Oregon is heading into Week 2 with a familiar warning label attached: don’t let one rough outing turn into a habit.
The No. 2 Ducks opened the season with an uneven, sometimes messy win over Boise State, and now they’re taking that act on the road to Stillwater to face a new-look Oklahoma State team that Dan Lanning says demands real attention despite a 24-10 loss to Tulsa in its opener.
Lanning wasn’t interested in judging the Cowboys by the final score alone. What matters more, in his view, is the offense Eric Morris has built wherever he’s gone.
“I don’t necessarily put a ton of stock in the fact that they didn’t win the game (against Tulsa),” Lanning said. “You look at the scheme and it’s been effective everywhere that (Eric Morris) has been, whether it’s Incarnate Word, whether it’s Washington State, whether it’s North Texas, and now at Oklahoma State. So, they’ve created a lot of points wherever they’ve been.”
That’s not empty praise. Lanning has seen Morris’ work up close before, dating back to 2022, when Morris was Washington State’s offensive coordinator and Cam Ward helped make Oregon sweat in the Ducks’ Pac-12 opener. Oregon needed a 29-point fourth quarter to escape with a 44-41 win on the Palouse.
The Cowboys’ current quarterback, Drew Mestemaker, followed Morris from North Texas to Stillwater. His debut against Tulsa was shaky - 29 of 49 for 241 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions - but Lanning made it clear the arm talent is real.
“I will say this, Drew is an unbelievable player,” Lanning said. “You see his arm strength show up.
He’s a guy that can stand flat-footed and throw a 60-yard bomb. So, he’s got a really strong arm, and they have a really strong passing attack.”
For Oregon, this is also a chance to reset defensively after a middling showing against Boise State. The Broncos’ run game was more effective than Oklahoma State’s figures to be, so the Ducks should have an opening there. Still, the bigger issue is whether Oregon’s back end can tighten up after Maddux Madsen threw for three touchdowns against them.
There’s also the reality that this isn’t the same Oklahoma State team Oregon hammered 69-3 a year ago. Morris arrived with 92 new players, which changes the scouting job considerably.
“You go all the way back to the history of the coaches that you’re playing, you take a look at the first game and see how much of it lines up with the history of what they’ve been in the past and what they do,” Lanning said. “There’s some similarities in the things that they did in North Texas, and then their first game here against Tulsa.”
Oklahoma State’s defense brings its own puzzles. Oregon expects UAB transfer receiver Iverson Hooks back from injury, which would give the Ducks another option after their offense flashed chunk-play ability against Boise State.
“They do a lot of stuff, and they can do it in a lot of different ways,” Lanning said of Oklahoma State’s defense. “They utilize nickel personnel, they can play bracket quarters, right?
They can bring a lot of simulated pressure that you have to be prepared for. But yeah, just the fact that they’re adaptable and adjustable. ...
There’s a lot of different pictures that they can present.”
The Ducks and Cowboys kick at 11 a.m. local time Saturday in Stillwater, which is 9 a.m. back in Eugene. Oregon is traveling Thursday to get ahead of the time change, and Lanning said the trip also serves as useful preparation for the Midwest road slate that awaits in Big Ten play: Illinois, Ohio State and Michigan State.
The early start is only part of the challenge. Saturday’s forecast calls for 90 degrees at kickoff, with a feel of 92 and a chance of thunderstorms. If the sun is pounding Boone Pickens Stadium, the conditions could get even harsher.
Lanning said Oregon has to handle all of it cleanly.
“Just traveling, how you hydrate, how you make sure that you’re fresh when you get down there, all those things will contribute,” Lanning said. “And we have to handle it really well because we’re gonna travel in this conference.”
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One of the more notable wrinkles was the way the guard spots changed during the contest, a sign that the staff may have been searching for the right combination or managing something minor along the interior. For a line that is usually judged by stability as much as performance, those in-game adjustments naturally raise a bigger question about how settled Oregon really is there, and whether the answers are as clear as the rest of the offense would like them to be. [Read more 🡒]