Oregon Football: 5 Things We Learned from Oregon Loss to LSU

The Cowboys Classic between the Oregon Ducks and LSU Tigers is officially over.

The betting line between the Ducks and Tigers swayed back-and-forth with each team at one point being the favorite.

This showdown had the feel of a game that would go down to the wire, but costly mistakes by the Ducks and sound execution by the Tigers saw LSU emerge the victors 40-27.

Here are the five things we learned about the Oregon Ducks from this loss...

Oregon Needs To Learn To Play Fundamental Football

The key stat in the game ladies and gentlemen… turnovers! When you outgain your opponent by 62 yards on offense and lose by double digits, you know turnovers or fumbles were key.

Unfortunately for the Ducks, they had issues with both. Oregon had three fumbles and an interception, which then went for 20 LSU points.

Oregon’s defense was only able to force one turnover as well. The Ducks also committed 11 penalties for 89 yards.

Chip Kelly and the rest of the Ducks coaching staff has to emphasize playing fundamental football.

Oregon’s O-Line Is Much Weaker Than Last Year’s

We might have already known this, but now it is fact. The Oregon Ducks lost three of their five starting linemen from last season, and they could not block LSU’s powerful defensive linemen.

Oregon’s O-line had lineman after lineman go down with cramps, rolled ankles and other fatigue issues and their lack of depth was obvious. The Ducks had numerous false starts, leg whip and holding penalties, which hindered the offense's ability to move the football. Oregon was only able to rush for 95 yards, and Heisman finalist LaMichael James (now Oregon’s all-time leading rusher) was held to a dismal 3.0 yard per carry average.

De’Anthony Thomas Is Incredibly Talented, but Has a Lot of Maturing to Do

De’Anthony (Black Mamba) Thomas is a heralded five-star recruit out of Southern California who committed to the Ducks this February over hometown favorite USC. Thomas was one of only a handful true freshman to see action for the Ducks, and his body of work was probably not what he had in mind. 

Thomas was the Ducks’ second leading rusher (four carries for 22 yards) and second leading receiver (six receptions for 47 yards) against the Tigers, but two incredibly costly fumbles on essentially back-to-back plays led to 14 LSU points and might have cost the Ducks a victory. Thomas was able to score his first collegiate touchdown on Oregon’s final drive, but I’m sure he’s disappointed with his performance.

Oregon Needed Cliff Harris

I, like many others, thought the Ducks would be all right without Cliff Harris playing for Oregon; I was wrong. The Ducks’ secondary had an up-and-down day. They held LSU to only 98 yards through the air (a major success), but they allowed several key third-down passes to be completed and got lucky on a few others that could have gone for scores.

In special teams, return man Kenjon Barner fumbled on a punt return that was returned for a touchdown by LSU. And as mentioned in the previous slide, Thomas fumbled on a kickoff return as well.

I know Cliff has a history of fumbles and poor decision making while returning, but I think his big playmaking abilities would have greatly aided the Ducks in the game.

Oregon Still Hasn't Won "The Big Game”

Oregon’s head coach Chip Kelly now has a record of 22-5.

His losses are to:

Boise State in 2009, Stanford in 2009, Ohio State in the 2010 Rose Bowl, Auburn in 2011 National Championship Game and now LSU to kick off the 2011 season.

Four of those five losses come when the Ducks face a team with a month or longer to game plan and condition for Oregon’s high paced offense.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), this Oregon team greatly resembles the team from 2009.

The Ducks suffered a disappointing opening loss to a superior Boise State team, but they were able to climb their way back into the national picture and make it into a BCS game.

The Ducks have an uphill climb if they hope to make it into the National Championship Game.