Thoughts on Oregon's offense

[SnoSki]

TL;DR: How can Oregon have such a low Time Of Possession (110th in the nation) yet still post a scoring defense ranked 26th?

GP loves running a slower-paced offense because it allows his defense to rest. He loves running the clock down as much as possible, and with the right personnel, it works, as we have all seen (baylor is a good example). The problem is, offenses run a greater risk of errors when they run more plays.

My question is: are we pushing it, odds-wise, when we ask our young offense to engineer 5-minute+ scoring drives? We were 8th in the country this year with 32:44 mins per game of possession yet currently rank 69th in scoring offense.


What is the balance here? At what point do you have a defense that is well rested, yet also have an offense that can run fewer plays (and thus risk fewer mistakes) and still score?

Oregon seems to have figured this out. They rank 110th in Time of Possession this year, but are still 26th in scoring defense. TCU is 30th.


Does the TCU defense need to rest 35-36 minutes per game to be effective?

 

[More Frogs the Better]

I personally think our offensive strategy of possession is very sound and has served us very well. Go back to the Rose Bowl, we could have--and maybe should have--pushed it more as we had a substantial athletic advantage over their defense. But, we also kept our defense fresh against an offense known to wear down opponents off the field for much of the game.

Without slowing down the game this year, I'm afraid that it would have been way worse than it was. The offensive output of opposing teams against us vs some of our conference mates allowed us to be in games.

The problem to me was not this strategy--both teams in the Championship games employ it--but the fact that our offense was so anemic as to put our defense in position to have no room for error. Fuente seemed to have a good sense of managing the game through possession and opening up when we needed to. The challenges we faced this year from QB and OL play, along with the failure of our OC's to find some advantageous matchups while continuing to put them in challenging positions, obscured the benefits of that strategy.

 

[SnoSki]

..but the fact that our offense was so anemic as to put our defense in position to have no room for error. Fuente seemed to have a good sense of managing the game through possession and opening up when we needed to.

Agreed with both points 100%. I hope (and fully believe) that we can improve in these areas.

 

[ProfessorChaos4]

It didn't matter how fast our offense got to the line of scrimmage this year. They weren't effective when they got there. Total plays would have gone up, but that doesn't mean plays per possession would have. Possessions for the opponent would have gone up, as would facepalm moments for the Professor.

With a more dangerous offense, like the one we thought we'd have this year, I would not be against picking up the tempo from time to time. I imagine it would be tough for a d to adjust from an offense that goes from playing keep away to moving at breakneck speed within the same drive or series of drives.

I don't think tempo and aggression go hand and hand. Playing a slow tempo doesn't mean play calling needs to be conservative. I know in the past I would have loved to see us go for the jugular more often. I'd prefer that kind of play calling at any tempo.

 

[SnoSki]

My biggest thought is that maaaaaaybe 32:45 TOP on average is more than enough to rest a defense. I trust GP knows more than I can dream of, however.

 

[ProfessorChaos4]

It's not just a product of trying to rest the defense. Opposing offenses have trouble staying on the field against us. If opponents are not racking up time of possession, someone is going to. There's no neutral column for TOP. So whether or not we're trying to milk the clock, time of possession can very naturally tip in our favor when the defense is strong. Honestly, I think that was more the reason we excelled in TOP this year. It sure wasn't because our offense was methodical drive after drive.

 

[DeuceBoogieNights]

Would love to see TCU go to a more uptempo style like Oregon. What I like about Oregon's offense is that even though its a spread they still focus on running the ball.

 

[tcujsauce]

What I like about Oregon's offense is that it actually works.

 

[jake102]

What I like about Oregon's offense is that it actually works.

haha yep. Until we get certain players back and a halfway functional OLine, up-tempo offense means more plays where I say What the Heck? just happened? I'm all for reducing the number of plays we have on offense and hoping the defense scores or sets us up with field position.

If Casey comes back, Waymon is healthy and the OLine is decent, I change my mind.

 

[tcujsauce]

haha yep. Until we get certain players back and a halfway functional OLine, up-tempo offense means more plays where I say What the Heck? just happened? I'm all for reducing the number of plays we have on offense and hoping the defense scores or sets us up with field position.

If Casey comes back, Waymon is healthy and the OLine is decent, I change my mind.

I think you and I seem to be on the same page there... Casey changes (almost) everything. I will add a stipulation to that... a Casey who comes back and has the kind of senior year we expected him to before all of the shenanigans changes (almost) everything. It's kinda scary to think about how good we could possibly be with him under center and the other weapons we'll be adding on offense. Good gawd.

 

[The original ArgyleFrog]

even though I played in an up-tempo offense in high school and see first hand how it can wear down a defense over time, I like the style of offense we play.

with some of the track meets we'll be playing in the big 12, the longer the opponents offense is on the bench, the better.

 

[Frog DJ]

I think Oregon's offense will look really different when Chip Kelly goes to the NFL.

Go Frogs!

 

[Klaw]

I wish we would try to emulate Stanford's offense. I love how their power running game enforces their will on their opponent. Also,I believe it's hard to prepare in the age of spread offenses and I believe It would complement GP's defense perfectly.

 

[The original ArgyleFrog]

I wish we would try to emulate Stanford's offense. I love how their power running game enforces their will on their opponent. Also,I believe it's hard to prepare in the age of spread offenses and I believe It would complement GP's defense perfectly.

it would take years to re-recruit and implement a power, pro style offense... right now, we're totally loaded for a light em up spread offense, we just don't have the OL

 

[dkfrog]

Any position coaches on the Oregon staff that we could scoop up when Chip Kelly leaves for the NFL?

 

[Delmonico]

Any position coaches on the Oregon staff that we could scoop up when Chip Kelly leaves for the NFL?

Only if any of them have a beef with the OC.



If the Ducks do lose Kelly to the NFL, Oregon offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich will be promoted to head coach, sources confirmed to ESPN. That decision was first reported by USA Today.

 

[jake102]

it would take years to re-recruit and implement a power, pro style offense... right now, we're totally loaded for a light em up spread offense, we just don't have the OL

Yep. At the end of the day, we are just short players who are 1) healthy 2) experienced 3) good at QB and OLine.

Give us the 2008, 2009 or 2010 OLine, Pachall never pops a curb and we are playing on Monday as the #1 team in the nation. Shoot, give us Marshall Newhouse or Marcus Cannon and Pachall and we are playing on Monday.

 

[The original ArgyleFrog]

Yep. At the end of the day, we are just short players who are 1) healthy 2) experienced 3) good at QB and OLine.

Give us the 2008, 2009 or 2010 OLine, Pachall never pops a curb and we are playing on Monday as the #1 team in the nation. Shoot, give us Marshall Newhouse or Marcus Cannon and Pachall and we are playing on Monday.

totally hypothetical, but would voters have given us the nod if we were undefeated (assuming Bama had the 1 loss to aTm)? I sure would have liked a TCU - Notre Dame battle of the Catholics vs Protestants

 

[jake102]

totally hypothetical, but would voters have given us the nod if we were undefeated (assuming Bama had the 1 loss to aTm)? I sure would have liked a TCU - Notre Dame battle of the Catholics vs Protestants

Yep. KState was ahead of Bama I believe and I don't think Bama had any shot at catching them.