Oregon football has had no trouble finding the end zone early this season, but the plays after the touchdowns are the ones being scrutinized.
The conversation started when the Ducks came up three points short of a tie in their marquee nonconference game at Nebraska last weekend. Oregon went for two-point conversions on all five of its PATs and was successful only once. Oregon and Nebraska each scored five touchdowns, but the Ducks’ failure to convert extra points decided the game.
The Ducks attempted 11 two-point conversions in their first three games of the season, which is more than they have in any full season since 2009.
This season, junior wide receiver Charles Nelson has been given full control of Oregon’s two-point conversion unit. With the ball in his hand, he can option to run, pass or leap across the pylon. The idea is that when Nelson sees an advantage or weak point in the defense, the Ducks attack. If that advantage isn’t there, they shift back to their field goal formation.
The issue, however, is that Oregon hasn’t been getting the numbers advantage it wants, yet continues to relentlessly attempt two-point conversions — to varied results.
“We line up in different formations every time and just read the defenses they give us. It’s like [playing] quarterback: You read defenses and make plays,” Nelson said.
When Oregon attempts a PAT, it’s up to Nelson, who has never played a down at quarterback, to diagnose the defense and decide whether Oregon should go for two or shift back to a field goal formation.
“We’ve done it for many years,” Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich said. “A lot of teams do what we do in terms of trying to get an ideal look: If it’s there, run it, and if it’s not, shift back in and kick it.”
Oregon coaches began experimenting with Nelson as the two-point conversion point guard during spring practices earlier this year. They gave Nelson more reps at the position throughout spring and fall camp before eventually feeling comfortable enough to hand him the keys to the special teams unit.
But the end zone looks a lot different at practice than it does under pressure in Nebraska.
“In front of 90,000 fans, it might be a little different sometimes. He’s a sharp guy and we’ve got a lot of trust in him,” special teams coach Tom Osborne said.
The Ducks are 4-for-11 on two-point tries this season. On nine of those attempts, Nelson has led the attack. On the other two attempts, Dakota Prukop and Oregon’s offense took the field and failed to convert.
When Nelson is pulling the trigger on the Ducks’ two-point attempts, he has worked from two different looks. One is a traditional “swinging gate” formation that Chip Kelly brought to Oregon and used in the same aggressive manner that Oregon’s current coaches do.
Oregon’s second point-after formation features Nelson lined up as a shotgun quarterback with three traditional linemen and a tight end staggered to the right side. On each sideline, Oregon has three players lined up in staggered sets, one of which is Oregon kicker Aidan Schneider.
The Ducks are 4-for-6 on conversions in which they line up in the swinging gate formation, 0-for-2 going from the second formation, and 0-for-2 when they send out their traditional offense. The other attempt came on a fake field goal, in which Nelson received the ball on a fly sweep and failed to score in the third quarter against UC Davis.
The swinging gate formation has proved to be successful, but the second formation seems to need some work.
“We need to coach it better,” Helfrich said. “The mindset of that is like, if we throw an incompletion, we’re never going to throw the ball again. That’s not how we operate.”
Of the eight attempts in which Nelson has lined up as quarterback, the Ducks have found the right positioning to attack the opponent’s defense three times, scoring on each occasion. All three of those instances came against UC Davis.
On the other five occasions, however, Nelson ran the ball to an unbalanced side that featured more defenders than Oregon blockers, and the Ducks failed to convert on four of those attempts. On the lone instance that they did convert, two defenders broke free and bottled up Nelson, but he flipped over them into the end zone.
Despite Nelson and Helfrich’s affirmation that the Ducks are getting the looks they want, they have been at a number disadvantage on 64 percent of Nelson’s attempts. Nelson has free reign to shift the Ducks back into field goal formation but has chosen to do so just once this year, which resulted in a successful PAT.
The other issue with Oregon’s consistent two-point approach is that it leaves kicker Aidan Schneider, one of the Ducks’ most consistent players, ineffective.
Against Nebraska, Schneider didn’t attempt a single field goal or PAT. When the Ducks have opted for a normal point-after with Schneider kicking, they’ve had a high success rate. His field goals have been good 98.2 percent of the time over his three years at Oregon. He also hasn’t missed a regular PAT since his freshman year. The Ducks have attempted two field goals this year, and both have been successful.
Oregon Ducks place kicker Aidan Schneider (41) kicks a field goal during the second half. The Oregon Ducks host Cal at Autzen Stadium on Nov. 7, 2015. (Adam Eberhardt/Emerald)
Schneider said staying fresh is one of the more difficult tasks for a collegiate kicker.
“When you haven’t been scoring touchdowns or field goal attempts or it’s by choice, it’s just a tough thing to do for anybody really,” Schneider said, “to be on the sideline and constantly warm yourself up and not know when you’re going to go in.”
Taylor Alie, Oregon’s listed holder, said it was frustrating to see the Ducks unable to convert at a high rate.
When previous head coach Chip Kelly unleashed a flashy collection of two-point conversion formations upon his arrival at Oregon, it was seen as innovative and was often successful because it took defenses by surprise. The Ducks’ current display isn’t fooling anybody, though.
Alie was frustrated that Oregon successfully converted so few times, especially when Schneider was waiting for a shot.
“That was the biggest frustrating thing,” Alie said. “I wish I could have seen one of the best kickers do his thing.”
Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @jarrid_denney