We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.
Chaos is opportunity.
When college football returns, a decided advantage will belong to the team that best avoided distraction during the tremendous upheaval caused by shutdown of campuses, team activities and spring practice.
Complacency and inaction simply aren't in Mario Cristobal's dictionary. Bet that the Oregon coaches are working in as many ways as possible to use this time to connect with recruits and players and work their plan.
In this series, we'll break down position groups to discuss whether the Ducks will be better or worse across the board as they prepare for defending their conference title and building on last year's 12-2 finish.
First up, Quarterback.
Key losses: Senior Justin Herbert
Returning: Redshirt Sophomore Tyler Shough, Redshirt freshman Cale Millen, Sophomore (walk-on) Bradley Yaffe
Key additions: scholarship freshmen Jay Butterfield (4-star), Robby Ashford (4-star). (Pending) Grad transfer Anthony Brown, Boston College
2019 Production:
Hebert 286-428, 66.8%, 3471 yds, 32 TD 6 INT
Shough 12-15, 80%, 144 yds, 3 TD, 0 INT
Coaching carousel: Offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo left to be head coach at UNLV, replaced by former Mississippi State head coach and Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead.
Better or worse prediction: Better
Wait, what?
Normally it'd be reasonable and prudent to expect a significant decline when a raw sophomore or grad transfer replaces a 4-year starter at quarterback.
But the case for optimism here is the synergy between Moorhead, an exceptional culture and two promising candidates for the starting job.
It isn't that Herbert was a bad quarterback. Rather, he was unrefined quarterback with superb intelligence and good physical tools stuck in a bad offensive system, a mishmash of Pistol and Spread formation that typically had a good script for the first 15 plays but floundered in the second and third quarter, finding a bit of momentum when they had to juice up the tempo late in games.
It was a better offense when no one had time to think.
There's a strong chance the 2020 offense will be more creative, consistent and productive than the 2019 version, which went into the tank in both of Oregon's losses, struggled with third and fourth down conversions and stumbled in the Red Zone.
Moorhead has said he wants to run the quarterback about ten times a game, and just the threat of that should open up the running game and the offense. Too many times last season it became painfully obvious Herbert wasn't going to keep. Opponents could sell out on the inside handoff.
The Ducks loosened up a bit at the PAC-12 Championship and in the Rose Bowl, and it led to touchdowns and big plays.
Last year the Ducks scored 28 points or fewer in six of their games. Their season scoring average of 35.4 was padded by cupcakes, blowouts and an opportunistic defense. In fact, against Stanford, Cal, Oregon State and Wisconsin the defense and special teams pretty much won the games on their own.
The Ducks needed comebacks to win several close games last season. Stanford, Cal, Washington, Washington State and Wisconsin all turned on a play or two, as did their losses versus Auburn and Arizona State.
After sputtering for just 203 yards in the 2018 Red Box Bowl, Marcus Arroyo's offense eeked out only 204 in the Rose Bowl, with 13 first downs. So much for having extra time to prepare.
Only three touchdown runs by Justin Herbert, plus a stellar game from Defensive MVP Brady Breeze, saved a win for the Ducks in Pasadena.
He brought Oregon their third Rose Bowl trophy ever, but Herbert has his detractors as a pro prospect. With three head coaches and three different coordinators during his college career, he didn't get a solid foundation in the nuances, techniques and mechanics of playing the position, which led to inconsistency:
In Moorhead, Shough, Brown and the rest of the quarterback group will be getting the kind of mentoring and direction that fosters developing their potential. Though neither has the 6-6 gunslinger's physical gifts, the offense and the quarterback position should be more productive and consistent in 2020, in an offense that's designed to score points and be explosive. Maddening predictability will no longer be a crippling issue.
