Jeff Lockie stood on the sidelines when Oregon scored its first points Saturday. A dropped pass from a Georgia State wide receiver fell right into the hands of Tyree Robinson during the game’s first drive, and the defensive back returned it 41 yards for a score.
Lockie’s role on that play was similar to many of the Ducks’ scores during his collegiate career, as the redshirt junior has been a backup quarterback for three consecutive seasons.
But, a few minutes later, once the Oregon offense took the field, that all changed. With Vernon Adams Jr. out with a broken index finger on his throwing hand, Lockie made his first start of his collegiate career Saturday. The seasoned backup who was behind Mariota for two years – and  behind Adams on the depth chart since the Ducks’ official roster was released in August– played the majority of Oregon’s offensive snaps in its 61-28 win over Georgia State.
“It felt good to get consistently hit for the first time since I was 17-18 years old,” Lockie said. “That was good – to get hit and get back up. It’s a little different taking hits for a whole game.” 
Lockie must’ve felt good about his performance too. The Danville, California native went 23-of-31 for 228 yards passing and two touchdowns Saturday, guiding the Ducks to 40 points on offense. Lockie was taken out of the game with just over 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, with a comfortable 54-28 lead in hand.
Lockie also led the team on scoring drives in six of its seven drives during the first half. While the game did come with its share of missed opportunities from the quarterback – Oregon’s offense stalled four times inside Georgia State’s 25 and settled for field goals each time – head coach Mark Helfrich thought Lockie “ran the show pretty well.”
Oregon offensive coordinator Scott Frost agreed with that summation.
“It was an unusual game,” Frost said.  “They blitzed us way over half the snaps so it kind of got us out of our drop back pass game and he did a great job of handling that.”
Oregon’s offense totaled 533 yards Saturday, 305 of which came on the ground. But, it wasn’t smooth sailing by any means,f especially on the defensive end.
Georgia State racked together plenty of big plays and long drives to provoke collective silences at Autzen Stadium. The first came on a five-play, 75-yard drive in the first quarter, capped off by a one yard rushing touchdown from quarterback Nick Arbuckle. The drive took just two minutes, and made the score 13-7 Oregon.
The Ducks would score the final 20 points of the half, but Georgia State continued to keep Oregon on its heels. Freshman wide receiver Kirk Merrit fumbled the opening kickoff in the second half and the Panthers responded with a two-play, 32-yard touchdown drive.
Georgia State scored on its next two drives in the third quarter, the most damaging coming on a 75-yard touchdown pass from Arbuckle to Robert Davis.
Oregon defensive coordinator Don Pellum said there was a “lull” from his unit in the third quarter. Georgia State would not score again after that, though, and finished with 434 yards of offense.
Pellum did express that certain areas got better, however.
“I saw some improvements,” Pellum said.  “I saw some more opportunistic plays, so it got better.”
The opportunistic plays he was likely referring to were the turnovers. Oregon forced four of them, and two were returned for touchdowns. The second came after linebacker Tyson Coleman stripped the ball from Arbuckle and Joe Walker scooped it up and ran 52 yards for a score.
“The offense has been scoring a lot and keeping us in the game,” Robinson, who scored the first defensive touchdown, said. “But we have to do our part and help them score points and I think we did that today.”
The win improves Oregon to 2-1. The group will now prepare for Pac-12 play and its first test: A physical Utah team that will come to Autzen Stadium next week undefeated.
As for who is the starting quarterback, Helfrich wouldn’t budge when asked about Adams’s status after the game.
But, where Lockie is next Saturday – whether it is on the sidelines with a headset in his ear or on the field leading the offense – won’t matter to him.
“I’m just going out there and trying to win,” Lockie said. “I don’t think anyone truly cares who’s out there as long as we got the win.”
Notes:
– Royce Freeman carried the ball 10 times for 101 yards and one touchdown in just one half.
– Doug Brenner started at right guard Saturday, replacing Cameron Hunt, who did not dress.
– Dwayne Stanford finished with three receptions for 48 yards and a touchdown.
– Third-string quarterback and placeholder Taylor Alie played the final 10 minutes of the game behind center. The highlight of his day came when the Eugene native ran 90 yards for the game’s final touchdown.
Follow Justin Wise on Twitter @JustinFWise