Early games are about execution and improvement rather than the final score. This week on the "BLeav in Oregon" podcast with Zachary Neel, Oregon great and 11-year NFL veteran Jonathan Stewart said, "You're not measuring the scoreboard, you're measuring execution."
Playing an FCS school or a team that went 3-9 in the Big 12 last year, the point is to clean up the little things, reduce penalties and communication errors, improve in the fundamentals, blocking and tackling and being cohesive on both sides of the ball.
Still, the Ducks got a shock and an unfortunate break when Oklahoma State quarterback Hauss Hejny broke his foot on the third drive of the season, off five weeks as the Cowboys prepare to come to Oregon on September 6.
Against UT Martin Thursday night Hejny broke a bone in his left foot on a pass play, walking to the locker room under his own power. He led scoring drives in his first two possessions, running for a six-yard touchdown to open the scoring, then passing for a 10-yard TD and a 14-0 lead.
Oklahoma State QB Hauss Hejny broke his left foot on Thursday night, sources tell @Brett_McMurphy and I.
— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos_) August 29, 2025
He's expected to miss at least 5 weeks and undergo surgery.https://t.co/adxcJ9MDiH pic.twitter.com/ukg7OaLHCl
Those first two scoring marches covered 71 and 93 yards. Without him the Cowboy offense struggled, held to 17 points the rest of the way as redshirt freshman Zane Flores took over, 13-20 passing for 136 yards, three rushes for 8 yards, playing in his first college game.
“(Hejny) has the ability to take off and go,” OSU head coach Gundy said after the game. “You see a lot of that in college football now, right? You see quarterbacks all over the country that do that. They’re defended and they take off and run. And it’s difficult. We see it in this league. A lot of quarterbacks have that ability. I thought Zane did a good job also. A couple of times, he took off and made a few plays."
Injuries are one of the unfortunate realities of college football. The Ducks have taken a couple of cruel hits to their roster in the loss of Evan Stewart over the summer and Trey McNutt in fall camp.
Hejny's bad break robs Oregon of the opportunity to practice their execution against a dual-threat quarterback and a charismatic leader. It takes some of the juice out of an intersectional matchup, and now the Ducks will have to create their own.
New Cowboys defensive coordinator Todd Grantham and his unit still pose some problems. They were very disruptive in the opener with four sacks and an interception. limiting the Skyhawks to 116 yards rushing.
Senior linebackers Bryan McCoy and Brandon Rawls combined for 25 tackles, while Grantham unleashed redshirt freshman linebacker Wendell Gregory for three sacks. Defensive end Jaleel Johnson produced 2.5 tackles for loss. The front seven remains a good test for the Oregon offensive line, but the Cowboy offensive is cooked.