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Oregon Football: What to watch for on offense this spring

By Eric Boles

Oregon quarterbacks Jay Butterfield, No. 9 left, Bo Nix, No. 10, and Ty Thompson, No. 13 right, join the first practice for the Ducks to begin the 2022 season.Eug 0310222 Uo Football 06
Oregon quarterbacks Jay Butterfield, No. 9 left, Bo Nix, No. 10, and Ty Thompson, No. 13 right, join the first practice for the Ducks to begin the 2022 season.Eug 0310222 Uo Football 06 /
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Oct 23, 2021; Pasadena, California, USA; A general overall view of the line of scrimmage as Oregon Ducks offensive lineman Jackson Powers-Johnson (58) snaps the ball against the UCLA Bruins in the first half at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 23, 2021; Pasadena, California, USA; A general overall view of the line of scrimmage as Oregon Ducks offensive lineman Jackson Powers-Johnson (58) snaps the ball against the UCLA Bruins in the first half at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

Offensive Line

It all starts up front. You’ve probably heard that phrase a thousand times, and for an offense’s efficiency, it couldn’t be any truer. Thankfully for the Ducks, Mario Cristobal did a great job of establishing a culture of excellent offensive line play at Oregon.

Here, Coach Dillingham explains what he looks for in players across the board:

“Explosiveness…”

That’s pretty clear. He wants gamechangers, and that extends to his offensive line. It doesn’t matter how good the rest of your offense is, if the line is having issues, that is going to affect everything else you do. The one sure-fire way for a defense to disrupt your offense is with penetration up front.

The offensive line is going to be asked to do a little more than it has the past few seasons. Where the last regime favored a system built more around the zone game, this one will do a little bit of everything. Not only will the offense run zone concepts, but it will regularly deploy gap schemes too: power, counter and buck sweep.

On top of the variation in the run game, the passing attack consists of a ton of play-action and roll outs.