Sleepy Ducks Lurch Through Terrapins, 39-18
By Ken Woody
From the very start of the Maryland game, head coach Dan Lanning looked tired. He did not show the energy and engagement that he had in the previous game against Michigan, where Oregon put an iron grip on the moniker “number-one in the nation.” Alas, during the course of the 39-18 win over the Terrapins the Ducks often looked more like palookas than contenders. Ultimately, to the relief of anxious fans, Oregon’s key performers mustered the energy to soundly rout the Terps, but not before making mistakes that soiled their streak of game-by-game improvement since the win over Idaho to start the season.
It is not a mystery: winning ten games in a row against motivated rivals is difficult in the Big Ten Conference and the Ducks and Lanning were making it look easy. The Coach’s absolute concentration on the little things that make champions takes night and day discipline, and most of all, enormous energy. It was bound to abate in time and it did this night, from the start of their first three-and-out to the fourth and last one. However, better against Maryland than Wisconsin or Washington, however.
After a couple of “clean” games in the penalties, the Duck ran up seven in the first half: two pass interference, two personal fouls (roughing the punter, face mask), two false starts, and a kickoff out of bounds. For the game, it was 12 flags for 95 yards.
The defense ran up a tab of eight penalties for 65 yards which was one reason the Terps were able to convert 7-of-19 third downs. Tysheem Johnson had two pass interference penalties and a roughing the passer foul; Brandon Johnson had one holding; Derrick Harmon had a facemask citation; and Jabbar Muhammad had a pass interference. The defense battled back though, forcing two interceptions, a fumble returned for a 62-yard touchdown by Brandon Johnson (when the offense was struggling) and a turnover on downs.
Strategically, the defense had some nice adjustments for the Terp’s quarterback Billy Edwards who led the Big Ten in passing yardage with over 300 yards per game. Edwards mostly delivers the ball in about two seconds, so the Ducks slow rushed him at times so they could see when he delivered the ball and get their hands up—the results were excellent: the front seven tipped seven passes and the secondary broke up nine passes, a notable achievement. At several other times the front four power-rushed and got to Edwards as he was throwing, making his long trip back to College Park a painful one. The Ducks scored two sacks and also played a different three-man rush in long yardage situations while the back end dropped eight in coverage. It gave Edwards some problems and left two defenders lurking outside so he could not scramble towards the sideline, a tactic that has hurt the Ducks in the past several games.
Gabriel began the game completing 3-of-6 passes for a miniscule 12 yards, hardly the mark of a Heisman contender. By game’s end, he scratched out 23-of-34 attempts for only 183 yards, but three touchdowns which gave him 190 for his career, a new NCAA record. His longest completion was 26 yards, which accounts for the dinks and dumps that pervaded his stats. Evan Stewart had a bigger role in the absence of injured dynamo Tez Johnson: six receptions for 55 yards and a touchdown. Terrance Ferguson finally got his first touchdown of the year, but only had six catches out of 12 targets by Gabriel. Ferguson looked to have slowed down lately and like Gabriel did with Tez, the quarterback (or whomever is calling plays), is looking to throw too much at Ferguson. Both Traeshon Holden and Evan Stewart are the most consistent catchers to throw to and have the speed to get open, particularly on post patterns, deep square-ins down the middle and bombs down the sideline—go to them.
Gabriel finally got the Duck offense out of first gear in another masterful late second quarter touchdown drive to push the score to 21-10 at the half. The Heisman contender suddenly looked sharp, completing seven-of-nine passes along with a couple of runs over 10 yards and the Ducks went 75 yards in 12 plays, taking less than two minutes.
If the offense pretended that they had only two minutes until halftime on every possession, they might really rock the score clock. But, fans squirmed, with the notorious “Third Quarter Malaise” ahead of them. How would the Ducks handle it this time? Maryland had played well in the first half–they showed they had the power and athleticism to make it a game.
The dreaded third quarter came and went—the Ducks put up eight points: hardly an explosion, but good enough against the Terps. Lanning, perhaps sensing the need for some kind of explosion play that was not coming from his offense, called a fake punt play in the third quarter and it was a beauty. Jordan Burch, a mountain of a man at 6-6, 295, took the center snap from his blocking position in front of the punter and behind a key block by Teitum Tuioti who bowled over two defenders, Burch showed some fancy footwork and open-field running to get away from two tacklers; rumbling and stumbling 36 yards and suddenly, the crowd of 59,245 came alive.
