Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto
Sunday Notebook: Committing To The Run, Redd's Top 10 Play And More
10/14/18 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley
Oregon's overtime victory over Washington on Saturday ended in fitting fashion, with a power run between the tackles for a 30-27 win.
Part of Oregon's new culture under first-year coach Mario Cristobal involves confidence — in preparation, in game-planning, in fellow coaches and teammates.
Cristobal exudes confidence, and it's earned through his tireless work ethic. That trickles down to Oregon's players, and pays off in moments like Saturday's overtime against Washington.
Sure, the Ducks have a potential Heisman Trophy candidate in quarterback Justin Herbert. Yes, a late run play in an earlier chance to knock off a top-10 team, Stanford, had backfired.
But Oregon's preparation for the Huskies suggested a power run game could be potent. The game-plan was entrusted to that approach, and the Ducks were entrusted with executing it.
The results were unforgettable. After UW kicked a field goal to open overtime, Oregon redshirt freshman C.J. Verdell sliced through the "B" gap on the right side of the offensive line, straight onto the pages of the UO-UW rivalry's history. Verdell had fumbled with a chance to ice the game against the Cardinal. But his head coach stayed confident in Oregon's preparation, confident in the game plan Saturday, and confident in his players.
"He looked at CJ and he looked at Justin and he said, 'We're gonna score right here,' " junior offensive lineman Shane Lemieux recalled later. "Everyone agreed: 'Ok, yeah.' There wasn't gonna be talk of a field goal. (Cristobal) sets the tone with his intensity."
Cristobal's confidence was so unwavering, it didn't matter the winning touchdown would be scored between two backup offensive linemen. Tackle Brady Aiello and guard Jacob Capra were only in the game because of injuries to starters Penei Sewell and Dallas Warmack.
But on the final play Saturday, Aiello turned his man outside to seal the edge, Capra got upfield to lock up a linebacker, and Verdell faced only minimal resistance from a UW defensive back.
That's exactly how Cristobal, offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo and the UO coaches had seen it unfolding. Prior to the play, the Ducks took timeout. Washington was in a defense that would drop eight players into coverage; in a condensed field with the ball at the 6-yard line, that would mean very small passing windows. Better to go with an inside zone run play — no matter the personnel changes on the offensive line.
"It's difficult, but we trust Brady Aiello and Capra," Cristobal said. "We consider those guys in our circles as co-starters, for the amount of reps they've had at their particular spots."
The run play was in line with Oregon's game plan all afternoon. The Ducks are one of the nation's rare teams that excels in both facets offensively — as of Sunday, Oregon ranked No. 31 in the FBS in both rushing and passing yardage per game, heights only Alabama, Houston and Central Florida also can claim. But against UW, the Ducks relied heavily on the power running of Verdell and Travis Dye, behind an offensive line that didn't allow a carry for negative yardage by either back on 44 combined touches.
"We're gonna attack them where we felt we could continually move the ball, move the sticks," Cristobal said. "… Sometimes it's not gonna be 35, 40 passes. Sometimes it's gonna be getting downhill in the run game."
On 33 first-down plays, the Ducks called 26 rushes, which averaged 4.3 yards per carry. The Huskies wore down as the game progressed; Oregon averaged 3.8 yards per carry in the first quarter, 4.1 in the second and 4.3 in the third, before suffering a dip in the fourth due in part to UW's only sack of the game and a miscommunication between Herbert and the line that led to a big loss.
The offense wasn't as consistently explosive as that to which Oregon fans have become accustomed. But it was the smart play against a UW defense loaded with talent in the secondary, and which has allowed only 5.5 yards per pass attempt and five passing touchdowns through six games, both least in the Pac-12.
"We felt if we could get underneath their pads, start getting some movement and knocking it back, we could eventually wear this thing down and get some chunk runs," Cristobal said. "The game plan worked out how we felt it could."
Oregon's power run game was fueled in part by the team's only two Washington natives, offensive linemen Lemieux and Calvin Throckmorton.
