Oregon got the result it needed in Week 1, but the Ducks did not look like a team that wanted to breeze through the opener and move on. A 34-27 win over Boise State left Dan Lanning’s group at 1-0 heading into Week 2 against Oklahoma State, yet the performance came with plenty of rough edges for a program ranked No. 2 in the AP poll and carrying national title expectations.
Lanning made it clear afterward that Oregon was not sharp enough across the board. That sentiment matched the feel around the building, because this was not the kind of home opener Ducks fans have grown used to seeing over the last year. The win counts, but it came with a lot of cleanup work.
The clearest bright spot was Dante Moore. After a slow start, the quarterback settled in after halftime and put together a career night, throwing for 378 yards and three touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes.
Once he got rolling, Moore kept finding space and kept Oregon on schedule. His best throws included a strike over the middle to Jamari Johnson for a touchdown and a 62-yard fourth-quarter scoring pass to Dakorien Moore.
By the end, he looked composed and in control.
The receiving group helped turn that into a big passing day. Jeremiah McClellan had a career performance of his own with six catches for 150 yards and a touchdown.
Dakorien Moore added six receptions for 93 yards and a score, while Evan Stewart chipped in eight catches for 72 yards. Jamari Johnson also made his mark with strong hands on touchdown catches.
Still, it was not a spotless outing for the pass catchers. McClellan had a costly drop on a well-designed double-pass from Stewart in the end zone, and there were a few other untimely issues on the perimeter.
Oregon’s run game never really found its rhythm. Jordon Davison’s 40-yard run and Dierre Hill Jr.’s 10-yard run helped the numbers, but the overall production was modest: 76 yards on 22 carries, or 3.5 yards per attempt.
Too often, the backs were getting hit before they could build momentum, and that made it hard to stack steady gains on the ground. The offensive line was part of the problem there, too.
That line group never fully settled in. Oregon shuffled pieces a bit during the game, with Iapani Laloulu serving as the constant at center, but the unit still did not meet the standard.
The Ducks averaged 4.8 yards per carry as a team, and there were too many plays where Hill or Davison were stopped behind the line. Oregon did allow only one sack, but it came on a critical third down late in the fourth quarter.
There is still work to do, and the staff may keep rotating players next week.
On defense, the line flashed at times but did not dominate the way it was expected to. Teitum Tuioti, Matayo Uiagalelei and Bear Alexander each recorded a sack, yet Boise State still found enough success on early downs to stay ahead of the chains.
The Broncos finished with just 93 rushing yards, but they kept pushing forward in small chunks, which eased the burden on quarterback Maddux Madsen. For a unit with top-tier expectations, that was not enough disruption.
The linebackers were quieter than usual, with the secondary doing a lot of the work against Boise State’s run game. Devon Jackson led the group with five tackles and Jerry Mixon had three, though only one of those combined tackles was solo.
The middle of the field was crowded, but the sideline-to-sideline presence Oregon has been used to seeing from Bryce Boettcher was not there. That showed.
The secondary offered more to feel good about. Safety Koi Perich made a strong debut and led the Ducks with 11 tackles, while cornerback Brandon Finney Jr. tied for second on the team with eight.
Coverage was sticky for much of the day, and Boise State had to make a few excellent catches just to finish plays. Oregon was not perfect back there, but there were signs of a group that could be among the best in the country.
Special teams brought both solid execution and one costly mistake. Stewart muffed a punt, and Boise State turned that into a touchdown on the very next play, a swing that mattered a lot in the final shape of the game.
Outside of that, Gage Hurych had a clean debut by making both of his kicks, and Bailey Ettridge averaged 48.0 yards per punt while pinning all three inside the 20. But the muffed punt was too big to ignore, and it kept the grade from climbing any higher.
In Other News...
Makhi Hughes Just Delivered The Oregon Reminder Fans Didn't Want
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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 🡒]