It was August 14. There I sat, pulling up the just-released AP preseason rankings on my phone.
We’ve got Georgia at No. 1. This made total sense to me. The Bulldogs crushed Florida State 63-3 in the Orange Bowl last December, and their QB—Heisman candidate Carson Beck—was back again. Georgia on top seemed spot on.
Next was Ohio State at No. 2. They had lost in the Cotton Bowl to Missouri, but that was without their starting quarterback (Kyle McCord had transferred to Syracuse) and star receiver (Marvin Harrison Jr. would soon declare for the draft). The Buckeyes had downright scared Michigan last season, losing by less than a touchdown—still vivid in my memory. They’ve got a ton of returning players; they added Caleb Downs from Alabama and Quinshon Judkins from Ole Miss, and they don’t have to worry half as much about the Wolverines this year. Ohio State felt at home there at No. 2.
I kept scrolling, then encountered … my Oregon Ducks at No. 3? My first reaction was stress. How are we going to live up to No. 3? But then I thought maybe I hadn’t been paying enough attention since the Ducks lost to Utah to lose the Pac-12 championship last December (RIP). After the Ducks’ week one struggle to beat Idaho, I’m back to being stressed.
Idaho’s opening drive was three and out, hardly getting out of its red zone. Oregon then marched down the field for a touchdown on a 7-yard pass from quarterback Dillon Gabriel to wide receiver Tez Johnson. The next three possessions ended in punts before Oregon missed a field goal to end the first quarter.
Idaho then had a convincing drive, but it ended in an Oregon interception and a touchback. The Ducks then proceeded down the field on short runs and passes, leading to Jordan James running 6 yards for a touchdown. Idaho had a short drive, then punted to the Ducks after five plays. On the next drive, Oregon was in prime position with a 1st and 10 deep in Idaho territory, but then Gabriel was sacked and fumbled the ball to Idaho’s Dallas Afalava, who recovered the pigskin at the Idaho thirty-one-yard line. The Vandals turned the ball over on downs. The Ducks took over and ran a few plays before the clock ran out to end the second quarter. Oregon was looking fine thus far.
The third quarter began with five possessions resulting in turnovers—two punts from Idaho, one punt, and two failures to convert from Oregon. On Oregon’s second turnover on downs, Idaho recovered the ball at the Ducks’ thirty-six-yard line. The Vandals then ran a textbook flea flicker, resulting in quarterback Jack Layne throwing a touchdown to tight end Jake Cox in the next play. The score was Oregon 14, Idaho 7 at the end of the third quarter. It wasn’t a confident place for Oregon to be as the third-ranked team at home against an unranked opponent.
Things sped up in the fourth quarter. Oregon scored a field goal with under thirteen minutes left, followed by a Vandals touchdown with under ten. That was probably the pinnacle of unease for Ducks fans, with their lead slimmed down to three points.
The Ducks converted a fourth down for another Dillon Gabriel to Tez Johnson touchdown with five-and-a-half minutes on the clock (Notable is that Oregon was saved by the flag of an offside penalty on Idaho on the first failed attempt to convert).
Idaho then punted after six plays, then Oregon punted after 3. Then Idaho’s QB came out of the game due to injury just before the two-minute warning with what was a broken collarbone. Oregon intercepted a pass from Vandals’ backup quarterback Jack Wagner, then took a knee thrice to end their season opener. The final score was Oregon 24, Idaho 14.
It felt far too close. The teams ranked one through nine preseason were all victorious in week 1 (that would be, in order, Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas, Alabama, Ole Miss, Notre Dame, Penn State, and Michigan). There were five blowouts: Georgia won by 31 points, Ohio State by 46, Texas by 52, Alabama by 63, and Ole Miss by a whopping 76. The other four wins were closer: Notre Dame won by 11, Penn State by 22, Michigan by 20. Oregon was the closest.
At several points during the game, it looked as though Oregon was struggling to keep pace. Dan Lanning coaches aggressively, and at times, it felt like he was coaching a top-five program—namely, when going for it on fourth downs. The team on the field just seemed a bit pressed to keep up with the play call, and things will only get faster from here.
The Ducks must show they are among the country’s best college football teams. It’s already widely eyebrow-raising that Oregon was ranked so highly, and now it’s show time. With other powerhouses coming out of the gates and winning by dozens of points, Oregon came up a little short in week 1.
Now, it was the first game of the season. I hear that. Plus, our quarterback threw for 380 yards without an interception- darn good. But if the Ducks want to be taken seriously as playoff contenders (which they certainly long for), it needs to be a much stronger showing this week against Boise State.
If I were a fly on the wall at team meetings this week, I would hope to hear that the Ducks are looking at this Saturday’s game as a massive opportunity. One can be used to make a national statement about the quality of football being played in Eugene. It’ll be another night at Autzen against an unranked opponent. I sure hope the Ducks make it happen.
