We have a mess on the offensive line that will take three or four games to get figured out--I believe. Yet even with upcoming observations and concerns...this offense scored 34 points, which is two TDs less than I predicted going into this game. Have a flea-flicker with a pass thrown a little higher, (TD) and a punt-return "Bubble" penalty that should have been called, and it could have come close to what I hoped for on offense.

Which is a miracle considering the offensive line combinations I saw.

Why was OC Mehringer throwing so many short passes? Because he had NO confidence in this group holding off the pass rush for a longer drop-back pass, IMHO. People around me at the game were blustering about the short passes, and I reminded them that this is not only an inexperienced group working together....they are FLAT-OUT INEXPERIENCED as players.

When I saw the starting offensive line....I turned into a muttering-mass-of-protoplasm, as I could not believe my eyes. At left tackle was not Fox Crader, but Ziyare Addison? After Crader looked so good against USC last year at LT? Addison has hardly played at all, and HE has Dante's blind side?

Next to him at left guard was another sophomore who has barely played at all in Douglas Utu. So our left side starters were barely a notch above freshmen in terms of game experience? I was moaning to myself..."we're doomed!"

Until I looked at the right side. Over at right guard was Yale transfer Michael Bennett who had played three years at offensive TACKLE, not guard. What? Then at right tackle was Fox Crader...when I never saw him play that side before? WTH?

This starting group was not what I expected at all, and three starters had either no experience, or almost no experience playing for Oregon in real games. I admit to not watching much of the game for a while as I was trying to process what I just saw, and trying to figure WHY they were doing it?

Because they were throwing mud on the wall to see what stuck, and perhaps that combo in practice worked the best recently? All the talk about Nacho, Tofi, and Gernorris was wasted as I did not notice them in the game for any length of time. I am assuming that Addison and Crader competed for LT, and whoever lost that battle was automatically at RT?

In the second half....I was sputtering at a Duck fan about how they just brought in little-played junior Trent Ferguson, who is 6-5 and 322 from West Salem. He has been groomed as a tackle his entire career, and came in to play left GUARD! I was spit-sputtering to the fan about this and then the long play for 50 yards was run by Davison...right behind Trent Ferguson. I then awkwardly admitted to the fan that, "well, that shows what I know!"

So bizarre, but it worked. He played quite a bit in the second half, and again--how we scored as much as we did with these Rubix-Cube movements on the offense line might be the greatest example of how much better Drew Mehringer might be than many give him credit for.

In the crunch drive to get the lead, and to run out the clock...who was in at right guard? NOW they brought in the veteran Dave Iuli at the end? He must have been more banged-up than they wanted to admit in the coaches offices.

We got ground yards when needed most...

I swear the most under-appreciated entertainment in that game was watching for who is playing on the offensive line, where they were playing, and when.

I was in my Duck-Heaven sitting on the 34 yard line and nearly halfway up behind the team. So great after six years, but I noted some real "vibe" differences from prior years of watching Our Beloved Ducks in person. There was no air of anticipation like when Chip was here, and frankly was kind of a flat air about them. In some respects it might resemble the 2001 team that won a bunch of close games....but won them and went on to be No. 2 in the nation.

In the end....I think that considering they were playing offensive line-Scrabble and scored 34 points, while our defense was healthy and loaded and gave up 27? By comparison we got a lot more over-achievement from the offense, while the defense under-achieved quite a bit.

While we are fortunate to survive this game, I like how we did not win it on a fluke, or miracle, or bonehead mistake by our opponent. We won it at crunch-time, and yet have MILES of upside left that will be developed over the season.

So fun to be back in Autzen, and it reminded me again of how I am truly a crazed Duck fan....who fortunately has similar company in this forum!

Charles

Pretty good passing game--even with the short passes....

P.S. I don't have FishDuck.com anymore, and don't have an official platform to write articles on, but as you see above....I can't stay away from a keyboard for long. So glad I have this forum to share thoughts, and learn from so many of you.

Great to have you all back!

The O-line iterations were curious but had their moments. It took some guts (and maybe frustration) on Lanning's and Mehringer's part to play so many inexperienced OL players and combinations in a tight game.

I saw them give Dante more time to go thru progressions as the game went on. Blocking for the run game still needs work. Settling on the best starting five may take a week or two. This isn't Terry's first rodeo putting a line together and I believe it will gel by the time Oregon invades La La Land

They survived the hype. All summer long we knew it could be a trap game, which it was.

And the Bleu Donks almost pulled it off. MM played his butt off. Probably helps both teams resumes in the end.