After a couple of penalties against the visitors, Gabriel got the offense in the end zone on a pass to a wide-open tight end not on the flip card: 6-5, 310-pound redshirt offensive tackle Gernorris Wilson. It was a new play and came from a tight formation that helped Wilson remain inconspicuous to Maryland’s secondary. The ball was thrown high and Wilson jumped and made a great, athletic catch, one that any tight end would have envied. That was not all Lanning had up his sleeve. He added to his creative play calling by putting 6-4, 315-pound left offensive tackle Josh Connerly at running back who, after directing a back in motion across the formation, took the snap and blew into the end zone like a runaway semi-truck for a two-point conversion and a 29-10 lead. It looked like it gave the Ducks a burst of energy, and the crowd loved it.
Unfortunately, Lanning’s gambling luck ended later when he chose to go for it on fourth-down after the defense forced a Terp turnover on downs. Noah Whittington ripped off a 28-yard run and the Ducks were on the move—wrong! A rush gained zero yards, Kenyon Sadiq had a one-yard loss on a reception, Gabriel ran for seven to set up the fourth-down gamble which forced an incomplete pass against an all-out blitz against a formation lacking enough blockers to protect their Heisman candidate.
The Terrapins got moving and scored, closing the gap to 29-18–a two-score game, with more than eleven minutes left. The Ducks mucked up their next drive and Maryland was on the move again, but this time, Oregon’s defense forced two incompletes and then picked off a pass by Tysheem Johnson that set up a field goal, effectively putting the game out of reach, 32-18. Linebacker Jestin Jacobs intercepted a pass to end the next Terp drive and that set up Gabriel’s third touchdown pitch for the final 39-18 score which is going to look a lot better in the newspaper for top-10 pickers.
The Ducks defense had their best day rushing the passer, not necessarily with sacks, as they got 2, but instead forced many off-target throws, tipping seven passes, a season high. The secondary permitted 22 completions, but they also broke up nine passes and allowed only 206 yards on 45 attempts. Gabriel had a season-low 183 yards, but was not sacked and had no interceptions. Duck receivers only had three catches for 15-plus yards (63 total) compared to Maryland’s four (98) yards. This was the first time Gabriel and the Ducks were outgained in passing yardage. Coming into the game, the Terps had the worst pass defense in the conference.
Lanning wants to outrush every opponent and they did so, 180 yards to only 83 for the Terrapins. The Duck defense was more on-point than the offense this night, giving up yards and 19 first downs, but turning the ball over on downs once, grabbing two interceptions, and forcing a fumble that Brandon Johnson recovered and dashed 62 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter when the Ducks were getting pushed around on defense and doing nothing on offense.
This was not a pretty game and Maryland competed until the very end. They did not look impressed by the Ducks and they dominated Oregon’s offense at times. Duck ball carriers could not break tackles and, outside of a couple of runs by Noah Whittington, looked slow—the lack of quickness that Tez Johnson brought to the offense was never more apparent than playing without him.
Maryland had a bye before this game and the improvement they showed against the Ducks showed their players worked hard to prepare for the number-one ranked team in the country. This is the drawback of being number-one: you are going to get your opponent’s best shot. And if number-one doesn’t have their best shot in them, upsets can happen.
Lanning and the staff have their work cut out for them. They’ll have what seems like a short week when you have a nation-wide trip to play a Wisconsin team that will give their best to upset the Ducks’ national hopes. They have plenty of mistakes, like 12 penalties for 95 yards which comes after only two-penalties for 20 yards last week against Michigan. A bright spot is what Lanning will demand is not more than the Ducks have already performed in previous games; they improved every game except this one and as Lanning said after the game: “We need to reset, clean up our mistakes.” As they strolled into the locker room after winning their tenth game in a row, they were not better, in fact falling back from their performance goals. A tough, competitive Wisconsin squad lies in wait for the dudes from out west, and if the Ducks don’t get their act together, it will be a longer trip home.
Ken Woody coached college football for 18 years as an assistant at Oregon, Washington, Utah State and Washington State and as a head coach at Whitman College and Washington University-St. Louis. He conducts a coaching clinic, free to all, at the 6th Street Grill every Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. during the season. Plays from Oregon games are analyzed, there are scouting reports for opponents, and highlights from referees; all to learn and enjoy football and understand why the Ducks win or lose.
Questions and comments welcomed.
Contact Ken at: woody8783@comcast.net
