Ducks: Too Much Muscle, Speed for Outmatched Bobcats, 59-13

The most famous mascot in college sports, the Oregon Duck tripped, and fell flat on his face coming out of the tunnel pregame, losing his mascot head separating from his body. Embarrassed, the young lad scrambled to his webbed feet and ran back into the tunnel to get himself together. The Duck did get himself together and spent the rest of the afternoon doing pushups, celebrating Oregon touchdowns while a packed Autzen Stadium crowd of 57,257 roared with delight as the Ducks whomped Montana State 59-13. Oregon coach Dan Lanning smiled as his brand-new team ran over the Bobcats, who last year played for the national championship in the FCS final against North Dakota State.

Unfortunately for the Bobcats, they lost many excellent players to graduation, and the youngsters brought in have not had the time they need to get stronger and better at football. Lanning on the other hand, has a house full of 3-4-5 stars with game experience that convinced the media know-it-alls that the Ducks, like last year, could be a formidable bunch with a realistic chance of showing up big at the end of this season.

The Ducks, resplendent in their traditional green and yellow digs, got off to a hot start under the whip of quarterback Dante Moore, who has many observers seeing another Marcus Mariota. Moore was excellent from the start, driving the Ducks to two touchdowns in the first 5:46 of the game, throwing behind an offensive line, many of whom had extensive experience at other places before transferring to Oregon. So good was execution that Moore was never sacked and had all the time in the world to complete 18-of-23 passes for 213 yards and three touchdowns. His throwing motion is like velvet, smooth, but direct, one that Yogi Roth, expert commentator for the Big-10 network observed, “Moore throws the most catchable ball I’ve seen.”

Unfortunately, one pass was catchable until it wasn’t and it was highly heralded Kenyon Sadiq, one of the best tight end athletes in the land, who dropped what would have been his second touchdown pass in the game. Rather than hanging his head, Sadiq proceeded to steam roll a defender off his feet and into the ground on a goal line run by freshman Jordon Davison and then the same thing on the next play, which was a touchdown run. Davison scored three times, which is a big deal, especially for a freshman, but what is an even bigger deal is the veteran Sadiq taking pride in his blocking. All scouts will note this, as it gives an indication of the prospect’s tenacity in the parts of the game that often rates as “not glamorous.”

The offensive line exploded off the ball, consistently, and Bobcat defenders were fighting for their lives, literally. Oregon rushed for 254 yards, gave up zero sacks and routinely sprinted after a run or pass gain downfield to make another block. They buried defenders several times just as, or sometimes after, the whistle blew. Center Iapani Laloulu was always hustling downfield, looking for another victim and his competitive attitude has worn off on the rest of the offensive linemen, who take pride in knocking a defender down and pancaking them. This is the result of great coaching by A’lique Terry who has instilled discipline and ferocity into a unit that was playing together for the first time.

In their first 25 plays, the Ducks racked up 178 yards and four scores, helped by two punt blocks; one a partial and the other a complete block by freshman Jeremiah McClellan. Montana State’s punter had a 53-yard punt nullified by an illegal formation penalty and Lanning decided to take the penalty and force another punt that was blocked, and instead of having the ball first down from their own 19-yard line, McClellan’s block resulted in Oregon taking possession on MSU’s 10-yard line.

The Ducks have not attempted many blocks of punts under coach Lanning and it was delight to see them attempt at least four of them in this game. A lot of the pressure was coming from young defensive backs who did an excellent job of going for the ball and avoiding running into the punter. Gary Bryant showed promise returning punts and with the wealth of speedy players who can block bump and run against an opponent, perhaps this season will be one where the Ducks actually attempt to make the punt return a part of their explosive offense, something sorely lacking in the past. Oregon’s punter could have watched the game from the bench sipping iced tea as Montana State’s defense could not force the Ducks to punt; they had nine drives and every one resulted in points.

Coach Lanning’s staff has done a remarkable job in recruiting defensive players. No longer are there big, slow guys who couldn’t get off a block manning the trenches and who, because of their lack of speed and quickness, would be banished to the offensive line for any other good team in the top-10. Instead, defensive line coach Tony Tuioti can count on his son, Teitum, as the leading tackler and All-American force at 6-3, 272, 20% body fat, and timed in over 20 miles-per-hour. Teitum was joined by A’Mauri Washington who used quickness and strength to give blockers headaches trying to front him up. Matayo Uiagalelei, a pre-season All American pick and whose name is a constant challenge for radio, television, and stadium play-by-play broadcasters, stood out strongly both in the middle of the melee and along the edges.

Oregon’s linebackers were out there, getting to the pile ups, often deprived of initial contact with ball carriers. Rather than hanging their head and sulking, they hustled to help on the tackle and get involved in the pile of battered Bobcats. There were countless instances where a tackle could be divided four ways for the main participants, the result of the demand for the speed and physicality defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi requires for every Duck defender.

The glue that holds the defense together is the secondary, which had at least four freshman playing the corner positions during the contest. There were several others complementing the outstanding safety play of Dillon Thieneman, an All-American transfer from Purdue. Watch number 31 and you will see a safety who has the intuition necessary for greatness, often lacking the past several years at Oregon’s safety positions. The secondary has talent and depth, so much so, that it was hard to see a defender loafing away from the ball. Against the Bobcats, there was a constant green and yellow swarm, limiting MSU to  only 46 yards rushing (1.7 per rush), after gaining nearly 300 yards per game last season.

Dante Moore passed they eye test; he does remind fans of Mariota. He ran the option a couple of times and was never nervous throwing the ball, able to find a variety of receivers (10) open and then scrambling when the opportunity required. One thing was missing though: Moore had completions of 51,50,31,26, and 20 yards, but none were “bombs,” deep downfield. The only deep pass completed was thrown by backup quarterback Austin Novosad, a 40-yarder to Kyler Kasper who made a great turnaround at full speed to secure the ball.

Before the game, offensive coordinator Will Stein told reporters that he felt he erred last year in preparing the offense for Idaho and Boise State. He said he had too many different plays for those two games and should have simplified the game plan. Saturday’s game showed that. There will be no shortage of bullets this season as the Ducks are loaded with receivers who are fast getting open on pass plays. They are also aggressive doing a great job of blocking enabling Oregon’s offense to do what Lanning knows will bring success: “running the rock.”

Next up, Oklahoma State, a team that dominated two years ago, were 3-0 last season and then lost the rest of their games. Speaking to an OSU booster this summer, the lowdown was that they did not have a quarterback with experience going into spring ball. The Cowboys are a rough bunch and they don’t like liberal arts opponents, defeating UT Martin last week, 27-7. They may have a tough time with this Oregon gang who might just be better than they were last season.

Ken Woody coached college football for 18 years as an assistant at Oregon, Washington, Utah State and Washington State and as a head coach at Whitman College and Washington University-St. Louis. He conducts a coaching clinic, free to all, at the 6^th Street Grill WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3rd AT 5:00 P.M.  Plays from Oregon games are analyzed, there are scouting reports for opponents, and highlights from referees; all to learn and enjoy football and understand why the Ducks win or lose.