A Michigan State squad that entered the season in search of new beginnings found early success due to an offense that tends to run the ball.
Last Friday, it was the Ducks (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) who flipped the script on the Spartans (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten) — and turned their greatest strength into a weakness.
The Oregon run game paved the way for a win on a night that started out slow for quarterback Dillon Gabriel. Running back Jordan James led the Ducks’ rush by extending his career-high in rushing yards by nearly 50 yards in the first half alone.
“The guy’s special,” Gabriel said. “I think he would say the same — the guys up front creating the alleyways for him to work with. But when you’re able to give him that space and then work on a third-level defender, then he’s able to do his thing and make a move and get vertical.”
James recorded 166 yards in the game to go along with his touchdown. He brought life to the Oregon offense when putting the ball in the air wasn’t working.
Gabriel started 2-7 on the first two drives. On two separate occasions, an endzone pass was picked off by the Spartans — one occurring when the Ducks were on the Michigan State 1-yard line.
But Gabriel still put Oregon on the board first when he rushed for nine yards and the score. Later in the first half, he ran for 12 yards to force 1st-and-goal — ultimately leading to a second touchdown.
“You see the one-two punch with [James] and Noah [Whittington]. I think that’s special,” Gabriel said. “And then, you know, whenever I can finagle my way into the run game, I try.”
On the other side of the field, the Ducks were able to contain the Spartans’ run game. The disparity ended up being 192 Oregon rushing yards to 21 for Michigan State heading into halftime.
“We knew that they had an attack that was tough to be able to stop,” Oregon head coach Dan Lanning said. “Once we were able to secure the run game, it made them play a little bit left-handed.”
The Oregon Duck had more pushups than the Spartans had rushing yards on Friday night — 97 pushups to only 59 yards on the ground for Michigan State.
The Ducks’ defense played a big role in limiting the Spartans. Former Spartan Derrick Harmon set the tone in the first quarter, sacking opposing quarterback Aidan Chiles for a loss of 11 yards.
“We usually don’t go out onto the field before the game. [Harmon] was like, ‘Everybody get dressed, we’re going out,’” defensive end Jordan Burch said. “He was ready all week.”
Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith operates a run-heavy offense. When he coached Oregon State last season, 445 of his 825 offensive plays were on the ground.
Oregon was ready for the Spartans’ plays. The defense also tallied six tackles for a loss, with 2.5 coming from Burch.
The next matchup will be the biggest yet for the Oregon run game. The Ducks play Ohio State for the tenth time and the second at Autzen Stadium.
The Buckeyes only conceded 47 yards on the ground when they played Michigan State two weeks ago. Their opponents average just 72.6 rushing yards per game, while they average 222.2.
“Winning football is winning football regardless of conference,” Lanning said. “And if you’re able to control the run game on both sides of the ball, that’s going to equate to wins a lot of times.”
