Oregon Ducks: What You Should and Shouldn't Be Concerned About After Week 2
The Oregon Ducks' season couldn’t have gotten off to a better start. The Ducks, ranked No. 2 by the Associated Press and No. 4 by the Amway USA Today Coaches Poll, crushed South Dakota in the opener 62-13 before taking down then seventh-ranked Michigan State 46-27.
Not only has the Ducks offense looked fantastic, but the Ducks defense, forgetting about the second-quarter collapse against the Spartans, has looked strong as well.
While everything is looking up for the Ducks this season, concerns remain for Oregon, a team that is now expected to play in the inaugural College Football Playoff.
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The Ducks have gotten off to a quick start, but the coaches and players know there’s a lot of work to be done and a number of tough games still to be played.
With that in mind, let's take a look at three things fans should be concerned about and three things they shouldn't be concerned about from the Ducks’ first two home wins.
WHAT YOU SHOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT
1. The Offensive Line
Oregon’s offensive line, a line that was supposed to return all five starters from last year’s 11-2 team, has been decimated by injuries so far this season. Not only did the Ducks lose starting left tackle Tyler Johnstone to a torn ACL in fall camp, but they’ve now likely lost starting right tackle Andre Yruretagoyena, who was injured in the third quarter against Michigan State, for the rest of the season due to a knee injury.
| Tyler Johnstone | LT | Jake Fisher | LT |
| Hamani Stevens | LG | Hamani Stevens | LG |
| Hroniss Grasu | C | Hroniss Grasu | C |
| Cameron Hunt | RG | Jake Pisarcik | RG |
| Jake Fisher | RT | Tyrell Crosby | RT |
Yruretagoyena will be replaced on the line by true freshman Tyrell Crosby. While Crosby did an admirable job in the second half against Michigan State, he was also aided by the fact that Marcus Mariota was doing his best Michael Jackson impersonation while dancing out of what would be tackles.
Still, Johnstone analyzed the Michigan State tape and said of Crosby, to The Oregonian's Andrew Greif, "Tyrell held his own and the other guys didn't panic having a true freshman in there with that caliber of game. They dominated the second half, in my opinion."
While Johnstone believes that Crosby played well and that the offensive line “dominated” in the second half, there are still concerns due to the injuries. Oregon’s offensive line is very thin at this point. Another injury or two could be devastating to the program.
The good news is that having Mariota playing behind you is always going to make the offensive line look better than it actually is. The bad news is that you have to keep Mariota upright and healthy for him to make the offensive line look good.
2. The Second Quarter versus Michigan State
We all know about the second quarter against Michigan State. The Ducks came into the second quarter leading 8-0, then jumped out to an 18-7 lead following a 70-yard touchdown catch by freshman wide receiver Devon Allen.
Following that touchdown, something changed. The Ducks defense would go on to give up 17 straight points to the Spartans and 24 total for the quarter. Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook had all day in the pocket, converted multiple 3rd-and-longs, and the Spartans defense all but shut down Marcus Mariota and company.
The Ducks made some great adjustments at halftime and ended up winning by a large margin. However, the Ducks cannot soon forget about that second quarter. It needs to motivate them going forward and must not be cast away as an aberration.
In the second quarter the Ducks defense fell apart. New defensive coordinator Don Pellum couldn’t draw up a scheme to put pressure on Cook, which meant he was able to sit in the pocket and throw darts to his receivers all over the field. That led to open running lanes for running back Jeremy Langford. One thing led to another and the Spartans were off to the races.
On offense, the Ducks couldn’t convert third downs and the running game completely stalled out, forcing 3rd-and-longs that Mariota couldn’t convert. It looked a lot like the Ducks were playing against Stanford, which isn't exactly a breezy proposition.
The good news here is that the Ducks finally bounced back in a game where things weren’t going their way. The “bad” news is that the second quarter exposed flaws on both sides of the ball. Oregon must learn from those mistakes and grow as a team.
3. Pressure on Opposing Quarterbacks
While the Ducks defense was great in the second half, only allowing three points, the first half was an unmitigated disaster, mostly due to the fact that the Ducks couldn’t get anywhere near Connor Cook.
Yes, Oregon managed to get to Cook in the second half. Yes, the Ducks forced two interceptions by Cook. However, when Oregon’s defense couldn't create pressure, the back seven wasn't strong enough to hold up for four or five seconds at a time. That has to be a concern going forward for Don Pellum and his defense.
