Entering Saturday’s game, there was little mystery as to what the final outcome would be. At the 10:42 mark in the second quarter, No. 15 Oregon was leading 36-7 and had all but secured its first victory of the season over in-state opponent, Portland State. 

When the beatdown came to an end, the Ducks were on the winning side of a 81-7 blowout, but not before scoring on each of their first 11 drives as they scored the most points in a season-opener in program history. 

Oregon started the game – and the season – firing on all cylinders. The Ducks forced a Vikings’ three-and-out before marching down and scoring on their first drive courtesy of a 13-yard touchdown pass from Bo Nix to Troy Franklin. A sneaky two-point conversion put Oregon up 8-0 early in a game with little suspense. 

The Vikings quickly responded with a touchdown of their own, but it would be the only scoring drive of the game for Portland State, and one of the few highlights in a day it soon looks to forget. 

The Ducks countered with two more scoring drives in the first frame from a 52-yard run by Bucky Irving and another Nix touchdown pass to Franklin. Nix had 139 passing yards in the first quarter and the highly praised Nix-Irving-Franklin trio was off to an incredible start in 2023.

The second quarter, however, belonged to Oregon running back, Jordan James, and the Ducks’ defense. James punched in three short rushing touchdowns for his first scores of the season while the Oregon defense capitalized on a Portland State muffed kickoff return, prevented a Vikings’ fourth down conversion and didn’t allow Portland State anywhere near the red zone. 

At the end of the first half, the Ducks had scored 50 points and Portland State had 35 passing yards. Oregon hadn’t scored 50 in the first half since 2017. 

Nix’s day was done after one drive – another touchdown – in the second half. He finished with 287 passing yards over 23 completions and he threw for three touchdowns as his potential Heisman-caliber season got off to the best start. He had just four incompletions. 

Irving also had an impressive day with 119 yards on just four attempts and two scores. He and James look primed for a huge year. If the Ducks can utilize that one-two combo all season, it’ll be hard to contain their backfield. 

Franklin’s pair of touchdown receptions were matched by Gary Bryant Jr.’s day. The USC transfer had seven catches for 100 yards and a pair of scores during the smackdown. 

One of the Ducks’ biggest issues in 2022 was their discipline. On Saturday, their first penalty didn’t come until the third quarter, and they only had two penalties for 20 yards on the day. A huge step-up from last season and something the coaching staff and fans should be very excited about.

The other massive improvement? The Oregon defense. A small sample size against a weak opponent, yes. But, after the touchdown drive in the first quarter, the Ducks didn’t allow a point the rest of the game. They limited the Vikings to 148 rushing yards, 52 passing yards and forced seven three-and-outs. 

Sophomore quarterback Ty Thompson took over in the second half. True freshman Austin Novosad also took some reps at quarterback in his Ducks debut. Both of their first drives resulted in touchdowns. It wasn’t until Oregon’s 10th drive of the game -– which resulted in a 41 yard Camden Lewis field goal with 2:08 left in the third quarter — that the offense failed to score a touchdown. It’s first – and only – punt came with less than seven minutes remaining in the game. 

Oregon’s offense looked every bit as advertised in its season opener. The three quarterbacks combined for 381 passing yards and four touchdowns as the team racked up 348 rushing yards and seven rushing scores. Oregon did not surrender a single turnover against the Vikings. 

Oregon had more touchdowns than the Vikings had completions or first downs.

The Ducks are now 6-0 all-time against Portland State. Saturday’s 81-7 win serves as the largest margin of victory in the history of the matchup. The win is also the Ducks’ 19th consecutive home-opener victory and 30th straight non-conference home win.

The Ducks will face a much tougher opponent in their first road game of the season next Saturday in Lubbock, Texas against Texas Tech at 4 pm PST.