Negative Takes from Week 2

[StevensTechU]

You guys are going to hate me for this.

After posting 'positive takes' from the Auburn loss, I'm following up with some of the lingering thoughts I have about the complete dismantling of a not-awful Nevada team at Autzen. That win was the most complete destruction of an opponent I may have ever seen as a Duck fan. Still, there are some takeaways worth noting beyond the obvious positive ones.

1- It doesn't tell us anything about our performance on the road. Last season, Oregon fielded two teams: a home team and an away team. The home team was pretty good, while the away team was garbage. Beating down Nevada at home doesn't really tell us anything about our ability to win on the Farm, in Seattle, and in Los Angeles.

2- Oregon doesn't have many "difference makers." Difference makers, to me, are guys who are going to get theirs no matter the level of competition. Jeff Maehl, LaMike (to some extent), Spliff Harris, even Bralon Addison and Josh Huff, and above all, Mariota, were guys who could go up against the best players in the country and they'd get it done. On this Oregon team, I don't really see that besides Jevon Holland on defense and special teams. Instead, I mostly see very good athletes who are well-coached who may struggle against the best of the best. I could continue to see Oregon struggle to put up points against the top defenses in the country and struggle to make stops against the top offenses.

3- Herbert can make all the throws, but often doesn't. He makes throws that very few can make, but it seems like there is growing agreement that Herbert isn't the best college QB in the country, despite being very good. His ability as a 'playmaker' (akin to 'difference maker' in point 2*) just doesn't appear to be there.

4- Big Picture: I could see this being a Rose Bowl team if things break our way, but sort of hope it doesn't become a playoff team. I think a Rose Bowl win against Penn State/Michigan would be better than having our asses handed to us by Clemson would be.

[jimmy12]

1. Agreed
2. I would argue the Sewell is a difference maker. Also, my hope is that some guys on D start to show the traits you describe.
3. I was pleased that he seemed to read through progressions this week. Something he either didn't do or have time to do last week. I need more data here.
4. If the defense continues to progress AND guys get healthy, we could compete with the big boys. I am not saying beat.. compete.

All in all fair summary STU.

You guys are going to hate me for this.

After posting 'positive takes' from the Auburn loss, I'm following up with some of the lingering thoughts I have about the complete dismantling of a not-awful Nevada team at Autzen. That win was the most complete destruction of an opponent I may have ever seen as a Duck fan. Still, there are some takeaways worth noting beyond the obvious positive ones.

1- It doesn't tell us anything about our performance on the road. Last season, Oregon fielded two teams: a home team and an away team. The home team was pretty good, while the away team was garbage. Beating down Nevada at home doesn't really tell us anything about our ability to win on the Farm, in Seattle, and in Los Angeles.

2- Oregon doesn't have many "difference makers." Difference makers, to me, are guys who are going to get theirs no matter the level of competition. Jeff Maehl, LaMike (to some extent), Spliff Harris, even Bralon Addison and Josh Huff, and above all, Mariota, were guys who could go up against the best players in the country and they'd get it done. On this Oregon team, I don't really see that besides Jevon Holland on defense and special teams. Instead, I mostly see very good athletes who are well-coached who may struggle against the best of the best. I could continue to see Oregon struggle to put up points against the top defenses in the country and struggle to make stops against the top offenses.

3- Herbert can make all the throws, but often doesn't. He makes throws that very few can make, but it seems like there' is growing agreement that Herbert isn't the best college QB in the country, despite being very good. His ability as a 'playmaker' (akin to 'difference maker' in point 1) just doesn't appear to be there.

4- Big Picture: I could see this being a Rose Bowl team if things break our way, but sort of hope it doesn't become a playoff team. I think a Rose Bowl win against Penn State/Michigan would be better than having our asses handed to us by Clemson would be.

[karlhungis]

You guys are going to hate me for this.

After posting 'positive takes' from the Auburn loss, I'm following up with some of the lingering thoughts I have about the complete dismantling of a not-awful Nevada team at Autzen. That win was the most complete destruction of an opponent I may have ever seen as a Duck fan. Still, there are some takeaways worth noting beyond the obvious positive ones.

1- It doesn't tell us anything about our performance on the road. Last season, Oregon fielded two teams: a home team and an away team. The home team was pretty good, while the away team was garbage. Beating down Nevada at home doesn't really tell us anything about our ability to win on the Farm, in Seattle, and in Los Angeles.

2- Oregon doesn't have many "difference makers." Difference makers, to me, are guys who are going to get theirs no matter the level of competition. Jeff Maehl, LaMike (to some extent), Spliff Harris, even Bralon Addison and Josh Huff, and above all, Mariota, were guys who could go up against the best players in the country and they'd get it done. On this Oregon team, I don't really see that besides Jevon Holland on defense and special teams. Instead, I mostly see very good athletes who are well-coached who may struggle against the best of the best. I could continue to see Oregon struggle to put up points against the top defenses in the country and struggle to make stops against the top offenses.

