College Football: 10 Things We Learned About the Oregon Ducks After Week 1

As the first Saturday of the college football season has come and gone, fans across the nation got to see their teams on the field for the first time in the 2010 season. For Oregon Duck fans, they were able to see their team put up record numbers in a 72-0 win over New Mexico.

Along with seeing a ton of points, Duck fans were able to get a view of every member of the Ducks team, except for those that are redshirting. With the game well in hand at 59-0 at the half, Coach Kelly was able to empty the bench in the second half.

With one game behind the Ducks and Tennessee coming up next week, here are the ten things we know about the Ducks after one week.

Kenjon Barner is Really Good

Going into the first week, Oregon's starting back, LaMichael James, was suspended and would not be available. With the suspension, New Mexico saw a heavy dose of Kenjon Barner, who was able to pile up 225 yards of total offense. Barner was also able to find the endzone five times, four rushing and one receiving.

Most Duck fans knew that after last year, Barner would be a great return man and would provide some rest for James, but know Oregon can rest easy should James struggle or get injured.

Oregons OLine is Ready To Run

Most of the attention from yesterday's game will go to Kenjon Barner. The unsung heroes from yesterday were the offensive line, who, from the start of the game until the end, were opening up huge holes and taking a lot of pressure off of Darron Thomas.

The Ducks are Deep

One of the upsides to yesterday was the entire second half was time in which Coach Kelly got to see the kind of depth he has on offense. Almost the entire team saw game action yesterday, including three quarterbacks, four running backs, and countless others around the field. While many know that Oregon has a talented starting group, yesterday showed that the cupboards are not empty in Eugene.

The Defense is Fast, Really Fast

New Mexico tried a lot yesterday, and they were continually turned back by the Ducks. The Ducks flew to the ball on every play and even when putting in second and third string players, the team preserved the shutout. Oregon's defense only yielded 107 total yards of offense and forced five turnovers.

Cliff Harris Has the Skills To Be Special

After the Ducks went up big, Coach Kelly inserted Cliff Harris as a punt returner. The result: two punt returns totaling 125 yards and two touchdowns.

Many Duck fans speculate that Harris may be in the doghouse with Coach Kelly, which is why he is not starting at corner. If this is true, and if Harris can get his act together, they have another special player on defense and special teams.

The Ducks Mascot Has To Be Tired Today

A tradition for the Oregon mascot is doing push ups after every Oregon score to match the number of points they currently have. The Duck sure got a workout yesterday as he did 506 total push ups. To the Ducks credit, he went out and did them after every score.

Jeff Maehl is Picking Up Where He Left Off Last Year

Last year, Maehl was a favorite target of quarterback Jeremiah Masoli. This year, Darron Thomas has picked up on that trend and looked for Maehl early and often. Maehl hauled in five catches for 91 yards and looked sharp.

The Defense is Still Susceptible to a Strong Running Game

While the stats may not show it, if you were going to look for a weakness on the Ducks defense, it still may be a power running game up the middle. The Ducks are thin on the defensive lines, and there were times yesterday in which New Mexico had their only success when running up the middle. It will be interesting to see if this is an issue again this year.

Darron Thomas Has the Skills To Lead the Offense

New Mexico came into the game with a clear strategy and that was to make sure that Darron Thomas did not beat them with his legs. When Oregon ran the spread option, New Mexico stayed at home against Thomas and let Barner run wild.

The exciting part for Duck fans is that Thomas time after time was making good reads and letting the back take the ball and run. Thomas had a solid opener going 13-23, 220 yards, and two touchdowns. His only mistake came on the first drive of the game when the Ducks tried to run a wide receiver screen and Thomas got picked off.

It Was Only New Mexico

As much success as the Ducks had yesterday, one thing that you have to remember is it was all against New Mexico. New Mexico is a team that was 1-11 last year and had the 113th ranked defense.

While the Ducks got a chance to show their depth and talent, they head to Tennessee this week, and the level of the opponent goes way up. Heading into the SEC will show fans a lot more about this Ducks team then the game against New Mexico did.