The Week That Was

 

1. Win Your Clunkers: Well, that was the definition of a grinder. Many of us had a feeling that type of  game was coming given how the stars aligned to give Wisconsin a chance to hang in that game. We’ve discussed it at length all week so no need to go super into the weeds, but given the circumstances, I’m impressed with the grit and resilience of the team. As we will discuss below, they clearly were struggling on offense all night, but that’s a game that a lot of Oregon teams in my lifetime lose. Instead, we finally put together a big drive in the late third and early 4th quarter, and our defense held Wisconsin essentially yardless for the entire 4th quarter. Similar to our discussions after the close call against Boise State, that feels like the type of game that will benefit us as the season goes. We’ve played a ton of glorified garbage time in conference this season so with the win now in our pocket, I don’t hate that we went through it. In a year where almost every other top 10 team has played multiple games like this, we certainly deserve one. The obvious parallels for Ducks fans is Cal 2010, a game ironically also known for Ducks DC Tosh Lupoi faking injuries like a madman. Just like 14 years ago, a typically prolific offense held down all night, nothing coming easy and yet grinding out a win. We’ll get into the details below, but I’m optimistic that the scars from Saturday will show down the line. 

 

2. Offensive Deep Dive: Second straight subpar performance by the offense, this one due to a myriad of factors. We started off solid, moving the ball three times inside the Wisconsin red zone in the first quarter, only to have 6 points to show. After that, it was a disjointed operation most of the game, save our one big TD drive to start the 4th quarter. While I don’t think the OL played badly, Gabriel was definitely a bit jittery in the pocket, often scrambling early rather than hanging in and delivering the ball like we saw him against Ohio State and others. I thought he missed some reads in the run game, and also again locked in underneath when he had receivers open downfield. I don’t think he is seeing the field as well the last two weeks, and I’m not sure I have a great reason for why. Tez coming back will certainly help. I think of a few specific throws, including one early where he had a TD down the sideline to Sadiq, but instead threw to Ferguson in double coverage down the seam. The plays are there, and we’ve got to get back to hitting them. Almost more concerning are our continued struggles in the red zone. Wisconsin essentially planned to play red zone roulette with us, and it almost won them the game. Great red zone teams can run the ball, and we have not shown an ability to do that consistently inside the 20 at any point this season. It is my biggest concern heading into the playoff. You can’t bank on hitting explosive TDs like we did against Ohio State last game, and I don’t expect teams to allow us to do that given our struggles to convert long drives into 7. Our RZ struggles come down to three pieces in my estimation:

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• Lack of running success

• Lack of tall receivers (Losing Kasper hurt here)

• Gabriel’s height hurts him in the condensed field

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Given those factors, I hope to see some more creativity in the running game moving forward. We need to utilize Gabriel’s running ability to help with numbers, and I’d love to see some back two back or misdirection sets utilizing Tez or Sadiq. If we can’t go right at teams, we’ve got to use the speed advantage we have by stretching teams and testing their eyes. 

 

3. Defense Saves the Day: Big time performance in every way. I know they leaned on us a bit for two drives midgame, but it’s hard to play lights out all game, especially when your offense is sputtering hard. The key stat is that this unit allowed one yard in 4 drives in the 4th quarter, end of discussion. They were dominant when it mattered most and continued to give the offense chances to win the game. This was a game where our improved play at LB really was on display, as that’s the type of team we’ve seen run the ball down our throat in years past. Specifically, I thought Bassa and Boettcher were excellent sideline-to-sideline stopping the run. Moving forward, just really excited about this unit heading into our biggest games. With Burch coming back healthy, we’re going to be really versatile in how we attack teams given the front of Burch, Matayo, Harmon and Caldwell. There aren’t many units out there with 4 NFL guys, and that will allow us to get pressure with 4 and allocate resources where we need based on the matchup.

 

4. Standouts: Want to give a specific shout out to the following guys after the rewatch:

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• Sappington: Have to start here. Nothing amazing but it would be huge to have some consistency moving into the CCG and playoff. It doesn’t need to be 50 yards, but good from 42 and in like he was Saturday would be a big development. 

• Caldwell: Feel like he hasn’t gotten a lot of shine this year next to Burch, Matayo and Harmon, but he was really good Saturday. Beyond causing the game-ending pick, it was great to see him making an impact with Burch’s absence. 

• Matayo: Mentioned this on Twitter yesterday, but I think he has a real chance to be the #1 overall pick next season. He was again disruptive all night long off the edge.

• DG/Ferg 4th Down: Although neither played their best game Saturday, this was money time and boy was it $$$. 4th and 9, coming off of Jump Around, and that was a strike from DG and a great sit down and catch from Ferguson. One of the best plays of the season.

