I admit to wanting Arroyo canned and am glad to see him move on.  Just sayin’...

Totally agree, log haulin’.

Except Cristobal and Arroyo did a GREAT job in keeping Herbert upright for an entire season. They basically eliminated him from being a running option during the regular season until the last two games. Oregon would not have won the North, Pac-12 and Rose Bowl had Herbert missed any games.

A couple of sesaons ago Oregon was a train wreck in dropped passes...that is not Arroyo's fault. If WR's cannot catch a ball consistently then what plays does he call?

Interesting how a new hire for WR's coach immediately improved the dropped passes issue from 2018 to 2019 but who coached the RB's for the 2018 and 2019 seasons? Jim Mastro. Who? He flies VERY LOW below the radar in terms of fan criticism. When is the RB position coach responsible for poor rushing performances?

I do believe we are going to see more offensive firepower because of the recruiting efforts. The RB's and WR's over the past couple of years are not even close to the James, Barner, Freeman, Huff, DAT, etc days. Who has been Oregon's primary offensive "weapon" the past few years? Verdell gets hurt every other game it seems. Two-years ago Mitchell was the only Duck who could catch a pass consistently.

As Chip Kelly once said, "You can run really cool plays, but if you don't' have the right personnel to run those plays, you won't be very successful."(which he is proving at UCLA)

I think Cristobal / Arroyo and Herbert who finished second in Oregon history(behind Mariota) in Passing Yards and Passing TD's did an excellent job with an average to above average but not elite offensive talent around him. In their 3-years together starting under Taggart, the W-L record improved every year.
 

Last edited by DucksReign (4/27/2020 2:05 pm)

Mostly agree. I think as MC gets more of his guys we will see the offense catch up with the defense. I was never an Arroyo basher but I am ok that he walked.

LtTony wrote:

DucksReign wrote:

Except Cristobal and Arroyo did a GREAT job in keeping Herbert upright for an entire season. They basically eliminated him from being a running option during the regular season until the last two games. Oregon would not have won the North, Pac-12 and Rose Bowl had Herbert missed any games.

A couple of sesaons ago Oregon was a train wreck in dropped passes...that is not Arroyo's fault. If WR's cannot catch a ball consistently then what plays does he call? 

Arroyo is gone, so this is all academic.........And because I really really disliked his coaching. And because a reasonable argument can be made on both sides, imo. (Keeping your NFL QB upright isn't a ringing endorsement, though.)  So..................
Yes, WRs dropped A LOT of passes.
Beyond that, I will keep it simple: I contend Oregon won the RB not because of Arroyo, but in spite of him. And despite terrific (MVP) play (runs) by Justin, the D won that game. 
Prior to the season, I thought we would go 9-3. 8-4 wasn't out of the question. But looking back, we could have had an undefeated season. Yes, we likely would have lost in an EXTREMELY talented field, but we would have had a puncher's chance. The loss to a mediocre ASU team that I attended was TOTALLY on coaching. The loss to a decent Auburn team was also coaching, imo.
But we crushed Utah, won the RB, where I had 50-yard-line seats, and Arroyo is gone, so I'm completely satisfied.





 

I am happy Arroyo was hired for a head coaching job.

I am not a zero sum person where in order for one side of the ball to labeled as "winning games" the other side played no role. For a second-year head coach still working with many players he inherited vs recruited, I feel the TEAM had an outstanding season.

However, I do believe Oregon fans in particular are masters of recallling every single offensive miscue in order to place blame while ignoring defensive miscues. For me, 4 plays by the defense played a major role in the Ducks sesaon.

Auburn(aside form Auburn going 60 yards in 11 plays in like 2-minutes with a freshman QB before scoring the winning TD)

4th & 3 at AUB 47
(1:21 - 4th) Bo Nix run for 3 yds to the 50 yard line for a 1ST down

3rd & 10 at ORE 39
(0:16 - 4th) Bo Nix pass complete to Seth Williams for 13 yds to the Oregn 26 for a 1ST down

1st & 10 at ORE 26
(0:09 - 4th) Bo Nix pass complete to Seth Williams for 26 yds for a TD, (Anders Carlson KICK)

ASU

Oregon after scoring to narrow the score to 24-21 ASU....gives up 75 yards in 3 plays for a TD with...a 3 point deficit and a winnable game almost instantly goes to 10 points with.... 3:54 Brandon Aiyuk 81 Yd pass from Jayden Daniels (Christian Zendejas Kick)

Oregon scored another TD but 10 points was too much to overcome. 

Otherwise, yes, players and coaches have bad games. Yet what the ASU game showed me is Oregon could play at its absolute worst in so many areas and still be competitive until the end. Great teams do not have bad games...they have bad plays, possessions, series, quarters and maybe halves....not bad games.

The 2019 season for me was not a "we could have been undefeated" but rather only 3-years removed the worst record in the previous 25-years(2016), Oregon was part of the proverbial discussion on a national level for most of the season and finished #5 in the nation. That accomplishment was not because the Cristobal / Arroyo were incompetent with the offense.