Always interesting to have a conference game open the season schedule, and the fact that the opponent was border rival Washington made for an added level of excitement in Eugene on Saturday night.
The Ducks took an early 14-0 lead on two quick scores in the first quarter, but the Huskies eventually responded with a couple of second quarter drives to net 10 points, enough to give the home fans enough pause to wonder if they could manage to find a way to combat the talents of Husky quarterback Jake Locker. The score at the end of the first half wound up being 14-10.
The Ducks defense responded to the challenges of defending a mobile quarterback by sending more men to rush and harass him, leaving the Duck secondary to defend the inexperienced Husky receiving corp in single coverage for the most part( a note must be made here that Washington moved the ball most effectively when Locker was able to complete his passes, I was a bit surprised when I found out that all but one of Washington's completed passes went to wide receivers; perhaps more quick screens to the running back (Chris Polk, in this case) might have alleviated some of the defensive pressure.
Speaking of Polk, and the Washington offense in general, I do believe that almost all of their possessions started with a run straight up the middle, and every possession wound up being a second and long situation, not an ideal place for an inexperienced team to find itself in for too long.
Field position played a big part in helping the Ducks establish defensive dominance in the second half, with a couple of kicks from the special teams resulting in starting Husky field postion starting from inside the 20 yard line. This helped the shuttle of Duck quarterbacks get some game experience (starter Justin Roper got a concussion at some point in the first half, and subs Jeremiah Masoli and Chris Harper did some nice things moving the ball in various capacities, the former with his quick release on a couple of ball, particularly the touchdown pass to Jaison Williams that solidified the Duck lead at 30-10 early in the fourth quarter, and the latter with his running ability, he showed some nice moves and smarts in moving the ball around the field and was rewarded with his first collegiate touchdown near the end of the game, though he did not throw a pass in the game.
Other things that struck me sitting in the stands: Duck defensive end Nick Reed seemed to be playing with a bee in his bonnet early on, yapping at Locker after the Husky quarterback misfired on his first attempt of the game, and for getting the first penalty of the game, by anticipating the snap on another play and knocking the Husky lineman on his butt, drawing the ire of the teammates of the visitors.
Jaison Williams did a very good catching the ball, the only one I recall him dropping was the one where he was cited for ineligible touching early on in the fourth quarter.........only after he had run across the field in the first place to help out a scrambling Masoli.
The hits from T.J. Ward in the second half were certainly noticed by a number of fans.
Their were no balls thrown toward tight end Ed Dickson, not sure if that had more to do with the change in quarterbacks or in the scheme of the offense.
Jeremiah Johnson had a terrific game running the ball, he looked as good as ever, and the way that JC transfer LeGarrette Blount moved the scrum forward to achieve yet another crucial first down helped to put the loss of Jonathan Stewart in the back of the minds of most fans.
The scrambling ability of Locker drew grudging admiration from some Duck fans, but it soon became apparent that without consistent help from both aspects of the offensive game, chances of a comeback were practically non-existant at best, though wide receiver D'Andre Goodwin and tight end Kavario Middleton proved to be a handful at the times when Washington closed in on the Ducks.
In the end, it was a good victory over a bitter rival on a surprisingly chilly August evening, and most Duck fans I encountered afterward were saying that it was just one step in the first of many. With a date in Eugene against Utah State next Saturday, it will certainly be the road game at Purdue on September 13th where the Ducks find out exactly where they stand.
BTW, the new video screen in the stadium; it's too bad that the audio system sounded like crap; I couldn't even hear a word of the J.Stew/Dennis Dixon alumni commercial.
R-G STORY
P-I STORY
No comments:
Post a Comment