QUICKIE RECAP
If you ask any coach in college football, they’ll tell you the most improvement for a team is from Game No. 1 to Game No. 2. If that’s true, Oregon will certainly need to improve during that time if they’re going to meet the lofty expectations thrust upon them in all pre-season polls.
The Ducks led Idaho 14-0 at the halftime break, however, they were outscored 14-3 early into the 4th quarter to make this one interesting at 17-14. But from that point forward the Ducks defense stiffened and went on to lead No. 3 Oregon to a 24-14 win in front of 57,435 fans at Autzen Stadium.
HOW IT HAPPENED
From the beginning, it looked as though the Oregon offense was firing on all cylinders when they took their first possession right down the field on an efficient 11 play – 71-yard drive that ended with a Dillon Gabriel 9-yard touchdown pass to receiver Tez Johnson giving the Ducks an early 7-0 lead.
Midway through the second quarter Gabriel once again found his rhythm leading the Oregon offense on an 8 play – 80 yard drive that culminated with a Jordan James 6-yard touchdown run around the right side extending the Ducks lead to 14-0.
However, the Ducks offense sputtered from that point forward and simply couldn’t find itself until late in the final stanza.
Idaho outscored Oregon 14-3 with two consecutive touchdowns. The first was at the 4:15 mark of the third quarter when QB Jack Layne found WR Jake Cox on a 36-yard touchdown pass down the right side which ended up being a busted defensive scheme by the Duck secondary.
Oregon led Idaho 14-7 with 4:15 to play in the third.
Then in the fourth quarter the Vandals marched 75 yards on 6 plays and ended with a 4-yard run by Layne on a trick play.
The Vandals tightened the score at 17-14 with 9:45 to play in the game.
From there the Oregon defense held its ground and forced Idaho to punt with less than six and a half minutes to play.
Gabriel went to work at that point and found some momentum leading the offense on an extended 10 play – 75-yard drive over 4:09 that eventually ended with a 12-yard hook-up between Gabriel and Tez Johnson that gave the Ducks the 24-14 win.
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
The defense was indeed the key to Oregon winning this one over the Vandals.
The defense held Idaho to just 49 rushing yards and limited the Vandals to just 2 of 12 on 3rd downs. Oregon also stacked up 3 quarterback sacks and 6 tackles for loss led by Matayo Uiagalelei who had 2 sacks and 2 tackles for loss.
( POST-GAME ); DAN LANNING DISCUSSES WIN OVER IDAHO
FINAL SCORE; Oregon 24, Idaho 14
Next Up; Saturday, September 7 – No. 3 Oregon vs Boise State / 7:00 PM Peacock Network