I don't think you'll find many Duck fans satisfied with that win. Relieved? Absolutely. But there is nothing about this team currently that screams National Title contender.
Offense
- No disrespect, but we can't play Pickard at Center anymore. It was evident when Poncho moved to Center the running lanes magically appeared. The ill-timed snap on 3rd and short deep in our own territory was the final straw for me.
- The jury is still out on Gabriel. When he has time, it's hard to find a QB who throws a prettier deep ball. I'm sure he'd like those two throws in the 4th back to Stewart and Holden, and I do think those are completions later on in the season. He was also marvelous on that 3rd down scramble in the 3rd (right before the fumble by Herbert). BUT there's something "off" to me and for a 6th year Senior, that's a bit concerning. He ran into multiple blitzes. He's not audibling to hot routes when the defense is showing an obvious blitz/pressure. He doesn't look very confident and one has to assume it's due to the terrible line play.
- Will Stein. Where to start? Why are you calling a pass behind the LOS to our slowest TE (Herbert) when the team was about to put the nail in the coffin? The three straight runs up the middle show zero confidence or faith in the team. I do not blame the fans for boo'ing that series. MAX protect seemed to work but that's where the adjustments stopped. Why not roll DG out? Why not throw screen passes to Sadiq or the RBs when you know pressure is coming?
- The penalties. For a veteran bunch, they sure play undisciplined football. Dan needs to start holding these players accountable. Holden should've been sat for the rest of the half after committing that shove which derailed a drive.
- Speaking of Dan, where is this depth you keep talking about? Yeah they rotated OL but we really only saw two RB (James/Whittington) and the starters at WR. It's really frustrating watching other teams and seeing them play their Freshman while ours are all sitting on the bench and it's not like the starters are dominating either.
- Evan, Tez, and Kenyon are electric. Find ways to get them the ball in space.
Defense
- I keep reading that this defense is legit and that's not what I'm seeing. We played soft for a large portion of that game. Boise St bullied us for the majority of the game up front. There was a stretch in the 3rd where we got into the backfield but it was short-lived. Boise was able to create massive lanes for their RBs all game long and did so after a starter went down early on. Allowing 34 points and nearly 200 yards rushing to Jeanty shouldn't leave anyone feeling good.
- The LB and S need to take better pursuit angles. I saw them overrun a lot of plays which led to Jeanty running wild. Re-watched the highlights and man does Bassa take some tough angles. Tysheem also really got himsefl in bad position on that long TD run after the Herbert fumble.
- The DL had their moments but for a unit that was pretty disruptive last season and hit the portal HARD, I gotta be honest ... I haven't seen near the dominance in the trenches that was expected. This goes back to a point above, but where is the depth? I'd love to see the young players get a chance.
- Boise had a stretch there where they converted 3-4 consecutive 3rd and longs via the air in the 2nd-half. At home, you need to get off the field
Special Teams
- They were special. Hands down the reason we won that game. Gave me Stanford 2001 vibes when the only way we could score in the 2nd half was kick or punt returns.
- Thank you Jayden Limar! Absolutely no reason for Noah to drop the ball short, especially as an upper classman.
- Devon Jackson's hustle was special on the KR for TD. If only DAT had blocked for Mariota like that in 2012 ..
- Anyone else stressed over making a game-ending 25 yard FG from straight on? Kickers at Oregon are like big man with injury issues at the Blazers ... there's just something there.
Overall
- This team is VERY fortunate to be 2-0. We really mis Bo's leadership. SOMEONE needs to step up and become a vocal leader because a coaches words only go so far. SOMEONE has to hold the team accountable from a player's perspective.
- I don't want to worry anyone but the Ohio State game is only a month away
