Our Oregon football program had a stunning performance on New Year’s Day, blanking Texas Tech’s high-flying offense 23-0. The Ducks did struggle with what I believe to be the best front seven in the College Football Playoff, but they made enough plays to polish off a complete demolition of the Big 12’s best. Now, Oregon looks ahead to next Friday in a rematch against Indiana as 4-point underdogs, a 13.5-point differential from where they sat earlier in this season as favorites in Autzen.
Before we move on, though, here are some of the key takeaways from the Orange Bowl as the Ducks continue their championship run.
The offense was stifled for Oregon, yet Dan and co. always find ways to win – Photo Via Tom Corno
3: Oregon Will Continue to be Underestimated—GOOD!
WHAT is going on this season with narratives surrounding Oregon. It’s almost laughable to me at this point, as I expect zero kudos every postgame when analysts are reviewing the Ducks’ play.
“Oregon doesn’t have a championship-caliber defense” was blasted everywhere last week, and “Oregon doesn’t have a championship-caliber offense” is being fired off this week. Pick a narrative (and NOT the first-round bye one). Watch the entire season instead of eight minutes of highlights from a playoff game. This was supposed to be “the” game of the week. Oregon came down from a 2.5-point favorite to a 1-point favorite minutes before kickoff, the only pick ’em game of the quarterfinals. Tech couldn’t manage a single score on offense, while Oregon found a way to get 309 yards & 23 points against the best front seven in the country (even with four failed fourth downs). I believe we’ll get a sound bite in Ducks vs. Them featuring someone on the staff bringing back “Are you not entertained?!”
In all my years watching Oregon, I’ve never seen the Ducks blabbered about in the most bulletin-board-material manner so regularly. Now, do we care? NO! The only reason I am even acknowledging it is because of what it does for the team. Dan Lanning must be salivating for these quotes every week, because he clearly used every single one from the JMU game to ignite an ’85 Bears-type effort against the Red Raiders. So please: Keep ’em coming.
Dillon Thieneman came up clutch in run defense (graded a team-best at 79.9 against the run via PFF), Matayo Uiagalelei had a game-changing strip sack, and Teitum Tuioti made massive tackles with Bryce Boettcher to completely shut down Texas Tech. The Red Raiders only had three first downs at the half, and their explosive 50-yard run accounted for nearly 25% of their total yards in the game.
If there was any individual performance to highlight above all others, though, we have to go to the true freshman Brandon Finney Jr.’s three-turnover day, which earned him defensive MVP of the Orange Bowl. Why Behren Morton continued throwing his way, I have no idea—but I’m so glad he did. This was the perfect game for the true freshman to have before his rematch with Indiana, which he and the entire staff will be entirely prepared for next Friday.
Have a day, Tosh Lupoi! – Photo via Tom Corno
2: Tosh Lupoi & Will Stein Are Not Distracted
Kentucky and Cal never crossed my mind in this entire matchup. I think we’re still too early on in this calendar format for college football to jump to any conclusions about coaches taking jobs during the postseason, but this game went extremely well for Will Stein and Tosh Lupoi. Aside from a few fourth-down calls that felt like 2023 Lanning, and some mishaps on snaps, these guys brought the heat on defense and crucified Tech in time of possession. I can’t remember a game this year where there was better complementary play against a better opponent.
The transfer portal opening today is my only worry for prep this upcoming week. I hope Tosh and Will can stay on the same page with Dan, keeping this squad locked in for their last two games of the year. Especially when it comes to fourth down calls and scripting the right plays for short-yardage situations, these minor blemishes are entirely fixable by this elite staff we’ve been privileged to watch all year long, regardless of how the game ends up playing out on the stat sheet.
No run game? No problem. Have a day, Matayo! – Photo via Tom Corno
1: Oregon Can Win Playing Any Game Script
Oregon’s biggest strength in this College Football Playoff is that they can win with whatever script comes up on gameday.
Rock fight in Iowa? Check. Track meet with USC? Got it. State College White Out victory? Yep. Entering this CFP game, I knew the Ducks would find a way regardless of which unit struggled most.
One group isn’t in sync? another flourishes. I was concerned when the run game was stonewalled for the entire first half, and the passing game looked anemic for a stretch. Thankfully, the defense played lights out and continues to remind us that Oregon’s talent just finds ways to win no matter what. Six trips to opposing territory resulting in six points won’t beat Indiana, though, so I’m glad Lanning’s teams are rarely repeat offenders of any issues two weeks in a row. They’ll clean it up on the offensive line to avoid whatever that was on the edges. The now-healthy receiving group will get on the same page again. The Ducks will get their lick back against the second No. 1 team they’ve lost to in the past two years, which coincidentally are the only teams it seems Oregon can lose to.
Dante may not have had his best day yesterday, but he was clearly uncomfortable with the protection breaking down and the run game going nowhere, which reminded me a lot of the first Indiana matchup. This time, though? I don’t know what more he realistically could have done on most of those drives, especially when some personnel groupings removed ALL his best weapons on critical downs. That was the recipe that led to a tough outing against the Hoosiers, and I know for a fact that Psycho Dan won’t let that happen again, especially not two weeks in a row.
The key to beating Indiana in that game will be getting the freshman running back duo of Dierre Hill Jr. and Jordon Davison cooking early. Davison finished this regular season with a 91.3 rushing grade (11th-ranked in the country, via PFF) and Oregon only managed a bit over 80 (sack-adjusted) total rushing yards against Texas Tech. That was so unlike what Oregon’s shown all year, and I know the offensive line is kicking themselves for how unsettled they were early. Pancho turned in his worst PFF grade of the year, a lowly 48.1, which ranked worst on the offense overall. Dump-off passes, short-yardage first downs, whatever the offense needs to do to give Dante some stability is going to be a crucial adjustment from the Orange Bowl. Expect to see that and more from Stein next Friday, and a fired-up Oregon squad that punches their ticket to the National Championship.
Overall: It wasn’t pretty, but I love what I saw. I know what this team’s capable of in the Peach Bowl. What did you think yesterday? Are you worried about the offense moving forward? Is the defense capable of replicating this type of success down the stretch? How do you think Dan will use this game to build on entering a rematch with Indiana? Let us know in the FishDuck Forum with decorum.
GO DUCKS!
Alex Heining
Los Angeles, California
Top Photo By: Tom Corno
Alex Heining is an Oregon alumni from the graduate class of 2021. After studying sports business and media studies, he has moved into the field of digital marketing as a copywriter and content manager in the Los Angeles area. Still, he loves his Ducks and goes to local high school games all over the Los Angeles and Orange County area to check out new recruits of the future (and a SoFi game or two with the pros). On any given Saturday, expect to find him doing martial arts, playing the guitar, or screaming at the tv over a missed holding penalty.