Perhaps not coincidentally, both were among the Ducks' quartet of captains Saturday. Lemieux played start to finish at left guard, and Throckmorton opened the game at right tackle before moving to the left side after Sewell was injured.
Lemieux said his Washington roots made Saturday's victory particularly sweet. He and Throckmorton were redshirts in 2015 when Oregon extended its win streak over Washington to 12, but were starters for losses to the Huskies in 2016 and 2017.
"I think we were just tired of getting our butts kicked by them," Lemieux said. "I grew up in that neck of the woods. Hearing 'Bow Down' and that stuff really got to me."
Throckmorton's reaction hinted at a pregame speech given to the Ducks after their Friday practice by former UO quarterback Joey Harrington. The Portland native gave the current team an abridged history of Oregon football in recent years, and told them to do their forebearers proud.
"It's truly special, just seeing how hard our guys have worked for this," Throckmorton said after Saturday's win. "Doing it for the groups of players and fans that have come before us, that have really built a foundation for this program. Trying to honor them with how we're playing."
Oregon's offense wasn't entirely ground-and-pound, of course. Saturday also featured one of the most amazing passing touchdowns Autzen Stadium has ever seen.
With the Ducks down 17-10 just before halftime, they faced third-and-seven from the UW 9-yard line. Herbert took the snap and rolled out to his left under pressure. Making the sort of play that attracted to the game a group of NFL scouts including all-time great John Elway, Herbert squared his shoulders and fired a rocket to sophomore Jaylon Redd, who somehow handled the fastball and snuck a toe inside the sideline before falling out of bounds.
The play was No. 1 on ESPN SportsCenter's "Top 10 Plays" segment Saturday night.
"I understood Herb needed an outlet," said Redd, whose fourth TD reception of the season tied him with Johnny Johnson III for the UO lead. "I seen him scrambling and I knew the DB was either going to get me or he was going to get Herb."
Redd's momentum was taking him out of bounds so quickly, it didn't seem possible he'd been able to touch inbounds. But video immediately revealed the good news for Oregon — a sliver of green turf glowed between the toe of Redd's cleats and the white sideline.
"It happened so fast," Redd said. "When I got my foot down, I didn't even know if I was in or out."
Verdell's overtime touchdown was only possibly because Washington missed a field goal on the final play of regulation.
After Oregon earlier had missed a field-goal attempt in the fourth quarter, the Huskies drove to the UO 21-yard line with 43 seconds to play. Washington had all three timeouts left and a chance to further close the distance for freshman kicker Peyton Henry. But on second-and-two, UW rushed for another yard and then chose to let the clock run down to the final play.
Washington used a time out to stop the clock with 3 seconds left. Henry took the field. Cristobal called timeout to ice him. With one more in his pocket, the UO coach called another — negating a made attempt by Henry, as UW snapped the ball before hearing the whistle for the timeout.
"You don't have any other plays," Cristobal said. "You don't, right?"
Finally, the Ducks were out of timeouts. Henry's next attempt would count. The left-footed kicker hooked it to the right, and the game went to overtime.
Icing the kicker paid off for Cristobal, something he won't soon forget.
"If we have timeouts, I'm gonna keep going that," he said. "That's for sure."
Saturday's win helped the Ducks jumped up five spots in The Associated Press top 25, to No. 12.
Oregon hasn't been that high since the poll released Sept. 13, 2015, following a loss at Michigan State. Quarterback Vernon Adams played through injury that game, but he sat out the next four, which included losses to Utah and Washington State. More than three years later, the Ducks are falling back and knocking on the AP top 10.
"Now that we're really rolling, I think we're just getting started," Lemieux said.
Cristobal also said Saturday that "we do feel like we're just getting started." But he knows as well that confidence can't mushroom into overconfidence. Not when the Ducks are about to face their fourth straight ranked opponent, No. 25 Washington State in Pullman, Wash., on Saturday (4:30 p.m., FOX).
