Five takeaways from Oregon's Win Over Eastern Washington

The Ducks bounced back after getting beat by Georgia but they aren't where they need to be yet.

Author:
Mark Wang
Publish date:
Sep 11, 2022 6:52 PM EDT

In this story:

Oregon got blown out by Georgia and then came back and blew out Eastern Washington in week two. In the Duck's home opener, they showed a lot of what they can be this season.

Here are my five takeaways from Saturday's contest.

1. Simple can be better

The simplest things aren't the most entertaining. However, they can win you football games. If you saw the Georgia game, you probably thought Oregon didn't execute the fundamentals very well. So Lanning went back to the basics and showed that simple can work.

“We said we wanted to do simple better. That is what this week was all about. It was about fundamentals and technique. We saw a lot of that show up in the game."

Oregon's offense put up 604 total yards with a lot of simpler passes and gutsy runs.

2. They're not at their ceiling

After the game I asked Lanning if he saw issues he wanted to get addressed and handled in practice and in the game.

“We are not playing our best football by any means. The ceiling is high, and we can still improve a lot. We saw improvement. We tackled better and were more physical. We were winning the point of attack. We were able to complete passes and not put the ball in jeopardy. Those things were certainly positive, but it will still be challenging as we move forward. It will only continue to get harder, and we have to continue to play better. We have not arrived by any means; we still have a lot of work to do.”

So in short, yes and no. Oregon looked a lot better fundamentals-wise. They played fast, physical, and motivated. But they know they're far from their ceiling. And they'll have to play to that standard and more in a top 25 match-up with No. 12 BYU next week at Autzen before heading to the Palouse to open conference play against Washington State.

3. You can win by a lot and still want some moments back

This wasn't a perfect game by anyone's standards. But when you win by 56 you're probably doing something right. But Lanning would've rather won by 70.

"I know there are fourteen points on the scoreboard that I want back. There are definitely things we can improve. The standard is our standard, and we must continue measuring ourselves up to that. We can certainly be better. It was nice to see us play a physical brand of football."

Lanning knows Oregon has always held itself to a high standard of winning out west. Being one of the premier brands in the Pac-12 and the nation is what brought him out here after all.

4. Ducks continue to rotate backs heavily

Once again we saw the running backs cycle through the game. Five guys got seven to nine carries on Saturday. Sean Dollars got nine; Mar'Keise Irving and Noah Whittington got eight each; Byron Cardwell and Kilohana Haasenritter each got seven. So far it looks like Lanning likes to have a lot of backs contributing.

“It allows you to be fresh, it allows you to play at a really high level consistently throughout, it also allows you that if someone gets dinged where you feel you have somebody you can have go in there and execute at a high level."

So while there's no Royce Freeman or LaMichael James, Oregon has options. And we'll see in the coming weeks if Oregon goes running back by committee or if one back begins to separate themselves as a bellcow.

5. Thompson looks solid in 2022 debut

If you were at Autzen Saturday, you heard how loud the crowd got when Ty Thompson ran out on the field in this game. Both during and after the Georgia game, many fans were calling for Thompson to play or even start over Bo Nix.

“Ty did a great job tonight, he was fun." Lanning noted at the press conference.

While it doesn't seem there's an open quarterback competition again, this glimpse of Thompson will continue to encourage fans to call for Thompson, especially if Nix were to struggle again in the coming weeks.

This was a win Oregon needed. Both for their record and their confidence. Oregon looks to continue to build on this season next week, in a top 25 matchup against the BYU Cougars at Autzen. Kickoff is set for 12:30 pm PT.