Let that be a lesson to you, Portland State.

"If we didn't punch you in the gut now, how would you learn to take a punch in the gut by someone else? You should be thanking us."

--My older brothers when I was young.

  You're quite welcome, Portland State. And by the way, Oregon owes the Vikes a debt of gratitude by showing their young version of the new "pistol" offense. It's the latest greatest offensive design, making the "spread option" so yesterday -- unless you listen to Notre Dame.  Their coach Brian Kelly talks like they had just invented the spread. It's so tricky, it's even fooling the Fainting Irish (1-2).

   Anyway, the Ducks will supposedly see the pistol again when UCLA comes to town. So even PSU's failed attempted at it in this 69-0 drubbing gave the Ducks a real time peek at how it might work.

  Although Portland State just didn't have the horses to make anything happen, they still showed the strengths and weaknesses of this system:

Strength of the pistol: By design, the set up makes it very difficult to predict the direction of the play. With a loan running back lining up directly behing the QB, it's hard to predict whether the play might run left or right, if at all. Defenses cannot cheat to one side or another for fear of getting burned.

Weakness: The QB lines up in a shotgun, but a short one -- a good two full steps closer to the center (hence, the pistol).  If an opposing defense has superior talent up front (and Oregon does), and they can work to get even just one player into that backfield from any direction on enough plays, he becomes instantly close to the ball action. There is less space for the QB and RB to work than in the spread option. One or two opponents in the backfield can blow the play up. And that's what happened to PSU all day long.

Messin' with the backfield.

  The other factor was that Oregon was able to plug up holes along the line, forcing the ball carrier to run east/west until pursuit from behind caught up.

   Nevada, where the "pistol" was invented, is the team to watch to see how it's supposed to work correctly. But my theory on defending it for now is to work to get one person from any direction into the backfield as quickly and often as possible, and that messes up the rhythm.



The real winner: Those new Carbonite helmets. Awesome!

Moving right along, Dennis Erickson views football options like health plan options. Don't bring that Pinko Socialist BS into his office. His QB's stand in the pocket already planning to do just one thing. They handoff. They pass. They run. They get sacked.

  That's football. That's America.

   This year's ASU offense is no different, although the direction of the passes will apparently be different from previous years. Rob Moseley of the Register Guard has the story:

Oregon football: In turning back the clock,

Erickson revamps ASU attack

By Rob Moseley
The Register-Guard
Appeared in print: Thursday, Sep 23, 2010

Some elements will be familiar — four or even five wide receivers, and running backs able to pound away between the tackles.

But, as Chip Kelly put it when discussing Arizona State recently, “comparing last year’s offense to this year’s offense, it’s like comparing apples and oranges.”

ASU coach Dennis Erickson hired his old assistant from Oregon State, Noel Mazzone, as offensive coordinator for the Sun Devils this season. Though ASU still employs trademarks of Erickson’s offense, differences are apparent as well.

Mazzone has quarterback Steven Threet operating out of the shotgun in a spread offense.

Erickson has long endorsed spreading the field with multiple receivers, but Mazzone’s unit favors quick strikes from the quarterback on shorter routes, including an element Erickson felt was lacking last season, screen passes.

The Sun Devils finished eighth in the Pac-10 in scoring offense in 2009, and ninth in total yardage. Whether they can improve in 2010 will be significantly tested Saturday when ASU hosts Oregon at 7:30 p.m., but if nothing else it won’t be business as usual for Arizona State.

“They’re definitely different than Dennis’ operation has been in the past,” Kelly said.

In his film review of ASU’s first three games this season, Kelly saw an offense that operates primarily with one running back, eschewing a tight end in favor of a fourth receiver in some cases.

The quarterback is Threet, a big — 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds — pocket passer who transferred from Michigan when the Wolverines switched to a spread-option offense.

So while ASU’s offense might resemble Oregon’s prior to the snap, the Sun Devils are much more inclined to throw the ball, while Oregon is a run-based spread team.

[This brings me to an important point. ASU is running the spread. Michigan is running the spread. Notre Dame is running the spread. Appalachian State is running the spread. And yet it is possible for each and any of these teams to look different from the other. Oregon runs more. ASU passes more. Notre Dame loses more.
  It's time that we got more specific with the types and names of every team's spread. If you run between the tackles all the time, you run the "Sandwich Spread". If you pass left or right to your RB's in the back field, you "Spread your wings".  Passing down field a lot permits you to call your style "Spread Eagle".  Smiling and pointing at the camera after every play is the "Cheese spread".  Poor execution so your ball carriers are constantly flat on their backs is the "Bed Spread". 
   Help me out. What am I missing?]

