Breaking down Andrew Luck's second half against Oregon

Stanford redshirt sophomore quarterback Andrew Luck had arguably his best half of football against Oregon on Saturday. In the first half, he went 13-17 passing with two touchdowns. The Cardinal carried a 31-24 lead into halftime and Luck looked like a star.

In the second, he faltered going 16-29 with two interceptions. After the jump is play-by-play notes I took of Luck's second half. This is the sort of thing that eventually leads to our massive scouting reports at the end of the season. Having them all typed out proper is not something I typically do due to how time-consuming it can be. But in this case, it was interesting to see how Luck's game broke down as the game continued.

Note: This is every Stanford offensive play in the second half. What you first see is the down and distance for each play. There is an extra paragraph space following each first down.

STANFORD 31 - OREGON 24

1-10 Luck, 6-yard scramble
2-5 RB run
3-4 Five step drop by Luck, run by Luck to right (not designed). Kept eyes downfield. First down.

1-10 Three-step drop, pass over the middle, hit the umpire. Good footwork with placement.
2-10 3 step drop, rolled to left, threw off his front foot completing to tight end. First down.

1-10 Five step, deep  middle pass to Doug Baldwin. Leaping catch. Threw a touch high but good. PENALTY, off. pass interference. Wipes play out.

1-25 Three step, short throw over the middle to RB. Solid ball placement, somewhat low.
2-18 3 step drop, unblocked blitzer hit Luck while throwing. Overthrow. Good foot placement.
3-18 3 step, run to right, throws on the move almost intercepted. Threw into double coverage. Faced some but not a lot of pressure. Bad decision. PUNT

STANFORD 31 - OREGON 31

1-10 RB Run
2-8 Shotgun Three step, roll left, throws over the middle to slot receiver underneath. Tight coverage, cornerback gets hand around. Great ball placement
3-8 Three step, ball thrown to right in stride to WR. Moved safety over to get receiver open. Stellar play.

1-10 Shotgun, FB Run. May have called an audible.
2-9 Three step, throw to outside left. Slightly high but catchable. Receiver open.
3-5 Musberger notes Luck's deep voice able to call plays at line. Shotgun, quick strike throw to the right. Good quick throw. WR fumbles the ball, Oregon recovers. Luck saves touchdown return. Luck is banged up and limping slightly following the tackle. Luck ran down a DB. Luck threw his non-throwing shoulder at the ball carrier.

STANFORD 31 - OREGON 38
1-10 Three step, deep pass over the middle right hash. Under threw wide receiver. Interception. No pressure. Bad play.

STANFORD 31 - OREGON 38
1-10 Shotgun, RB run
2-8 Shotgun Pistol No drop. Luck under throws to the right. Tries to go over his reads with two players running slants. Needs to get the ball out of his hand faster on this type of short area play.
3-8 Five step, sack coming around the left tackle. Had no time to step into the pocket. Felt the pressure at the last moment. Everyone covered down field.


*** Start of fourth quarter

STANFORD 31 - OREGON 45
1-10 Shotgun Pressure up the middle, short throw to left to running back. Check down throw. No protection.
2-9 Shotgun Run by Luck for 21 yards on fake to running back.

1-10 RB run
2-9 Five step drop, short pass underneath for no gain.
3-9 Three step, throws to right to tight end. Goes through his progressions before finding the open receiver. Throws right before getting knocked down.

1-10 Shotgun Pistol RB run. Penalty on Stanford

1-16 Five step, screen to RB. Average placement with pressure right in his face. Luck was falling backward during his release causing the ball to come in low and wobbly.
2-5 Shotgun Two step, throw out to right for 24 yards. Good placement. Wide receiver was open beating a linebacker in zone coverage.

1-GL RB run
2-GL RB run
3-GL Fumble on the center/QB exchange. Luck never touched the ball. Recovered by Stanford.
4-GL Five step, Lucks is dancing around in the back field a lot here. Seems flustered. Good release, but the ball isn't tight at all due to his footwork. Comes in high at the 1-yard line. Poor blocking again caused pressure. Luck isn't able to step into the pocket because of the bad interior blocking.


STANFORD 31 - OREGON 45
1-10 Five step, deep throw to the far right hash. Impressive NFL throw.
2-1 Three step, throw to the left hash to running back. Decent throw.

1-10 Three step, facing pressure. Throws to far right hash. Should have looked inside.
2-10 Two step, quick throw underneath to the tight end. Seemed to raise high releasing the ball.
3-5 Three step, pressure around the right side. Throws over the middle. Ball is placed perfectly but not in a tight spiral. Took an extra second longer to arrive.
4-5 Three step, throw to left to wide receiver.

1-10 Three step, pump fake throw over the middle into double coverage. Incomplete. Should have thrown instead of pump
2-10 Three step, pressure up the middle, Luck rolls to the right and completes a deep pass to the WR. Does a good job squaring his shoulders on the throw. Impressive throw on the move.

1-10 Five step, throws to the left corner of the end zone into double coverage for an interception. Bad decision. Wasn't set when he threw.

STANFORD 31 - OREGON 52
1-10 Three step, dump off to the running back. More pressure. Easy check down with Oregon playing zone.

1-10 Three step, another dump off to the running back.

1-10 Three step, deep throw to the left as he's being hit. Should have been completed. Dropped by WR.
2-10 Five step, short, soft throw over the middle to the TE. Bad pass. Could have been intercepted.
3-10 Shotgun RB run

1-10 Three step, throw underneath to the tight end. With Oregon playing off, this was an easy completion.