Oregon Football: Report Card for Game 1

There was a lot of hype leading up to Oregon’s opening game against the LSU Tigers. It is safe to say that the Ducks did not live up to the hype. After a slow start to the game, LSU rolled through Oregon on their way to a 40-27 victory.

Although there are many disappointed Duck fans around the country, the season is not lost. The Ducks are still one of the favorites to win the Pac-12 and are still in the picture for a BCS Bowl berth.

Before we look ahead to this week’s game against Nevada, let’s take a step back and examine what happened to the Ducks in Dallas last Saturday. Here are the grades for the performances of every position on the Oregon team in their game against LSU.

Quarterback

Simply put, Darron Thomas did not play his best game against the LSU Tigers. Thomas went 31-for-51 passing, with one touchdown and one interception.

Although throwing just one pick out of 51 passes is pretty good, only tossing one touchdown is not. His numbers are slightly skewed because Oregon was forced to throw after the Tigers started racking up points, but he still only averaged 4.4 yards per completion.

The Duck won a lot of games last season because of big plays; against the Tigers, Thomas didn’t supply any.

This season is Thomas’s second as the Ducks starting quarterback and he is expected to take the next step into the elite class of QBs nationally. Luckily for Duck fans, the season has just begun and DT will have plenty of opportunities to show the nation what he and the Ducks are capable of.

Grade: C-

Running Backs

Going into the 2011 season, Oregon was considered to have the best backfield in the country with the duo of LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner. On Saturday, James and Barner weren’t even the best backfield in the stadium.

Together they rushed for just 61 yards on 22 carries, which averages out to less than three yards per carry. Last season, both James and Barner averaged about six yards per carry.

Both got nicked up in the game and were rendered ineffective despite a decent performance from the offensive line. True freshman De’Anthony Thomas had a better per-carry average and showed flashes of greatness, but he was also careless with the football and looked like a freshman.

Grade: D+

Wide Receivers

Many Oregon fans saw the wide receiver position as a position of uncertainty entering the 2011 season and although the Ducks played solid against LSU, they did little to alleviate those concerns.

To start the game the Oregon receivers couldn’t catch anything, dropping most of the catchable balls Darron Thomas threw at them. But as they settled into the game, they became much more reliable.

The main issue with their performance as a whole was their inability to stretch the field vertically. Because Oregon was down for most of the game, the LSU defensive backs were expecting the deep ball, which slowed down the Ducks' offensive progress.

With that said, the DBs of LSU are some of the best in the country and by far the best Oregon will see this season. Lavasier Tuinei, Josh Huff and David Paulson all played well and should end the year with great numbers.

Grade: C+

Offensive Line

With three new starters on the offensive line this season, no one knew quite what to expect in Oregon’s first game of the season.

At the beginning of the game, the Ducks O-line continued to shoot themselves in the foot with holding penalties. The starting unit had difficulty with the size of the LSU defensive line, but as the game progress they improved.

The offensive line did a good job in pass protection by not allowing a sack, but couldn’t give LaMichael James and company consistent running lanes. As the season progresses, this unit should get stronger and become better at creating holes for the Oregon backs to run through.

Grade: C-

Defensive Line

Just like their counterparts on the offensive side of the ball, the Oregon defensive line was undersized compared to the men they lined up across from. Despite this, the Ducks D-line held their own against LSU.

Although they did allow two players to rush for more than 90 yards, they held LSU to an average of 3.6 yards per carry. The unit only returns one starter from last season, but has plenty of guys with experience and should have no problem matching the production of last year’s group.

Had LSU not gotten the ball inside Oregon’s 30-yard line so many times, the Ducks D-line could’ve been a bigger force in limiting the scoring punch of the Tigers.

Grade: B-

Linebackers

Of all the different positions on this list, none had a quieter game than the Oregon linebackers. Josh Kaddu is the only returning starter for the unit, but just like the defensive line, the new guys aren’t lacking in experience.

Boseko Lokombo played well and had the only sack of the game and Michael Clay made some good stops against the run. Because LSU ran the ball, the Oregon linebackers were stacked close to the line for most of the second half and the Oregon secondary was left susceptible to the pass.

At the end of the day, it seems like this year’s linebackers are fast and aggressive, which is exactly what defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti needs for his defense.

Grade: C

Secondary

With Cliff Harris suspended, many fans were worried about how the secondary would perform against the big and fast LSU receivers. Fortunately for corners Anthony Gildon and Terrance Mitchell, they weren’t thrown at often.

With backup quarterback Jarrett Lee at the helm, the Tigers didn’t want to throw the ball more than they had to. Based on the field position they continued to get, thanks to Oregon turnovers, they didn’t need to throw it much.

The Ducks were able to achieve 10-of-22 passing for less than 100 yards, even though they were in man coverage most of the time. Had the secondary not given up big plays to Deangelo Peterson and Rueben Randle, they may have had the best performance of any unit for the Ducks.

Grade: C+

Special Teams

The biggest reason Oregon lost to LSU was special teams. Last season the Ducks were one of the best teams in the nation at forcing turnovers and protecting the ball, but on Saturday Oregon could barely hold on to it.

In the second quarter, Kenjon Barner fumbled while returning a punt, which was recovered by LSU’s Tyrann Mathieu and returned for a touchdown to put them up 9-6. At this point, the Ducks were far from out of it, but the next special teams turnover would prove to be more costly.

After LSU scored first in the second half to go up 23-13, freshman De’Anthony Thomas fumbled the ensuing kickoff, which would later lead to another LSU touchdown and put the game out of reach.

If not for those two turnovers, the final score could have been very different; the Ducks were practically giving the Tigers points.

Grade: D-

*The grade would have been an F had kickers Rob Beard and Jackson Rice not held their own.

Coaching

Before the LSU game, the knock on Chip Kelly was that he couldn’t win the big game. Unfortunately for Duck fans, he was unable to erase that label on Saturday.

With that said, Kelly and the coaching staff were not the reason Oregon lost the game. The defense had a good game plan and executed it pretty well, but was unable to stop LSU because they consistently had great field position.

Offensively the Ducks were clearly outmatched by the LSU defense, but Coach Kelly did his best to spread them out and put his players in the best position to succeed.

Turnovers and penalties were the main reasons why Oregon lost to LSU and Chip Kelly had very little control over both on Saturday.

Grade: C-