On paper, the Oregon Ducks got the job done.
They put up 487 yards of offense. They tallied 31 first downs. Their Heisman-contending quarterback completed 83% of his 49 passes and threw for 380 yards. The defense tallied four sacks, seven tackles for loss, and bolstered a 2-for-12 third-down rate against the Idaho Vandals.
Those numbers look championship-worthy.
But the Ducks looked anything but.
You’d be hard-pressed to find an Oregon fan walking out of Autzen Stadium on Saturday evening feeling good about what they just saw in the Ducks’ 24-14 win over the Idaho Vandals, an FCS school punching far above its weight class.
Those fans would likely complain about the offensive line giving up three sacks — more than half of the total from 2023’s entire season — and a lackluster rushing attack that averaged 2.9 yards per carry. Whatever the issue was, it was valid, and it all boils down to the same underlying fact about the Ducks’ performance in Week 1.
It was nowhere near good enough.
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Not for a team with legitimate national championship aspirations. Not for a team ranked No. 3 in the national preseason polls for just the fourth time in school history. Not for a team that spends as much money as any team in the nation, recruits as well as any team in the nation, and views itself as highly as any team in the nation. I know it, and you know it.
Dan Lanning knows it as well.
“Different than what we thought it might look like,” the 38-year-old head coach said bluntly after the game. “A lot of learning moments for us, excited to watch the film and get back to work, because there are certainly some things that we can clean up.”
That’s putting it lightly. I’m sure behind closed doors, Lanning is a bit more cut and dry with his players and staff about the product they put on the field Saturday. The penalties, the turnovers, and the 63% of offensive drives that ended without points on the board. None of it up to the “standard” that Oregon strives for.
Fortunately, this happened in Week 1, and the Ducks have the benefit of time on their side. Six days from now, Ashton Jeanty and the Boise State Broncos will come into Autzen Stadium and give the Ducks an opportunity to bounce back.
Football fans have proven before that they have short memories, and Oregon should be aiming to put that on display. A vintage offensive showing against the Broncos is all that stands between the Ducks and a season back on the tracks.
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In the end, Lanning can, and likely will, use this wake-up call for good. The Ducks slept-walked through a game, underestimated their opponent, and nearly paid the price. After coming into this 2024 season with as high of expectations as they’ve ever had, being picked by a large portion of the public to win the national championship in January, Oregon almost fumbled out of the gates.
Concerning? Absolutely. But reality checks can be impactful when taken seriously.
I asked Dillon Gabriel after the game if he could take a step back and see the benefit in almost losing in Week 1 against an outmatched opponent.
I’m still not sure if he knows.
“I’d like to say yes and no. I want to give you a real answer, but no, but yes,” Gabriel said. “That’s kind of a mixed answer. No, you don’t ever want it to be like that and strenuous. But yes, you found a way to win and were put into certain situations: two-minute end of half, and four-minute end of game, where we could’ve definitely been better. You get all these situations within a game. Yes on that end, but no, you don’t want to be in those situations.”
In essence, you never want to put yourself in a position where you can lose a game, but if you’ve already done so, you might as well learn from the experience?
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I think that’s the best way of toeing the line, and I appreciate the candidness.
I also appreciate the fact that Oregon will learn from this, and get better going forward. I don’t leave Saturday’s game with any doubt that they can be the best team in the nation; that Dillon Gabriel can win the Heisman Trophy; that the Oregon Ducks can win the national championship in 2024.
All of that’s still possible, but a lot of things will need to change in order for it to be attainable. Because what we saw on Saturday afternoon was nowhere near good enough.
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