After Oregon’s offense put up 49 of the Ducks’ 58 points in Saturday’s win over Bowling Green, the Ducks offense spoke to the media on Tuesday to reflect on the game and look ahead to the game against Portland State this upcoming Saturday.
The Ducks got off to a poor start, trailing the Falcons 10-0 but Oregon offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo was pleased with the team’s come-from-behind performance.
“So encouraging to see our guys respond after a slow start,” Arroyo said. “That’s a sign of a good team.”
Arroyo is a play-caller for the Ducks this year, calling down to head coach Mario Cristobal on the sidelines. He says that the structure is similar to that of last year’s, with the key to success being the trust between the two coaches.
“One of the reasons we’re both together still is the ability to communicate,” Arroyo said. “We’ve done this a long time and there are a lot of professionals in the building.”
The Ducks lost tight end Cam McCormick to injury, which Cristobal called “significant” following the game on Saturday. Herbert expects the “three or four” guys behind him to step up and help the team and Arroyo is hopeful for a speedy recovery.
“He’s done a really nice job with his position to be really successful with this offense,” Arroyo said. “Obviously we’ve gotta move forward and those guys have done a nice job in the room and we’ll be anxious to have him back.”
A highlight for the Ducks from Saturday was sophomore Jaylon Redd’s 48-yard touchdown on 4th and 14. Arroyo called it, “As good of a throw as you’re gonna see.”
“We run that play about every day, probably four or five times every day,” Herbert said. “He’s a guy that has run it really well in the past few months. He’s a guy that I trust. Fortunately he got in the right spot. I appreciate the trust that Cristobal put in us.”
But the offense is done thinking about the past game, shifting its focus to the upcoming test against Portland State on Saturday in Eugene.
The Ducks offense still has to make some improvements from the Bowling Green game ahead of Saturday.
“Move the ball better, execute and not make the mental mistakes we did,” Herbert said. “And hopefully move the ball faster than we did last game.”
While Oregon is the heavy favorites going into Saturday’s game, the Ducks are not taking preparation for Portland State any differently than they do for other games.
“Portland State’s an athletic team,” Herbert said. “They deserve our full attention. We’ll go in and game plan and excited to get out there on Saturday.”
Follow Shawn Medow on Twitter @ShawnMedow