Five Takeaways From Oregon vs. Fresno State

Oregon’s 31-24 victory over Fresno State had lots of ups and downs to address before Ohio State.

Author:
Nick Battey
Publish date:
Sep 4, 2021 11:03 PM EDT

The season opener wasn't what we expected it to be in a lot of ways. The Eugene skies were coated in smoke and the Ducks had to battle injuries throughout the game. Here are my top takeaways from Saturday's action.

1. Quarterback play needs to improve

Anthony Brown said it himself after the game. The offense wasn't good enough today and if Oregon is going to be competitive against Ohio State or any other good Pac-12 team the Ducks will need to see a drastic improvement, especially at quarterback.

The offensive line was underwhelming and Brown was throwing under some duress. It's likely that Joe Moorhead and Mario Cristobal didn't open the whole playbook and held back a fair amount for Ohio State next week. But the performance today was very concerning for the Ducks’ prospects of winning next week.

2. Ducks stout against the run

Watching live near the field of play, I was very impressed by the Oregon run defense throughout the game. Even when Kayvon Thibodeaux left the game with an injury, other players stepped up to fill those gaps in the defense.

Justin Flowe, who had a team-high 14 tackles, was all over the place and will prove to be a major factor going forward following the a potential long-term injury to Dru Mathis. Holding Fresno State to 75 rushing yards on 30 carries is impressive and something to feel good about coming away from this game.

3. Injuries test Oregon's depth early

There were multiple injuries that are going to be stories going forward, and non was bigger than Kayvon Thibodeaux's ankle/foot sprain. He was rolled up on and left the game and didn’t play in the seconnd half. X-rays came back negative, and Cristobal said the is "very optimistic it’s nothing serious.”

Unfortunately, Dru Mathis suffered a potentially significant knee injury, and he looks like he’s going to miss some time. While the run defense stepped up in their absence, the lack of pass rush in Thibodeaux's absence was glaring and something Cristobal admitted to after the game.

Oregon will either need Thibodeaux back next week or someone will need to step up big time if they want to rattle CJ Stroud, who played well in his college debut against Minnesota on Thursday.

4. DeRuyter delivers on turnovers

The defense came up huge with some game-changing turnovers in this one. All of them were forced by 5-star recruits. The first came on an insane strip-sack by Kayvon Thibodeaux and put Oregon’s offense on the doorstep for a touchdown.

Not too long after, Noah Sewell made an athletic play knocking the football out right before the Fresno State ballcarrier hit the ground and gave Oregon another drive that started in plus field position. Then finally, when the Ducks needed a spark they got it from Justin Flowe, who forced a fumble of his own and gave Oregon a short field to tie and eventually win the game.

This is what the staff envisioned when they recruited Sewell and Flowe. They wanted to have two menacing linebackers that would help establish their physical brand of football. They showed why they were such highly-touted players with the plays they made in big moments.

5. The unsung heroes

One of the biggest questions coming into the game was who would be named the starting place kicker. We got that answer in the form of Camden Lewis, who was 37-40 in camp with multiple 50-yard makes according Mario Cristobal. Lewis made all of his kicks Saturday, including a 25-yard field goal to tie the game in the 4th quarter.

The other unsung hero of this game was punter Tom Snee. He made himself a weapon today and flipped the field multiple time. Of his five punts, four were pinned inside the 20 and the fifth should have been inside the five if correctly fielded by the gunner. Snee and Lewis are going to be major parts of Oregon’s season and they got off to great starts today.