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3 reasons not to panic about Oregon football's ugly Week 1 win over Idaho

By Connor Muldowney

Aug 31, 2024; Eugene, Oregon, USA; Oregon Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel (8) surveys the defense during the third quarter against the Idaho Vandals at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images
Aug 31, 2024; Eugene, Oregon, USA; Oregon Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel (8) surveys the defense during the third quarter against the Idaho Vandals at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images / Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images
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It's been quite the offseason for Oregon football as the Ducks went from College Football Playoff hopefuls in 2023 to favorites to make the field ahead of the 2024 campaign.

And that's all while losing guys like Bucky Irving, Bo Nix, and Troy Franklin to the NFL.

The offense took a hit, but Dan Lanning addressed that in the transfer portal with guys like Evan Stewart and Dillon Gabriel and he gets Noah Whittington back after a season-ending injury in 2023.

But all that hype and No. 3 preseason ranking fell flat in the season opener as the Ducks struggled with Idaho, sneaking just past the Vandals, 24-14.

Panic ensued, but I'm here to tell you that there's no reason to hit that panic button just yet. And here's why.

3. The defense looked solid, for the most part

For the most part, Oregon's defense stepped up to the plate. The Ducks held Idaho to no points in the first half and just 217 total yards on 47 plays. That's not exactly a recipe for success for an opposing team and it shows that the Ducks' defense was on its game.

The only lapses were some long passing plays such as 32, 34, and 36-yard completions by Jack Layne to Mark Hamper, Elisha Cummings, and Jake Cox, respectively. Those kinds of chunk plays by Idaho were concerning, but it was really all they could do all game long with Layne passing for just 168 yards on 11-of-25 completions and the run game accounting for just 49 yards.

Outside of those chunk plays, Idaho couldn't get anything going which was encouraging.

2. The big plays will come

The longest play of the day for Oregon was just 24 yards via a pass from Dillon Gabriel to Kenyon Sadiq. The other two "long" plays were just 21 yards each and they were receptions by Traeshon Holden and Kyler Kasper.

That's right, Terrance Ferguson, Tez Johnson, Noah Whittington, Evan Stewart, nor Jordan James had a single catch or run over 20 yards on Saturday against Idaho. That's not going to continue.

This offense is just too good and explosive to not have these big plays and if you think about it, it's impressive that Oregon put up 487 total yards with just three plays of 20-plus yards. That's not going to be a problem moving forward with less conservative play-calling.

1. Dillon Gabriel is the real deal

Dillon Gabriel had an impressive first game even with the offensive line looking a little underwhelming, passing for 380 yards and two touchdowns on 41-of-49 passing. He didn't get the ball downfield a ton, but he didn't make many mistakes and he was running for his life a lot.

Now we know he works well under pressure.

And with the game on the line, Gabriel was able to lead his team down the field for a late touchdown to put the Vandals away for good.

While Gabriel couldn't quite use his legs on Saturday, he was able to use his arm and he lived up to the hype. The veteran quarterback is the real deal and Duck fans should be thrilled.

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