Oregon used to compete for national titles with one of the country's most explosive and fast-paced offenses, a scoring machine that produced 45 points a game and big plays by the bushel. LaMichael James, Marcus Mariota and their teammates lit up opponents at warp speed, buried them in avalanches of innovation and excitement. Fans understandably miss that.

A vocal few want simplistic explanations and quick fixes. They look for someone to blame when results don't immediately match their inflated expectations. Since the beginning of the season Marcus Arroyo has become a target of Social Media and message board criticism as the Oregon offense struggled to produce at anything like the rate of the past.

It crystallized yesterday during a game in which the Ducks struggled to generate much offense against a top-rated defense, just 203 yards and 11 first downs in a 7-6 win over Michigan State in the Red Box Bowl to finish the season 9-4.

Yesterday afternoon in Santa Clara Oregon punted 11 times. Justin Herbert completed only 5 of his first 11 passes, for 16 yards. At the half the offense formerly known as The Quack Attack had a total of 90 yards, a paltry 18 on the ground.

Marcus Arroyo's playcalling looked like three billboards outside Lansing, Michigan carrying a plea for anything like continuity, rhythm or design. On the very first play from scrimmage Herbert rolled right on that fake botched handoff/flat pass. MSU covered it like they'd seen it 50 times, which they had, in film study.

The Ducks didn't score until they picked up the tempo on a drive in the 4th quarter, going 77 yards in six plays that took just a minute and 40 seconds on the clock.

Their junior quarterback and NFL abstainer found Jaylon Redd for 15 yards. Travis Dye ran for three. Herbert connected with Redd again for 18.

Dillon Mitchell squeezed 9 yards out of a quick screen down the right sideline. Dye took the ball again and squirted for four yards to the Michigan 28. From there, Herbert dropped back with time and arced a back shoulder throw to Mitchell in the right corner of the end zone near the pylon. Oregon's all-time single season pass reception yardage leader pivoted, clutched the ball between his knees as he tumbled out of bounds, in the field of play by one butt cheek as he established possession. Touchdown.

Adam Stack made the extra point, and the lone TD of the game was good for a 7-6 lead.

After the play Duck cornerback Thomas Graham found Herbert on the sideline and told him, "We got you," meaning the defense would take the game from here.

It took fumbled snaps and missed placements and nail-biting pass breakups, but they did. A win is a win is a win. Oregon hoisted their first bowl trophy in four seasons, just ten days after securing the highest-ranked recruiting class in school history.

Their head coach declared emphatically that he isn't going anywhere. "I'm a Duck and we're going to take care of business," he said. The team, unified in the glow of a winning sideline, a Gatorade dunking and trophy celebration, chanted his name in unison. This, a year after signing a petition enmass to get him the job. The future is bright.

Linebacker Lamar Winston led the Oregon defense with 10 tackles and half a sack. After the game he said, “We’ve been able to handle all this adversity with all the switches, and now we have a coach that is here to stay,” Winston said. “Especially a guy like that — mentor, leader, all that type of stuff. Guys are going to get developed and develop fast.

“Now we don’t have to go into the winter nervous, anxious. Now we understand.”

Justin Herbert added, “Things didn’t always go our way this year,” Herbert said. “But we battled through a lot, and I think we found out how tough this crew is.”

If the players are on board, you should be too.

But for many fans, winning isn't enough. They want dominance. They want style points. They want instant high-level results, forgetting this is a process, a process born in the wreckage of three head coaches in three years and two lost recruiting classes.

Monday afternoon in Santa Clara Oregon receivers dropped six passes. A long gain bounced inextricably off Dillon Mitchell's helmet. A beautifully thrown ball in the end zone leaked out of his hands.

At one point in the game the Ducks Jevon Holland all but bisected and vivisected Michigan State tight end Matt Dotson on a pass over the middle, and Dotson showed incredible toughness by hanging onto the ball. Oregon tight ends had just two catches on the day, to go along with a pair of momentum-killing drops. All season long they were 50-50.

Early in the game Herbert placed a football in a perfect spot, a throw into a tight window to Johnny Johnson down the left sideline. Johnson mistimed his jump, and a long completion turned into another punt.

The Ducks played a game in 25 mph wins against one of the country's stingiest defenses after a four week layoff. They didn't have a turnover. They had just two penalties for 15 yards, and only one of those was against the offense, and that one was for a supposed crackback block when Jaylon Redd cut a defender down at the knees who was lined up directly across from him.

They made few mistakes, but they made even fewer plays. Catch the football better yesterday and Oregon wins comfortably, probably 21-6.

The Ducks persevered Saturday through a variety of obstacles. Certainly give credit to Michigan State for a stifling defense. Recognize also that poor field position constricted Oregon's offense, particularly in the third quarter where three possessions started at the 11, 1 and 6. Those are tough holes to dig out of, particularly against an opponent with an aggressive, stunting defensive line.

Arroyo becomes a target for fan vitriol, but much of it isn't justified. He didn't drop any passes or miss any blocks.

A central assumption is, Justin Herbert is supposed to be the #1 quarterback in the country. Why aren't they more productive?

In truth, Herbert is the #1 prospect. He's far from a finished work as a passer and a leader. He still has work to do in his reads and the consistency of his delivery. In the first half he forced a ball to Ryan Bay that had little chance to succeed and could have been intercepted. He missed throws. In the fourth quarter he underthrew Mitchell in the end zone on a play where his #1 receiver had two steps on the defender for a score. He missed opportunities to scramble out of trouble.

Arroyo has 9 long months to continue his development and refine his game.

Along with closing out recruiting and setting the tone for the winter workout program, Cristobal and his staff will make a thorough off season evaluation of the offensive system, what worked and how to score more points and achieve greater consistency.

A rise in talent will help. Oregon had a season-long problem with depth at receiver, the ability to get open and finish plays. It was a known issue, directly attributable to the Taggart departure and recruiting losses: when CWT defected to FSU, the Ducks lost Warren Thompson, Braden Lenzy, Miles Battle, Michael Ezeike, Devon Williams and Tre'Shaun Harrison within a few days. That's a gigantic talent drain, the seed corn of the future, speed and pass-catching ability that could have pushed the team's returnees into better productivity.

A loss of continuity requires a reset. Oregon's 2019 receiving class will raise the bar. Herbert and Arroyo will have far more to work with. Sean Dollars should add some much-needed explosiveness. Nothing ignites an offense like a big play, having a guy who can make one guy miss and turn it into six points. Mycah Pittman is another athlete with that kind of playmaking ability. Jaron Waters is another. Herbert could have targets that are taller, faster, more confident and more sure-handed, receivers that can get open, score touchdowns and move the chains. So often this year he made next-level throws that weren't matched with a next-level finish.

On the existing roster, Jaylon Redd looks ready to move into the role of dangerous weapon as a slot receiver. He grabbed 7 passes for 65 yards against MSU, a couple in traffic, to go along with five touchdown catches over the year. Overshadowed by Mitchell, he has explosive potential that hasn't been fully used, and he's showing more consistency.

Now a redshirt freshman after sitting out the bowl game, 6-5 Bryan Addison has the lithe body and catch radius to be the possession target the Ducks sorely lacked in their over dependence on Mitchell.

As the architect of all this, people forget that Marcus Arroyo is only 38 years old, an age where Mike Bellotti was still toiling at Chico State and Chip Kelly at New Hampshire. He has a degree in Kinesiology, the science of movement. He's been coaching since he was 23, an offensive coordinator at four stops. He's hard-driving and erudite.

Fans underestimate him badly because statistical models like "coach effect" don't adequately account for the fact that teaching football is a learning process, and coaching an offense is a collaborative one. An entire offensive staff contributes to a game plan. The playcalling philosophy the Ducks employ bears the forceful imprint of Cristobal, who has a fervent belief in going right at an opponent and knocking people back in the trenches.

As a young coach, you build an understanding of the game. There's a subtle and complicated relationship between coaching and talent. Arroyo hasn't had overwhelming success yet as an offensive coordinator, but he didn't have the best talent at San Jose State, Southern Mississippi, Wyoming or Tampa Bay. He's a good football mind, incredibly hungry to adapt and get better results as Duck OC.

He knows a lot more football than his critics, and he works every day to increase that knowledge. A dynamic recruiter, he's tremendously passionate about gathering new tools and information to teach his quarterbacks.

People forget that the Ducks were on their fourth offensive coordinator in four years, with an entirely new system, an offense that lost Tyrell Crosby, Royce Freeman and Charles Nelson.

The Ducks entered the season without a proven running back and with only one reliable receiver. The offensive line was solid, but suffered a series of decimating injuries that hampered its cohesion and effectiveness, having to play a different combination every week. At the Red Box Bowl it was the flu that benched Dallas Warmack. Calvin Throckmorton had to line up at guard, Brady Aiello at right tackle.

Critics gloss over the victory over Washington and an agonizingly close loss to Stanford, weekends where the offense had imagination, variety and multiplicity, or the Oregon State game, where the Ducks lost their franchise quarterback and still pounded the hapless Beavers for nearly 400 yards on the ground.

The sound solution for Cristobal and his program is to trust the commitment of a very intelligent and committed staff that will put in the work to improve the offense. Coaches borrow formations, plays and concepts from each other all the time, at camps, clinics and during film study. The UO staff should enter spring practice with a firmer plan, a clearer idea of what will work for their personnel and assets.

A poorly disguised Swinging Gate pass attempt by the punter on 4th and 8 probably isn't it.

Adding to a senior, 4-year starter at quarterback, Oregon returns all five starters on the offensive line, including three players, Calvin Throckmorton, Jacob Hanson and Shane Lemieux, who have three years starting together. As a unit the offensive line returns over 125 career starts when you add in Brady Aiello, Freshman All-American Penei Sewell and senior-to-be Warmack. Along with Herbert, this is the strength of the team. Arroyo and the rest of the offensive brain trust have 9 months to put them in the best position to succeed. An offense that returns 10 starters (possibly 11) will be among the favorites in the conference despite a challenging road schedule. To meet them, they'll have to execute better and prepare a better script for the early possessions of the first quarter.

In year one, they did fantastic job improving the discipline and resilience on this football team. This group hung together. They didn't quit after tough road losses. They continually improved and won in adversity. They accepted bitter lessons of close defeats, and showed composure in a couple of last-minute wins. The victories over ASU and MSU were the direct result of all the learning that took place in losses to Stanford and Utah, surviving the incredible tension of that overtime win over the Huskies.

Teaching a team how to win is the most difficult thing in football. X's and O's are just more time in the film room, more study of what's going on around the country.

A few years ago Nick Saban and Alabama won a national championship over LSU 9-6. Saban decried the spread and tempo era and tried to oppose it in interviews, citing player safety concerns. "What are we doing with our game?" he asked.

What's happened since then? Saban adapted. He hired Lane Kiffin to revamp the Alabama offense, introducing the spread and tempo. He recruited a fearless athletic quarterback in Tua Tagovailoa and surrounded him with fleet receivers. Now Bama has a fearsome offense to go with their intimidating defense, and they are playing for their sixth national title in ten years.

Oregon has miles to go before they can sleep to those kind of dreams. It's a process of development, talent acquisition and using the strengths of your people. It's making sound evaluations and adjustments. Firing Arroyo would be the sort of revolver pointing best left to a circular firing squad. Build on what worked, enjoy the successes, and have some patience.