Was in Minnesota and went to the Cal game

[UofDuck]

Just thought I would throw this out as a few of the recruits we are looking at are also looking at Minnesota.

Stadium:
1. Their new stadium is very much physically on par with Autzen. Very nice.
2. Their fans were very nice too. A bit too nice for me. Not much noise in comparison, but nice folks who seam to support their team. Not nearly the energy we have.
3. Stadium is in a very nice area of the campus with the Hockey (their real sport) arena next door. Everything was green and very near the Mississippi river...etc. You can see the downtown skyline through the open end of the stadium. Huge Sportvision screen on one end and a smaller one on the other for the fans under the large screen. Between the decks there were lots of data display screens, so the fans have instant acess to scores elsewhere and game stats etc. A real, real nice stadium.

Recruits:
1. I can see why a kid woud choose Minnesota (in the Spring). The campus is very nice and clean. The fans are very nice...etc. However, I travel there several times a year on business and all I can say is that they better lock down their southern recruits within the next month because I doubt many would want to play in -10 weather with 30 mph winds. It gets nasty cold there.
2. Stood in security line at the airport with a kid (Josh T..something)that committed over the weekend. He is from the Dallas area and plays DE/LB. Anyway, I was thinking poor kid, he has no idea how cold he will get in the coming years.

Game:
1. Cal is vulnerable. They had 2.5 the total offense Minn had and the game was tied near the end of the 3rd quarter. And that was with no turnovers to that point.
2. Cal was faster than Minnesota, but had very little creativity on offense. If they didnt have Best, boring...etc
3. Best was very little of a factor in the 2nd half. We were wondering if he was hurt as we saw very little of him until they were very near the goal line.

No class:
1. With about 5 minutes left in the game, and Cal just scored following an interception, their cheerleaders started chanting "Bring on Oregon" over and over again. The fans nearby felf that was a slap in the face as it was a close game and showed no respect - as did I. Cal appears to be pretty full of themselves right now. They have yet to play a ranked team, but they sure feel like they deserve a #6 ranking. You can see it on the players faces and their fans. I would wager they are not worried about us whatsoever. PERFECT!

[freedjr]

Thanks! The thing I'm worried about is Oregon's struggle against Cal the last few years. The nice thing is our D is used to practicing against a solid RB crew (I love the thought of LB being Best on the Scout team) but hopefully our passing game can kick it up and our running game can continue to be potent.

[VinnyKnuckles]

(I love the thought of LB being Best on the Scout team)

LeGarrette doesn't run even remotely similar to Best though, so I don't know how helpful that look will be for the Oregon defense. Trying to contain LaMichael would be much better practice.

Another problem is that Cal runs an offense completely unlike Oregon's offense. Aliotti and Chip have mentioned several times that more traditional offenses tend to give the Oregon defense the most problems simply because the Ducks don't get to practice against it every day. It is hard to become good at something unless you practice it. Part of the reason the Ducks' defense was so successful against Utah is because they run a very similar offense to the Ducks, with a lot of zone read, etc.

[echo31]

LeGarrette doesn't run even remotely similar to Best though, so I don't know how helpful that look will be for the Oregon defense. Trying to contain LaMichael would be much better practice.

Another problem is that Cal runs an offense completely unlike Oregon's offense. Aliotti and Chip have mentioned several times that more traditional offenses tend to give the Oregon defense the most problems simply because the Ducks don't get to practice against it every day. It is hard to become good at something unless you practice it. Part of the reason the Ducks' defense was so successful against Utah is because they run a very similar offense to the Ducks, with a lot of zone read, etc.

#1 - LGB wasn't at the game on Saturday or at practice today, so he is definitely not playing Best on the scout team.

#2 - This is why the team practices against the scout team. The scout team runs the offense and defense of our next opponent, not our offense and defense.

[VinnyKnuckles]

#2 - This is why the team practices against the scout team. The scout team runs the offense and defense of our next opponent, not our offense and defense.

Yeah, I think everyone, including Aliotti and Chip, is aware of this. The point that the coaches and myself are trying to get across is that the Oregon defense has obviously spent far less time going against a traditional style offense than they have going against the style of offense the Ducks actually run. Trying to prepare for a different style of offense in a single week by facing far less talented scout team players presents some unique challenges that did not exist to the same degree against Utah.

