I don't know how the coaching chain of command works at Oregon in terms of determining who plays when...but not playing James more snaps and giving him more carries(and Nix too) is a major coaching blunder.

Nix and James combined had 11 rushing attempts while Irving had 9 for a pitiful 20 yards.

Anyone watching the game(the proverbial eyeball test) could see Irving was struggling throughout the game.

WHO of the coaching staff stood there and decided for essentially the entire game that Irving was productive and helping the team?

And Irving himself? If it is not working for you(apparent ankle injury against USC) then man-up and take yourself out for the SAKE OF THE TEAM.

A 3-point loss means even slight adjustments could make the difference in the outcome. That is the difference between winning the Pac-12 Championship Game and maybe being in the Playoffs vs playing Liberty.

UW had 37 rushing attempts...28 of those by Dillon Johnson.

I don't care if it was James, Nix or both but Irving should not have had the most carries given how he was performing.

Only the coaches can tell us why.

OldMacManaic wrote:

Bucky tweaked his ankle during the first half of the SC game. was helped to the bench directly below our seats (Sec 12, on aisle w Sec 13). as a trainer was tending to his leg, he tore off his helmet & threw it to the ground. a few minutes later he was helped to the rehab tent about 30 yards up the sideline. and we all went 'oooo nooooo'.
he came back in the game a few possessions later. ran for a 20-yard TD first play of Q4. had the final three runs and 4th-down-conversion catch before Bo knelt to end the game. so his ankle was OK, although ankles have a way of getting retweaked.

as Lanning said, nobody is 100 percent this time of year. but the decline in UO's late-season rushing stats is misleading. ASU and OS sold out to stop the run, and SC had Bear Alexander in the middle. so Bo just threw for about 15 TDs and UO WRs led the nation in YAC.

UW front-7 controlled the line of scrimmage last Friday. Dillon Johnson was carving up 5, 6, 7 yards on 1st down; Bucky and JJ2 2-3 yards at most. and the UW secondary played lights out; jammed receivers, broke up passes, and regularly tackled in space to limit YAC.
Bo has been a godsend these past two years, and we don't win 21 games w/o him. but he has limitations. he has not delivered the long ball consistently, and he doesn't make some of the next-level throws that Penix, Caleb, Maye, or Daniels can (like the one in Tempe over the top of Deo Lenoir in 2019).
DeBoer and his staff had two year's worth of film on Bo and the Oregon offense. they crafted a game plan, executed it, and it worked. and if it hadn't been UW, it woulda been Michigan, UGA, Bammy, or another athletic D.

Oregon had two fluky YAC plays in the waning moments of each half; Tez to set up a TD and Traeshon for a 63-yard TD v prevent. Ducks were 2-of-2 on 4th-down attempts; sacked Penix on UW's only 4th-down try. got a fingertip catch by TFergs for a TD. got bailed out on 3rd-and-10 incomplete by a questionable PI and then got a TD. Cam even made a FG.

and we still lost. UW was the better team, esp w McMillan (9 catches) back after missing the the Oct game. Dawgs coulda won by 17-21.

We started that game with a bunch of passes. If you're going to call yourself a "physical" team, you have to run the ball, and you don't allow the opponent to dictate to you. JJ had a 7 YPC average, while Bucky averahed 2.2. It was easy to see in game, but it really sticks out when watching film: Bucky continually missed the hole, and often ended up running into the back of his blockers. 
I agree Bo has his limitations, and I agree we were damn lucky to have him.
My feeling is we should have come out running and mixing it up more. Oh well.
 

I think as far as Oregon's running game, we need a big bruising RB. I like small quick Bucky, James and  Whittington. But this team needs a feature back like a Royce Freeman, Blount or going way back - Ruben Droughns type for playoff football.