Rose Bowl Preview: Scouting Oregon's Offense

While watching film on Oregon’s offense, it reminded me a lot of an offense that Ohio State has seen before. Running out of the spread, UO generally utilizes a single-back set with the quarterback in shotgun formation and three wide receivers plus a tight end.

The Ducks bread-and-butter play is the zone-read option, something the Buckeyes use as well. Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez also uses it extensively.

Basically, the zone-read option starts out with the offensive line either moving to the left or to the right to block after the snap and the quarterback puts the ball into the belly of the running back. At the time, the quarterback then reads what the backside defensive end does, who usually goes unblocked.

Now, the first options are for the quarterback to either hand the ball off to the running back if the defensive end stays at home and keeps containment, but if the defensive end follows the play with the offensive line, the QB then can roll out to the backside where the defensive end should of been and the quarterback can get outside on the edge.

The third option is to have either a second running back or a wide receiver trail the quarterback, who can then pitch the ball to either one of those offensive players. Another option would be that the QB could throw a quick screen pass if the defense puts “eight men in the box.”

While this offense seems simple enough to defend, it can give a defensive coordinator fits. But there are ways to stop it in its tracks. The best way is to employ a variety of defensive packages with different looks and pressures that would force adjustments to the blocking assignments and confuse the quarterback’s reads.

One benefit that Ohio State has is that defensive ends Thaddeus Gibson, Cameron Heyward, and Nathan Williams are very agile and athletic.

In total offense, Oregon is 25th in the NCAA (second in the Pac-10) averaging 424.7 yards per game, though clearly the Ducks are better on the ground than through the air, which seems ironic. UO is ranked sixth in the NCAA (first in the Pac-10) in rushing offense, averaging 236.1 yards per game.

LaMichael James, a 5'9", 180-pound redshirt freshman, who has gained 1,476 yards on 215 carries (6.9 avg) and 14 TDs, is eighth in the NCAA averaging 123.0 yards per outing.

In the passing department, 5'11", 220-pound junior quarterback Jeremiah Masoli is efficient (133.7), though he’s not going to throw the ball a lot or all over the yard. In 11 games, Masoli averaged almost 26 passing attempts per contest, and only once did he throw for over 300 yards. He threw for more than 200 yards in just four other occasions.

Masoli has completed 58.9 percent (168-of-285) of his passes for 2,066 yards with 15 touchdowns and five interceptions. Masoli is also Oregon’s second-leading rusher gaining 659 yards on the ground in 115 attempts (5.7 ypc) and 12 more scores.

Overall, Oregon is 92nd in the NCAA (ninth in the Pac-10) in passing offense averaging 188.6 yards per game.

When the Ducks do throw the ball, Masoli likes to get it to Jeff Maehl, a 6'1", 175-pound junior wide receiver, who has hauled in 52 passes for 686 yards and six touchdowns. Second on the team in receiving is 6'5", 243-pound senior tight end Ed Dickson, who has 42 receptions for 551 yards and six TDs.

One thing is for sure, Masoli is hard to bring down behind the line of scrimmage. The Ducks have yielded only 12 sacks all season.