Spring Football Q+A with SBNation site Addicted To Quack about Oregon

by TwistNHook on May 30, 2011 3:00 AM PDT in California Golden Bears Football

GLENDALE AZ - JANUARY 10: Oregon Ducks fans sit in the stands after the Ducks were defeated 22-19 by the Auburn Tigers in the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game at University of Phoenix Stadium on January 10 2011 in Glendale Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

They went for All The Tostitos. And got none! But had fun in the process. Today, we are talking with our friends from up north, those lovable booers of the concussed, Addicted To Quack.

Oregon was once known for being a Cal knock off, doing just well enough to crush the hopes and dreams of their fans. However, in recent years, thanks to the largess of Uncle Phil, they've skyrocketed not just up the charts of AP Top 25, but also the Eugene Police Blotter. They hope to put some of the bad news behind them in 2011 and continue their elite run for that Mythical National Championship.

AddictedToQuack has their ear to the ground when it comes to University Of Nike's football squad. How will those Quazzy Quackers do in 2011? Join me after the jump to find out more about LaMichael James, Darron Thomas, and Kiko Alonso (whoops, cancel that last one!). Many thanks to AddictedToQuack for their answers to our hard-hitting questions. GO BEARS!

1. What were the core questions that you had hoped would be answered by Spring Practice? Were conclusions reached?

1. A lot of people look and see that we have LaMichael James, Darron Thomas, and Cliff Harris coming back and assume that there are no question marks. But, while the sexy names come back, this team did lose quite a bit and it left us with a number of holes to fill. The worrisome spots are the offensive and defensive lines, where Oregon lost three starters each; the receiving corps, where both Jeff Maehl and DJ Davis are gone, and a big hole where Casey Matthews used to be at middle linebacker. Coming out of spring, results are mixed.

Defensive line looks to be in great shape, and perhaps even better than last season. Terrell Turner, the only returning starter, missed most of spring with a leg injury, but virtually all of the players Oregon was counting on stepped up wtih big springs. Three hundred pound sophomores Ricky Heimuli and Wade Keliikipi both blew up the spring game. Dion Jordan, the converted tight end, looks ready to build on his excellent sophomore season, and Brandon Hanna seems ready to fill in for Kenny Rowe at drop end. We went from feeling somewhat worried about this group to very confident.

However, we're not feeling so hot about the other spots. Josh Huff missed most of spring with a leg injury, and Lavasier Tuinei did nothing to suggest he is ready to be the #1 receiver. We're hoping one of our talented freshmen is ready to go this fall, because we didn't see much out of the current crop. Its hard to get a good judge of the offensive line, but if the season started tomorrow, we'd have a starting center with virtually no experience and a former walk-on at guard going up against LSU. As for the middle linebacker spot, we though we had that solved as Kiko Alonso had a monster spring, then promptly got arrested for passing out in the wrong house just hours after he blew up the spring game. As Alonso missed all of last season after being suspended for DUI, none of us expect him to be around next year, leaving a gaping hole in the middle of our linebacking corps.

2. Any major style changes coming our way in the fall? New offense or defense installed?

2. Nothing other than regular Chip Kelly tinkering. One thing to keep an eye on, though, is that Oregon ran a number of plays from under center in the spring game, and we could see somewhat more of that next season, though we still expect it to be rare.

3. What players emerged on offense? On defense?

3. I'm not sure we got a lot of questions answered on offense this spring. Running back Lache Seastrunk looked really good early in the spring, but fell off dramatically and was surpassed on the depth chart by walk-on Ayele Forde, who had an excellent spring in his own right, by the end. On defense, I've already mentioned the names: Heimuli, Keliikipi, Jordan. Again, we had thought Alonso before his arrest.

