The Lookout Lookback: Could the Ducks be better than last year?

QuickTake:

Oregon is averaging 64 points per game, scored touchdowns on 16 of 22 drives and allowed just 455 total yards — its most dominant start in years. The Ducks are young and still largely untested, but early returns elicit questions we weren't ready to ask.

I can’t remember if it was after Oregon’s fifth or sixth touchdown against Oklahoma State on Saturday — I do know it was before the 21 points in a 50-second flurry to end the third quarter — when I leaned over to 247’s Matt Prehm with a confession.

Prehm is one of the few people in the press box who has covered the Ducks for as long as I have, and we’ve spent a lot of time over the years having the same conversations you might have around the water cooler about standout players, potential and the ability of the team playing in front of us.

“Matt,” I said, keeping my voice down. “This team might be better than last year.”

Last year, Oregon went 12-0 in the regular season and won the Big Ten Championship, crafting its success on the backs of veterans such as quarterback Dillon Gabriel, receiver Tez Johnson, tight end Terrance Ferguson and a host of players on the offensive line, defensive line and secondary who are no longer with the program.

This year? The Ducks had to replace those guys. And while Oregon coach Dan Lanning dubbed this season the “Double Down” after the team fell short of its No. 1 seeding in last year’s playoffs, I came into the year fully expecting the Ducks to show some growing pains. I wasn’t willing to put a ceiling on their success — there was just too much talent in that locker room — but certainly they’d take some bumps along the way in reaching it.

Well, where’s the pain so far?

Is it that Makhi Hughes, the heralded transfer running back from Tulane, has only 10 carries through two games? (Even though Noah Whittington is averaging 11.4 yards per carry and the Ducks have scored 10 touchdowns on the ground.)

Is it that Atticus Sappington, who drilled a 60-yard field goal in practice, came up short on what would have been a school-record 57-yard try against Oklahoma State? (Even though it was initially a 52-yard attempt before a penalty, and, well, the Ducks were leading by 45.)

Is it that they didn’t score 100 on Saturday?

“You might not realize it looking back at it but there’s still some moments I certainly want back,” Lanning said. “Like, we had five penalties in the first half.”

In the second, the Ducks had one.

Have the Ducks played good football teams? Not remotely when compared to what Oregon wants to face later in the season.

Will we really know how good this team is until they face Penn State three weeks from now? Probably not.

But when you take only what’s been put in front of us, I’ve never seen a more impressive start to a season in my 12 years on the beat. Through two weeks, Oregon is averaging 64 points per game, has scored touchdowns on 16 of its 22 drives, has allowed just 455 total yards and has done it from all over the field.

Ten different players have scored touchdowns, 35 players have recorded a tackle and, if a critique after the Montana State game were the zero turnovers Oregon forced, the Ducks responded against Oklahoma State with a pair of pick-six interceptions.

The Ducks are still young. The Ducks are still largely untested.

But I’m starting to think these Ducks are very, very good at football.

A few more thoughts to wrap up the weekend:

Devon Jackson steps up for mom

Friday night, CJ Jackson, the mother of Oregon junior linebacker Devon Jackson, shared that she’d be in Eugene to cheer on her son.

“In July, I was diagnosed with breast cancer,” CJ wrote on social media.“One thing I wanted before starting down the road of major surgery, treatment, and recovery was to see #26 in person at Autzen Stadium. So here I am, 4 days pre-op, to cheer on the Ducks and our son.”

Devon Jackson, who recovered from a spring injury to find his way into Oregon’s starting lineup this fall, had two tackles in Oregon’s season opener against Montana State. A week later, with mom in the stands, Jackson took the field for Oregon’s first defensive series. And on Oklahoma State’s first snap, CJ got to see No. 26 wrapping up the Cowboys’ running back for the first of his five tackles of the game.

The defense shows its teeth

In Lanning’s three-plus seasons at Oregon, the Ducks have one shutout — a 35-0 win over Purdue last season, on the road. At the time, it was Oregon’s best defensive performance to date, a game that saw the Ducks limit the Boilermakers to 301 total yards, force a pair of turnovers and tally 5 sacks.

But after Saturday, Oregon’s job against the Cowboys may take the mantle.

“Ultimately, it’s one of our better defensive performances since we’ve been here,” Lanning said. “I thought the coaching staff was really dialed. [Defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi] and the staff did a good job of knowing what we wanted to be able to prevent. You know, this has been a team that’s usually able to create a lot of explosive plays. You didn’t necessarily see them today.”

Oklahoma State had one pass for 15 yards or more. The Cowboys had two runs for 10 yards or more.

It’s there on the ground, if anywhere, that Lanning would like to see the Ducks improve. While the Ducks completely stifled OSU’s passing game, allowing just 67 yards, the Cowboys were able to rush 42 times for 144 yards.

This, of course, is nitpicking after a game in which the Ducks forced eight three-and-outs and a pair of turnovers.

“Regardless of who you are as a defensive guy or a fan in the stands, you like that kind of performance out of your defense,” senior linebacker Bryce Boettcher said. “Obviously, when our offense is rolling, it’s easy to play D, but defense wins championships, so I’m glad to see it.”

No blocky, no rocky

Want to know why running back Noah Whittington keeps getting first-team carries? It’s not just the pair of 30-plus yard runs he’s started with each week.

Take a look at Dante Moore’s 65-yard touchdown pass to Dakorien Moore on Oregon’s second series. It was a beautiful throw that caught the true freshman in stride, who then juked out a pair of defenders en route to his first of two touchdowns in the game — the other being a 25-yard end-around score.

But Moore to Moore doesn’t happen without a cracking block from Whittington, who took on a blitzing OSU linebacker to buy his quarterback time.

“This guy’s got juice, he’s never had a bad day,” Lanning said. “He’s tough as nails and guys from Peach County (Georgia) are. He embodies what it means to be an Oregon Duck.”

It wasn’t just Whittington, though.

There was tight end Kenyon Sadiq mauling a linebacker up the field during Dierre Hill Jr.’s 19-yard first-quarter touchdown. Out wide, receivers were blocking like 2014 Keanon Lowe.

There’s a buy-in here.

“It’s a team sport, right?” Lanning said. “And to have that many threats that can be dangerous on the perimeter and block really hard, that’s something I think you’ll continue to see from our guys. That gives us a chance to be really good.”

DK and DAT

Dakorien Moore’s two touchdowns and 94 total yards will continue the hype train for Oregon’s electric receiver. Moore has shown he can be a threat from just about anywhere on the field, with his versatility and athleticism providing an instant impact we haven’t seen from a true freshman since De’Anthony Thomas in 2011.

Thomas was ridiculous, by the way: He began his Oregon career with 4 rushes for 22 yards and a touchdown, and 6 catches for 47 yards against LSU, then followed it up with 81 rushing yards, 93 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns against Nevada.

The Ducks do have a punter

In Oregon’s pre-game notes, its depth chart listed “N/A” next to the punter position. It wasn’t so much a reflection of what Lanning and his staff think of the group, as it was simply that Oregon did not punt in its Week 1 win over Montana State.

“Oregon appears to be prepping for another perfect offensive day,” I posted.

Oregon’s perfection came to an end with 8:29 to play in the first quarter when the Ducks failed to convert a fourth-and-4 on the OSU 44.

The punt team was finally unveiled with 13:43 in the fourth quarter — and transfer punter James Ferguson-Reynolds promptly pinned the Cowboys inside their own 5.

At least one mullet got a win on Saturday.