Boise State @ #6 Oregon (Sat 7 PM, Peacock)

[webfoots2001]

I finally got around to grading out the offensive line for just the 3rd and 4th quarters, because I unfortunately don't have the time to see the whole game. What I saw in terms of second half performance was

Cornelius (top performer)
[Some dropoff]
Conerly
Strother
[some dropoff]
Poncho
[Big dropoff]
Harper
Pickard***

The asterisk on Pickard is that he played only 8 snaps in the second half so the bad snap affected his grade is a massive way. If that isn't his fault (like a DL causing the early snap but wasn't called, or something Gabriel did) he's actually in the same group as Conerly and Strother. I might go back and watch the first or second quarter and grade just Pickard so the sample is reasonable.

I was surprised Harper was so bad. He pulled on three plays and was late on every single one. Poncho continues to be the guy most likely to get moved backward due to lead feet. He graded out much better at center than guard. Strother had a decent second half but I think if I review more tape, his grade would come down, but that's somewhat conjecture because it's based on memory during the live game only.

Takeaways are that we have problems with the interior line, and aren't getting the all-american play at tackle we hoped for. Poncho should never play guard, and seems to be OK at center but take out every play in the playbook that requires the center to pull. Just not enough competition at those positions.

Not sure why anyone would be surprised with Harper struggling with a move to the right side after playing nothing but left guard for 3 years. I don’t understand what has happened with Poncho this year. He outplayed Steven Jones at guard when they rotated last year. He appears to be in better shape than last season but looks slow.

I also heard Strother prefers playing the other side than what he did against Boise, since he's more comfortable there. It seems we practice guys at many different positions, but it also doesn't seem to help.

Then what the hell is the coaching staff doing? I would think Strother would need to be unplayable at the right guard spot if they were willing to move Harper from his natural position to the right side instead of just putting Strother at RG.

[lmduck]

I'm sure there's more to all this than what we know.

[OregonFan4Life]

I'm sure there's more to all this than what we know.

Maybe, but the coaching on the offensive side of the ball has been very puzzling. I personally get the sense the offensive coaching staff is overwhelmed.

[squintsdd]

I'm sure there's more to all this than what we know.

TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW!

[StevensTechU]

I put this game on a side monitor while I worked today. I enjoyed the commentators remarks after Oregon won the game:

We also have to ask here - but Boise is good, all respect to Boise, there is no 'but' coming, I'll just say this - Should Oregon be the #7 team in the nation? And should this game be as difficult as it was?

Fast forward, Oregon is #1 and Boise is #3 in the playoffs.