Monday Game Review: Ducks Make Wazzu Wimper Again
It has been a long time coming, but the Oregon Ducks have finally reclaimed a winning streak against the Washington State Cougars.
The Ducks had a rough start in Pullman, but they pulled away from the scrappy Cougs with a strong second half, solidifying a 43-29 victory.
I tuned out of the FOX TV broadcast audio about midway through the second quarter—opting to listen to Jerry & Jorgy’s radio call instead. And Jerry described my feelings better than I could have done it myself:
“It’s encouraging to feel good about your football team, but still not know much about them.”
- Jerry Allen
I think these Ducks are pretty good. They haven’t showed us everything they can do, and they haven’t been their sharpest in every moment, but I feel good about them, and I can’t wait to learn more about who they can be.
Sure, there were some turnovers here and there, and WSU found more space in the second level of our defense than we’d like to see, but our anxiety and high blood pressure was all for nothing by the end of the night.
And I’d personally like to attribute the second half surge to three key contributors: Joe Moorhead, the deepest receiving corps in college football, and Tyler freakin’ Shough.
Joe Moorhead: “It’s All One Song!”
I explained Joe Moorhead’s “chess match” game plan in my Stanford game review, but if you missed it, here’s a little reminder—submitted for the tickler file:
“The first couple drives are used to poke and prod the defense. Test for weaknesses, build expectations, maybe even lull them to sleep a little bit. … I feel better about all the seemingly “dumb” or “uncreative” plays early on [knowing] that they’re all part of a bigger process [that will] eventually break the defense when it matters most.”
- Me
No, I’m not saying that the Ducks want to suck in the first half on purpose. I’m saying that even when they score on the first drive of the game—like they did on Saturday night—JoMo is still holding his cards close to his chest. He is trying to set a tone, test for other openings that he’ll be able to exploit as the game progresses.
This is pretty much “Football Coaching 101” stuff, but I feel like I’m watching the gamesmanship on a higher level when I watch the ways Moorhead’s tempo, RPO, and tendencies adjust from the beginning to the end of the game.
Mario Cristobal himself mentioned in postgame that the offensive line comes to the sideline after a drive to pass along insights to the coaching staff about what they see from the defense.
Moorhead takes in that information, pairs it with what’s working and what isn’t, and then melds it all together to start abusing those weak points as the opponents get tired and complacent.
Joe Moorhead’s offense is basically the movie Groundhog Day.
Bill Murray had to walk through the same day a couple times before he caught on to the bit. Once he knew what to expect, he had all of Punxsutawney eating out of the palm of his hand.
The combo of CJ/Travis/Cyrus up the middle became unstoppable once The Breakfast Club caught onto the Cougs d-line. Shough and Moorhead took what the defense was giving them through the air (a ton of shallow drops down to Redd over the middle), but found their opportunities later on (Travis Dye on the wheel/streaking down the seam).
Yes, the poking and prodding of Joe Moorhead’s Groundhog Day offensive game plan was stifled by the three early turnovers, but I think those could be easily attributed to: Travis Dye wearing gloves for the first time ever when he fumbled; a rushed, over-comfortable tunnel screen pass by young Shough; and some trademark Washington State voodoo which is usually good for -1 turnover regardless of mental errors.
But Joe Moorhead is just going to keep doing this. The play calling is going to be a living, breathing thing. Even when it fails, it learns something, and it’s going to use that new information later on to its advantage.
One play informs the next, informs the next, and so on. It’s all one song.
Catch(es) of the Day
They weren’t at full strength on Saturday night, but the extension of the depth chart allowed the receiving corps to attack the Wazzu secondary in so many different ways.
Mycah Pittman—and a handful of others—didn’t make the trip up to Pullman. Mario said that Pittman was not held back for either injury or disciplinary reasons. So I guess until further notice we won’t know exactly why he was missing in action.
In Pittman’s absence, however, the next men up showed out in force, and helped Shough air things out.
Jaylon Redd re-introduced himself to DuckWorld with a monster game of 5 snags for 99 yards, including a momentum-shifting 57-yarder that set up the touchdown right before half.
DJ Johnson grabbed another short touchdown that was a mirror image of the one he caught last week.
New contributors like Josh Delgado, Devon Williams, and Kris Hutson all caught two passes, and blocked well for so many others.
And Travis Dye literally took the gloves off and scored on two huge catches that kept the Cougs out of sniffing distance.
JJ3 only had one catch for 2 yards, but it just so happened to be a touchdown all the same. He once again blocked his ass off out by the sidelines and continues to prove himself as a leader in all respects.
When Mycah and the rest of the tight ends are back, it’s even more over for the rest of the secondaries in the Pac.
I Love My Shough
I know I’ve made my Tyler Shough fandom pretty clear already, and the guy continues to improve in ways that make it super easy to defend his honor.
He had an early interception—that felt extra bad when compounded alongside the two early fumbles on offense—and I know some folks whose mouths were already beginning to form the words “Anthony Brown.”
But once again he showed resilience beyond his years as he went 21 of 30, for 312, 4 TDs and a long 71-yard bomb to Dye. He rushed big for another 86 yards, and he ran the offense with a ton of ease. He made smart, shifty reads, juked out the camera guy on another handful of run-pass-options, and just looked like a stud all over again.
I assure you, Tyler Shough’s first two starts have showed us more than enough to make it clear that he’s up to the job. And he is already building a reputation for making naysayers eat their words within the same four quarters.
Put simply, Tyler Shough is it.
In summary, the biggest tension of the WSU game seemed to be the slow offensive start, so I focused on that here, but I’ll delve deeper into the defense—namely, the secondary—in my next position check-in.
The pass rush still couldn’t get home, Avalos had some interesting coverage cushions, and the individual corners got truly beat more than they did last week. In the end, they acquitted themselves well enough to get the win, but there is surely more work to be done on that end of the ball as the season keeps rollin’.
I’ll leave you with this collection of extra petty victory tweets that came from Cristobal & Co. after the win.
It’s clear this one meant something to the team.
Go Ducks.