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Oregon 49, Arizona 0 - JohnR34231 - 09-23-2012

Are the Ducks that good, or is Arizona that bad? I'm afraid it might be the former.

Arizona squandered a bunch of chances to score early, or the game might have been closer.

Like him or not, Chip Kelly is an excellent coach. He loses his starting QB and a Voldemort quality RB and doesn't miss a beat. I know a lot of people say it's because he cheats, but I still think it's an impressive accomplishment.



Re: Oregon 49, Arizona 0 - 81alum - 09-23-2012

At first Arizona looked very good--moved the ball well on offense and kept it close on defense.  It was only in the second half when Oregon scored the tourchdown and two point converstion to make it 21-0 that Arizona folded up.  I was actually pretty impressed with Arizona despite the final score.  Arizona will not be a pushover this year.

I watched most of the game and the Oregon defense worries me as much as their offense.  Their defensive scheme of rotation and the fact that they practice against their fast tempo offense seems to make it impossible to "wear down" their defense the way we like to do with our run game.  I'm not sure how talented their defense really is, but year in and year out they seem to play as well in the 4th quarter as the 1st--and that has to be the scheme. 

As for their offense, the game last night fits a fairly typical pattern similar to when we played them in Eugene two years ago.  Defenses can keep up with them and compete during the first half, but begin to break down in the second half.  It is a similar principle to our run game--we hope to wear a defense down so that our run game is far more effective deep into the game than it is in the first quarter.  With Oregon, it seems that defenses can only stay focussed for about a half before they begin to lose gap discipline or a step of quickness, and that is when the Oregon offense pours it on.  Hopefully our improved and much deeper defense will do better than last year and keep the game closer.

We will see how our team continues to develop, but Oregon seems to me to be a vastly superior team to USC and should be a much greater challenge.

Re: Oregon 49, Arizona 0 - pcgoode - 09-23-2012

I watched most of the game and came away with a lot of the same conclusions as JPRI. The only way I can see beating the Ducks this year is if our front seven on D overwhelms the Oregon O line and they just can't get their running game going. This is what LSU did to them and what USC did to them last year (at least for the first half of the latter game, and then USC's offense was able to score enough points and have Oregon miss a field goal at the end of the game).

From what I saw, Arizona's running game was pretty weak, and their red zone offense was pathetic. I expect that if the Cardinal puts in a good effort that we will beat these guys without too many problems.

Hmmmm. I was impressed by both - Redrum - 09-23-2012

Arizona less so, but I saw an much different Arizona team than we were used to under Mike Stoopid.  Sort of what you might expect Oregon looked like when Chip Kelly first started to build his speed machine.  AZ does have speed and they use the horizontal, fast passing game to get their guys moving in space very soon after the snap.  Last night they were playing against an Oregon defense that plays fast, too,  but watching AZ made me wonder how our guys would handle that kind of fast action.  My guess is: not as well as Oregon did. 

Oregon is just scary.  What they've done to us in the past should keep our enthusiasm in check.  I try to think what a Nunes first half-like performance against USC would translate against Oregon and it's not a pretty picture.  On defense we are deeper in capable players than any time in the recent memory.  It's an opportunity to actually do rapid-change personnel rotations without brobdingnagian talent mismatches,  but that requires a whole different sideline operation organizing and triggering the replacements before they go in and  both on-field players at the end of the play and the sideline replacements be in motion at the whistle.  I have not seen that kind of organization ever on our sidelines.  Nor does one at almost any other college football team.  But it's a necessary response to the hurry-up if you don't want your defense worn down.

And then, Stanford's particular repetitive troubles just getting the right number of guys on the field vs. USC  and getting the right players for the package (costs timeout) doesn't inspire confidence.  Once again,  it almost requires a whole change of football sideline culture to keep guys ready for that kind of rapid change operation.

