UKRAINEFAN
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It's the first game of the season, but the No. 3 team in the country isn't supposed to struggle like this. What made Oregon's hard-earned 24-14 win over FCS opponent Idaho -- at home, no less -- even more confounding is that it gained 487 yards on offense, held its opponents to just 217 total yards, had 31 first downs and only one turnover, and held the ball for nearly 40 minutes of game time. So, how did the Oregon end up with only 24 points? In short, the Ducks were sloppy. The offensive line was a sieve, allowing three sacks, accounting for seven of Oregon's eight penalties that cost it 60 yards and stalled a handful of promising drives.
Oregon appeared to move the ball at will, and Oklahoma transfer quarterback Dillon Gabriel debuted for the Ducks with 380 yards and 7.8 yards per pass, as well as two touchdowns, but he also had a fumble and threw the ball 49 times. Gabriel completed 41 of those 49 passes, but the balance between him and the running game didn't look to be quite established as the Ducks barely crossed 100 yards rushing as a team. Even though the defense looked close to midseason form, to say there's room for improvement for Dan Lanning's team would be an understatement as it heads into much tougher matchups. -- Paolo Uggetti