Ducks Stomp Hapless Cowboys, 69-3

BY KEN WOODY

The Coburg hills shook with the roars of 57,266 delighted fans who came to the Ducks’ meeting with Oklahoma State expecting a hard-fought encounter and instead witnessed a surreal 69-3 thrashing that shook the football world. It wasn’t that the Cowboys were expected to win, but the total domination by Oregon in all phases of the game had to be a surprise, especially OSU giving up 69 points; after all, lower division Montana State held the Ducks to only 59 points last weekend.  

The media has at times, grudgingly, given coach Dan Lanning kudos for outstanding recruiting and it surely showed at Autzen Stadium Saturday. Cowboy head coach Mike Gundy was impressed, too: “They are a good football team, they have a lot of skill, speed and they are very big up front on both sides of the ball. They are extremely big.”

Gundy had himself in trouble even before the game started, having made comments about Oregon’s hefty level of financial support for its football program. “First of all, when I made that comment, I was complimenting Oregon for what they had done.” Unfortunately for Gundy it was too late to scrub his comments, no matter how well intentioned and the sporting world’s social media spun the comments to an ugly end.

Lanning said after the game, “…it never requires extra motivation for an opportunity to go out and kick ass, but it never hurts when somebody pours gasoline on the fire…he’s probably saying, see, I told you so.”  Coach Gundy did not say that after the game, and took his medicine like the respected ball coach he has been for the past decades: “I should have known better than that…I shared with the team that the good news is this was just one game. I am going to take the blame with them, but they have all got to come back and train tomorrow.”

Led by quarterback Dante Moore, Oregon raced to an early lead as Noah Whittington ran through a spread-out secondary for a 59-yard score the second play of the game. Give Lanning credit for electing to receive instead of the standard “defer” when the Ducks won the toss. He obviously, and with good reason, wanted to attack the Cowboy’s defense that was manned by transfers not quite ready for battle with a top-ten team. After Whittington’s touchdown, the Ducks defense forced a quick three-and-out and after the first of ten OSU punts, Moore hit Dakorien Moore with a 65-yard score on first down.

With only 1:30 played in the game, the Ducks had a 13-0 lead, and for some reason, Lanning chose to go for a two-point conversion that was crushed when the Ducks tried to run Kenyon Sadiq around end with the extra point offensive line attempting to reach block OSU’s defense. It was one of Oklahoma State’s lone defensive highlight plays and the only time their defense had better players on the field than Oregon.

When Dierre Hill ran 19 yards for Oregon’s next score, coach Lanning once again chose to go for two and it too, was knocked in the dirt. For long-time Duck fans, foggy visions of Oregon’s former coach Mark Helfrich attempting two-point conversions too many times in a devastating loss to Nebraska, the nightmare still lingers.

But those times are gone; the Ducks righted the ship and with a crushing defense and unstoppable offense, raced to an astounding 41-3 lead. Question was, where did the old time Cowboys go wrong? They were Big 12 champions two-years ago, coach Mike Gundy is as crusty as they come and his teams have always been hard-nosed competitors that would test any team they played.

I don’t envy coach Gundy. No matter how many millions he’s earning being the head coach at OSU, he had a bushel of bad to go through in a game he was an underdog, but not by 66 points, and it was only halftime. At that point, Oregon had nine running backs rush for 238 yards and ten receivers caught passes for 235 yards, a total first half: 473 yards, while his Orange and Black mustered only 123.

Coach Lanning ran a lot of new plays, evidently, alien to Oklahoma State defenders. Oregon quarterback Dante Moore feasted on fast receivers who were running through confusion in the Oakie secondary. He showed a deft touch and when necessary, put a little mustard on a couple of throws that needed to get there quickly. His stats for the first half were, dare I say, “Heisman”: 13-of-17, 236 yards, two touchdowns and a completion rate of 76%.

At times the Ducks appeared they might be running too many different plays out of different looks and had five penalties, but you can’t argue with the results– a commanding 41-3 lead that had observers rushing to see if the Cowboy’s team busses were heading for the airport and an early getaway.

For the game, Moore was 16-of-21, three touchdowns, completion rate of 76% and never had two passes incomplete in a row. Lanning has lauded the talent the Ducks possess at receiver, and it showed up big time in this game: ten receivers were responsible for 319 yards and three touchdowns. Gary Bryant (3-46 yards, 1 td), Jeremiah McClellan (2-76,), Dakorien Moore (2-69, 1 td), and Malik Benson (2-48,1 td) led the receiver corps, giving a brilliant exhibition of speed and athleticism that Lanning has bragged about since the beginning of spring football.

At times the Ducks substituted more than one player, like every play, especially on defense. It appears they have special personnel groupings depending on each down and distance for the enemy offense. The defensive stats were interesting in that the final book showed 31 players earned statistical mention, emblematic of the depth that Oregon’s coaching staff has achieved with its recruiting efforts the last two years. Simply put, there are a wealth of fast, strong, physical defenders who go balls to the wall at all times. In that way the number of premier players guarantees competition every day in practice to earn playing time and it showed in this game.

In the third quarter, down 41-3, Gundy walked 40 yards down the sideline to shake the hand of a Naval veteran who was being honored for his service to the country. Standing in the end zone offering his hand, Gundy impressed the fans in Section 23 who witnessed his respectful gesture. One spectator related, “He shook his hand and very clearly mouthed, “Thank you for your service…it was a classy gesture that was appreciated by those who saw it.”

As the slaughter grew, the Autzen Jumbo-Tron showed Duck and Cowboy fans arm-in-arm, swaying to the music of the “sing-a-long” video “I’ve got Friends in Low Places.” You could not miss the appropriate irony of the setting and the feeling that sometimes there are more important things to a college football game than just the final score.

Coach Gundy took his medicine like the respected ball coach he has been for the past several decades: “I shared with the team that the good news is this was just one game. I am going to take the blame with them, but they have all got to come back and train tomorrow.” Coach Lanning’s tomorrow is focused on preparing for Northwestern, a struggling program on the edge of Lake Michigan enduring its own set of growing pains under third-year coach David Braun. If Gundy has any advice for Braun preparing to host the Ducks it might be: “We were trying to find ways to maneuver and make plays when we should have focused on executing. We should have just gone out and tried to execute.”

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 10th 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.