Oregon Football: 3 takeaways from road rout of Stanford in Week 4

1. The Oregon ground game continues to lack punch

Mario Cristobal’s background is as an offensive line guru, and he has a veteran unit with upperclassmen all across the line. Yet the group has struggled to forge a solid ground game for the Ducks, as Oregon’s backfield ranked just 49th nationally in rushing after three games. They struggled once again on their trip to the Bay Area as Stanford held the Ducks to just 61 total yards on the ground.

Part of that can be attributed to the 22 lost yards on sacks to Justin Herbert. But that only accounts for part of the issue. On a team that once teemed with options in the backfield, the only guy who received any handoffs through most of the first three quarters was CJ Verdell. The feature back finished the game with 82 yards on 24 carries, as he finished with only 3.4 yards per carry and a long run of just 11 yards.

Travis Dye finally got his first and only carry of the game on the final play of the third quarter. Though Dye had been in the game several other times in the first three quarters, including snagging a 24-yard pass on 3rd-and-11, the fact that the Ducks opted not to vary things up in the backfield for the bulk of the contest was a puzzling choice by the coaching staff.

Oregon’s calling card through the most dominant periods of their recent history has hinged on a strong ground game that opens up everything for the quarterback. Cristobal needs to rediscover that identity in Eugene if the Ducks are going to continue to challenge teams like Cal and the Washington schools for the division crown this year.