My takeaways:
(1) Cornerbacks absolutely got exposed tonight. Burke in particular got roasted over and over again in single coverage. A little mystified why Jermaine Matthews didn't get put in to spell him at all, but it is what it is. Igbinosun got handsy and was called for PI. Hancock also had a rough facemask call that led to Burke's (again) awful fumble on the ensuing kickoff. And it wasn't just man coverage--we looked like a Big 12 team in zone coverage. Some of the holes over the middle were big enough for the Duck receivers to have picnics in.
(2) DL generated no pass rush. We didn't blitz much, despite the fact that when we sent four, we never laid a hand on Gabriel. I believe the unit finished with zero sacks. Unclear how many pressures, but it wasn't many either. They were a little stouter against the run, but also gave up some chunk plays on the ground that set up several big TDs for Oregon.
(3) While our top two WRs put up some nice looking stats, I honestly think it was a push between their secondary and our receivers. A lot was made about how undersized the Duck corners were compared to our bigger wideouts, but they frequently outmuscled our guys off blocks to make tackles on the edge, and aside from that one Smith pass, prevented the big play. They had one coverage bust, but aside from that, were almost always in stride with our guys. Also, only Smith and Egbuka made an impact in the air attack. The only other receiver to log a catch was Tate, and he only had one grab for 13 yards. Finally, Smith made a critical, game-losing penalty. While I do agree with other posters that the ref was being very ticky tack in calling the offensive pass interference on that final drive (and also, letting the clock run was a massive error by the officiating crew), the 15 yard penalty knocked us out of field goal position and completely changed the momentum to end the game.
(4) We shot ourselves in the foot over and over again. Yes, we were the beneficiary of that poor call which was an INT but ruled a completion at the beginning of the game, but we ultimately committed 8 penalties for 70 yards (compared to Oregon's 3 for 25), turned the ball over multiple times, and had myriad mistakes that may not show up on the box score, but were essentially turnovers. The multiple false starts killed one offensive drive in the first quarter (tantamount to a TO), then Judkins losing the fumble at the 15 yard line gifted the Ducks a TD. Burke getting drilled with the short kickoff also gave Oregon the ball back after they scored in their own territory (thanks to a dumb Hancock penalty on the preceding play). Lastly, OSU had a 6 point lead with the ball in the fourth quarter and was moving it well and chewing up clock. On 3rd and 2, Howard mishandled a well-snapped ball and had to fall on the fumble, ending the drive. The Ducks marched down the field for 7 and turned what could have been a two-score lead into a 1-point deficit, one that ultimately decided the game. The maddening fact is that we executed on some key situations, but then would turn around and make the most untimely errors to throw it all away. I'm hoping that the sense of being an underdog allows us to play looser and cleaner in the coming weeks.
(5) I personally thought Chip Kelly called a decent game. We had some exotic formations that clearly confused the Ducks, and were moving the ball well through the ground and air with only our poorly-timed turnovers and mistakes stopping us. He found ways to get the TEs involved in the passing game where we were without options behind Smith and Egbuka. We weren't able to take the top off the Oregon D, and the OL would have random collapses, but those weren't from Kelly's poor playcalls, but rather bad execution. In fact, I noticed that when Simmons went down, he routinely supported Michalski with a TE or chipping RB on the left, and would roll the pocket right to prevent Oregon from taking advantage of Zen's inexperience. An A- grade for Chip, if only because I wasn't sure what he was trying to do on that final drive after JJ made that massive mistake that absolutely wrecked our offensive plan. I personally didn't have a problem with us throwing from the 28--OU was stacking the box and nobody anticipates a ref making a soft call OPI at such a critical juncture of a matchup.
(6) I'll have to watch the game again to figure out my final thoughts on how Knowles performed. It wasn't pretty, and I have no idea what he was attempting to accomplish. I guess he was trying to bend and only allow FGs? Our DBs were a liability, despite us dropping 7 routinely, and we gave up big plays through the air while somehow not generating a pass rush. We couldn't get off the field and allowed Oregon to drain the clock on their ultimate possession. Either way, he was absolutely outcoached on D by a 35-year old kid who calls plays from the field after coming up from UTSA a season ago. The script is becoming achingly familiar for this Knowles defense, and I'm starting to accept that in big games, we will have to lean on our offense to score quickly to win as long as Jim is at DC.
(7) Despite all these unforced errors and execution lapses, we were down 1 point with the ball literally in FG range with 22 seconds remaining in one of the most hostile road stadiums in the sport (without our best offensive lineman no less). Assuming we can regroup and get Michalski up to speed (and not continue to make boneheaded mistakes), we'll likely be meeting the Ducks back in Indy for Part 2 in a couple of months.
Curious to hear others' impressions.
