The early weeks of a season often feature highs and lows from teams across the country as everyone tries to settle in with new rosters and figure out what they're good at and where they can improve. On Saturday, the Oregon Ducks experienced one ofthe lowest lows they've seen in quite some time, losing to the Oklahoma State Cowboys, 39-31, despite being 24-point favorites going into the game.
We now have a clearer picture of where Oregon needs to improve going forward.
The defense was porous, to say the least, giving up 554 total yards, including over 200 on the ground, while the offense was once again out of sync and struggled to score just 17 points.
The Ducks exposed a lot on Saturday, and while a few players stepped up and impressed in limited
action, the bigger issues are what some of the stars need to fix. Here's a look at our weekly stock report in Eugene:
Stock Down: Dante Moore
Stat Line: 14-for-29, 191 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
Analysis: Dante Moore simply wasn't good enough in this game. He missed throws, missed open receivers, and overall didn't seem to have the will to lead his team to victory. Maybe he is injured and playing hurt; at this point, that's the most acceptable explanation for what we've seen through the first two weeks. At this point, Oregon's quarterback doesn't look even close to what we saw from him a year ago, and that's damning after he turned down a spot in the NFL draft and returned to Oregon to try to lead this team to a championship.
Stock Down: Dan Lanning
Analysis: A streak of 41 straight games without a loss to an unranked opponent ended. Another loss without halftime adjustments. Aggressive decisions that might be defensible on paper, but fail to line up with the production that we've seen on the field thus far. Oregon has been out-coached through two games this year, and it appears that the culture in Eugene is starting to crack. That starts and ends with Dan Lanning, and these next two weeks are going to be pivotal in his career.
Stock Up: Devon Jackson
Stat Line: 7 tackles, 1 INT, 1 TD
Analysis: A positive! Linebacker Devon Jackson played well in this game, and it appears that he may be the best linebacker on Oregon's roster. He had a big play on the first defensive snap of the game, running down Oklahoma State QB Drew Mestemaker on a 75-yard rush and preventing a touchdown. Later in the first quarter, he intercepted a tipped pass and took it the length of the field to the house for a touchdown. There are moments defensively where he has to be better, but for the most part, he was one of the only positives for Oregon in this game.
Stock Up: Messiah Hampton
Stat Line: 3 catches, 31 yards
Analysis: True freshman WR Messiah Hampton was also one of the few positives in this game. He got in during the second half and provided an impact on offense, catching three passes, a couple of which came in big moments. There is a lot of receiver talent on this roster, but it was great to see a young guy like Hampton step up, especially with Iverson Hooks appearing not to be ready to step into that WR4 role, and Jalen Lott sidelined with injury.
Stock Down: A'Mauri Washington
Stat Line: 3 tackles
Analysis: Expectations coming into this year were for A'Mauri Washington — a potential first-round pick in last year's NFL draft — to dominate. So far, he has not. Washington has a total of four tackles through two games, with zero tackles for loss and zero sacks. More importantly, he has two offsides penalties on 4th down under his belt, both of which extended drives for Oregon's opponent in critical possessions. For a guy who passed on the NFL to stay at Oregon, this simply isn't good enough. Yes, he may be hampered by an injury that sidelined him for part of the game on Saturday, but that can't be used as an excuse here. If he's on the field, he needs to be better than this.
Stock Up: D'Antre Robinson
Stat Line: 2 tackles, 1 pass deflection
Analysis: The stats don't show it, but North Carolina transfer D'Antre Robinson played well in this game, having two nice tackles early in the game to go along with three QB pressures, and two QB hits. He also came away with a huge tipped pass in the first quarter, which led to Devon Jackson's massive pick-six to take the lead. While we're still waiting on other Oregon defensive linemen to have the impact we expected before the season, Robinson did a good job of stepping up in this game.
Stock Up: Gage Hurych
Stat Line: 1-for-1 FG (42 yards), 4-for-4 PAT
Analysis: Through two games, it appears that the Oregon Ducks have a reliable kicker, at the very least. Gage Hurych has been perfect so far this season, going 3-for-3 on field goals (44 yards, 42 yards, and 26 yards) and perfect on extra points. With everything else going on, this has flown a bit under the radar, but it's worth giving him his flowers early.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon stock report: Dante Moore, Dan Lanning drop in upset loss
