There is always a temptation after the first game to decide that everything we just saw is either exactly what a team is going to be or something that can be dismissed because it was Week 1. The truth usually lands somewhere in the middle, which is part of what made Oregon’s 34-27 win over Boise State so interesting.
Some of the things we spent August wondering about looked considerably clearer by Saturday night. Others became more complicated. Oregon produced more than 500 yards, held Boise State below 300 and still needed a fourth-down stop late in the fourth quarter to protect a seven-point lead. That is not a box score that should normally produce that kind of afternoon, and it is probably why I have found myself thinking more about individual pieces of the game than the final score.
So after a night to get through the notes, listen to the postgame comments and reconsider a few of my immediate reactions, here are three observations I keep coming back to, two questions Oregon now has to answer and one prediction as the Ducks turn toward Stillwater.
THREE OBSERVATIONS
1. Dante Moore may have changed the list of things Oregon needs to worry about
I came into the opener wanting to see how Dante Moore handled the moments when Oregon’s talent did not immediately make the game easy. We had seen plenty of evidence that he could throw the football, and we had heard throughout camp how comfortable he looked directing the offense, but there is a difference between doing that in August and doing it when your team is down 17-7 in a stadium that expected something considerably different.
That was where I thought Moore was at his best Saturday.
The 388 passing yards and three touchdowns obviously jump off the stat sheet, but I am not sure those are the numbers that matter most to me. He finished without an interception, did not turn a bad stretch into a worse one and generally avoided the kind of forced decision that can turn an uncomfortable opener into an upset.
Dan Lanning talked afterward about some of the plays Oregon will celebrate internally being the ones where Moore simply got rid of the football rather than putting it in danger. He eventually summed up the quarterback’s afternoon by saying, “He threw to win today.”
That sounds simple, but it is a fairly significant development for this team.
There were throws Moore will want back. I thought he telegraphed where he wanted to go a couple of times, and the missed touchdown opportunity to Jeremiah McClellan in the second half was one he normally needs to hit. None of that bothered me nearly as much as it would have if those mistakes had been followed by a quarterback trying to make up for them all at once.
The drive before halftime is probably going to stick with me longer than some of the bigger completions. Oregon had been outplayed in the situations that mattered, Boise State had gone ahead by 10 and the Ducks suddenly received one last opportunity after the defense forced a punt. Moore took over and four plays later Jamari Johnson was standing in the end zone.
Moore said afterward that Oregon had practiced those situations so often that the possession felt almost routine. That is exactly what situational practice is supposed to create. Instead of seeing a young quarterback trying to manufacture something dramatic, we saw one relying on work he had already done.
There will be much harder defensive tests ahead, and one opener does not erase every question about a quarterback beginning his first full season as Oregon’s starter. But the question has already shifted for me.
I am not wondering nearly as much whether Moore can handle a difficult game.
Now I want to know just how much Oregon can put on him.
2. Jeremiah McClellan looked like a camp story that was actually telling us something
There are always players who become stars of fall camp because we hear their names almost every day. Sometimes that translates immediately once the season starts. Other times September arrives and we realize practice created a little more excitement than the actual role warranted.
Jeremiah McClellan looks like he belongs in the first category.
His six catches for 150 yards were not simply the product of one broken coverage or a late game that had already been decided. McClellan was making important plays while Oregon was struggling to find its footing, including the 50-yard reception that got the Ducks away from their own goal line early.
That mattered because Oregon had plenty of receiving options Saturday. Evan Stewart caught eight passes. Jamari Johnson found the end zone. Dakorien Moore produced the play everyone will remember when he turned a crossing route into a 62-yard touchdown. Yet McClellan consistently seemed to be the player Oregon could turn toward when it needed something to happen.
Lanning said afterward that the “juice and energy and consistency” McClellan showed Saturday were the same things Oregon had been seeing from him every day in practice. Moore talked about McClellan coming over to his house to watch film and the work the two had put in throughout the offseason.
That is where the receiver room gets interesting.
It was easy in August to talk about Oregon having too many weapons for defenses to cover, but Saturday gave us the first actual version of what that looks like. Boise State could not dedicate everything to Stewart because McClellan kept winning. It could not adjust entirely toward McClellan because Dakorien Moore can turn one missed tackle into a touchdown. Johnson gives Oregon another big target, and none of that even accounts for whatever additional roles emerge as the season develops.
The thing I will be watching now is whether McClellan has moved beyond being one of several options and into being one of the players Oregon deliberately builds around.
After Saturday, I think he has.
3. The defensive front was not bad, but it was not what I expected either
This is probably the observation where the final numbers and my notes from the game disagree the most.
Boise State ran for only 93 yards. The Broncos averaged 2.6 yards per rush. Oregon eventually recorded three sacks and held Boise State to 4 of 15 on third down. If those numbers had been handed to me Friday night without a final score attached, I would have assumed the Ducks controlled the game defensively.
I did not feel that way watching it.
