It wasn’t the masterpiece we all had hoped for, or anticipated!
There were certainly many bright spots throughout Oregon’s 35-14 win over Stanford Saturday evening. But for all the bright spots, there were just as many questions. Below are three observations regarding the Ducks season-opening win.
OBSERVATION ONE – When camp began five weeks ago, one of the many questions asked was ‘what was Joe Moorhead’s offense going to look like’? Would there be a drastic change, or would the Ducks hold firm on their standard pistol offense we’ve witnessed the last several years? Against the Cardinal, the Ducks offense tallied a very respectable 496 yards of total offense. But what changed was the threat of the quarterback run which forced the Stanford linebackers to key on an additional offensive player and a different offensive attack. Tyler Shough did a masterful job of taking advantage of those opportunities when they presented themselves, especially in key down and distance situations. Shough rushed for 85 yards on 11 carries and helped the Duck offense convert 9 of 11 third downs. Yes, there were some play breakdowns that forced Shough to evade the pocket, however, Moorhead called a number of quarterback runs which the offense executed with precision. We all knew Shough had speed when given the opportunity to run, but what was questionable was his decision-making skills under pressure. This new element of the Oregon offense will suit them well and force opponents to game plan around the quarterback run.
OBSERVATION TWO – The Oregon pass rush was an area of Saturday’s game that might prove to be concerning as this shortened season moves forward. Backup Cardinal signal caller Jack West came into the game replacing Davis Mills and seemed ripe to take advantage of having played just four games and completing just 16 passes in those contests. The Oregon pass rush tallied zero sacks and only three ‘Tackles for Loss’. West completed 13 of 19 passes for 154 yards and was able to move the ball on the Ducks. Certainly, the score would have been closer if it weren’t for the four missed field goals by Jet Toner leaving 12 points on the field. That said, last season the Ducks collected 41 sacks, 9 of those by freshman phenom Kayvon Thibodeaux who led the team in that category. Thibodeaux was MIA against Stanford contributing just 4 tackles. There were few pressures and actual quarterback hits against Stanford. In addition, the Ducks allowed the Cardinal a total of 197 rushing yards and two scoring runs. In 2019, this defense only allowed opponents an average of 108 yards on the ground. No doubt this is an area Andy Avalos will address as the Ducks travel to Pullman next week to take on the Cougars.
OBSERVATION THREE – We expected Oregon’s rushing attack to once again be one of the bright spots this season. And it was against the Cardinal. Led by C.J Verdell’s 105 yards, the Oregon offense garnered 269 yards on the ground while finding the end zone four times by four different ball carriers. Once this offensive line begins to find themselves and get more snaps together, the Ducks rushing attack will be hard to stop. Travis Dye, Cyrus Habibi-Likio, Tyler Shough and C.J Verdell all had touchdown runs against the Cardinal.
KEY PLAYER 1 – Tyler Shough filling the shoes of former quarterback Justin Herbert was certainly going to be a tall order. And not having the opportunity to see Shough in practice allowed for a lot of speculation of what we’d actually see in ‘live’ action as a starter. After his performance against Stanford, there’s no doubt Shough is ready for prime time and has the goods to lead the Ducks to another conference championship. Decision making was his best attribute Saturday night and it showed in his statistics completing 17 passes for 227 yards while also rushing for 85 yards and 1 score.
“He did some really good things and I’m sure he’s got, he’s thinking about a couple he would like to have back right now” said head coach Mario Cristobal after the game. “The one interception and just going through his progression and working all the way through to the open back. And then you see some of these other, those other deep shots that he took were really good throws, gave the receivers a chance, and the receivers just did a great job coming down with the ball. Also just a really good command of the offense as well, just every signal, every call, adjustments, protections at the line of scrimmage, decisions. When he did keep the ball and when he handed it off for the most part were on point. So I thought Tyler did a really good job tonight.”
KEY PLAYER 2 – A nice surprise during Oregon’s win over Stanford was the play of Miami transfer ( TE ) D.J Johnson. Johnson began his Oregon career on the defensive side of the football, but made the transition to offense during the off-season. Now, as a redshirt junior, Johnson steps in as a 6’5 250 lb pass catcher and blocker for the Duck offense. Against the Cardinal, Johnson caught 5 balls for 55 yards, including the first touchdown of his Oregon career.
“Some guys just weren’t available and D.J. was,… and D.J. stepped up, did it in the run game, did it in the pass game, did it in protection as well.” explained Cristobal after the game. “We asked a lot of a guy that was playing defense a year ago, had a pretty significant injury in the summertime, and just kept chopping wood and kept finding ways to just find work, learn the system, get healthy, and then it showed up
tonight with not only with the touchdown, but with some other really significant important plays.”
ONE FINAL THOUGHT – Overall, Oregon’s opening season performance was a good one considering the player losses to the NFL draft and opt-outs they endured during this covid-19 pandemic. The Ducks appeared a little shaky at the beginning of the game on both sides of the football, but eventually found their legs and performed well. This game should prove to be a positive stepping stone for the remaining games on the schedule.
That said, there’s always room for improvement.
“I know our team, and our team, they’re not happy unless they completely and utterly dominate an opponent, and I wanted to make sure that they knew that we’re super proud of them, excited for them because again they haven’t played in such a long time” said Cristobal.
And when you win a football game, winning is hard, and to be able to just
bring it all together like they did in the second half, just it’s a great start. It’s a great start to the year. And the best part about it, there’s so many things to get better at. You can coach it hard. You can improve. You can bring your hardest and toughest coaching at this team knowing that they’re going to
take it and find a way to get better.”