Justin Herbert the Key to Oregon Football Success vs. Stanford
By Alex Weber
The national spotlight will be on Oregon Football and Quarterback Justin Herbert on Saturday night.
Ohhhhhhhhh, it’s game-day! Tonight, at 5PM Pacific Time, in Eugene, Oregon Football clashes with the Stanford Cardinal in what could very well be a battle between the two best Pac-12 teams. Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Reece Davis and Desmond Howard are live as I’m typing this. The spotlight is back on the Ducks and Eugene after being absent for the past couple seasons!
Tonight, in primetime, Mario Cristobal and his dapper Ducks have the chance to prove they belong in College Football Playoff talk. And Justin Herbert, our QB1, has the chance to prove to the world that he’s the best quarterback in the country. Not some Hawaiian named Tua; not someone who got drafted into the MLB (Kyler Murray). No, it’s Justin Herbert, the Oregon Duck.
But, aside from all the rah-rah media coverage (that includes me) heading into the biggest game of the year, Herbert has a tall task ahead of him in picking apart an elite Cardinal defense. If he wilts, the team will follow suit and it could get ugly. If he shines, well, you know: OREGON FOR THE TITLE!
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I’m pumped but also extremely nervous about tonight’s game. On one hand, I know our quarterback is a future pro and is capable of dismantling any defense he plays against. On the other hand, we have played ABSOLUTELY NOBODY so far this season, and Herbert hasn’t exactly eviscerated those nobodies to complete nothingness. He’s been solid and put up pretty gaudy numbers on the season, take a look: 46/81 for 840 yards, 56.8% completion, 12 TD, 3 INT. Those numbers are great, don’t get me wrong. However, I want to see two specific things from him tonight that I think could very well decide the game.
1. No Turnovers: Herbert can throw the ball a mile with the flick of his wrist, and he can also make some of the most jaw-dropping pin-point throws of any college quarterback of the last 5 years. But, he’s also prone to throw the occasional interception. Sometimes, Justin just gets careless out there takes unnecessary risks. And, as football goes, risky passes are typically more liable to be picked off. Tonight, we cannot afford turnovers. This Stanford team will eat a lot of clock by feeding their Heisman-contending workhorse Bryce Love, which will limit the number of total possessions. Herbert, and the whole offense simply cannot give Stanford free possessions. Their defense is sturdy, and an interception on their side of the field could be lethal. We don’t know how many shots at the end zone we’ll even get. Herbert has to keep his head about him so we don’t waste them.
2. Higher Completion Percentage: The only somewhat deficiency on Herbert’s stat sheet is his comp. percentage. At just 56.8, and given who we’ve played so far, it just isn’t high enough. With Herbert facing by far the best defense and secondary he’s seen so far this year, he’ll have to be on the money with his passes. I already spoke on the interceptions, but even just routinely hitting the open guy on 3 & 4 or 2 & 10 or what have you, could be the difference. Oregon needs to have plenty of SLOPs (Sustained Long Offensive Possessions) tonight, and Herbert whizzing a bullet past someone’s head on third down cannot be a regular occurrence, or the Cardinal defense will baptize a, thus far, untested Oregon offense with the crushing realization that they aren’t as good as everyone thought.
The offense will ebb and flow based on the performance of Herbert, like it or not. I’m confident in him. After all, he is still easily one of the most talented arms in the country. I just hope and pray he showcases that narrative for 60 minutes tonight against Stanford.
If you haven’t been reminded enough, Oregon kicks off against Stanford at 8PM ET, 5PM PT on ABC.