Jim Mastro bringing the pistol offense to Oregon.

Oregon has always sought out innovation. The blur offense separated them from the rest of the pack nearly a decade ago, and zone read breakthroughs laid the ground for continued success and a pair of national title game appearances.

Now, they'll once again attempt to capture lighting in a bottle via an offensive alteration that isn't exactly new, but also isn't as widely disseminated as the one that brought them fame in the early 2010's is today.

That would be the pistol formation, the brainchild of former Nevada head coach Chris Ault and current Duck running backs coach Jim Mastro.

“No one is really doing it," Mastro said on Tuesday in his first media session with reporters since taking the job in January. "Everyone kind of got away from it when everybody separated. We want to be in it the majority of the time."

The pistol offense places the running back behind the quarterback in the shotgun formation instead of to his left or right. Per Mastro, this helps disguise the orientation of plays, as most defenses typically set up their packages depending on which side of the quarterback the running backs lines up on.

“Your backfield set doesn’t tip anything anymore," he explained. “What it does is in my opinion, is make defenses show their hand a little bit.

"It brings a lot to the table. Coach Arroyo is doing a heckuva job at finding ways to use it, it’s been fun."

Mastro left Reno for Los Angeles in 2011 after more than a decade working with Ault at Nevada for a one-year stop at UCLA before heading to Pullman where he worked for six years. The move to Eugene felt like a natural progression, as the school is renowned for its run-game, unlike the Cougars who rarely run, and includes two offensive coaches with experience running the pistol in Arroyo and head coach Mario Cristobal.

Despite his depth of knowledge with the offense, he's taken a step back to let the others craft their own system.

"They just wanted some new ideas I think, and some different philosophies maybe," Mastro said. "I’m just staying in my lane and doing what I’m told, and giving them some ideas that I think can help us."

From a running backs perspective, implementing these new looks is "drastically different", he says. It requires precision from step one.

“The footwork of the quarterback and the running back is everything," he said. "When you’re offset in the gun, there’s a lot of leeway for mistakes. In this formation, there’s not. "

These changes have presented a new challenge to Oregon's slew of running backs, including senior Tony Brooks-James. The lone back with starting experience called the change "an adjustment" last week.

Mastro was complimentary of each of his pupils, saying “the offense is basically installed now, they’ve picked it up nicely". As things currently stand, no back has separated themselves from the pack — not even Brooks-James. The hope is that will change by August.

"Eventually you hope one or two separate themselves as you get to fall camp," Mastro said. “But, it’s open (right now)."

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