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Oregon: Walking a tightrope - Printable Version

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Re: Oregon: Walking a tightrope - Leftcoast - 11-09-2010

I wonder if that will change the Oregon play calling?  

Think of all those QB bootlegs, Wildcat formations and designed QB option runs used against Stanford.  The Oregon system, as run the past few years, exposes their QB to significant injury risk (eg.  Dennis Dixon).  

Does Chip Kelly continue to call those plays with a shot at the NC on the line?  Can he afford not to with his remaining Pac 10 schedule - California, Arizona & Oregon St.?

This could be interesting.

Re: Oregon: Walking a tightrope - needle - 11-09-2010

There\'s a precedent. Remember what happened to Oregon after Dixon went down in 2007. They went from being national title contenders to losing three straight.

It\'s the one obvious downside to the style of offense Oregon plays:  the QB tends to take a lot of hits.

Re: Oregon: Walking a tightrope - Farm93 - 11-09-2010

Honestly, one QB injury takes a lot of teams down.  In many ways it was impressive that Oregon lost Thomas for a few weeks and did not slow down one bit.  Remember, this was to be Masoli\'s team.  So Thomas was #2 and Costa was #3.

So Oregon\'s system seems quite capable of working with non-#1s.  From the Oregon side it sounds like they really do not want to burn a year of eligibility.  My guess is that the team is more than capable of beating the three Pac-10 teams left on their schedule with or without Thomas.

The problem might be that they win ugly and fall out of the BCS Championship game.  

Re: Oregon: Walking a tightrope - washingtonismoney - 11-09-2010

If Oregon wins out ugly, they go to the championship game. There\'s no way an undefeated team from an automatic conference is edged by a one-loss team from an automatic conference (or an undefeated team from a non-AQ conference.)

Re: Oregon: Walking a tightrope - needle - 11-09-2010

Um, Farm93, Oregon beat Washington State with Costa filling in for Thomas.

The Ducks then had a bye, and Thomas returned the next game.

So, it remains to be seen if Oregon can deal with Thomas out against a quality opponent.

Re: Oregon: Walking a tightrope - fullmetal - 11-09-2010

Thomas\'s speed and the wide OL splits (brobdingnagian pocket) should give him a lot of room to take off and at least see pressure coming.  I don\'t think Stanford was able to get to Thomas...

Re: Oregon: Walking a tightrope - jayasena - 11-09-2010

This problem is not unique to Oregon. Anyone care to guess where Stanford would finish if we lose Luck for any significant amount of time?

While it\'s true that we don\'t expose the QB as much as Oregon does, Thomas has demonstrated he can sit back and pass quite well. And with James and Barner in the back field, it\'s very likely Oregon can beat at least two of the three remaining teams on their schedule without risking Thomas too much. The only potential stumbling block is Arizona but that\'s of little comfort to us -- a 1-loss Oregon is the worst-case scenario for our BCS hopes.

Re: Oregon: Walking a tightrope - needle - 11-09-2010

A (look back at a) look back at Oregon\'s QB injuries:

Bad luck, not just spread-option, to blame for Ducks\' quarterback injuries
by John Hunt, The Oregonian
Thursday September 18, 2008, 6:22 PM

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2008/09/bad_luck_not_just_spreadoption.html