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3 takeaways from Oregon football's thrilling win over Boise State

By Connor Muldowney

Sep 7, 2024; Eugene, Oregon, USA; Oregon Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel (8) passes the ball during the second half against Boise State Broncos linebacker Andrew Simpson (10) at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images
Sep 7, 2024; Eugene, Oregon, USA; Oregon Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel (8) passes the ball during the second half against Boise State Broncos linebacker Andrew Simpson (10) at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images / Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images
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Another week, another somewhat shocking result for Oregon football.

After needing a late touchdown to put Idaho away in the opener, Oregon hosted Boise State on Saturday night and needed a fourth-quarter comeback to pull off the win and stave off a major upset. The Ducks were down 34-27 late in the game but a kickoff return touchdown tied things up and Atticus Sappington kicked the game-winning with no time left.

A 37-34 win wasn't quite what fans were expecting after a disappointing opener, but you have to take wins any way you can get them. Any coach will take 2-0 with ugly performances than 0-2 with great showings. It's not pretty, but Dan Lanning will take it.

What did we learn from the second close win in as many weeks?

3. Special teams saved the day

Just an unreal showing by Oregon's special teams on Saturday night. When it looked like the Ducks might be in trouble after falling behind by a touchdown on two separate occasions, the special teams stepped up and made some electric plays that saved the day.

Tez Johnson took a punt 85 yards to the house in the third quarter with just under four minutes to play in a 27-20 game to tie things up. And then in the fourth, Noah Whittington returned a kickoff 100 yards only to drop the ball on the 1-yard line and it was picked up by Jayden Limar for the score. That tied the game up at 34-34 with about 10 minutes left.

Oh, and Ross James was fantastic in the punt game and Atticus Sappington hit the game-winning field goal.

Outside of a missed extra point by Sappington in the third quarter, special teams play was darn near perfect by Oregon all game long.

2. Evan Stewart is the weapon we all expected

After a quiet opener, Evan Stewart truthers -- including myself -- were incredibly humbled. The receiver who many believed was going to have a breakout season had just three catches for 15 yards against Idaho and didn't look effective compared to Johnson. Heck, Traeshon Holden looked like a more effective weapon.

But then Stewart faced Oregon and led all pass-catchers with five catches for 112 yards and a touchdown. He looked like the elite receiving threat that we all expected when the season began.

This is a major development for Dillon Gabriel and the passing game.

1. The offensive line is becoming a real concern

Prior to Saturday's game against Boise State, Bruce Feldman appeared on a FOX pregame telecast and spoke about how Oregon's offensive line struggles are evident and they're interior-related.

Those struggles continued on Saturday night.

Gabriel was sacked four times which topped the three from the opener and outside of Jordan James, the run game could not get going, averaging 3.0 yards per carry. Outside of James, Oregon rushed 19 times for seven yards. Yes, a lot of that was sack yardage, but Noah Whittington had just six carries for 21 yards -- not ideal.

And Gabriel was running for his life all game long. That's just unacceptable for a team that had a dominant unit a year ago. If this continues, Oregon could be in some real trouble.

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