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.

I have a different take on the OL.

If you were to be asked who are the highest ceiling guys we have on the roster outside the true freshmen, it would probably be Douglas Utu and Zaire Addison.

The fact both improved enough to start and contribute in the 1st game is a fantastic development. Further that Addison beat out Rogers for LT is huge, because we know Rogers is a fantastic tackle.

Also Ferguson was a high ceiling project guy, who I think mostly played Lacrosse in HS. That he is developing enough to get some playing time as an above the line player is great.

With regards to how the OL played, we need to know that Boise State has a top 20 pass rush attack. Dante Moore was sacked only once, and had a really clean pocket for himself on those successful intermediate and deeper passes.

I think it's a bigger indictment on our OL of how few inside running plays were called, although having Hill as the starter played into that strategy some. Certainly there were missed assignments in the run game and not a lot of push at times. Much of that can be resolved with chemistry and being confident enough to play fast and hard.

So ultimately if we are going to still have problems by the end of this year I don't think it wilo be the OL. I was encouraged by the way they played yesterday.

Great breakdown Charles. I always love your OL observations. I think before we panic too much we need to better grasp what Boise St really is. I think for the last twenty years or so, BSU has been a place that 2/3 stars rated guys with 3/4 star talent gather together to unleash collective vengeance on the football world that snubbed them. I think BSU also can acquire the highest level coaching staff at the G5 level because they can bring in the highest level of talent in the G5. In short they are consistently under rated and deadly team year after year.

They will rarely make mistakes that beat themselves and any victory against them has to be earned. Penn St found that out in the playoffs a couple years ago.

With that said, playing so many young and inexperienced OL players against such a formidable first game opponent was bound to expose a steep on the fly learning curve. They were shaky but solid enough to put up 34 points and out score a legit team. As usual, I expect to see dramatic improvement game to game until they reach their elite potential.

Charles, thank you for giving us your observations of the Oline combinations and which positions the players played.

The CBS announcing crew rarely, if ever mentioned the names of the Oline. I have rewatched the game twice and have not seen an early game listing of either teams starters. Poor effort by the CBS team.

The Oline was pretty soft on opening holes for the running game. I look to see a big improvement against OSU. More playing time will bring improvements. Did the Oline have any holding penalties?

Pass protection was good. They gave Dante time in the pocket to go thru the progressions and make some great throws. Dante had a few throw aways and he was sacked just once. You dont get 380 yards passing without the time needed to hit the open receiver.

The Oline play should and will improve each week.

Boise State put on a clinic in clean, precise open field tackling or the Ducks would have racked up more passing yards and points.

I read a number of Duck fans complaints about too many passes behind the line of scrimmage. Those type of plays set up those crossing patterns and slants that produced chunk plays and touchdowns later in the game.

On the one 4th and short play, in the first half, if the BSU player had not made a great open field tackle, Dak would have taken it to the house. The formation and play call took the linebackers and DB's away from the play. What coach would not want Dak Moore isolated in space?

Glad for the win! So much upside and room for growth. No Ducks on offense played to their ceiling, except maybe Dante. The future looks great.

Go Ducks! Get after OSU.

1 hour ago, Solar said:

The fact both improved enough to start and contribute in the 1st game is a fantastic development.

Agreed. That is why at first I was flustered, but after seeing the performance....I wrote about the high upside. They have talent, and with more games and coaching--will be great by the end of the season.

Thank you, Charles, for dropping a line (and a dime) on the Oh-Oh line.

Two things about this great article that I loved: You were there! Even if you looked like "a muttering-mass-of-protoplasm!" 😁😎😍 Brilliant!

Thank goodness for this detailed analysis. CBS never revealed the starting lineups for the Ducks or the Broncos. And nary a word about Oregon's musical chairs O-line.

Oregon ran for 119 net yards. You mentioned Chip, so I note that yesterday Northwestern ran for 224 yards against a worthy FCS opponent, South Dakota State.

Oline was the biggest question mark out of Fall camp, and it remains so. The defense was less than stellar, with missed assignments and missed tackles, but the D did hold Boise State to 99 net rushing yards.

I also note that Tosh is now 0-2 at stopping Bob Chesney's offenses. In the one B1G Power 4 matchup of the Labor Day weekend to date, UCLA's O put up 277 rushing yards and shut out ACC conference member Cal 21 to 0 in the 4th quarter to seal the 45 to 24 victory.

Chip and Bob both visit Autzen this season. 🤔

We can only hope the adage that a team improves the most between its first and second game rings true.

At least Oregon defeated its Northwest nemesis yesterday. Oregon scheduling Boise State is akin to Superman scheduling Kryptonite.

The players who came West with Chesney from JMU balled out yesterday. The No. Texas team that transferred to Oklahoma State lost at Tulsa, 10 to 24.

Thanks again, Charles, for a terrific article.

Lasso the Cowboys!