On Saturday, the Oregon Ducks will face a Power Five opponent for the first time in 2023. The Texas Tech Red Raiders lost their first game of the season to the Wyoming Cowboys, but they still have plenty of talent and surely will not make this easy for the Ducks.
Last week’s matchup against Portland State didn’t give great insight into the quality of Oregon football this year, which means this weekend will likely be more telling of how the rest of the season may go. Below are the three biggest things I see the Ducks needing to do Saturday evening to walk out of Lubbock with a win.
Get off to a hot start offensively
The Red Raiders’ strengths — for the most part — don’t lie on the defensive side of the ball. They lost a great many seniors after 2022, so their defense is largely inexperienced. If Oregon’s offensive unit can get moving quickly and score on the first few drives, the ball may start rolling too fast for the Texas Tech defense to stop it.
Consistent pressure on Tyler Shough
No quarterback likes to get hit. it’s as simple as that. It affects the play of some QBs more than others, but consistent pressure and contact slows every QB down to some extent. If the Ducks’ new-and-improved pass rush unit can get to Red Raiders’ QB Tyler Shough early in the game and put pressure on him, it will hopefully stifle him enough to contain their whole offense.
Bo Nix making quick decisions in the pocket
As Dan Lanning pointed out earlier this week, part of Texas Tech’s identity defensively is aggressiveness, specifically when it comes to blitzing the QB. The Red Raiders will likely be persistent trying to get to Bo Nix, which will be a good test both for the new Ducks’ O-line as well as for Nix, to see how he does when forced to get rid of the ball perhaps quicker than he is accustomed to. I think he is equipped for it, but it is a bit outside of the norm for him.
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