7 major questions we have for the Ducks in Week 2 vs. Texas Tech

We put out our final injury report of the week on Thursday where I have a comprehensive breakdown of players who missed action against Portland State. I’m curious to see how accurate it is, which may seem like a strange thing for a reporter to say, but makes sense when you consider that we are only allowed to watch so much of practice, and most of the reporting is done based on taking attendance of players walking from the locker room to the field.

A number of players sat out on Saturday, be it for health reasons or otherwise. Guys who we didn’t expect to sit, like Noah Whittington, Evan Williams, Mase Funa, and Kris Hutson, were particularly surprising. I want to see if they play, and how much of an impact they have. I believe that they were held out to be cautious, and not push minor injuries in a game where the team didn’t need them. I’ve been wrong before. We will learn more on Saturday.

Arguably the biggest key for Oregon’s overall success coming into 2023 was the pass rush getting home and helping out the secondary on defense. In Week 1 vs. Portland State, we saw the Ducks notch zero sacks.

To be fair, they had very limited opportunities. The Vikings only passed 20 times in the game, so EDGE rushers like Brandon Dorlus, Jordan Burch, and Matayo Uiagalelei didn’t have very many chances to get after the quarterback. That’s going to change against Texas Tech, a pass-happy team that threw the ball 47 times in Week 1 against Wyoming.

Tyler Shough is going to be back in the pocket a ton throughout this game. Will the Ducks be able to get back there and put hands on him? If Oregon is going to pull off this road victory, the answer needs to be yes.

This one goes back to the pass-happy nature of Texas Tech. In Week 1, we didn’t really get a look at Oregon’s newly made secondary fit with several new players. As Dan Lanning said several times this past week in interviews, the Ducks’ secondary didn’t get tested against Portland State.

They certainly are going to get tested against Texas Tech.

The Red Raiders have some receivers that are going to be hard to stop, lead by 6-foot-5, 225-pound Jerand Bradley, the team’s receptions leader. Oregon also needs to slow down Drae McCray and Xavier White, two smaller pass-catchers who can beat you with speed.

If the Ducks are going to be better than they were a year ago, the secondary is going to need to be much-improved. We didn’t get a chance to see if that’s the case last week, but we will get a good idea on Saturday afternoon.

One thing that surprised me a bit in Week 1 was the relatively even snap-count split between the three tight ends who played. Terrance Ferguson led the way with 31 snaps, while Patrick Herbert and Kenyon Sadiq had 30 snaps apiece.

Was that to get everyone some valuable reps in a game where the result was never in doubt, or should we expect that split to be a regular thing going forward?

I think we will likely get an answer to that question on Saturday. With all due respect to Herbert and Sadiq, it’s been clear that Ferguson is the No. 1 player on the depth chart here, and I expect that to continue. In what could be a close game, logic would lead you to believe that he gets the bulk of the load.

Oregon’s new offensive coordinator Will Stein has his first game as a Duck under his belt, and it went smoothly, with the team putting up a school-record 81 points and 729 yards of total offense.

The offense looked pretty identical to how it did a year ago under Kenny Dillingham. We’ve been told by Lanning that would be the case, but every now and again you would see some “wrinkles” in the offense that made you said, “Hey, that’s not something I saw last year.”

Will any of those wrinkles come on Saturday in Lubbock? It’s a big game where a victory is paramount for the Ducks. I wouldn’t be surprised if they pulled out a couple of tricks during the game.

At the moment, my weather app says that the high in Lubbock is supposed to be 102 degrees on Friday and 97 degrees on Saturday. When you mix that in with a hostile Lubbock environment, those are not easy conditions to play in. On top of that, Jones AT&T Stadium is going through construction at the moment, so the visiting locker rooms are virtually trailers outside of the stadium.

That’s not exactly ideal, but will it play a major factor? Who knows. Dan Lanning has said all week that they are doing what they can to prepare for the noise, and hydrating as much as possible ahead of the matchup. As far as preparing for the heat, there isn’t much that you can do. Lanning said he wasn’t going to send his players out “in parkas” to practice, which is understandable, but would be entertaining to watch.

I think the Ducks will be prepared for this game schematically. Will they be prepared for the elements? That’s still to be seen.

I talked about this a lot on the latest episode of the Sco-ing Long Podcats.

The betting line for this game is a little wacky. Currently, the Ducks are favored by 6.5 points. On the surface, that may be a little low considering Oregon won 81-7 in their first game of the year, while Texas Tech lost to Wyoming in double-overtime. It gets weirder.

Of all bets on college football this weekend, the money put on Oregon is the most lopsided. Currently, 93% of wagers placed have been put on the Ducks to cover the 6.5-point spread. That type of action normally causes sportsbooks in Las Vegas to adjust the line to not be as exposed in case Oregon does cover the spread. However, the line has stayed the same, which leads you to believe that sportsbooks want more money coming in on the Ducks.

Quick story: In 2022 against Oregon State, the betting line dropped rapidly in favor of the Beavers less than an hour before kickoff with the Ducks. We were all in the press box wondering what was happening, and why the line was dropping. Of course, the Beavers ended up winning, and minutes after the game, it was announced that OC Kenny Dillingham was leaving the Ducks to take over at Arizona State. Vegas obviously knew something before the game, which caused them to move the line.

Do they know something here that is causing them to keep the line at 6.5 and welcome more wagers on the Ducks? It’s impossible to say, but I just wonder if we will be sitting here on Saturday night, once again claiming that “Vegas always knows” or not.