Oregon Football: 3 takeaways from season-opening Stanford win

Oregon football’s Tyler Shough had a huge game as the Ducks dominated the Stanford Cardinal 35-14 at home to open the 2020 season.

There was no doubt Mario Cristobal has changed the culture in Eugene. The former Miami offensive lineman and Florida International head coach has recruited better than they have in the school’s history. That said, there were plenty of questions about the Ducks coming into this truncated season.

Who would start at quarterback? How long would it take for the offense to gel under new offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead. Would Moorhead even get the opportunity to put his stamp on the offense with Cristobal. One thing is for sure in this game, the Ducks were still physical and still ran the football.

There were two elements that are staples of a Moorhead offense that were present in this game.

First, Tyler Shough ran the ball 11 times. Moorhead likes to run the quarterback as part of his RPO system. If the quarterback does not throw the football, the other two options are to feed the running back or keeping it. Shough did an outstanding job of  making those decisions against the Cardinal.

Here are three more takeaways from Saturday’s game.

3. Clutch Oregon defense

Defenses have one objective: do not let the opposition score. Mission accomplished for the Ducks. Despite yielding over 400 yards of offense, the Ducks allowed just 14 points.

In addition to two missed field goals in the first half, the Ducks forced two punts as well. In fact, the Cardinal missed four field goals in this game.

The Ducks let the Cardinal get close, but forced them to settle for field goals which they missed.  The Cardinal offense did not play poorly but the Ducks made the big plays in crucial moments when it mattered most.