Pellum did a good job of switching to more of a 4-3 attack against Michigan State in order to create more pressure. It worked. However, the Ducks will run a 3-4 defense for most of the season, which means they are going to need to get more production out of defensive ends DeForest Buckner and Alex Balducci, as well as defensive tackle Arik Armstead.
WHAT YOU SHOULDN’T BE CONCERNED ABOUT
1. The Kids
There was a significant amount of concern going into the season that the Ducks’ inexperience at key positions would hurt them in games against opponents like Michigan State, UCLA and Stanford. However, the young kids look battle tested and ready to go so far.
Wide receiver Devon Allen and running back Royce Freeman have not only been two of the most impressive freshmen for the Ducks, but they’ve been among the most impressive freshmen in the nation.
While Allen didn’t see a ton balls come his way against Michigan State, he made the three that did count. Allen scored two touchdowns, one a 70-yarder, on three receptions. He also solidified his place as one of the fastest players in the nation. Mark Helfrich joked with reporters at his weekly teleconference that Allen is so fast that they almost lost him to track full time: “(Offensive coordinator) Scott Frost and I were joking about that right after he won the (110-meter hurdles) national championship. I looked at him and I said, “That might have been too fast.’”
Meanwhile, Allen has not been Oregon’s most impressive freshman. That would be “Rolls" Royce Freeman. In two games so far this year, Freeman has run the ball for 164 yards on 23 carries, including four touchdowns.
Against Michigan State, one of the best defenses in the country, Freeman rushed for 89 yards on 13 carries, including two game-changing, second-half touchdowns. In short, Freeman has been Oregon’s best running back so far this season. We should mention that he shares the backfield with Thomas Tyner and Byron Marshall, who rushed for a combined 1,749 rushing yards in 2013.
Oh yeah, he also caught Mariota’s flip pass in the third quarter of the Michigan State game that completely changed the entire momentum of the contest. The kid is good.
2. Oregon’s Secondary
Despite the fact that the Oregon secondary gave up 29 completions for 343 yards and two touchdowns to Connor Cook, you shouldn’t be too concerned about the back four.
The Ducks secondary held Michigan State to 125 passing yards in the second half, despite the Spartans being behind in the game and attempting to throw the ball to catch up.
While there is certainly room for improvement, the Ducks did intercept two of Cook’s passes, one in the first half by safety Erick Dargan and a game-clincher in the fourth quarter by All-American cornerback Ifo-Ekpre Olomu.
"That Interception Though https://t.co/16WqWLKHSK
— Football Vines (@ItsTheFBVines) September 7, 2014"
Pellum knows he has a couple of young players who are in the process of maturing as athletes. But he likes what he’s seeing on tape so far.
When asked about Troy Hill, who started over senior Dior Mathis last Saturday, Pellum said, “With both Joe (Walker) and Troy it was really reassuring to the coaches. We thought they were progressing, though we actually saw the evidence on the field.”
The Ducks also have an interesting battle going on at safety between freshman Tyree Robinson and sophomore Reggie Daniels. Pellum said that both Robinson and Daniels are improving and creating great depth among the secondary.
“I think our young secondary has come along pretty well” said Pellum, to the Daily Emerald. “They’re both continuing to make plays. They’re growing with their communication, growing with their eyes. And its a great situation for us to have both those young men where we can move them around and Ifo can play everywhere, Dargan can play everywhere. It’s creating some depth with those guys.”
While the secondary may be inexperienced, it is coming along quickly and has already proved it can slow down one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. When the Ducks secondary gets a little help from the defensive line, watch out.
3. Toughness
In past years the Ducks have folded in big games against tough opponents. Losses to Stanford, LSU, Auburn, Boise State and others quickly come to mind.
However, the Ducks proved something to themselves, to their fans and to the country in the second half against Michigan State. They proved that this year, and this team, is different.
Despite being down by nine points in the third quarter, the Ducks did not get scared of the moment or the opponent. They just improved upon what they were doing, hunkered down and took over the game.
While the Ducks' toughness was a point of contention in years past, it shouldn’t be going forward this year. Cross it off the list of things Ducks fans should be concerned about.
It’s no longer a relevant point.
Jason Gold is Bleacher Report’s lead Oregon writer. Follow him on twitter @TheSportsGuy33.
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