Trav's Ten Takeaways from the Stanford Win
Via Travis Rooke-ley
The Ducks got it done Saturday, although it wasn’t always pretty against a bad Stanford team. 4-1 sets us up really well, with a tricky trip to the Desert this week before a bye week heading into the big stretch. Big Week ahead!
- Bucky Irving: I feel like I haven’t given Irving enough love this year for his ability to shake contact, and turn 5 yards into 20. His combination of power, balance and speed is really good, and although he’s not elite, he’s the best guy we’ve had back there in years. Combined with the burst that Whittington provides, I’m loving this 1-2 combination.
- Run Game: In general, our running attack was just dominant. Basically averaged 10 YPC, with Nix bursting a few big runs himself. We introduced some new looks in the run game and clearly identified that we could beat them to the edge all day long. This was one of the main differences between WSU and Stanford and it’s good to see our offensive staff identifying a clear weakness and attacking it.
- Nix: Definitely not his best game, and he was lucky to escape without any INTs after a couple of balls were forced into coverage. Stanford’s strength is their secondary and it’s not like he was missing wide-open guys all night. However, from a passing perspective, we were not nearly as dialed as the last few weeks, but the success of the run game limited that need by the end of the first half. We have the guys at WR and TE to win matchups if teams stack the run, we just need Nix to continue to protect the ball.
- Penalties: Completely unacceptable, especially from the veteran OL. Although they have been great in opening running lanes, and protecting the QB, the penalties are starting to creep up. Once again, it’s a great thing that we are still winning these games by a big margin, but we can’t keep digging ourselves holes and getting behind the chains. The false start penalties in the red zone have to stop after they almost cost us the WSU game.
- Pac-12 Refs: Having said all that, the PAC-12 crews continue to be an absolute embarrassment. There were multiple calls, especially the horse-collar and holding penalties, that were just not close. It has been a problem in the conference for 20 years and still, nothing has changed. This is reason enough to join the BIG-10 in my opinion.
- DBs: Granted it was a good matchup for them, but I liked what I saw from our secondary and think they are getting better by the week. Gonzalez continues to shine and will be great at taking away one side of the field on pass-happy teams like AZ, SC, and UW. Bridges works in the right matchup and Manning and Florence continue to get valuable reps each week. They have really improved at playing the edge, getting off blocks, etc.
- LB’ers: Not sure if this is a hot take, but I think Bassa has been pretty clearly our best LB so far this year. His versatility in playing both the run and pass is much needed, and he’s been all over the field the last three weeks. Sewell looked a lot better Saturday and was clearly healthier than he’s been all year. Flowe has held out and I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t see him until UCLA. His skill set at this point isn’t a great fit against AZ. I think we see a lot of Bassa, Hill, and Williams playing the middle of the field this week.
- Punter: WAY BETTER. This is the last element to a much-improved unit as a whole this year.
- AZ Passing Offense: They can throw the ball, and I think Jed Fisch will have his team ready with some tricks like WSU. This is a massive game circled for them, and expect a good crowd and tricky atmosphere in the Desert. They have good WRs and we need to be able to get pressure with our front to get DeLaura rattled early.
- Prediction: I hate the trip to either Arizona school, and will always be nervous no matter the year. Their defense is abysmal, especially their ability to stop the run. We should be able to run at will, control the ball and score 45+. Nix needs to be solid, protect the ball, and hit one-on-one matchups if they start loading the box. Given what I expect from the environment, it is crucial that we come out strong and get points early. The common thread of past struggles down there is a huge hole in the 1st half. I think we run for 300+ and put the game away late 3rd quarter. Ducks 48- 24
