Week 1 saw Portland State on the Oregon Football schedule. The Ducks were primarily ready for the Vikings from the start and racked up 729 yards of total offense and 348 on the ground in an 81-7 blowout on Saturday.
There were some parts of the game that were impressive. Bo Nix topped that list. Nix picked up where he left off last season and hit 85 percent of his passes in his two quarters and partial third quarter of action. He was 23 for 27 for 287 yards and three touchdowns.
Transfer Gary Bryant Jr. had two touchdowns on the day. Both came on the third quarter on consecutive drives. The first was the final drive by Nix. He then scored on a pass from backup Quarterback Ty Thompson who looked a lot more comfortable and confident in running the offense.
Thompson was a solid 7 for 8 through the air with the touchdown.
The Run game was equally impressive from all contributors. Bucky Irving had just four carries on the day but made the most of them with two touchdowns and a long 56-yard run. Jordan James and Dante Dowdell had four touchdowns between them.
James had three, Dowdell one. In all, it was 11 touchdowns Oregon scored. I felt bad for the Oregon Duck, known for doing pushups following each Oregon score. He had over 400 pushups before the game was complete.
The Oregon Defense, thanks to the redshirt rule, saw 29 players take the field vs Portland State. Clearly, some of those that play over the first four weeks will be considered to redshirt and save a year, but now is a good time to evaluate and see what you have as a team when your not facing off against your own on the other side.
Junior Connor Soelle led the team with 5 total tackles. He also had a hit on the quarterback. Brandon Dorlus had a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry. There were a total of 7 quarterback hurries in the game for the Oregon Defense.
The first half was played without a penalty flag, which did not last long into the second half. Both teams committed infractions. The Ducks had 2 for 20 yards. PSU had 4 for 50 yards.
Oregon is 1-0 on the season and that is the most important statistic. Next, the Ducks travel to Texas Tech on Saturday. The Red Raiders lost their lead against Wyoming on Saturday losing in double overtime. Texas Tech is led by a familiar name to Oregon fans with Quarterback Tyler Shough.
This will be a bigger test for the Ducks, as not only is Texas Tech a higher-quality opponent, but they’ll be looking to redeem themselves from a tough Week 1 loss. Lubbock is never an easy place for opponents to play, so the Ducks need to tune out the noise and go about playing football they way they know how.
Bo Nix will need to limit mistakes and play within himself, as the Texas Tech secondary is quite good. If Oregon leans on the running game and keeps control of the clock they can come out of Lubbock with a win.
Oregon and Texas Tech meet on Saturday at 4 pm Pacific Time on FOX.
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