Washington Huskies’ final regular season foe caught off guard by FCS team in week 1
By Ethan Lee
There might be a bit of optimism for Washington Husky fans who enjoy seeing the Oregon Ducks struggle. Though the Ducks were considered by many (myself included) as a possible national championship contender for this season, Oregon looked pretty vulnerable in its season opener against the Idaho Vandals.
The high powered offense that Oregon was supposed to be able to boast about was able to gain a ton of yards, by it wasn’t able to put more than 24 points on the board in what ended up being a 24-14 win for the Ducks.
It’s safe to say that the game was much closer than anyone really expected. And again, Oregon looked vulnerable in this win. So, while Oregon ultimately got a victory to start the season against the Idaho Vandals, there are going to be plenty of raised eyebrows related to this one.
Washington Huskies football: Final regular season opponent Oregon Ducks appeared vulnerable against Idaho
The Ducks' offense was able to move up and down the field and ended up accumulating 487 total yards. But Oregon really struggled to get those yards and convert them into scoring opportunities. The execution there is probably a pretty big point of frustration for Oregon fans (and an opportunity for a bit of schadenfreude for Washington fans).
Dillon Gabriel thrived against Idaho, completing 41 of 49 pass attempts for 380 yards, but he only threw two touchdowns. That might be something Oregon fans (and the coaching staff) are upset about. Because yards are great, but points are what ultimately matter at the end of the day here.
On the defensive side of things, Oregon didn’t give up a ton of yards as the Idaho Vandals only gained 217 total yards. The Vandals also only scored two touchdowns, but there were some cracks in Oregon’s run defense as Elisha Cummings averaged 5.4 yards per carry.
There’s a nonzero chance that Oregon didn’t take this game seriously and the Ducks will have plenty of additional wrinkles and some extra focus moving forward with bigger games, but this result is something that is certainly worth talking about.