Monday Game Review: Oregon Stuffs Stanford
There weren't any fans in Autzen Stadium, but there are still folks that have questions after Oregon's 35-14 blowout of Stanford. Let's talk about it.
The first game of the season is in the books, so obviously that means it’s time for the overreactions to flow across Eugene, but a 35-14 stifling of Stanford while breaking in a new QB and a brand new offense, isn’t something that us Ducks fans should take for granted.
Overall, I’d say I was pretty excited by the end of the game about what the Ducks were able to put together. The Moorhead offense started slow in front of an empty Autzen, and the defense—namely the front seven that I touted in my game preview—had a rocky start against surprising physical run game of the Cardinal.
I won’t sit here and pump endless sunshine at you. I’m realistic enough to admit that there were moments in the first half where I had flashbacks to when the 2018 Stanford game started slipping away from us. But Cristobal helped the team refocus and the Ducks righted the ship. When it was all over, I felt like I looked up from my slight waves of anxiety to realize we had just crushed Stanford for the second year in a row.
That’s no small feat.
The debut of Tyler Shough featured some of the errant throws that you’d expect from a young guy. We call those, “throws you’d like to have back,” in the business. Stanford made him pay for one of those when he was picked off, and then a few others luckily slipped through the hands of defenders.
Obviously Shough’s career is going to be chalked-full of comparison’s to Herbie, but if you compare Tyler’s debut to Justin’s first start in that 2016 Washington game, it’s hard to be disappointed about Saturday night as a jumping off point. The kid ran a brand new offense, threw 17/26 for 227 yds, ran for another 85 yds, scored 2 total touchdowns, and romped Stanford by 21 points.
Shough also answered the prayers of dozens of frustrated Ducks fans when he showed off his electric running ability. The RoboShough scampered for some clutch first downs, made some smart RPO reads for his first time out, and even juked a guy out of his shoes on his touchdown run.
Tyler had some trouble finding the right timing with the slant routes over the middle—where his pick and almost all of his almost-picks came from—but he really came alive when he went long like he did on the game-shifting dive ball to Mycah Pittman, or the “Back Shoulder/Russell Wilson/Moon Ball Special” he threw twice to JJ3*.
*He completed one and drew a pass interference on the other, but that was a pro-style throw whether it’s your first career start or your hundredth.
You could tell Shough was more comfortable throwing those fades and the long ball in general, and his decision making grew stronger as he shied away from forcing those slants if they weren’t there. If he was too late for the slant, and the deep route was covered, he opted to dump it off in the flat or wisely throw it away to live another down—something even Herbie has struggled with in his first couple NFL games.
Speaking of dumping it off in the flat, who could’ve predicted the impact of tight end DJ Johnson?
In my game preview, I mentioned how we would see a lot of JJ3, and how a healthy Mycah Pittman might help open the game up, but the converted defensive end/Miami transfer becoming a prime outlet in Moorhead’s run-pass-option was nowhere near my radar.
DJ often lined up behind the offensive guards in an almost fullback-like position, and was both a big receiving target, and a bruising blocker. I’m not entirely sure if his elevated role in the offense is a byproduct of injury or just of Joe Moorhead stepping into the program with fresh eyes and loving what he sees out of the big man. Either way, I can’t wait to see how his size and skill continue to be utilized.
CJ, Travis, and Cyrus showed up as the three-headed monster that we’ve always known they were. All three of them found the endzone once, and CJ rushed for over 100 yds. If CJ doesn’t end up as a Doak Walker finalist, it’ll be because he has two guys right behind him that deserve every one of the touches they get. And knowing CJ, I think he’d be just fine with that.
I also just want to point out that Johnny Johnson III and Mycah Pittman blocked their asses off the whole game. Scott Frost might be off in Nebraska—losing games and losing transfers to Oregon State—but it’s clear that his “no-block-no-rock” mentality is still alive and well in Eugene.
Overall, there might be some folks out there that are disappointed by the fact that Moorhead’s pistol/shotgun/RPO offense was basically similar to that of Marcus Arroyo.
Early on, the run game looked stagnant. Repeated dives up the middle for 2-3 yards. Quick screens to Redd for no gain—or even a loss. The monotony of it all can cause unpleasant flashbacks, I know.
But just as I found myself defending Arroyo last year, I will go to bat for Moorhead when I say that all those boring dive plays, and tiny losses, are all part of one big game of eleven-dimensional chess.
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. And then all of the sudden, the defense starts to sell themselves out for the run up the middle, allowing Shough to pull the ball and run for a big gain. Or pull it and find DJ Johnson on the run. Or do all those other things so much that it keeps the defense honest, and then he goes back to Verdell up the middle so he can break one loose. The options are endless.
Yes, it seems like Moorhead is much more interested in running Shough than Arroyo ever was with Herbie. And yes, when you almost entirely remove the option of a QB run, it’s like trying to play eleven dimensional chess without an eleven dimensional Queen. But I know that I manage to feel better about all those seemingly “dumb” or “uncreative” plays early on in the game when equipped with the knowledge that they’re all part of a bigger process meant to eventually break the defense later in the game when it matters most. And I’m pretty sure that Joe Moorhead proved that he’s all in on that process in his first game as OC.
When it comes to the defense, I mentioned that the front seven looked a bit weak to start out, and the downhill run game from Stanford look a lot more like the Stanford of years past than I expected. I thought the pass rush would also have been more successful than they were, but they only managed a couple hurries, and they never really made the young Cardinal QBs uncomfortable at all.
But the defense really tightened up in the red zone, and they managed to force countless Jet Toner field goal attempts, which—even if they had been successful—are still defensive victories.
The secondary had a ton of youth for Stanford to test, and I think they ultimately proved worthy of their first challenge.
Dede Lenoir was avoided for most of the game (3 targets, 0 catches allowed), Verone McKinley III made some great tackles before he was kicked out for targeting, and even Steve Stephens was physical and seemed to be in the right place to make a play.
Mykael Wright was picked on more than any other corner, and even though he let a couple big throws get past him, he showed great ball skills on multiple plays in the endzone with some pro-level pass breakups.
The term “bend-but-don’t-break” has been overused to define Oregon defenses in the past, but the secondary was supposed to be the best in the country until they were hit with the most opt-outs of any group. As the game progressed, they managed to impress and tighten things up, both one-on-one, and as a unit.
Finally, my King, Camden Lewis, missed his one FG attempt on Saturday night—quite badly, I might add.
If I was a lesser man, looking for a way to put a spin on the shank, I would point out that he EASILY MADE his first attempt from 32-yards (with a ref’s whistle blowing in his ear), but a false start pushed him back five yards and forced him to kick it again. If I was even more desperate to rationalize things for Cam, I would also note that he was 7 for 7 on PATs, accounting for a whole ass touchdown all by himself.
But I don’t need to point any of those things out in order to defend The King. He’ll just put that miss in the rearview and move on to the next one like the consummate professional he is.
There’s a ton to be excited about with this Ducks team. They’re young, and they have to find a way to get their energy and physicality up earlier on in the game. And I’ll just continue to hold my breath that the Ducks and the rest of the Pac-12 can avoid any more big covid problems that would cost them a game, and in turn, any hope of the Playoff.
But I’ll leave you with this final, sunshine-pumping note:
This quarterback is young, hungry, and he’s got a liiiiittle bit of Baker Mayfield in him.
Tyler Shough is The Future.
Go Ducks.