The Oregon Ducks escaped with a season-opening win but dropped from No. 3 to No. 7 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Oregon (1-0) defeated FCS powerhouse Idaho, 24-14, last week in Eugene, Ore. This Saturday, another team from Idaho comes to Autzen Stadium, the Boise State Broncos.
The Ducks have plenty of work to do in practice this week to fix some of the issues they had against the Vandals. Procedural and holding penalties on the offensive line nullified big plays. Idaho was able to get pressure on new Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who was sacked three times and lost a fumble.
The Ducks were 1 of 3 on fourth down, and their normally potent rushing offense averaged just 2.9 yards a carry. Oregon surrendered only five sacks in all of 2023.
Of course, Idaho deserves a good deal of credit for making it difficult on the Ducks, but Oregon didn’t finish drives the way they have so often done in recent program history.
On the flip side, Gabriel finished 41 of 49 for 380 yards with two touchdown passes. Jordan James gained 95 yards on 15 carries and ran for a touchdown, and the Oregon defense was solid. It held Idaho to 2 of 12 on third downs, allowed 217 total yards, tallied two interceptions and gave up only 10 first downs.
The opportunities were there on offense, but Oregon didn’t take advantage as often as Ducks fans are accustomed to seeing.
“We didn’t play well enough,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “There were some miscommunications we had to clean up. But certainly, room for improvement. They know they didn’t play to the standard we want, and we can be better there.”
The Broncos (1-0) bring a potent rushing attack that features Ashton Jeanty, who gained 267 yards on 20 carries and scored six touchdowns against Georgia Southern last week on the road. Boise State won 56-45 and ran for 371 yards as a team.
Jeanty set a new Boise State program record in both single-game rushing yards and touchdowns. His six rushing TDs also tied the Mountain West record, and he became just the 10th player in FBS since 2013 with six rushing scores in a game, according to Boise State sports information.
Jeanty was named the conference’s Offensive Player of the Week.
The Broncos won their last four regular season games of 2023, including the Mountain West championship game, before falling to UCLA in the LA Bowl.
Boise State racked up 651 yards of total offense against Georgia Southern, including 280 passing yards for Maddux Madsen, but had trouble stopping the Eagles.
They will have to be ready for an Oregon team eager to atone for a disappointing showing last week.
“We’ve got to get better at what we do. We’ve got to get ready for formations, the shifts, the movers and the different plays,” Broncos defensive coordinator Erik Chinander told the Idaho Statesman.
Boise State is 3-0 against Oregon, notching victories in 2008, 2009 and 2017.
–Field Level Media