4. What are your biggest worries coming out of spring ball for the fall?

4. See question #1, offensive line, wide receiver, middle linebacker.

5. Project your season. Contender? Pretender? Middle of the pack?

5. We should again be the favorite to win the conference. While we have concerns that we have mentioned, we have a lot of talented players who will be good with experience. Our panic comes from opening against LSU, which isn't exactly a soft landing pad. If I had to pick a result for the season, I'd say 11-2, which should be enough to get us to Pasadena.

6. Going for All the Tostitos again? What happened last year and how can Oregon improve on last year's performance?

6. Oh, sure. Its certainly possible. But so much has to go right for a team to make the national championship game. You have to avoid major injuries. You have to pull out a win when you're not playing very well (the UO/Cal game last year). You have to be both good AND lucky. We'll know the answer to this early on, as we open in that LSU game. If we win, we're certinaly in the hunt early. But I wouldn't bet my house on it.

Poll

How will Oregon end up in 2011?

Contender

716 votes

Middle Of The Pack

36 votes

Pretender

30 votes

782 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 13 comments | 0 recs |

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Defensive line looks to be in great shape, and perhaps even better than last season. Terrell Turner, the only returning starter, missed most of spring with a leg injury, but virtually all of the players Oregon was counting on stepped up wtih big springs.

Given that they think they might have o-line issues, I don’t know how well one can gauge the defensive line from spring practices, especially if they weren’t starters last year and don’t have track records. I think Cal has had the same issues too, where performance in spring (and fall) camp is relative to the rest of the team, but not indicative of absolute quality. Of course, this only means we’ll lose 42-6.

n.b. -- This comment does not constitute official chemical advice.

by sec119 on May 30, 2011 9:27 AM PDT reply actions

That's a great picture

…it’s almost as good as sad Oregon fan from the Boise State game.

"Some people watch adult videos on their computer - I go to YouTube and watch Jahvid Best highlight clips. That’s what gets me going."- Jim Schwartz, Detroit Lions head coach

by Berkelium97 on May 30, 2011 10:55 AM PDT reply actions

Really? There are people who voted Oregon to be a pretender?

by LeonPowe on May 30, 2011 6:26 PM PDT reply actions

Spite votes, maybe?

California Golden Bears: 2nd place is nothing to sneeze at!

by atomsareenough on May 31, 2011 9:48 AM PDT up reply actions

Oregon WRs

Maehl was a more integral part to the success of the Oregon offense than most people think. His hands, reliability, and playmaking ability are underestimated. As ATQ noted above, Oregon must get production out of their freshmen WRs. I think Blackmon and Sumler will be a pain to cover because of their speed. I am not sure what to think about Vaughn. I just would not put any money on any one of those guys to produce results like Maehl next year. I think the hardest thing to replace will be his versatility in being a homerun threat, a consistent possession receiver, or the reliable receiver to make a big play when needed. Maehl was all of that and I don’t see any of the new WR being able to step up to a role like that this upcoming year.

Tuinei is an ok WR for his role but I do not think he will be able to even hold Maehl’s jockstrap and come close to touching his production. Anybody who injures himself while setting a pick loses some points in my book.

by Cali49a on May 30, 2011 8:45 PM PDT reply actions

Its hard to get a good judge of the offensive line, but if the season started tomorrow, we’d have a starting center with virtually no experience and a former walk-on at guard going up against LSU.

Sounds good to me. Last year, people pointed out that Oregon graduated 1343 OL starters from 2009 and that they would take a step back. Oregon fans pointed out that their backup OL had a plenty of starts and got the last laugh.

Is it the same case this year? Will the Oregon OL have starts this year that got significant PT as backups or rather, second on the depth chart since Oregon rotates their OL freely, last year?

by Cali49a on May 30, 2011 8:49 PM PDT reply actions

You have to pull out a win when you’re not playing very well (the UO/Cal game last year).

I cannot believe this comment has not been refuted by somebody on CGB until now.

