Portland State Vikings – Syndication Server

Ranking Oregon’s top 10 players in win vs. Portland State according to PFF grades

The Oregon Ducks started the season on a high note, putting up 81 points in a blowout win over Portland State. We got to see a high-flying offense once again, this time under Will Stein, and a defense that was dominant throughout the contest.

As you would expect, the stats looked pretty good. After every week of the season, we like to go into the Pro Football Focus grades and take a look at how they viewed things. Whether it’s on offense or defense, PFF gives a different view of things, grading players based on positional win rate, coverage grades, blocking grades, and much more.

There are a few players on Oregon’s roster who had outstanding PFF grades, but they only played a handful of snaps, so the sample size is too small. True freshman DL Terrance Green is a good example of this — he played 5 snaps but had a team-leading 88.6 PFF grade.

So with that being said, we are going to set the limit at 10 snaps on defense and 15 snaps on offense (roughly 20% of all snaps.) Using those barometers, here are the top 10 Ducks from Week 1 again PSU per PFF.

Photo Gallery: Ducks kick off 2023 season in style with 74-point beatdown

For any Oregon Ducks fan who needed a scoring fix after a long offseason, they ought to be satisfied after Saturday afternoon’s performance from Dan Lanning and Co.

In his first game as the Ducks’ offensive coordinator, Will Stein hung an 80-piece on the Portland State Vikings, breaking the school record for most points scored in a single game with 81. The offensive line was tremendous, the skill-position players were electric, and the defense was dominant after a couple of early miscues that let the Vikings on the board in the first quarter.

Behind it all was a raucous Autzen Stadium that was just happy to see football being played in Eugene once again. The fans showed out, as expected, and it made for a great environment. Here are some of the best pictures from that environment on Saturday:

Dan Lanning talks offensive excellence, defensive physicality after win over PSU

“That’s the expectation for us. We talk about it’s a standard. That’s how we measure ourselves — based on the standard, not necessarily on the scoreboard.”

After over a month of talking about growth, development, competition, and connection, there was finally football to talk about on Saturday afternoon.

The Oregon Ducks set a program scoring record by putting 81 points on the board against the Portland State Vikings. After allowing an early touchdown to the visiting team, the defense pitched a shutout and looked dominant.

Of course, against a lesser opponent like Portland State, that is the expectation.

After the game, Dan Lanning was excited about how the team looked, but eager to get back to work, watching film and preparing for a big game next week against Texas Tech.

Here are some of the best quotes from Lanning’s post-game press conference on Saturday

Gary Bryant Jr. earns Ducks Wire Player of the Game honors

With 7 catches on 7 targets, 100 yards and 2 TD, Gary Bryant wins our Ducks Wire Player of the Game honors in his first game with Oregon.

There were upwards of 10 players who could have a case for player of the game in Oregon’s blowout win against Portland State, but today the award goes to Gary Bryant Jr.

In his first game as a Duck, Bryant had 7 receptions for 100 yards and 2 TDs. He was also only targeted 7 times meaning he hauled the ball in each time it was thrown his way.

The Ducks’ season opener was Bryant’s first time playing in Autzen as member of the home team, after his offseason transfer from USC.

Bryant left USC because of an overcrowded WR room that didn’t leave space for him. There was some concern that with the depth of the WR group this year for Oregon, Bryant could run into the same problem.

Even though today’s game was just against an FCS team, Bryant seemingly quelled all those concerns with his play today. He showcased elite speed, route-running, and situational awareness, all of which are things the Ducks will need later on this season.

In my eyes, he could be the team’s WR2, especially with Kris Hutson’s absence this afternoon. If that’s the case, we should be in good hands with Gary Bryant.

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Social media reacts to Oregon’s blowout win over Portland State

The Ducks kicked off the 2023 season with a dominant blowout win over Portland State. Oregon fans had an enjoyable afternoon on social media.

It was a long offseason devoid of entertaining touchdowns and blaring fog horns at Autzen Stadium.

No longer.

The Oregon Ducks kicked off the 2023 season in style on Saturday afternoon with a dominant 81-7 blowout victory over the Portland State Vikings. Early on, Oregon’s defense allowed an 8-play, 75-yard scoring drive for the Vikings, but outside of that, the defense was stout and routinely able to get off the field.

The offense, as you would expect, was elite. The Ducks put up 50 points in the first half, marking the fourth time in school history they’ve done that, and the first time since 2017 against the Oregon State Beavers.

Unsurprisingly, Duck fans had a lot of fun on social media after the game was over. Here are some of the best reactions and tweets from Saturday afternoon:

Instant Reactions: Oregon breaks school scoring record in 81-7 win vs. Portland State

The scoring record at Autzen Stadium has been broken. 81 points for the Ducks.

It’s good to be back.

While students aren’t back in school at UO yet, the stadium was plenty full today. Everyone loved “Shout” as always. And it was all capped off by an Oregon win. We knew this would be a blowout, but I definitely didn’t expect a blowout this large. In my predictions, I had a final score of 59-13.

