The Oregon football team erased any doubts about its ability to refocus after last week’s win over Michigan with a resounding 52-21 victory over Fresno State Saturday in front of 58,525 fans at Autzen Stadium, giving Oregon coach Mike Bellotti win No. 100 for his career as Oregon’s coach.
Coach Bellotti said afterward that he believes the players are the ones that have set the tone and kept this team focused.
“I would give that credit to the players. I’ve said the same things for a lot of years but this year either it got through or they really made it happen,” he said. “I think our leadership has been really good across the board, not just the seniors and the captains but everybody is buying into the fact that we can be a good team.”
The offense was again crisp and dynamic, scoring on four of its first five possessions, and five of its first seven, to put the game out of reach for Fresno State. The running game put up its third-consecutive 300 yard performance with 307 yards on the ground, including an 88-yard touchdown run by junior running back Jonathan Stewart, the longest of his career and the longest in the history of Autzen Stadium.
“He’s a load, man, that was awesome,” said junior center Max Unger. “It was an awesome game plan coming in, as far as our run package, and I think we put it out there pretty well and executed.”
After a frustrating start to the season, where Stewart had yet to have the kind of performance that many expected, Stewart said it felt good to finally break loose for a long touchdown.
“When you’re in that kind of situation you just see a lot of green, just green, and it looks like money,” said Stewart.
“It was great for him to get out and to trust his speed,” said Bellotti. “Once he got through the line he didn’t try to make a move or cut back, he just took off. I think that shows his maturity.”
The one downside of the day for the Oregon offense was a lackluster passing attack that at 154 yards gained just more than half of what the Ducks gained on the ground. And while Dixon hit Jeremiah Johnson for a 35-yard touchdown late in the first quarter, it was one of the few aerial highlights of a day where dropped passes haunted the Ducks.
“I’m very pleased with Dennis and his leadership,” said Bellotti. “I thought he didn’t get supported very well. We dropped a couple passes and fumbled a couple of passes away that should have kept some drives going.”
“I think we still need to have better balance, or we’ll need better balance down the road. But we’re going to run the ball, and averaging 300 yards or better with the run is awesome because it’s something we haven’t done for a while,” he said.
Andre Crenshaw took over at running back in the second half, when Jeremiah Johnson was sidelined with a sore hamstring, and ran for 51 yards and his first career touchdown as a Duck.
“It was nice to see Andre Crenshaw come in and do some really good things with the ball,” said Bellotti. “He’s a great natural runner in terms of vision and change of direction.”
On the defensive side of the ball, Patrick Chung paced the unit with 11 tackles, one tackle-for-loss and a forced fumble. Senior safety Matt Harper had another solid game with 10 tackles and the Ducks continued their staunch run defense from the second half of the Michigan game, allowing just 60 rushing yards on 36 carries by the Bulldogs for an average of 1.7 yards per carry.
Defensive Coordinator Nick Aliotti said that it is the gritty, blue-collar attitude that the defense has that allows them to hold the line against the run.
“We just kind of held the point a lot better. We stayed in our gaps,” he said. “Hopefully we have improved, we still haven’t arrived but we’re 3-0 and we’re going to enjoy this one tonight and then start preparing tomorrow for Stanford.”
The margin of victory in the game was surprising, given the four-point average margin of victory for the Ducks over the Bulldogs in the teams’ last five meetings.
“Today we were beaten soundly in all three phases of the game,” said Fresno State coach Pat Hill. “Oregon is a great football team.”
“Fresno has been, not a thorn in our side, but a very competitive team over the years for us to play,” said Bellotti. “Obviously, today we were the better football team.”