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5. A Look Ahead: 11-0. It’s been a special ride, and I feel really lucky to have been at Michigan and Wisconsin. Although neither is Autzen, they are big college football environments on the road to one of the best regular seasons in my lifetime. As for what’s ahead, it’s murky at best. Beyond some hopeful needed revenge against UW, the variety of pathways and scenarios for how this season ends up is consuming much of my headspace everyday. Is the 5 seed better than the 1 seed? Who will be in the 8 vs 9 game? Is the 12 seed Boise State or might it be the Big 12 champ? I feel like for every projection I see that I love for Ducks is met with another that pits a 13-0 Oregon against the winner of Ole Miss/Georgia. No thanks. What we can control now is UW, and boy do we owe them. I’m expecting them to start their Freshman QB Demond Williams, a less talented passer than Will Rogers but a much more dynamic runner. They’ll certainly be up for the game, with a chance to spoil Oregon’s season for a third straight year. However, you have to imagine whatever motivation they have will be matched by a Coach Lanning and staff that is 0-3 vs the Huskies. There aren’t many better motivators out there, and I bet you’ll see some of this coaching staff’s best these two weeks.​

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Game Notes

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• Game flow and momentum is a real thing in football and that game is entirely different if we convert early. We had multiple chances to go up two scores, and there’s no doubt that the final score would have been much different if so. We’ve been so good in the first half all season, and I bet the biggest regret of the staff this week is that we didn’t execute well enough to get up 10-0 or 14-0 early on.  

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• I find it comical that people are stating that we got bailed out and were lucky to win. Give me a break. I keep hearing how the clop block call “saved us”. First, they were on their own 20 and second, that was a 50/50 call. I counted so many calls that went against us, including massive calls on 3rd and 4th down that extended their drives and/or killed ours. That’s a gritty win, not a handout.

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• Lastly, and I also mentioned this on twitter, you can tell a lot about someone’s football IQ by the way in which they discussed the fake FG postgame. To begin, it’s important that we understand that being up 6 versus 3 is negligible according to all the analytics out there. Personally, I would WAY rather be up 3 than 6. We’ve seen many times, including ourselves in 2011 vs USC, where teams tend to settle when they are down 3 and both my eyes and the data suggest this is commonplace. With that established, the only argument I'm willing to hear is that Dan should have kept the offense on the field. I hear that, and I’m assuming that if he hadn’t gotten a look we liked on the FG, we call a timeout and run the offense back out. The play-calling on 2nd and 3rd down suggest this was 4 down territory, and I love it. As for the fake FG, the play was there. Herbert inexplicably runs into nowhere for two seconds before attempting to block the Wisconsin player late and missing. If he gets even an average block, James gets an easy first down, if not TD, and it’s a play we’re all talking about for the next 20 years. Just like UW last season, we can’t let the outcome/execution inform whether the call was right or not.

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Team Update

 

The bye week could not have come at a better time. It is a credit to our staff that they would never say things publicly, but they certainly recognize the brutal hand that the Big Ten schedulers gave us. Unlike James Franklin, Lincoln Riley and Jed Fisch, you never heard a peep of an excuse out of this program, and now earn a much needed week at home. With that said, here’s our look into the injury updates that we’re able to provide. 

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Matthew Bedford/Jahlil Florence: Plan is to medical redshirt unless the staff deems their health is at a point where they can contribute in a real way to a title run

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Jamaree Caldwell: Should be all good. 

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Tez Johnson: Upper body injury and will be a question of whether the injury has fully healed or not. His return will be either UW or CCG, but don’t expect the staff to tip their hand prior to UW.

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Jordan Burch: Expect him to play vs UW. 

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There’s a lot of other beat up guys (Lowe, James, Manning and a few others) that will really appreciate another week.

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Recruiting Update

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This is going to be a heck of a fun close to the 2025 class, and we’re currently sitting #1 nationally in 2026. Some notes below:

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Elijah Melendez/Kaleb Burns: Both are committed elsewhere, but they make up our top two targets at LB for 2025. Expect to hear their names a lot between now and ESD, and I wouldn’t be surprised if either popped up on campus again. 

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2025 QBs: I know there’s been some discussion about Kealon Russell, but despite Dak Moore’s efforts, he’s solid to Bama as of this writing. That leaves 2025 as JKS or bust for our 2nd QB. I continue to like our chances, but am told it’s not the slam dunk I felt a month ago. There are some agent/$$ concerns and complications to work through. 

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Kendre Harrison: 2026 5-star TE will announce his commitment on 11/30. We’ve got a real shot here, and I’d rather be us than any other of his finalists. Watch for news regarding Harrison in the coming days on the Recruiting channel. 

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CB: Fluid situation here with Brandon Finney looking likely to flip to Penn State, although the Ducks are fighting hard to hang on. We also are sitting 2nd at best for tOSU CB Commit Naheem Offord, and watch him closely over the next few weeks. We’re gonna be fine here no matter what given the youth in this room. 

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Trust the Staff: We were the talk of signing day in 2022, and 2023. You really think we’re going to be 12-0 ranked #1 and not make another splash?

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Your $$ at Work​​

We continue to make really exciting updates within the Lockerverse app for our Ducks Rising community members. We have finalized  an “Exclusive Content” tab, which houses all of our interviews and articles to date. Look for this to be updated each week.

 

Furthermore, we continue to work closely with the staff to identify where we can help support the acquisition and retention of players heading into the 2025 season. Stay tuned for a very active next month with the portal opening and early signing day. 

 

What’s to Come at DR​​

We are looking forward to the launch of our first Ducks Rising campaign heading into the B10 Championship Game on December 7th! Stay tuned to your email and follow our socials for more details later this week! The campaign will incentivize members to both up their subscription level and also use their unique invite link to get friends, family and more duck fans to subscribe so start thinking about who you can get to join this amazing and growing community!

 

Also, look for part 1 of my exclusive interview with Oregon LB Connor Soelle, who gives you a great look into the brotherhood at Oregon and what makes this place special.