3- Herbert can make all the throws, but often doesn't. He makes throws that very few can make, but it seems like there' is growing agreement that Herbert isn't the best college QB in the country, despite being very good. His ability as a 'playmaker' (akin to 'difference maker' in point 1) just doesn't appear to be there.

4- Big Picture: I could see this being a Rose Bowl team if things break our way, but sort of hope it doesn't become a playoff team. I think a Rose Bowl win against Penn State/Michigan would be better than having our asses handed to us by Clemson would be.

I don't feel like we have enough data to support number 3. He had a team he could not trust last year and threw plenty of difference making passes that were simply dropped. This year we have played a very good defense on the road opener and a poor team in Nevada. He now has WR's that can catch but they aren't running the correct routes. I think that as the season moves forward and he builds trust with his new WR's, we will see his value as a play maker more.

[buckmarkduck]

To answer you on D- Jevon Holland is alread better than Cliff Harris was, and he won't do anything off the field to jeopardize that. 1st round pick in 2 years.

Saying Nevada isn't good, I'd say they are about middle of the road. They did manage to beat a Purdue team that will be in a bowl. And a team that just doubled up Vanderbilt this last weekend.

Do we not have diffence makers at WR? Who knows right now, we have missed our 2 best guys so far, so it's tough to say. Take our 2 best WR off the 2010 team, and the WR play would have been a lot worse than we have seen so far this year.

Herbert- for whatever reason everyone loves to poke holes in his game, yes so far he has taken what was there. Again, without Pittman and JJ6, it's really hard to judge him completely so far. He's throwing a more catchable ball, so that's a big improvement. I'm also not sure how well coached he is by Arroya. Don't forget Arroya once coached a squad at cal with a 5* and 3 -4* and they all looked like trash.

Hot take alert- Herbert will have a better NFL career than Marcus


I will say our RB, aren't difference makers. I've said it before, but Verdell reminds me of Whitehead. Hes good for about 3-6 yards, then down he goes.

I will say I think DJ will become a bigtime diffrence maker by about week 6. That kid was everywhere vs Nevada in the second half. I'm not sure what he did to not play vs AU, but during the game he proved he should be at worse playing 50% of the snaps.

[nogerO]

You guys are going to hate me for this.

After posting 'positive takes' from the Auburn loss, I'm following up with some of the lingering thoughts I have about the complete dismantling of a not-awful Nevada team at Autzen. That win was the most complete destruction of an opponent I may have ever seen as a Duck fan. Still, there are some takeaways worth noting beyond the obvious positive ones.

1- It doesn't tell us anything about our performance on the road. Last season, Oregon fielded two teams: a home team and an away team. The home team was pretty good, while the away team was garbage. Beating down Nevada at home doesn't really tell us anything about our ability to win on the Farm, in Seattle, and in Los Angeles.

2- Oregon doesn't have many "difference makers." Difference makers, to me, are guys who are going to get theirs no matter the level of competition. Jeff Maehl, LaMike (to some extent), Spliff Harris, even Bralon Addison and Josh Huff, and above all, Mariota, were guys who could go up against the best players in the country and they'd get it done. On this Oregon team, I don't really see that besides Jevon Holland on defense and special teams. Instead, I mostly see very good athletes who are well-coached who may struggle against the best of the best. I could continue to see Oregon struggle to put up points against the top defenses in the country and struggle to make stops against the top offenses.

3- Herbert can make all the throws, but often doesn't. He makes throws that very few can make, but it seems like there is growing agreement that Herbert isn't the best college QB in the country, despite being very good. His ability as a 'playmaker' (akin to 'difference maker' in point 2*) just doesn't appear to be there.

4- Big Picture: I could see this being a Rose Bowl team if things break our way, but sort of hope it doesn't become a playoff team. I think a Rose Bowl win against Penn State/Michigan would be better than having our asses handed to us by Clemson would be.

Negaduck After what transpired in the Pac this week, I would say a Rose Bowl is not out of the question. I think as the season progresses we may very well see the difference makers emerge.

[lukeyrid13]

Can’t disagree with any of that really. I think everyone is more keen to slight nitpicks after a 70 point win. I think this team is comparable to our 2009 Rose Bowl team. A really good team with solid players across the board, but not an elite team.

[StevensTechU]

To answer you on D- Jevon Holland is alread better than Cliff Harris was, and he won't do anything off the field to jeopardize that. 1st round pick in 2 years.

Saying Nevada isn't good, I'd say they are about middle of the road. They did manage to beat a Purdue team that will be in a bowl. And a team that just doubled up Vanderbilt this last weekend.

To be clear, I never said Holland wasn't better than Harris (I actually didn't compare them at all), and didn't say Nevada wasn't good.

[buckmarkduck]

To answer you on D- Jevon Holland is alread better than Cliff Harris was, and he won't do anything off the field to jeopardize that. 1st round pick in 2 years.

Saying Nevada isn't good, I'd say they are about middle of the road. They did manage to beat a Purdue team that will be in a bowl. And a team that just doubled up Vanderbilt this last weekend.

To be clear, I never said Holland wasn't better than Harris (I actually didn't compare them at all), and didn't say Nevada wasn't good.