[echo31]

#2 - This is why the team practices against the scout team. The scout team runs the offense and defense of our next opponent, not our offense and defense.

Yeah, I think everyone, including Aliotti and Chip, is aware of this. The point that the coaches and myself are trying to get across is that the Oregon defense has obviously spent far less time going against a traditional style offense than they have going against the style of offense the Ducks actually run. Trying to prepare for a different style of offense in a single week by facing far less talented scout team players presents some unique challenges that did not exist to the same degree against Utah.

Agreed, I just wanted to make sure that it was clear that we don't practice against our standard schemes to prepare each week. I figured that you knew this, but I had to assume that maybe someone reading this wasn't aware of this fact.

The same concept could explain why the Beavs looked good against USC last year and terrible against us.

[UOducksTK1]

From the pictures I've seen, Minnesota's new stadium looks ridiculously nice.

3 musts this season for me. Beat BSU , Beat Cal, and Beat OSU.

Cal will be tough, but I can't stand them having the upper hand recently.

[duckstheword]

#2 - This is why the team practices against the scout team. The scout team runs the offense and defense of our next opponent, not our offense and defense.

Yeah, I think everyone, including Aliotti and Chip, is aware of this. The point that the coaches and myself are trying to get across is that the Oregon defense has obviously spent far less time going against a traditional style offense than they have going against the style of offense the Ducks actually run. Trying to prepare for a different style of offense in a single week by facing far less talented scout team players presents some unique challenges that did not exist to the same degree against Utah.

Agreed, I just wanted to make sure that it was clear that we don't practice against our standard schemes to prepare each week. I figured that you knew this, but I had to assume that maybe someone reading this wasn't aware of this fact.

The same concept could explain why the Beavs looked good against USC last year and terrible against us.

To play devil's advocate, I wonder why Cal has been able to shut us down recently.They obviously don't run the same offense we do. We've scored only 24 (2007) and 16 (2008) points the last two years. Cal just really seems to have our number. You'd think we'd be able to hit at least 30... I think when Cal is clicking, they are just plain good.

[OreDucks01284]

IMO, Riley isnt that good. We need to pressure him, force him to make rash descision in passing game. They will choke if we DO that and hold Best under 100 yards. I believe in Our Defense, they are improving from Purdue to Utah game.

Edit: When will TJ Ward be able to play? we need him against Cal.

[VinnyKnuckles]

To play devil's advocate, I wonder why Cal has been able to shut us down recently.They obviously don't run the same offense we do. We've scored only 24 (2007) and 16 (2008) points the last two years. Cal just really seems to have our number. You'd think we'd be able to hit at least 30... I think when Cal is clicking, they are just plain good.

Very true, and I think your last sentence hit the nail on the head. Cal has really athletic, really physical, really good defensive players and that trumps a lot of things. USC doesn't seem to have much trouble keeping the Oregon offense, or any offense for that matter, under control for the same reason.

The inclement weather in Berkeley last year also helped Cal's defense out. If the long range forecast on weather.com holds up, it looks like it should be a nice, dry day in Eugene next Saturday, which would be a very good thing for Masoli.

[gregspechtismyhero]

1. Cal is vulnerable. They had 2.5 the total offense Minn had and the game was tied near the end of the 3rd quarter. And that was with no turnovers to that point.
2. Cal was faster than Minnesota, but had very little creativity on offense. If they didnt have Best, boring...etc
3. Best was very little of a factor in the 2nd half. We were wondering if he was hurt as we saw very little of him until they were very near the goal line.

I think we can keep this game close, I think the only reason Minn didn't win that game is because they don't have the depth that Cal does. Hopefully is Masoli can complete 30-45% of his passes we can worry Tedford and the boys. I think a tazer screen with Dickson would work really well for a while, and keep the box balanced enough to get a run game going. Get Dickson the ball outside and have him knock some heads in the secondary, it won't be a big gain, but enough to keep the Bears on their heels. Also, a must is to keep the ball away from Cal's really good DB (Long hair, can't remember his name). He's a very effective defender, like Thurmond, and if we don't pass to his side we should be able to get something going. I think this game will be a lot closer than everyone thinks.