJIII had a nice game. Pittman had a drop that cost 4 points. The blocking on the outside is the reason for the minus instead of a straight up B.

DL: B+ I would have liked to see some more pressure from the interior, but these guys did a fantastic job of playing both the run and pass. After re-watching, I'm a ltitle more happy with Salave'a than I was after seeing Faoliu and Scott regress in the covid season. Guys had good hands and at times really physically dominated, which showed in really limiting Fresno's run game and beating the heck of out Haener.
LB: B Some of the pressure on Haener came from bringing extra LBs, which resulted in some boom-or-bust plays. Sewell whiffed on a would-be sack that led to I think Fresno's longest pass of the game. Flowe overran his assignment a time or two. But overall, these guys were much better than I was expecting after struggling to stop the run last year. They weren't great in coverage, but weren't especially bad, either. Overall, the front 7 looked solid.
S: B Really just a solid outing besides one Steve Stephens busted coverage that resulted in a 2nd quarter TD. Happle looks materially better playing the nickel than he does playing free safety, and Bennett Williams had some good plays in coverage. McKinley is a vet, but Oregon needs him to make plays to take the ball away.
CB: C+ This was the weakest group on the defense, easily. Both Bridges and Manning gave huge cushions that led to Fresno touchdowns in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Coaches commented they played overly soft and that maybe it's a "confidence issue." Bridges had some good run-support plays, and considering how good Fresno's crop of receivers is, you can't fail this group when they didn't allow anything over the top. Mykael was good but did give up some yards to Cropper. Getting James back adds a lot of speed and skill back onto the field.

P/K: A Tom Snee is now a weapon, and I think Lewis only allowed one return on a kick. Give me that all day. No missed FGs or XPs.
Quietduck wrote:Hyth well done logical and documented analysis of the game. Gives me hope for the future as the issues didn't seem to focus on a single player or area in ways that can't be improved.
This both gives me hope ("Maybe it was just week 1 sloppiness") and gives me anxiety ("Maybe the coaching just isn't that great"). It was a little weird to see the offensive line look worse to start this year than how they ended last season when it's all the same guys. But aside from our tight ends, it was rarely guys getting beat straight up, which makes me think maybe the talent is sufficient. The tackles are clearly not great, which is is the result of Cristobal chasing size rather than athleticism when he first got to Eugene. Anyway, fingers crossed it improves.
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