On College Football: Oregon can only get better from here, right?

Published 12:00 am Thursday, September 8, 2022

Better decision making from the quarterback, better adjustments from the coaching staff, better tackling, better tackling and better tackling.

Those are areas the Oregon Ducks will look to fix after opening their season with the confidence‐crunching loss to Georgia.

Oregon spent too much time thinking and not enough time just playing against Georgia. Given the new coaching staff and roster turnover, it’s no shock the Ducks players had costly moments of hesitation.

Becoming comfortable in a new system takes time. To get through that transition, a veteran quarterback needs to play like one. He doesn’t need to be the star of the show, just a seasoned conductor who gives his playmakers a chance.

Bo Nix did not do that against the Bulldogs. He wasn’t horrible, but needs to be much better if the Ducks are going to contend for anything this season.

The good news for the Oregon offense? Eastern Washington gave up 547 yards in a season-opening win over Tennessee State. Unless the Ducks tackling improves dramatically, they might need to outscore the Eagles.

Coach Dan Lanning on Monday said the Ducks need to intensify their practices so that they are harder than the game. The opener was more difficult than any practice this fall.

Lanning said his defensive plan needed a wider variety of calls in order to counter Georgia’s offensive plan. It was a case where keeping things simple limited how the coaches could adjust.

As for what he wants to see this week?

“I want to see our guys play fast,” Lanning said. “I want to walk away and say, ‘Okay, that offense has an identity. That defense has an identity.'”

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Truth is, it’ll take more than a week for the Ducks to feel comfortable. Another grim loss on the heels of three blowout losses to end last season has made any suggestion that Oregon has championship pedigree right now laughable.

That doesn’t mean the program is off course. But, in the short term, the Ducks need a decisive, entertaining win over Eastern Washington this weekend. Long term, they need to encourage stability from the top of the program to the depth of the roster.

— Paul Danzer

Beavers defense needs a repeat

While their winged rivals struggled in Atlanta, Oregon State was the opposite for at least the first half last week against Boise State, forcing four turnovers and going into halftime up 24-0.

The Broncos made a big adjustment, putting in their dual-threat backup quarterback which saw some success quickly, getting the game to 24-17 in the fourth quarter. However, a Jack Colletto touchdown run and another turnover sealed the deal for the Beavers to win head coach Johnathan Smith’s first season-opening game in five tries.

A win over the preseason pick to win the Mountain West Mountain Division is a much welcomed start in Corvallis, especially for a defense causing five turnovers. Last season, the offense was there for the Beavers, but the defense wasn’t. It’s why Trent Bray was made defensive coordinator.

Oregon State forced 19 turnovers in all of 2021, their game high of four coming in the shocking 45-27 win at USC. Needless to say, the Beavers defense needs to maintain that kind of production if they want to make the leap to a potential Pac-12 title game bid.

OSU gets another test from the Mountain West, heading to Fresno State, the preseason pick to win the Mountain West Conference title. Fresno is a notoriously difficult place to play.

And unlike Boise State, the Bulldogs have an established quarterback in Jake Haener who finished eighth in the FBS last season in passing yards per game. He’ll certainly give the Beavers secondary more issues than last week, and provide a test on exactly how improved this defense is.

The Beavers will face a tougher defense to crack as well in the run game after it was stymied in the first half against Boise State. QB Chance Nolan was inconsistent in the opener as well. The Beavers will need him to avoid the two picks he threw against the Broncos.

All and all, it was a very solid Week 1 performance from the Beavers, excellent from the defense. Now, can they do it again against an even tougher Mountain West opponent on the road? If so, a 2-0 start could allow for something to really get cooking in Corvallis.

— Austin White

Vikings show promise

Portland State’s season opener was both very encouraging and quite disappointing.

Among the positives from the 21-17 loss at San Jose State were the play of sophomore quarterback Dante Chachere in his first start and an impressive performance by the Vikings defense.

Chachere’s numbers — 24 of 37 for 270 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions — don’t jump off the page. But he led two impressive scoring drives of 66 and 99-plus yards. He completed all four passes on his first drive as a college starter and completed two key third-down passes and ran for a fourth-down conversion on the impressive 99-yard drive.

On defense, the Vikings made the Spartans work for everything — even when turnovers gave San Jose State field position. SJSU netted only 288 total yards, just 49 on the ground. PSU had seven sacks among 11 tackles for loss. All-American cornerback Anthony Adams made 10 total tackles.

That all that good work didn’t end up in a victory is disappointing, especially since the challenge this week is a trip to face Washington at Husky Stadium (1 p.m. Saturday, Pac-12 Washington/Pac-12 Now App).

The hope is that receiver Mataio Talalemotu (knee strain) can play after the senior from Beaverton was held out of the opener as a precaution.

— Paul Danzer

Big start for Lewis & Clark

Lewis & Clark won a season opener for the first time in a decade, beating Puget Sound 41-15 on Sept. 3 at Griswold Stadium.

It was the first of new Northwest Scholars Series, an annual season-opening non-conference game between the Pioneers and the Loggers. It also was the first college football win as a head coach for Joe Bushman, the former Clackamas High coach.

“I learned that our kids like to play hard and compete,” Bushman said, adding that the Pioneers “played really hungry to win.”

There were missed assignments to clean up, as is typical of any opener. But there was a lot for Bushman to like.

Senior quarterback Cruz Montana (not related to Joe Montana), completed 18 of 26 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns.

“When things broke down, he got out of the pocket and made good decisions and some really accurate throws,” Bushman said.

Dyontae Navarrete was the star of the show, according to Bushman. The junior from Woodburn, running behind a lade led by sophomore center Mike Lloyd, broke tackles consistently en route to 110 rushing yards and a touchdown.

The senior linebacking combo of Sam Meinhard (eight tackles) and Jake Bushman (six tackles) led a defense that held Puget Sound to 248 yards. Perhaps the most eye-opening performance on defense was from freshman defensive end Jay’Den Dock from Bakersfield, California, who was in on seven tackles.

After a week off, Lewis & Clark will travel to Whittier College in California on Sept. 17.

Opening the season at home on Sept. 17 are Linfield (vs. Redlands, 1 p.m.), Pacific (vs. Pamona-Pitzer, 7 p.m.) and George Fox (vs. Chapman, 7 p.m.).

— Paul Danzer