Football Practice Report: Nov. 2
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
Venue: Moshofsky Center
Format: Helmets only
Entering last week’s matchup with Arizona State’s aggressive, blitz-heavy defense, the UO offense knew it might be in for a boom-or-bust night.
The Ducks ended up scoring four offensive touchdowns in regulation, three on plays of 39 yards or longer, and the fourth a miracle fourth-down heave by Vernon Adams Jr. to force overtime. Conversely, they went three-and-out five times, before scoring four straight times at the end of regulation and in the three overtime periods.
“We knew we had to hit some big plays, and we landed some,” UO offensive coordinator Scott Frost said. “… We hit on just enough of them to make it happen.”
Ultimately, the ASU game might end up being the most uniquely challenging preparation of the entire season for Oregon’s offensive staff. For one thing, the Ducks expected the Sun Devils to make an effort to pick up their play signals, and so employed large white sheets on the sideline to shield them from the Arizona State coaches.
Also, ASU was allowing Pac-12 foes to rush for just 64.5 yards per game entering last week, which had UO coaches plumbing the playbook for new wrinkles to open up their rushing attack. Oregon ended up rushing for 186 yards, most allowed by ASU to an FBS opponent this season, and 163 came on just four plays, in keeping with the “boom-or-bust” game the Ducks anticipated.
“When they’re blitzing gaps, getting that many guys to the line of scrimmage … we knew we had to do some different things,” Frost said.
The Ducks used direct snaps to both running back Royce Freeman and receiver Bralon Addison over the course of the game. Those plays yielded minimal results, but Oregon ended up averaging 6.6 yards per carry thanks to its big plays, after USC, UCLA, Colorado and Utah combined to average just 2.18 yards per carry in ASU’s previous four conference games.
On the Ducks’ second possession of the game, the offense went three-and-out. Freeman ran for one yard on first down, then lost a yard on third-and-one to force a punt. He busted loose for runs of 64 and 16 yards later in the half, but on the first possession of the third quarter, Freeman ran three times for six yards.
“We’ve just got to execute early in the game,” Adams said Monday. “The defense gave us a lot of chances to score more points early in the game, especially in the first half. But I’m glad with how we finished.”
Against California this Saturday in Autzen Stadium (7:30 p.m., ESPN2), the Ducks will face a rush defense that has allowed 208 yards per game and 11 touchdowns over four games away from home. Both Adams and Frost said they hope a faster tempo can be employed to help provide Oregon’s offense some momentum this week.
At Arizona State, Oregon’s complex signaling system – five different sets of signals, all hidden behind the white sheets – contributed to a slower tempo, as did ASU’s pressure. Frost said the Ducks didn’t want to be “fast and frivolous” against the Sun Devils, instead taking time pre-snap to make sure the proper protection was set against the blitz ASU was showing.
But going forward, “I’d like to see us continue to go faster,” Frost added.
Practice notes: Monday’s workout was held at walk-through tempo, so there are no highlights to pass along. … In case you missed a couple news items today, Oregon’s Nov. 14 game at Stanford will kick off at 4:30 p.m. for a FOX television audience. Also, both Adams and kick returner Charles Nelson were named Pac-12 players of the week. … Freeman has been named a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award. Mariota Mariota took home the trophy last year as national player of the year in college football. …
There was a lot of excitement among the staff today for former UO offensive lineman Ramsen Golpashin, who came to Oregon as a walk-on and developed all the way into a starter to open the 2011 season. Golpashin took a job this fall as a graduate assistant at Hawaii; the Rainbow Warriors on Sunday dismissed head coach Norm Chow and promoted offensive line coach Chris Naeole to the position, with Golpashin expected to play an even bigger role coaching the team’s offensive line going forward.
