The Oregon Ducks picked up a much needed win over No. 20 Northwestern on Saturday Afternoon which should help calm some of the concerns about this team, especially with the offensive coordinator move already made. While the offense as a whole looked much better with Jay Johnson calling plays, Oregon simply got better quarterback play than they have in two of the losses, helping spark the offense to it's best performance of the month.
Dante Moore is likely to miss the rest of the season, and the Ducks' fate is going to lie in the hands of Dylan Raiola. This season, Oregon has gotten to ride the Raiola rollercoaster, and most fans are likely just wishing it enters a stable stretch after a back-and-forth swing of incredible highs and painful lows in losses.
Oregon doesn't need Superman Raiola down the final stretch
If Dylan Raiola’s play was a literal rollercoaster, it would either be described as the wildest experience anyone has ever been on or far too erratic to possibly enjoy. This season, Oregon fans have experienced all the wild highs that make every coach believe they can fix him and all the lows that led him to Oregon in the first place.
You simply can’t beat the highs of the way Raiola came off the bench to beat USC and Nebraska along with the way he played against Northwestern. The starts against UCLA and Illinois however make you wish your team never started him again.
Maybe a ton of the blame lands on Drew Mehringer for not leaning into Dylan Raiola's strengths, but he also was far better as a passer on Saturday. Finishing the start 22-31 for 336 yards and 3 touchdowns, Oregon got the efficiency out of Raiola the offense needs to click while he took care of the football.
Saturday's start did have the electric highs of the deep ball to Dakorien Moore for the 75-yard touchdown and the play that sealed the game to Jamari Johnson, but it was more of a point guard like effort. Raiola simply distributed the ball to his playmakers like we saw in the USC game, and Dakorien Moore and Jamari Johnson delivered.
The final 4 games come against some tough but beatable Big Ten opponents, and Oregon's fate is going to come down to which version of Raiola they get. If Raiola plays to the level he did against Northwestern, there isn't a team the Ducks can't beat to try and finish 9-3. Another start like the two losses, however, and the Ducks can lose to any of the teams that Oregon will play the rest of the way.
Starting next week, Oregon gets to face another team dealing with quarterback injuries in Ohio State, and it'll give the Ducks a chance to play spoiler. The Buckeyes just lost their first game without Julian Sayin, and if the Ducks get another calm performance out of Dylan Raiola, the team can add another Top 25 win to their resume to start the month of November.
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