me likey

indeed

Here come the squibs.

Flash back to the Fiesta.  The kick off to DAT could have easily gone out of bounds which would have given the Ducks good field position.  But DAT caught it and he could easily gone out of bounds and the Ducks would have had bad field position. 

But DAT being DAT took it to the house and broke the tape.

One great return guy changes a lot.  Heaven only knows what two great return guys would do. 

laptech1 wrote: Here come the squibs.

I doubt the coaches risk injury with either of those guys. We are a little thin at RB

Thin as ice this past year and DAT was back there.

duxforme wrote: I doubt the coaches risk injury with either of those guys. We are a little thin at RB

I'd be VERY surprised if DAT wasn't back returning kicks next year...

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--- duxforme wrote:

I doubt the coaches risk injury with either of those guys. We are a little thin at RB

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If teams go with the squib strategy , keep DAT deep and slip in Tyner at the 30.

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--- duxforme wrote:

I doubt the coaches risk injury with either of those guys. We are a little thin at RB

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Thin or not at RB, you gotta have DAT back there returning KOs. Too much potential for a game-breaking play. Now punt returns...maybe not. He doesn't look totally comfortable on those.

I can remember the Ducks kicking a bunch of squib kicks a couple years ago when Oregon had a very weak kickoff leg. And, longer back in time when Reggie Bush was returning kicks for USC a bunch of kickoffs were sent squib or out of bounds with the kicking team willing to give up field position to avoid a Bush return.

More recently the NCAA changed the kickoff rules to encourage more kicks into the endzone for auto-touchbacks...supposedly to avoid injuries on kickoffs.

So, unless the opponent has a big leg, it wouldn't be surprising to see opponents adjust kickoffs to avoid good return men (DAT/Tyner)...which might be to Oregon's advantage for field position after kicks. The threat of a big return sometimes is as effective for field position as the actual return. From that standpoint, you have to have a credible threat by actually playing those guys.

duxforme wrote: I doubt the coaches risk injury with either of those guys. We are a little thin at RB

Were we watching the same games last yr?  DAT was returning last yr when he was the #2 running back.  Lache had just left and there wasn't really anyone behind barner except DAT.  I think mark will put the best guy for the job back to return kicks and I'll bet that dat is back there again for the 3RD staright yr

Did Tyner return kicks in High School?

D. Thomas and Thomas T.