Oklahoma State Has Their Work Cut Out for Them at Oregon

STILLWATER – This just in, Oregon is a really good football team and they displayed it in almost every way in their opening 59-13 win over Montana State on Saturday. The early line is out in Las Vegas and Oregon opened as a 23.5 point favorite and the early wagering has pushed that line up to 27.5 in favor of the Ducks.

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The Oregon Duck lost his head on Saturday in the 59-13 win at Autzen Stadium.

A few nuggets from the Oregon win, where the only mistake seemed to be by the Ducks mascot when he tripped and lost his head, a mascot sin. 

A sobering thought, and I realize that you cannot compare scores, and especially in the transfer portal era, compare scores from season-to-season. Oklahoma State defeated UT-Martin 27-7 on Thursday night and last season in the FCS playoffs, UT-Martin went to Montana State and were beaten in the snow and cold 49-17.

Ben Lonergan USA TODAY Sports

Dante Moore in action against Montana State.

This Oregon team looked good with new quarterback and UCLA transfer Dante Moore completing 18-of-23 for 213-yards and three touchdowns. Oregon used 12 players to rush for 253-yards. There were 10 different players that caught a pass in the contest. Oregon was able to get 27 players into the game on defense or special teams and registered a tackle.

On offense this is a multiple team that plays primarily 11 and 12 personnel and move them all over. I think it is a quarterback-running back-tight end drive offense. The tight end Kenyon Sadiq is a 6-3, 250 pound elite athlete that hurdled a Bobcat defender in the game on Saturday. 

Ben Lonergan USA TODAY Sports

Dan Lanning has a similar defensive pedegree to Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.

On defense, Oregon is similar in scheme to Oklahoma State as head coach Dan Lanning spent time with Nick Saban at Alabama and then with Kirby Smart at Georgia and uses a similar multi-front defense with one or two OLB/edge players and plays a lot of five-man (nickel) on the back end. Cornerback play is at a premium as is linebacker play. Fivve of the top 10 tacklers in the game including the top two were front seven players in the defense.

Again on defense, speed is so prevalent and it is tough to deal with.

It is known for sure that quarterback Hauss Hejny is out for at least the next four games. It is uncertain how the situation will go that became known on Saturday night involving redshirt freshman OLB/edge Wendell Gregory. Gregory was stopped and had an outstanding midemeanor warrent for theft from a retail store. The theft took place in May. 

It is a “no brainer’ that Oklahoma State needs as many of their top players as possible in Oregon next Saturday.