Oregon football overcomes slow start in win over Michigan State

Oregon football and Michigan State exchanged pleasantries at the start of the game. The Spartans won the coin toss and deferred. Both teams struggled on their opening drives. The Spartans fumbled out of the endzone on their first drive giving the ball to Oregon.

On the Ducks' first drive, Dillon Gabriel led the team down the field and threw an interception in the endzone. Oregon was able to clean up the mistakes in the game better than the Spartans. Of the 10 drives the Ducks had, five resulted in scores. For the Spartans, over half of their drives resulted in fourth down punts.

Despite the game turning one-sided, and a 31-10 win for Oregon, Michigan State held Oregon to 50 percent on third down and had four tackles for loss. Offensively through three quarters, it was all Oregon. Jordan James had over 160 yards on the ground and a touchdown. The time of possession was close with Oregon having close to a two-minute advantage.

Defensively, Oregon was better. The Ducks had five sacks on Michigan State quarterbacks. Former Oregon State and current Michigan State starter Aiden Chiles finished 10-for-17 for 154 yards completing 59 percent of his passes. The Spartans run game struggled for most of the first half picking up just two yards of offense.

The Ducks allowed just 35 yards to the MSU offense in the second quarter.

One Duck that had a big game was tight end Terrance Ferguson. He had two catches for 82 yards with a long scamper of 62 yards. He was targeted five times. Wide Receiver Tez Johnson finished with 10 catches for 84 yards and a score and was targeted 14 times. I expect both players to be key in the Ducks offensive attack against Ohio State next week.

The biggest game of the year is here for Duck fans. Oregon hosts Ohio State next Saturday. Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time on NBC.