Re: Oregon 49, Arizona 0 - metsjetsfan - 09-23-2012

I suppose the one good thing is that Stanford gets to play Arizona first.  That can provide an opportunity to somewhat get used to the pace and offensive scheme in preparation for Oregon.

Unless Nunes takes monumental steps forward between now and Nov 17 (which is not out of the realm of possibility), it will be very difficult to keep up with Oregon in a shootout.  At the minimum there CANNOT be turnovers, especially in the red zone, as that's what did Arizona in.

So it is likely that the blueprint for success will be more similar to 2011 LSU or 2010 Auburn than 2011 U.S.C. or 2009 Stanford, with a dominating defensive front 7, overpowering run game, and turnover-free QB.  That sounds reasonable enough to hope for with this Stanford team, no? Have faith!

Re: Oregon 49, Arizona 0 - JeffInCorvallis - 09-23-2012

Stanford's defense has been stellar so far, but Oregon presents a whole new level of challenge.  If they manage to put up 35 or 40 on us I don't see our offense being able to match that.  I think our defense is quite capable of holding Oregon under that number, but if the offense is going three and out it's tough to keep coming back on the field and contain them.  They are so explosive they can score from anywhere on the field.  It only takes one blown assignment to offset a few outstanding defensive series.

Re: Oregon 49, Arizona 0 - JohnR34231 - 09-23-2012

The U$C Oregon game should be a good indicator.

If the Ducks run them out of the Coliseum, we've got big problems.
If it's a reasonably close game we've got a shot.

Of course, how we are doing then and how much the offense has improved will be an indicator, too.

Re: Oregon 49, Arizona 0 - Renaissance Man - 09-24-2012

Arizona should have had a large lead by halftime.  The Arizona defense handled Oregon very well until, predictably, they wore down midway through the third quarter.  Stanford has much more talent and speed on defense than Arizona and, more importantly, has much more depth.  Stanford will be able to substitute at all positions without significant drop-off.  If the offense can control the ball at all, fatigue will not be the factor that it was for Arizona.  I came away from watching the game feeling very encouraged that this Stanford team has every chance of winning at Autzen.

Re: Oregon 49, Arizona 0 - OutsiderFan - 09-24-2012

Need to see a few more games before deciding if Stanford can beat Oregon or not, but here's one fan's assessment of the situation.

The consensus seems to be Stanford's offense will get better and better as the season goes on as Peat takes over at LT and Nunes gains experience.  We'll see if this is the case.

My biggest question is does Stanford have the depth on defense to be able to keep from getting worn out by Oregon? 

NT:  Yes.  Stephens and Parry have been great.
DE: Not sure.  Gardner, Anderson, and Mauro have been great, but who is the 4th guy?  Is he good enough?
OLB:  Yes.  Murphy, Thomas, and Debniak have been great, but is Kevin Anderson ready to do the job if needed?
ILB.  No doubt.  Skov, Vaughters, Tarpley, and Lancaster have all played great.
CB. Yes.  Brown, Lyons, Browning, Carter have been a revelation
Nickel:  Yes.  Amanam and Harris have shown they can really ball.
Safety.  Not sure.  Reynolds and Richards have been very good, but who is behind them?  Carrington isn't good enough to avoid being a brobdingnagian drop-off at FS.  That leaves Olugbode (when he returns) and Hoffpauir as the likely backups.

If Stanford can get one more DE on the field playing at a high level, and two more Safeties, without much drop-off from the starters, Stanford's defense will have the depth it needs to really slow Oregon's offense, probably to its lowest output of the season.

Whether this is enough to win will depend on Stanford's Offense, which to me was the primary culprit when Stanford lost in 2011. 

Another thing.  David Shaw has to realize he's playing a different game against Oregon.  He's playing a team that will go for it on 4th down from its own 30 yard line, that will go for two when it isn't necessary, and will onside kick.  Stanford will have to be similarly aggressive.  Stanford's game plan should call for going for it on 4th down on every single 4th and 1 or less it has outside its own 30 yard line.