I Would Dye 4 U: UCLA Game Preview
When is the Rose Bowl not the Rose Bowl?
Resending this one because I somehow made the headline image say “Cal Game Preview”—not technically wrong since they’re all part of the UC system, but I’m nothing if not thorough on my second try.
The Ducks are storming Los Angeles this weekend to face the UCLA Cheatin’ John Woodens in what feels like a matchup of the two best teams in the conference.
This game looked HUGE after week two, and it’s still pretty big, but after Oregon’s loss to Stanford, and UCLA’s losses to ASU and Fresno State, this game is really just Pac-12 level big. But that’s still gigantic as far as I’m concerned.
I have three main keys to an Oregon victory tomorrow: 1) lots of Travis Dye, 2) AB’s upswing, and 3) stopping Chip Kelly.
Let’s jump right into it.
1. Travis mf Dye.
I’ve been telling you since the start of the year, running is our identity. It’s boring to always lead these previews with run-run-run, but I’d be a total failure if I didn’t.
Against Cal, Travis Dye stepped up in CJ Verdell’s absence and proved that he is truly every-down-back material. His legs don’t stop. I’m not sure if they’re even capable of stopping.
Caldwell also flashed some brilliance in the few moments where we gave Travis a second to breathe, but the bulk of the running load (and short passes that might as well be runs) will surely fall on those trusted Dye shoulder pads.
It helps that run-blocking was incredible yet again in the Cal game, and Alex Forsyth is allegedly a full-go this week, so it should get even better.
Also, Jaramillo and Powers-Johnson didn’t play at all against Cal, which was weird and we still haven’t heard anything on their status as of Friday, but even just getting Forsyth back—your center, your captain, your veteran—will help the offensive line improve even just slightly in pass protection, which continues to be a bigger challenge for the group.
The next key is another “duh” but it comes from a very specific comment from Mario.
2. Anthony Brown continuing to get just a little better each game.
Even through the struggles, it’s really important to avoid thinking of AB as anything close to a Braxton Burmeister-type of guy. The only thing Anthony Brown has in common with Braxton Burmeister is that Akili Smith likes both of them.
Akili just happens to finally be right this time.
Unlike so many of the true busts of Oregon’s past, we’ve actually seen AB succeed with our own eyes. We’ve seen him win football games. Big ones.
And he has a chance to win another one of those tomorrow.
Last week, AB bounced back with his zone reads on the ground (with a team success rate of 75% on running plays per ATQ’s hythloday), but Mario Cristobal specifically called out a need to improve AB’s passing reads.
He mentioned that third down passing scenarios where the check down passes were thrown well-behind the line to gain—I’m pretty sure you all can recall a few of those.
He said they’ve broken down how those types of decisions need to change, and that they’ve demanded that Anthony work deeper into his progressions, and make the decisive pass downfield when the receiver is truly there. They still want him to protect the ball, and they’ll still lean into the small gains, but especially on money downs they want him to trust his arm as much as they do.
And we know he can make those passes, it’s just a matter of going for them. We’ve seen it before, and we saw it as recently as Cal with long passes to a re-emerging Devon Williams a bunch of times, and in his TD to Jaylon Redd to bring us back to life.
I trust the process, and I hope AB does too.
3. Don’t let Chip go full Chip.
Chip Kelly almost beat Oregon last year with Chase Griffin under center, and this year they’ll have their veteran QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson (#1).
They’ll run Chip’s fancy, confusing, and diversified modern triple option offense with funky o-lines, and a whole lot of inventive play calling.
Stopping UCLA means that Oregon will have to be incredibly disciplined in their assignments in the run game, and the linebackers will have to have their best tackling game of the year.
I’m not worried about Noah Sewell, obviously. Mase Funa is supposed to be back at full strength. And Adrian Jackson looked lean, fast, and BACK against Cal.
The real test will be needing solid play out of the next group of Heaukulani, Brown, and Bassa in order to stop the Bruin’s two-headed monster at running back, Zach Charbonnet (#24) and Brittain Brown (#28).
But obviously, a lot of defensive headaches can be avoided with finally getting a full four quarters out of Superman himself, Kayvon Thibodeaux.
In the second half against Cal, KT provided pressures on 10 out of 22 passing plays, and he was an absolute game wrecker.
That poor Cal offensive line didn’t stand a chance.
The Bruins have a better o-line, but Kayvon already looks like he’s ready for Sunday, so unless the LA Rams are lining up tomorrow, I expect a whole lot more chaos all day long from KT.
It’s a big game. It’s huge for the Ducks’ continued path through the Pac-12. College Gameday is in town. Fowler and Herbstreit are on the call. We’ve got speckles on our jerseys, too.
It worked last week, so once again, I say we’re winning by one.
35-34, Eggheads.
Go Ducks.