Five Takeaways From Oregon's Win Over Arizona

The Ducks are looking like a more complete team with each game.

Author:
Mark Wang
Publish date:
Oct 9, 2022 3:34 PM EDT

In this story:

Oregon took care of business on Saturday, soundly beating Arizona 49-22.

Having had some time to digest the action, here are my takeaways from the Ducks' fifth straight win.

1. Front seven is still excellent, secondary making some massive improvements

This front seven for Oregon is something to see. They've denied teams, Arizona included, the opportunity to run the ball and have made quarterbacks lives miserable. They were responsible for two of the four pass breakups, two sacks, and five tackles for loss. The secondary has improved by leaps and bounds, accounting for the other two pass breakups as well as an interception fro, freshman Jahlil Florence. The defense is beginning to round out into a unit that can be feared throughout the Pac-12.

2. Rushing still powers Oregon's offense

The Ducks have an explosive offense all-around, with Bo Nix putting up some insane numbers through the air. But the rushing attack has been the bread and butter and it was again on Saturday. Led by Bucky Irving, Noah Whittington (who we’ll mention a bit more later), and a little bit of Nix, the Ducks compiled 306 of their 580 total yards of offense on the ground.

3. Stars had quieter nights, but Oregon's offensive depth showed

While Irving had another great night, 12 rushes for 67 yards, he wasn't the star rusher. That would go to Whittington, with 92 yards on six carries. Same with receivers, while Troy Franklin had three catches for 38 yards, Chase Cota had three catches for 60 yards to lead the Ducks. So even though the Wildcats' defense was able to stymie some of Oregon's top performers, the depth showed up big and contributed to a big win.

4. When Oregon finds a rhythm, they’re hard to stop

This has shown time and time again. If Oregon finds its rhythm offensively, they roll. It took a bit for them to get going against the Wildcats but when they do, they’re borderline unstoppable. So far no one except Washington State was able to keep up. They were able to keep up and keep that game interesting, but in the end, still fell to the Ducks. And it was the same result on Saturday. Oregon scored touchdowns on seven straight possessions, all on the ground, and showed that once they're rolling, they're nearly impossible to stop.

5. Ducks showed they can play in a hostile environment and win big

In their second big road conference game, the Ducks came to town and got the job done. Oregon played in front of a capacity sellout crowd. First in Pullman two weeks ago, and now in Tucson, their first sellout crowd in a number of years. Oregon had to endure a hostile crowd, travel, and pressure to perform against teams that were considered inferior. Both times Oregon has come out on top, showing one of the traits of a great team: go on the road and win when it counts. On a day that had the opportunity for a whole lot of chaos across the country in college football, Oregon won big and took care of business.

Oregon has a bye week next week before facing off with UCLA at Autzen Stadium on October 22 in a game with potential national implications on the line.