In other words, Threet appears to be no Darron Thomas in the running game.

“He hasn’t had to — but I don’t know if that’s by design,” Kelly said of Threet, who has 10 carries for 17 yards.

“He’s made some plays with his feet in their first three games. He doesn’t have a ton of carries, but it doesn’t look like he’s been forced to carry the ball, either.”

Threet’s preferred target so far has been UO transfer Aaron Pflugrad, who has 15 receptions in victories over Portland State and Northern Arizona, and a loss last week at Wisconsin. [There's a sad story. Aaron left Oregon when Kelly fired his father, receivers coach Ryan Pflugrad. Definitely some hard feelings. Aaron would love nothing more than to get back at the Ducks who gunned down his pa.]

But fellow wideouts Kerry Taylor and Mike Willie each have 13 receptions, as well.

Erickson has never shied away from running the ball out of multiple-receiver sets, and this season has been no different. Cameron Marshall leads the running backs with 167 yards on 26 carries, with five touchdowns.

Freshman Deantre Lewis is averaging 8.4 yards per carry and had 122 yards at Wisconsin, and Kelly has also been impressed with Jamal Miles, a sophomore running back who is ASU’s primary return man.

Arizona State’s offensive line has been much-maligned in recent years, but the Sun Devils expect more stability this fall. And with a new quick-strike offense, the line won’t feel as much pressure to sustain its protection.
[Even if ASU's offense is improved (Third in the league at 461 yards per game), their defense appears to be not much better than last year's. In three games, they've given up an average of 313 yards per game, and that includes 440 in their loss to Wisconsin last week. The other two teams were Portland State and Northern Arizona. Oregon leads the league in both scoring offense (189), scoring defense (13), total offensive (611 yards), and total defense (193).  Add to that this team's (like all Erickson teams) penchant for penalties. ASU outpaces the Ducks almost 2 to 1 for number of penalties and yards. It'll all be too much for the Sun Devils to overcome. ]
Injury update

Linebackers Bryson Littlejohn and Spencer Paysinger and tight end David Paulson look ready to contribute for the Ducks on Saturday after nursing injuries in practice early this week, but others remain questionable.

Notably, Kenjon Barner remains limited by a groin injury suffered against Portland State. Kelly said Wednesday that Cliff Harris will return punts Saturday if Barner is unable to fill that role.

Quarterback/running back Daryle Hawkins (knee), guard Nick Cody (back) and tackle Darrion Weems (back) were also limited Wednesday.

Reserve tight end Brandon Williams remains sidelined with a cast protecting his injured hand, but has done exercises to maintain his fitness, and has caught passes with his good hand.

Cooling down

After two days practicing with elevated heat levels in the Moshofsky Center, the Ducks opened the doors to the indoor facility Wednesday to cool it down.

The Ducks also spent two days practicing in a stuffy Mo Center prior to beating Tennessee. In both cases, players were weighed before and after practice to monitor their hydration levels.

“We lost a lot of weight yesterday,” Kelly said Wednesday. “So we got a chance to recover Wednesday, Thursday (and) Friday from that and make sure everyone’s hydrated.”
Game time Saturday 7:30 pm Pacific. Televised on Fox Sports.

If you are one of those college football fans who is discouraged by all the bad/sad stories of stupid college players -- the computer thieves, girlfriend beaters, drunken brawlers, pot smokers, face punchers, golf cart stealers, naked three point-stance police tacklers . . . then the link to the following story is for you.
   Brandon Bair is Oregon's fearfully huge defensive lineman. Married with one child, owns a business. And the day after he frightens the bejesus out of ball carriers, he teaches Sunday School at church.
   In case you missed it, Ken Goe had his story in Thursday's Oregonian:
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindducksbeat/2010/09/oregon_football_husband_father.html

Finally, several Pac -10 teams will be involved in some really exciting games this Saturday. Starting at 12:30 Pacific, Stanford is at Notre Dame and UCLA is at Texas. Then at 5 pm on ABC, Oregon State is at Boise State. 
  You may have heard that this week OSU painted their practice field blue to prepare for BS (No joke).  Great move Beavs. Is that so you won't forget who is kicking your butts?
  Really though, I want Oregon State to win. It would do the whole nation a favor to knock BS out of the top 10. But as a proud Duck fan, this is as close as you will get to hearing me cheer for OSU.

"Hey Beavs, try not to screw this one up. OK?"

--kb