Oregon Ducks QB Dillon Gabriel points out key areas that the offense must improve

At first glance, Oregon Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel looks like he had a great game. He completed 41/49 pass attempts for 380 yards and two touchdowns.

Under the surface, though, there were a few things that Gabriel and the Ducks offense will want to evaluate.

After the 24-14 win, Gabriel echoed sentiments shared by head coach Dan Lanning - that this game wasn't good enough.
"I think just finishing, not beating ourselves up," Gabriel said after the game. "[we need] more explosive plays, not to be in as many third downs, and just being efficient. I feel like we beat ourselves a lot, and they did a great job as well, but, yeah – it was just strenuous at time."

He's not wrong. The penalties and the miscommunications up front set them back consistently, despite looking strong on offense at other points.

The lack of explosive plays was also a shock to the system with the talent that the team has at wide receiver, and the defense that they were going against. Gabriel didn't attempt a single pass 20+ yards down the field on his 49 pass attempts, and attempted only six passes 10+ yards down the field. Instead, he lived around the line of scrimmage, attempting 22 of his passes between the numbers less than 10 yards from the line of scrimmage, while attempting 13 more of his passes behind the line of scrimmage.

Gabriel also knows the pressure needs to look different going forward, which isn't just on the offensive line. Gabriel alluded to the fact that the ball needs to come out quicker, and also said he needs to have two hands on the ball in the situation that caused the sack fumble.

Any leader will do exactly what he did in this situation – not put the blame on anyone else, and focus on what he is in control of improving on, but there's no denying that the offensive line has to do better than the 10 pressures, three sacks, and two penalties that they had in the first game.

As Lanning will say, it's time to go to the doctor. This offense needs to take their medicine, quickly.

Related: QB Dillon Gabriel connects with star returning wide receiver for first Oregon Ducks touchdown

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