"Success, sometimes it's a little more dangerous than defeat," Cristobal said. "You're always on guard for that. Human nature is what it is. That's our fight as coaches every day."
Cristobal exudes confidence, and it's earned through his tireless work ethic. That trickles down to Oregon's players, and pays off in moments like Saturday's overtime against Washington.
Sure, the Ducks have a potential Heisman Trophy candidate in quarterback Justin Herbert. Yes, a late run play in an earlier chance to knock off a top-10 team, Stanford, had backfired.
But Oregon's preparation for the Huskies suggested a power run game could be potent. The game-plan was entrusted to that approach, and the Ducks were entrusted with executing it.
The results were unforgettable. After UW kicked a field goal to open overtime, Oregon redshirt freshman C.J. Verdell sliced through the "B" gap on the right side of the offensive line, straight onto the pages of the UO-UW rivalry's history. Verdell had fumbled with a chance to ice the game against the Cardinal. But his head coach stayed confident in Oregon's preparation, confident in the game plan Saturday, and confident in his players.
"He looked at CJ and he looked at Justin and he said, 'We're gonna score right here,' " junior offensive lineman Shane Lemieux recalled later. "Everyone agreed: 'Ok, yeah.' There wasn't gonna be talk of a field goal. (Cristobal) sets the tone with his intensity."
Cristobal's confidence was so unwavering, it didn't matter the winning touchdown would be scored between two backup offensive linemen. Tackle Brady Aiello and guard Jacob Capra were only in the game because of injuries to starters Penei Sewell and Dallas Warmack.
But on the final play Saturday, Aiello turned his man outside to seal the edge, Capra got upfield to lock up a linebacker, and Verdell faced only minimal resistance from a UW defensive back.
That's exactly how Cristobal, offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo and the UO coaches had seen it unfolding. Prior to the play, the Ducks took timeout. Washington was in a defense that would drop eight players into coverage; in a condensed field with the ball at the 6-yard line, that would mean very small passing windows. Better to go with an inside zone run play — no matter the personnel changes on the offensive line.
"It's difficult, but we trust Brady Aiello and Capra," Cristobal said. "We consider those guys in our circles as co-starters, for the amount of reps they've had at their particular spots."
The run play was in line with Oregon's game plan all afternoon. The Ducks are one of the nation's rare teams that excels in both facets offensively — as of Sunday, Oregon ranked No. 31 in the FBS in both rushing and passing yardage per game, heights only Alabama, Houston and Central Florida also can claim. But against UW, the Ducks relied heavily on the power running of Verdell and Travis Dye, behind an offensive line that didn't allow a carry for negative yardage by either back on 44 combined touches.
"We're gonna attack them where we felt we could continually move the ball, move the sticks," Cristobal said. "… Sometimes it's not gonna be 35, 40 passes. Sometimes it's gonna be getting downhill in the run game."
On 33 first-down plays, the Ducks called 26 rushes, which averaged 4.3 yards per carry. The Huskies wore down as the game progressed; Oregon averaged 3.8 yards per carry in the first quarter, 4.1 in the second and 4.3 in the third, before suffering a dip in the fourth due in part to UW's only sack of the game and a miscommunication between Herbert and the line that led to a big loss.
The offense wasn't as consistently explosive as that to which Oregon fans have become accustomed. But it was the smart play against a UW defense loaded with talent in the secondary, and which has allowed only 5.5 yards per pass attempt and five passing touchdowns through six games, both least in the Pac-12.
"We felt if we could get underneath their pads, start getting some movement and knocking it back, we could eventually wear this thing down and get some chunk runs," Cristobal said. "The game plan worked out how we felt it could."
Oregon's power run game was fueled in part by the team's only two Washington natives, offensive linemen Lemieux and Calvin Throckmorton.
Perhaps not coincidentally, both were among the Ducks' quartet of captains Saturday. Lemieux played start to finish at left guard, and Throckmorton opened the game at right tackle before moving to the left side after Sewell was injured.
