3 takeaways from Oregon football's dismantling of UCLA in first Big Ten bout
If you went into Saturday night hoping for an Oregon football blowout to open Big Ten play, you had to come away fairly satisfied as the Ducks went into Pasadena and escaped with a 34-13 win over the Bruins.
While this wasn't your normal Big Ten game because it featured two brand-new teams in the conference who were just in the Pac-12 together a year ago, it still marked the first-ever win in the new league for the Ducks. They now hold a 1-0 all-time record as members of the Big Ten. So that's pretty cool.
And now the Ducks will get ready to host Michigan State on a short week and while the Spartans have lost two straight and got throttled at home against Ohio State, they do look much more competent this season than they have over the past two -- turnovers are their main issue.
Back to the game on Saturday, though, what did we learn?
1. Dillon Gabriel is the model of consistency
When you're a college football coach, the first thing you hope to have is a quarterback that you can rely on. That's why Dan Lanning has to be thrilled with his gunslingers over the past three years.
Lanning had Bo Nix who had a career resurgence in Eugene and is now an NFL starter as a rookie and he replaced him with another elite -- and consistent -- passer in Dillon Gabriel. The former Oklahoma and UCF quarterback was on pace to break the single-season completion percentage record through three games and he remains on pace after yet another accurate showing on Saturday.
Gabriel completed 31-of-41 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns. He did throw his first interception, but if he's averaging two-plus touchdowns a game and one pick every four, I think Duck fans can live with that.
2. Tez Johnson is elite (obviously)
When Tez Johnson broke out a year ago, it was a pleasant surprise, but he immediately increased the expectations on himself for the 2024 season. After accounting for just 80 receiving yards through the first two games, there was some slight concern that he wasn't going to be the threat that he was a season ago. He had 15 receptions, but accounting for just 80 yards on those was not ideal.
He's since found his stride and is proving to everyone that he is, in fact, elite.
For the second straight game, Johnson finished with over 100 yards and for the second time this year, he had over 10 receptions. We might be looking at a legit Biletnikoff Award finalist here. If it wasn't for that Idaho game, he might be a lock to be a finalist.
3. The Ducks are finally gelling
In Weeks 1 and 2, it felt like something was just off about this Oregon team. It was barely beating inferior opponents at home (although Boise State is proving to be pretty darn good) and it was slightly shaky on the defensive side of the ball.
That's all changed over the past two games.
Oregon held Oregon State to just 14 points on their home turf two weeks ago and then held UCLA to just 13 points in the Rose Bowl. Not only that, but the Bruins had just 172 total yards against Oregon which just isn't going to cut it in this conference but that proves that the Ducks are hitting their stride and finally gelling like the top-five preseason team that they were.