Sorry you didn't say they weren't good, but I've seen it said plenty since the game. Imho they would beat UA, UCLA, OS and maybe ASU.

[Alan]

I agree 100% with all your points, this team does not have any DAT's or Mariota's. on Herbert, at the risk of being "called out", Herbert is very good, will probably list in Ducks top 5 QB's since the Miller days, top 10 all time......... he is no Mariota.....

[OregonFan4Life]

You guys are going to hate me for this.

After posting 'positive takes' from the Auburn loss, I'm following up with some of the lingering thoughts I have about the complete dismantling of a not-awful Nevada team at Autzen. That win was the most complete destruction of an opponent I may have ever seen as a Duck fan. Still, there are some takeaways worth noting beyond the obvious positive ones.

1- It doesn't tell us anything about our performance on the road. Last season, Oregon fielded two teams: a home team and an away team. The home team was pretty good, while the away team was garbage. Beating down Nevada at home doesn't really tell us anything about our ability to win on the Farm, in Seattle, and in Los Angeles.

2- Oregon doesn't have many "difference makers." Difference makers, to me, are guys who are going to get theirs no matter the level of competition. Jeff Maehl, LaMike (to some extent), Spliff Harris, even Bralon Addison and Josh Huff, and above all, Mariota, were guys who could go up against the best players in the country and they'd get it done. On this Oregon team, I don't really see that besides Jevon Holland on defense and special teams. Instead, I mostly see very good athletes who are well-coached who may struggle against the best of the best. I could continue to see Oregon struggle to put up points against the top defenses in the country and struggle to make stops against the top offenses.

3- Herbert can make all the throws, but often doesn't. He makes throws that very few can make, but it seems like there is growing agreement that Herbert isn't the best college QB in the country, despite being very good. His ability as a 'playmaker' (akin to 'difference maker' in point 2*) just doesn't appear to be there.

4- Big Picture: I could see this being a Rose Bowl team if things break our way, but sort of hope it doesn't become a playoff team. I think a Rose Bowl win against Penn State/Michigan would be better than having our asses handed to us by Clemson would be.

Completely agree with #4! People forget how recently Oregon went 4-8, Mario is still rebuilding the program. Winning the Rose Bowl in his second year would provide a lot of momentum and I'm sure the staff would use that momentum to snag a few more top recruits. Only difference is I see Oregon beating Ohio State, only because I'm desperate to see an Oregon team beat Ohio State! Screw Michigan and Penn St, I want Ohio St!

[karlhungis]

I agree 100% with all your points, this team does not have any DAT's or Mariota's. on Herbert, at the risk of being "called out", Herbert is very good, will probably list in Ducks top 5 QB's since the Miller days, top 10 all time......... he is no Mariota.....

How do you think we would view Joey Harrington if he had the WR play that we had last year?

[Alan]

I agree 100% with all your points, this team does not have any DAT's or Mariota's. on Herbert, at the risk of being "called out", Herbert is very good, will probably list in Ducks top 5 QB's since the Miller days, top 10 all time......... he is no Mariota.....

How do you think we would view Joey Harrington if he had the WR play that we had last year?

That is a very good point, the WR's certainly hurt Justin's performance last year, but Joey had more of the "Killer instinct", Herbert not so much, if I remember correctly Joey would get in your face....... joey was a better QB in my opinion. Edit to add Mariota never was one to get in a face but he was the best play making QB Oregon has ever seen and may ever see.

[duck541]

1) Herbert has yet to prove he's a gamer, the type of player that steps up and wills his team to a victory. He can make all the throws, but this is compounded by the fact that he doesn't really have playmakers to get the ball to. If he had a back like LMJ, and another year of Mitchell, or a guy like Carrington I don't think it would be that big of a deal. But we were all hoping Herbert would become that superstar because the rest of the offense doesn't have it in them.

2) Despite not having playmakers, the O-line can get theirs against anyone in the country, and that should be plenty to make us a very successful team. There were a handful of plays in the Auburn game where our guys made great blocks and the backs either misread the play, or only need to make one guy miss in the hole to bust huge plays. We just don't have those guys at RB right now.

3) The defense could be really really good by the end of the year. Most of the big plays we've given up so far have been from guys playing with a lack of discipline. That's to be expected with the youth we have, and with guys learning new responsibilities. The potential there is tremendous though, and Avalos seems to be doing a great job of getting guys up to speed quickly.

[duckfan22]

1) Herbert tends to panic and rush his throw agains any kind of pressure.
2) Like others have mentioned is the rb's we just dont have that LMJ in
the back field. One play on Saturday CJ took the handoff and the ol
had opened a hole a mack truck could drive thru and CJ got there perfect
If he cuts to the right he scores from 60 but instead he stayed straight right
into tacklers. He just didnt have the vision.

[StevensTechU]

One play on Saturday CJ took the handoff and the ol
had opened a hole a mack truck could drive thru and CJ got there perfect
If he cuts to the right he scores from 60 but instead he stayed straight right
into tacklers. He just didnt have the vision.

I honestly wonder how much of this is Mastro versus the GOAT, Gary Campbell.