Lemieux said his Washington roots made Saturday's victory particularly sweet. He and Throckmorton were redshirts in 2015 when Oregon extended its win streak over Washington to 12, but were starters for losses to the Huskies in 2016 and 2017.
"I think we were just tired of getting our butts kicked by them," Lemieux said. "I grew up in that neck of the woods. Hearing 'Bow Down' and that stuff really got to me."
Throckmorton's reaction hinted at a pregame speech given to the Ducks after their Friday practice by former UO quarterback Joey Harrington. The Portland native gave the current team an abridged history of Oregon football in recent years, and told them to do their forebearers proud.
"It's truly special, just seeing how hard our guys have worked for this," Throckmorton said after Saturday's win. "Doing it for the groups of players and fans that have come before us, that have really built a foundation for this program. Trying to honor them with how we're playing."
Oregon's offense wasn't entirely ground-and-pound, of course. Saturday also featured one of the most amazing passing touchdowns Autzen Stadium has ever seen.
With the Ducks down 17-10 just before halftime, they faced third-and-seven from the UW 9-yard line. Herbert took the snap and rolled out to his left under pressure. Making the sort of play that attracted to the game a group of NFL scouts including all-time great John Elway, Herbert squared his shoulders and fired a rocket to sophomore Jaylon Redd, who somehow handled the fastball and snuck a toe inside the sideline before falling out of bounds.
The play was No. 1 on ESPN SportsCenter's "Top 10 Plays" segment Saturday night.
"I understood Herb needed an outlet," said Redd, whose fourth TD reception of the season tied him with Johnny Johnson III for the UO lead. "I seen him scrambling and I knew the DB was either going to get me or he was going to get Herb."
Redd's momentum was taking him out of bounds so quickly, it didn't seem possible he'd been able to touch inbounds. But video immediately revealed the good news for Oregon — a sliver of green turf glowed between the toe of Redd's cleats and the white sideline.
"It happened so fast," Redd said. "When I got my foot down, I didn't even know if I was in or out."
Verdell's overtime touchdown was only possibly because Washington missed a field goal on the final play of regulation.
After Oregon earlier had missed a field-goal attempt in the fourth quarter, the Huskies drove to the UO 21-yard line with 43 seconds to play. Washington had all three timeouts left and a chance to further close the distance for freshman kicker Peyton Henry. But on second-and-two, UW rushed for another yard and then chose to let the clock run down to the final play.
Washington used a time out to stop the clock with 3 seconds left. Henry took the field. Cristobal called timeout to ice him. With one more in his pocket, the UO coach called another — negating a made attempt by Henry, as UW snapped the ball before hearing the whistle for the timeout.
"You don't have any other plays," Cristobal said. "You don't, right?"
Finally, the Ducks were out of timeouts. Henry's next attempt would count. The left-footed kicker hooked it to the right, and the game went to overtime.
Icing the kicker paid off for Cristobal, something he won't soon forget.
"If we have timeouts, I'm gonna keep going that," he said. "That's for sure."
Saturday's win helped the Ducks jumped up five spots in The Associated Press top 25, to No. 12.
Oregon hasn't been that high since the poll released Sept. 13, 2015, following a loss at Michigan State. Quarterback Vernon Adams played through injury that game, but he sat out the next four, which included losses to Utah and Washington State. More than three years later, the Ducks are falling back and knocking on the AP top 10.
"Now that we're really rolling, I think we're just getting started," Lemieux said.
Cristobal also said Saturday that "we do feel like we're just getting started." But he knows as well that confidence can't mushroom into overconfidence. Not when the Ducks are about to face their fourth straight ranked opponent, No. 25 Washington State in Pullman, Wash., on Saturday (4:30 p.m., FOX).
"Success, sometimes it's a little more dangerous than defeat," Cristobal said. "You're always on guard for that. Human nature is what it is. That's our fight as coaches every day."
