As football returned to Autzen Stadium Saturday, so did the long-awaited anticipation for the Ducks high-powered offense led by transfer QB Anthony Brown.
It certainly wasn’t the offensive performance and production the Ducks wanted,…or thought they’d get, but a win, is a win, is a win.
In our ‘Three – Two – One’ breakdown we take a look at Three Key Plays, Two Key Players, and One Final Thought regarding the Ducks narrow win.
THREE KEY PLAYS
Typically this category revolves around the offense and notates key scoring plays which would lead an individual team to a win. Not so much today.
Two of the three key plays were on the defensive side of the football for the Ducks which ultimately led to scores.
The First Key Play occurred early in the game at the 9:18 mark of the first quarter when Duck defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux raced off the corner and sacked Bulldog QB Jake Haener. From that massive hit, Haener fumbled the ball which LB Mase Funa recovered and returned to the FSU 3 yard line. It took the Ducks three plays to put the ball in the endzone which ended with a 1 yard plunge by C.J Verdell.
That early defensive play set the tone early for the Ducks and certainly forced Fresno State to be more aware of Thibodeaux’s location.
The Second Key Play came late in the 3rd quarter.
With 1:12 remaining Fresno State was driving in Oregon territory and faced at 4th and 3 at the Oregon 41 ( tied at 21 apiece ). A touchdown would have certainly put the Ducks behind the eight-ball, but because of the Autzen Stadium crowd and noise the Bulldogs were ticketed with a false start penalty forcing FSU to punt on the 4th and 8. The ease at which the Bulldogs were moving the ball in that drive would have most likely kept the chains moving. The Bulldogs punted giving Oregon the ball back and stopped the momentum which could have been a game-changer in the outcome.
The Third Key Play came late in the game, with 2:57 remaining, when the Ducks offense finally gained back some of the much-needed momentum.
It should be noted, the Oregon defense once again flexed its muscle before that when LB Justin Flowe strip-sacked Haener forcing a third lost fumble on the day for the Bulldogs and once again halting their momentum.
On a 4th and 2, from the Bulldog 30 yard line, and with the game tied at 24, Anthony Brown fake pitched the ball to the outside and raced off the left tackle position into the secondary and eventually into the endzone for a 30 yard score and the game-winning score.
TWO KEY PLAYERS
As expected DE Kayvon Thibodeaux started the game much like he ended last season.
He simply couldn’t be stopped.
In fact, the only way Thibodeaux would have been stopped was by injury which did occur midway through the second quarter when a teammate rolled up his ankle forcing him out of the game.
And while Thibodeaux only played a quarter and a half, he had a huge impact on the game forcing the Bulldog offensive line to consistently know where he was and try to try and double team him.
Thibodeaux only had two tackles and one sack, ( 1 caused fumble ), but the tenor of the game changed when he went out. Thibodeaux is the heartbeat of the Oregon defense and as a whole, it certainly looks different when he’s not in the game.
The Second Key Player was quarterback Anthony Brown. Brown hadn’t started a football game in more than 700 days, but came into the season opener and led the Ducks to a close win. And while his stats weren’t what we all expected, ( 15 of 24 for 172 yards ) he did make a key play on the ground which sealed the win for the Ducks.
In his post-game remarks, Brown said the offense’s performance ‘wasn’t good enough at all’ and said ‘that was clear to anyone who watched the game, inside or outside the program.’
He finished by saying in order to be successful the offense needs to be firing on all cylinders.
ONE FINAL THOUGHT
A lot was made of Joe Moorhead’s high-power offense coming out of spring ball and into fall camp. And with the weapons available to Moorhead, most felt this year’s offense for the Oregon Ducks would be difficult to stop.
And while that might be true down the road, this offense looked ordinary. In fact, receiver Johnny Johnson said after the game he thought the entire offense lost some of their focus. At one point, Johnson stopped himself from saying they may have been looking ahead to Ohio State next week in Columbus.
Brown was certainly correct in his post-game remarks that this offense needs to fire on ALL cylinders to have success. Where the Ducks lacked consistency was in the running game. Oregon carried the ball a whopping 48 times and rushed for 189 yards with three touchdowns. That number should have easily been over 200 years considering the talent in the backfield and on the line.
In passing offense, Brown was a steady 15 of 24 for 172 yards with no aerial scores. It was the third down category, however, that was paltry. The Ducks offense was 6 of 16 on 3rd down and in most cases that doesn’t lead to a victory.
If the Ducks are going to improve, and they should, it’s going to have to be on the offensive side of the football. This Oregon offense has way to many weapons at its disposal to be so lackluster.
But, as was written at the top of this story, – a win, is a win, is a win!