My notes from the opening drive kept coming back to the same thing: I was waiting for the disruption we had heard about throughout fall camp. Oregon was rotating talented defensive linemen and edge players, but Boise State was finding enough room inside and enough manageable down-and-distance situations to avoid letting Oregon turn the front loose.
That distinction matters.
The Broncos did not need to run for 200 yards to make their rushing attack useful. Five yards on first down can be more damaging to an aggressive pass rush than a 20-yard run followed by several negative plays, because the offense stays in control of the playbook.
Lanning identified that afterward when he talked about Oregon spending too much time defending second-and-5 and second-and-4. When asked specifically about allowing only 93 rushing yards, he did not bother celebrating the number.
“Not good enough. Not good enough. Not to our standard,” Lanning said.
I think that is the right way to look at it.
The front did improve. Matayo Uiagalelei became increasingly disruptive, Teitum Tuioti made plays and Oregon did a better job containing Maddux Madsen as the afternoon moved along. Once Boise State reached the situations where Oregon knew the pass was coming, the difference became much easier to see.
That is actually what makes the opening stretches more frustrating.
The pass rush looks capable of becoming one of Oregon’s biggest advantages. The Ducks simply have to earn the right to use it by becoming better on first down.
That is a very different problem than not having enough pass rushers.
TWO QUESTIONS
1. What does Oregon actually want its running game to be?
This is probably the offensive question I am most interested in heading into Week 2.
Oregon handed the football to a running back once in the first quarter against Boise State. That was not what I expected after spending the offseason talking about the depth in this room and wondering how the Ducks would divide carries among Jordon Davison, Dierre Hill Jr. and the other options.
Some of the imbalance was undoubtedly dictated by what Boise State was showing. Drew Mehringer found opportunities in the passing game, and it is hard to criticize throwing the football when Moore finishes with nearly 400 yards and three touchdowns.
But there is a difference between being capable of throwing to win and having to throw because you cannot consistently impose the running game.
Davison eventually finished with 90 yards on 12 attempts, and his 40-yard run in the third quarter was one of the first moments where I thought Oregon really stressed Boise State with its physical advantage. Once he became more involved, the offense felt less predictable and the passing-game weapons became even harder to manage.
Lanning said afterward that Oregon did not run the football to its capabilities, while his evaluation of the offensive line was “good at times, bad at times.” He specifically questioned whether the Ducks consistently generated enough push.
That is the part I want to see change.
I do not need Oregon to establish some artificial 50-50 balance. If a defense cannot cover Stewart, McClellan, Dakorien Moore and Johnson, throwing the football is a perfectly sensible response.
I do want Oregon to be able to line up on third-and-2 with Davison behind Moore and make the defense believe the Ducks can take those two yards whether Boise State, Oklahoma State or anyone else knows exactly what is coming.
Saturday did not convince me Oregon is there yet.
2. Does Oregon change anything in the punt-return game?
I would not have expected this to become one of the Week 2 questions, but two muffed punts have a way of changing the conversation.
Stewart lost the first one, and Boise State scored on the next play. He recovered the second himself late in the fourth quarter, preventing what could have been another dramatic swing.
Lanning made it clear afterward that he still trusts Stewart. He talked about how consistent Stewart had been handling punts during practice and framed Saturday as something the veteran needs to work through rather than something that automatically costs him the job.
I understand that approach.
There is also a larger calculation here because Stewart is one of Oregon’s most important offensive players. He had eight catches Saturday and looked physically ready after the long road back. The Ducks have to decide whether the upside he offers as a punt returner is worth adding another responsibility to a player they already need so much from on offense.
Maybe the answer remains yes.
But Oregon spent camp experimenting with enough athletes in the return game that it has options, and I would be surprised if the staff does not at least take a longer look at those options this week.
This is not about punishing Stewart for one bad afternoon. It is about determining what combination gives Oregon the best chance to win, and the first game provided new information that has to be part of that decision.
ONE BOLD PREDICTION
Jordon Davison gets at least 15 carries against Oklahoma State
This is less about believing Oregon suddenly wants to become a ground-and-pound offense and more about what I think the Boise State game will look like when the coaches review it.
Davison carried 12 times for 90 yards despite spending long stretches as a secondary piece of the offense. Once Oregon started getting him involved, the Ducks gained another physical element that had been missing early and made life easier for everything around it.
Moore just showed Oregon that it can throw to win. The receiver room just showed everyone that there are dangerous options all over the field. If I am Mehringer, that makes me more interested in establishing Davison early next week, not less.
Oklahoma State will now have a full game of Oregon passing concepts to study. The Cowboys know Moore can distribute the football, know McClellan is a real problem and saw exactly what happens if Dakorien Moore gets an angle in space.
The counter to all of that is forcing them to defend the box honestly.
I expect Oregon to make a much more deliberate effort to establish Davison from the opening series in Stillwater, and I think he finishes with at least 15 carries for the first time this season.
If that happens and the passing game looks anything like it did Saturday, Oregon’s offense should begin looking a lot closer to the version we thought we might see when fall camp ended.