Needless to say, the Ducks exceeded expectations.

The season will be long, and this definitely isn’t an outcome anyone should get accustomed to, but it is a fun and exciting way to kick off the 2023 season. Below are some more specific reactions from right after the game.

3 Keys to victory for No. 15 Oregon Ducks against Portland State Vikings

The Oregon Ducks’ season opener against Portland State is a day away. The Ducks are heavy favorites in the game as they’ve never lost to the Vikings and have never won by fewer than 41 points. This definitely won’t be Oregon’s toughest test of the season, and it’s likely the game won’t be close. Still, this is our first chance to see the 2023 Oregon Ducks in full form, and there are some things that will be important to see in order to forecast the entire season.

Below are the three biggest things I want to see the Ducks do tomorrow in order to feel confident heading into the bulk of the season. Throughout the season I call these “Keys to victory,” but today they’re probably more like keys to long-term success.

Solidity upfront

The biggest talking point all offseason has been about uncertainty on the offensive line. The Ducks have lost 4 of their 5 starters from last year’s group, but the players filling those holes are plenty talented. What remains to be seen is if their talent can make up for their lack of experience. In this first game, all I really want to see is Bo Nix having plenty of time to throw the football each time dropback he drops back, and Bucky Irving having plenty of holes to run through against Portland State’s subpar front seven.

Consistency across the board defensively

While it was an injury to QB Bo Nix that derailed the Ducks’ 2022 season, a better all-around defense could’ve made up for the lessened offensive production Oregon saw late in the season. The Ducks’ defense struggled all of last year against the pass and the run, but they’ve added and hopefully developed plenty of new players who should make a positive impact. Head coach Dan Lanning said at Pac-12 Media Day that the defense this year is much more physical than the one who took the field last season, which should improve all facets of the defense.

For tomorrow, there are a few things I would like to see. No. 1, I like to see no missed tackles, especially against an offense that is far from as talented as what the Ducks will face this season. Secondly, I want to generate at least one turnover, just to see that it’s something the defense is capable of doing week to week.

Bo being Bo

Lastly, I want to see Bo doing what we know he can do. He could be primed for a Heisman season, and I would love to see flashes of that this weekend, even if it is just against Portland State. As a dual-threat QB, I want to see him creating in the passing game and the run game early on Saturday.

It is worth noting that Nix had an elite O-line last year, which is a luxury he may not have this time around. If that’s the case, I want to see Nix adjusting properly, and still making the plays we love to see him make.

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Ducks Wire Roundtable: Predictions, opinions for Oregon vs. Portland State

How much of the playbook do we see? How do Oregon fans measure success in an expected blowout? We give our predictions for Saturday.

We’ve been waiting patiently for the last eight months, but at long last everyone from fans to players to coaches are ready to get the 2023 college football season underway.

The Oregon Ducks will kick things off on Saturday afternoon against the Portland State Vikings in a non-conference matchup that is not expected to be very competitive. While we may not see a close game, we will get a great look at some major questions that fans have had all offseason with the Ducks reshaping their roster in Year 2 under head coach Dan Lanning.

To help preview all of the action, Ducks Wire writers Zachary Neel, and Miles Dwyer got together to make predictions and offer opinions on what we might see.

Here is your first regular-season Ducks Wire Roundtable of the 2023 season. Enjoy.

12 burning questions for the Ducks to answer in Week 1 vs. Portland State

Can the pass-rush get home? Will Ty Thompson thrive? Is the Jurrion Dickey hype real? Our biggest burning questions going into Saturday for the Ducks.

It’s been a long offseason for the Oregon Ducks that has been full of changes. While the first year under Dan Lanning was successful, there is a hope and desire from the fanbase that 2023 will bring even higher heights to the program now that the coaching staff is more established in Eugene, and more of Lanning’s players are on the roster.

We saw over half of the roster from last year replaced by incoming recruits or transfers, so there are a lot of new faces to watch on Saturday against Portland State in the season-opener. While we got a look at most of them in the spring game back in April, none of that will compare to the action that we see on Saturday afternoon.

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If you’re like me, then I’m sure you have a ton of questions about this team going forward, from offense to defense, to special teams.

Here are some of the most important things that I think we need to find the answers to.

Oregon Ducks Injury Report: Latest intel heading into Week 1 vs. Portland State

The latest look at Oregon’s projected injury report going into Saturday’s season-opener vs. Portland State.

The Oregon Ducks received some positive news on the injury front going into the Week 1 game against the Portland State Vikings, but there are some players on the roster who have been added to the list over the past couple of days.

On Monday night, it became clear that starting center Jackson Powers-Johnson would return to practice and was expected to play in Saturday’s season-opener. Powers-Johnson was at both days of practice that media members were able to watch this week, and looks to be participating in all drills.

Other players on the offensive line, like Nishad Strother, are still in question, as well as a few defensive players.

Here is the full updated injury report based on intel gathered by Ducks Wire managing editor Zachary Neel through watching practice and talking with coaches this week: