Ungoy wrote:
I think Oregon's biggest problem is hubris. They got complacent and bought into the hype that they were unbeatable. They didn't start rally passing until the game was to far out of reach....
While I totally agree that the Oregon team was pretty full of themselves, I don't think that was their core problem here. Stanford beat them last year too. Oregon players were quoted as saying they simply did play hard enough. Two years in a row? Don't think so.
I think it is a system issue and I think the implications are big for BYU.
#1. Stanford wore down at the end. The Ducks actually almost had a chance to win! This points out the power of the high-tempo spread offense.
Implication for BYU: if cougs keep it close with the badgers, they can win it in the end (see Houston game).
#2. A strong pass defense is the chinck in the armor for the up-tempo spread. If an offense backs away from passing attempts just by a few percentage points, or fails to maintain a better than 50% completion rate) then it allows the defense to concentrate resources towards stuff the run. Stanford did this. Two short-yardage plays means a lot of third-and-longs, and that means low productivity on offense. Stanford got the Oregon QB out of his rhythm and the runners were simply unable to gain ground because the Cardinal front seven were ready for them.
Implication for BYU: Wisconsin will SURELY try this and with the size and speed they have on defense have a high probability of succeeding. Passing effectively and scoring in the first quarter will seriously blunt the effectiveness of this approach and get the UW defensive coordinator guessing. Hill cannot be expected to carry the team on his running alone. If he tries to do this the offense will collapse (see Utah game).
