On a night when the record for consecutive backflips on a pogo stick was broken with 21 — it was one of the better halftime shows — Oregon’s offense couldn’t muster enough to continue its streak of games with 20 points or more after a 33-10 loss to No. 11 Washington State.
There were questions as to who would start at quarterback entering the week after Justin Herbert fractured his collarbone against Cal. True freshman Braxton Burmeister got the start over fifth-year senior Taylor Alie, and Oregon’s offense played with its hands tied behind its back all game.
It was obvious at the start of the game that the offense would need to adjust to the new quarterback. The first two offensive plays for Oregon were false starts. Burmeister wasn’t loud enough.
“Yeah, once it started being an issue, the second play it started being an issue, we told him that he needed to be a little louder, and after that, he was loud enough to be effective with the snap count,” center Jake Hanson said.
It is no surprise that Washington State loaded the front seven with extra guys. It was clear that Washington State wanted to stop the run and dare Burmeister to throw, which is something that defenses will continue to do against the Ducks. After all, Oregon ran the ball 45 times and threw it just 27.
The Ducks – usually a dominant rushing offense – only averaged 2.9 yards per rush.
“They were definitely loading up the box,” wide receiver Taj Griffin said. “They kind of knew we had a young quarterback, but that’s no excuse.”
Nobody should’ve expected the Ducks’ offense to function like it did when Herbert was at the helm. The Ducks were first in the NCAA in points and touchdowns per game in the games with Herbert, and Burmeister and Alie are clearly not as talented.
But when Herbert went down against Cal, the offensive line stepped up and bullied Cal’s attempts to load the front seven and stop the run. Oregon was unable to repeat that performance for an entire game and against a better defense, especially on third and fourth down.
“We didn’t play our best ball game up-front,” head coach Willie Taggart said.
“Again, our offensive line is our bread and butter. Fourth-and-one, we feel like we can get that and we didn’t do a good job of executing on those plays like we did earlier in the year.”
Oregon didn’t execute on fourth down, but they were especially bad on third down. It was an issue even with Herbert at quarterback, but on Saturday the Ducks were 2-for-17 on third down with three turnovers.
Oregon faced an average distance of 7.8 yards on third down. Poor execution on first and second down as well as penalties made the third downs extra difficult.
The offense, known for its explosive plays, only had two pass plays of over 15 yards.
All around, in order to help Burmeister, everybody has to improve.
“We have got to do a good job as coaches to make sure our guys are sharp on their assignments and what they’re supposed to do, especially when you have a young quarterback,” Taggart said.
Follow Jack Butler on Twitter @Butler917