EUGENE, OR – The No. 3 Oregon Ducks entered the 2024 season with a new quarterback, new conference, and a tremendous amount of hype, and leave the first week 1-0 after Dillon Gabriel and the now members of the Big Ten Conference Oregon Ducks defeated the Idaho Vandals 24-14.
Following a quick score on their opening drive, the Ducks found themselves in a closer game than most expected where the absence of injured starting right guard, Matthew Bedford, was massively felt. The Ducks struggled to get the run game going most of the night and allowed three sacks, one of which was a sack fumble before the half where Oregon led 14-0.
Oregon’s offense completely stalled out in the third quarter, failing to score any points in their three possessions and turning the ball over twice on downs. After stopping Oregon running back Jordan James on 4th and inches, Idaho quickly made it a one score game following a reverse pass flea-flicker where quarterback Jack Layne found tight end Jake Cox for a 36-yard touchdown bringing the score to 14-7.
Idaho had a chance to shock the Nation late in the fourth quarter when they found themselves trying to stop Oregon from converting on fourth down again, trailing this time by only 3 points. Instead, Gabriel was able to find Tez Johnson for his second touchdown of the night, bringing the score to its final at 24-14.
After the game Oregon Head Coach Dan Lanning stated that it was “different than what we thought it might look like… we didn’t create some of the explosive plays I was hoping we could create offensively”
Despite struggles from the offensive line and a lack of big yardage plays, Oklahoma transfer Dillon Gabriel posted an impressive passing stat line in his Oregon debut where he finished 41/49 for 380 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Although the final score tells a different story, the Ducks dominated most aspects of Saturdays game. Most noticeably, Tosh Lupoi’s defense held Idaho to only 49 yards rushing, forced two turnovers, and stopped the Volunteers 10/12 times on third down.
Oregon will host Boise State on Saturday, September 7th at 7:00pm.
