Just like Week 1, the Oregon Ducks walked out of Autzen Stadium with a win, but once again, questions loom large .
Oregon beat Boise State 37-34 on a last-second field goal, but leaving the game, the offensive line continues to be a massive issue for the Ducks. Head coach Dan Lanning went to some pretty remarkable lengths during the game against Boise State to try to find some solutions after Oregon surrendered four sacks in the first half alone.
The moves looked more like scramble and panic than they did a plan. They were the moves of a head coach desperately searching for answers.
The offensive tackles are locked in, and they largely had a better day today than they did in Week 1, minus left tackle Josh Conerly Jr. looking silly in the first quarter on an allowed sack. Ajani Cornelius also looked to be involved in pressure coming off the right side, and more analysis will show his involvement in those pass rush reps.
With Matthew Bedford still not playing, the interior offensive line saw some different looks. For what I saw during the game, left to right, the combos were:
- Marcus Harper, Charlie Pickard, Iapani Laloulu
- Nishad Strother, Charlie Pickard, Marcus Harper
- Nishad Strother, Iapani Laloulu, Marcus Harper
Lanning was asked about the rotating offensive line in his post-game media availability.
"Ever since I've been here, we've rotated on the offensive line. When we had players that were able to do that, you know, JPJ [Jackson Powers-Johnson] was rotating early on, you know, his first year. Last year we had Poncho [Laloulu] rotating in. So that's not uncommon for us to get, you know, the best guys in the lineup and keep guys fresh. We'll watch the film and evaluate who the best five, or six, or seven, whoever that might be, that can play winning football for us," Lanning said after the game.
Evaluation is the name of the game here. Oregon has now allowed seven sacks through two games, after allowing only five sacks in each of the last two seasons. After a rough first game, the hope was to see marked improvement in that department heading into their Week 2 game. It didn't happen.
Oregon had more penalties (nine for 74 yards) than Boise State, and turned the ball over twice without generating any takeaways. They also lost the time of possession battle (albeit narrowly), all while surrendering four sacks and generating only one. That's not a recipe for winning football.
You could easily say that special teams bailed out Oregon, with a punt return and a kickoff return each being taken back for touchdowns. Without those huge, and rare, plays, Oregon likely would not have walked away with a win.
Dan Lanning and the coaching staff got plenty of looks at different offensive line combinations throughout this game, and they'll have a lot of film to look at to determine what the best plan of action is in the trenches going forward, but one thing is for certain – this line needs to improve dramatically before the competition gets harder, and they need to do so in a hurry.
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Follow along all year for more Oregon Ducks coverage on A to Z Sports. You can find me on X @JonHelmkamp , as well as follow our main page @AtoZSportsNFL for all the latest news.
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