Crank Up the Tailgate: It's Oregon Duck Game Week

In his first season as Oregon coach, Dan Lanning brought the defense to the sideline for a timeout early in a blowout win over Big Sky opponent Eastern Washington in Autzen Stadium.

As the unit trotted to the sideline he asked them, "Who are we playing this week?"

The players responded in unison, "The Ducks."

Fresh off an embarrassing 49-3 loss to Georgia in their first game, the Ducks won 70-14, with the defense holding the visiting Eagles to 187 yards.

It's finally time to play football. After an off season full of anticipation, after a number three AP preseason ranking, after a move to the Big Ten, it's finally time to "Shout."

The Ducks kickoff at 4:30 P.M. in Autzen Stadium this Saturday, hosting the Idaho Vandals of the Big Sky. Owing to the excitement over this year's team, the game is a sellout six days before kickoff, standing room only. For Idaho. It will be broadcast on the team's new television home, the Big Ten Network.

If you're a cord cutter, BTN is available on Hulu or Fubo.

The Ducks are again playing the Ducks. It's their first opportunity to establish their standard with Dillon Gabriel taking over at quarterback, new offensive weapons Evan Stewart and Jay Harris joining Tez Johnson, Traeshon Holden, Terrance Ferguson, Ajani Cornelius, Josh Conerly, Iapani Laloulu and Marcus Harper II. On defense, six new starters join Jeffrey Bassa and Jordan Burch, transfers Jabbar Muhammad, Kobe Savage, Brandon Johnson and Kam Alexander.

The first game challenge will be to demonstrate cohesion and play clean. Teachable moments, yes, but all energies focused on the joy of Game Day.

The Big Sky Conference already achieved one upset in Week Zero: Montana State traveled to New Mexico and ruined new coach Bronco Mendenhall's debut, upending the Lobos 35-31 with 21 points in the fourth quarter.

Just three years ago in 2021, the Montana Grizzlies invaded Husky Stadium and dumped number 20 Washington 13-7, the beginning of a 4-8 slide that got Jimmy Lake fired.

It's unlikely that the Ducks will be victims of that kind of inattention. They are 44.5-point favorites. The over/under is 63.5. Tosh Lupoi is pointing at a shutout.

The visiting Vandals are led by redshirt sophomore quarterback Jack Layne, a 2-star sophomore from Lake Oswego High School in Lake Oswego, Oregon He takes over at QB from Gevani McCoy, who transferred to Oregon State. Leading rusher Anthony Woods transferred to Utah, an 1100-yard rusher a year ago.

Last season Layne threw 6 touchdown passes in a 63-21 win over Idaho State, 8 in all over the season with no interceptions. 25-32 passing, 78.1%, for 325 yards, 10.2 yards per attempt. He's 6-2, 200. He also chipped in 15 carries for 52 yards, even caught a pass for 26 yards.

The Vandals finished second last season in the Big Sky, 9-4 with a 30-22 loss to Albany in the quarterfinals of FCS playoffs. They are 16-9 over two seasons under head coach Jason Eck, making the playoffs both years.

At Big Sky Media Days the Vandals were picked to finish third in the conference. Eck said, "It's the fun part of college football, seeing which guys are going to emerge. We had some household names amongst our fans that we lost last year, but we're gonna have some new household names."

Layne wore a white tuxedo and bow tie to Media Days, looking like an expectant groom or a prom date. "I'm excited to get back out there on the field with all my teammates, throw the pads on. Getting picked third, you know, it's respectable but it just shows we've got room to improve and prove people wrong."

Defensive lineman Keyshawn James-Newby is the leader on defense, 6-2, 240, a transfer from Montana Tech. He racked up 38 tackles last season with 5 sacks, 7 tackles for loss.

The last Vandal chosen in the NFL draft was Kaden Elliss in 2019, a round 7 pick of New Orleans Saints, still in the league as a linebacker for the Falcons.

Idaho earns a $740,000 payout for making the trip to Autzen. They're eager to measure themselves against a highly touted opponent, and no doubt will start the game scrappy.