First Half Takeaways: Oregon Ducks jump out to 31-14 lead over Colorado in impressive first half

The Ducks offense showed everything we wanted to see in the first half, putting up 31 points on the CU defense.

After seeing some life from the Oregon Ducks last week in a win over the UCLA Bruins, a lot of fans were curious which team would come out to play on Saturday against Colorado.

Would it be a team capable of blowing out a lesser opponent, or rather one that played down to competition once again?

The Ducks answered that question early, marching down on the first drive and putting points on the board. They ultimately built a 31-14 lead in the half, and seem to be playing with passion. Here are some of our first-half takeaways:

  • The Oregon Ducks came out firing on offense, having an easy time establishing the rushing attack in the first couple of drives of the game. Travis Dye was up to his usual business, capping off the first drive with a 10-yard TD on a swing route from Anthony Brown.
  • Freshman RB Byron Cardwell scored his first career touchdown, going 34-yards untouched up the middle to put the Ducks up 14-0 in the first quarter. Earlier on the same drive, Cardwell got his day started with a 29-yard drive up the right sideline to get the Ducks into scoring position.
  • Anthony Brown Jr. was spectacular for the Ducks, finishing the half with 19-for-24passing (79%), 201yards and 2 touchdowns. At one point in the second quarter, he stood in the pocket, took on pressure, and delivered a strike to true freshman Troy Franklin for No. 11’s first career TD. It was a perfect pitch-and-catch. This is exactly what you wanted to see from the Oregon offense as a Duck fan.
  • The Ducks offense was able to get anything it wanted in the first half, scoring a TD on each of their 4 possessions of the game. They finished the half with 344 total yards and 21 first downs.
  • Penalties are usually an issue for Oregon, but that wasn’t the case in the first two quarters of this one. They finished the half with 0 penalties for 0 yards. On the other hand, Colorado struggled mightily in that department, getting flagged 8 times for 50 yards.
  • Pass blocking from the running backs was huge in this first half, as was run-blocking from receivers. Check out this pass block from Seven McGee on Anthony Brown’s TD pass to Troy Franklin:

Now look at this incredible pass block from Johnny Johnson III on Dye’s touchdown run to start the game:

  • The Ducks’ defense wore down a bit in the second quarter, allowing Colorado to get into the endzone a couple of times. In the half, Colorado managed 147 yards and 8 first downs, despite ranking near the bottom of the Pac-12 in total offense.

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