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Oregon football opened its 2022 college football season on the wrong end of history. They lost in a totally lopsided fashion to the reigning national champions, 49-3, and there wasn't much good to write home about.
Unfortunately, it looks like these Oregon Ducks are not as great as maybe their fans thought they would be. To say that Oregon football fell short of expectations is a gross understatement. Their futility was on full display Saturday afternoon as the Georgia Bulldogs had their way with Dan Lanning's team at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
In this opening loss, Oregon failed to score a touchdown for the first time since 2017. Sure, there were a few encouraging moments — the Ducks’ offense moved the ball nicely in the first half — but these were overshadowed by an unending list of problems that need to be addressed as soon as possible.
To be honest, few expected the Ducks to win in Atlanta on Saturday, but surely nobody anticipated they'd lose this badly.
It was such a deflating defeat for Oregon football, and here are three takeaways from this game they'd rather forget.
3. Running game was so-so
With C.J. Verdell and Travis Dye no longer on the squad, this was the first time in a long time that carries in the Oregon backfield were up for grabs. Eventually, the Ducks rushed for 144 yards on 31 attempts against Georgia. Oregon averaged 4.5 yards per carry.
Against the Bulldogs, Oregon fans saw a little bit of everything. Sean Dollars, Mar'Keise Irving, Byron Cardwell, Noah Whittington, and Jordan James all got at least three touches of the football.
James, in fact, had a team-high seven touches, but no back ran for more than 33 yards (Dollars). This sort of performance will make it difficult to determine who among them has a clear lead to be RB1. Perhaps as the season progresses, we will see a go-to duo emerge. Until then, however, coach Lanning will continue to scratch his head with regard to his rushing attack.
2. Absentee defense
Everyone knew that Georgia was good. We all knew that the champs' offense was hard to stop. Having said that, the way the Bulldogs just waylaid the Ducks' D was outright terrible. Surely, nobody — not even Georgia fans — was expecting Oregon's defense to look this bad, right?
But it certainly did, and on such a big stage, too.
Keep in mind that under coach Dan Lanning, this defensive unit was projected to be among the finest in the country. They boasted of having Noah Sewell and Justin Flowe in the center, Brandon Dorlus up front, and Christian Gonzalez and Bennett Williams in the secondary.
On a Saturday afternoon, however, the Ducks didn't play defense by committee. Instead, they played defense by absence.
Georgia football ended the game with 49 points, 571 yards, a 90 percent third-down conversion rate (9-for-10), and scores on seven of their eight possessions.
One of the finest in the nation? More like one of the most humiliating.
Sure, these were the defending champs at home. They are more skilled and played a better game. Still, even a horrible game for the Ducks should not have resulted in such inflated figures.
Remember that if Oregon football will succeed in 2022, it will have to be on the strength of its defense. The offense can be adequate, but the defense must be outstanding.
And this was not how to do it.
1. Bo Nix was… bad?
Observers were all aware that having a bad Bo Nix game was a possibility. Fans understood that after his up and down three seasons at Auburn, Nix might come to Eugene and be a middling quarterback. Yes, he was capable of producing jaw-dropping plays, but he was also capable of tossing in a face-palm-worthy error for good measure.
For crying out loud, his nickname throughout SEC nation was ‘Bo Picks.' Oregon fans were surely aware of that, right?
Unfortunately, they got a front-row seat to see ‘Bo Picks' in action against the Bulldogs.
Georgia 5⭐️ true freshman Malaki Starks picks off Bo Nix for his first career INT🔥
Starks was the No. 10 player in the 2022 On3 Consensushttps://t.co/iRy3B1h6Br
— On3 (@On3sports) September 3, 2022
Okay, it wasn't all doom and gloom. Nix looked okay in the first half, with the exception of a handful of minor errors, of course. He eventually finished for 173 yards on 21-for-37 passing, but he felt in command of the offense early in the game.
But then the game just went out of control for him and the rest of the team. It felt like we were watching Nix & Co. just sink into quicksand with one bad decision after another.
The first came on an interception when targeting Seven McGee on a deep-route downfield. Nix launched a jump ball to one of Oregon's tiniest receivers, and the Georgia defense pounced.
The next came not long after, when Nix had the offense moving. He sat in the pocket a split second too long and telegraphed a pass to Terrance Ferguson, giving Georgia an easy pick.
The Ducks were unable to restore momentum after that, and the onslaught was on full throttle.
One terrible outing doesn't mean Nix will be horrible the entire season, of course. Remember that he did face an all-world defense against the Bulldogs.
Still, we can agree that we didn't see enough on Saturday to believe that Nix will be Oregon's savior in 2022. Especially after this game, Nix still has a lot to prove and show to win over Oregon football fans.