Really, ATQ? The Oregon offense did not play well against Cal? How about giving Cal’s defense some credit for stopping the Oregon offense? I saw plenty of Oregon OL getting pushed back 2-3 yards into the backfield consistently. I saw Cal sniffing out the Oregon screen game. I saw successful Cal blitzes. I saw 2 Cal DL beat the 3 OL on the right side of the Oregon line to knock the ball loose and score a TD. I saw a slugfest in the trenches.

Cal by no means dominated the Oregon offense but they prepared and executed a gameplan that nobody else tried for an entire game against Oregon. Other teams took note of that and are now scouting what Cal did.

by Cali49a on May 30, 2011 9:06 PM PDT reply actions

BTW, I reviewed this game 4 times already. Every offense has dropped passes, missed blocks, bad throws, bad reads made by the QB, and some calls that go their way each game. Every defense has mistackles, blown coverages, missed assignments, and some calls that go their way each game. Cal and Oregon 2010 was no different. Oregon won some plays and so did Cal. The biggest differences were that Cal was able to minimize its mistakes, had a great game plan, and played inspired in front of a home crowd.

by Cali49a on May 30, 2011 9:12 PM PDT up reply actions

Care to write up a fanpost with your thoughts? I think all of us would appreciate your insight. Why do you think that our defense played well against spread teams (Zona/Oregon), and not so much against pro-style power attacks? (‘sc/furd) You can’t pin all of that on the scheme and game plan. Unfavorable match-ups + execution errors? Did guys just have bad games?

Old Toothwrangler

by Kodiak on May 31, 2011 3:25 AM PDT up reply actions

Maybe but it will not be a comprehensive post on the entire season. Too much work.

You can’t pin all of that on the scheme and game plan. Unfavorable match-ups + execution errors? Did guys just have bad games?

Exactly. As much as scheme and game plans can be blamed for losses, scheme and game plans cannot take complete credit for wins. It still boils down to execution on both sides of the ball mostly. The field position game and turnovers were major factors in some of Cal’s blowout victories and losses.

When Cal gives up poor field position, there is often more than just a simple answer or person to blame. Where did Anger punt from on the field? Was it a good punt? Was the punt coverage good? Why the hell would Anger be kicking so damn close to his endzone in the first place? Then you turn eye to the offense’s previous possession. Were there missed blocks by the OL on a running play? Were there bad throws or reads by the QB? Was it a dropped pass or wrong route by the WR? Was it the playcalling? Did the defense just make a good play? The point is that there are a ton of things that go into determining the outcomes of games.

by Cali49a on May 31, 2011 7:44 PM PDT up reply actions

Anything you feel like putting together would be great.

I could see a snowball effect of field position and execution issues. I was just curious from a scheme/strategy standpoint if we were compounding things with our calls.

Old Toothwrangler

by Kodiak on Jun 2, 2011 2:04 PM PDT up reply actions

Also, fake injuries. Every single play, Cal faked an injury, so that totally invalidated everything Cal accomplished in that game!

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by TwistNHook on May 31, 2011 7:21 AM PDT up reply actions

“Boooooo! Booooo!”

by Cali49a on May 31, 2011 6:57 PM PDT up reply actions

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Golden Bears Football Schedule

Fresno St.	Sat 09/03	W 36 - 21
@ Colorado The Ralphie Report	Sat 09/10	W 36 - 33
Presbyterian	Sat 09/17	W 63 - 12
@ Washington UW Dawg Pound	Sat 09/24	L 23 - 31
@ Oregon Addicted To Quack	Thu 10/06	L 15 - 43
USC Conquest Chronicles	Thu 10/13	L 9 - 30
Utah Block U	Sat 10/22	W 34 - 10
@ UCLA Bruins Nation	Sat 10/29	L 14 - 31
Washington St. CougCenter	Sat 11/05	W 30 - 7
Oregon St. Building The Dam	Sat 11/12	W 23 - 6
@ Stanford Rule Of Tree	Sat 11/19	L 28 - 31
@ Arizona St. House Of Sparky	Fri 11/25	W 47 - 38
@ Texas Burnt Orange Nation	Wed 12/28	L 10 - 21