Halftime Thoughts: Oregon Ducks Trail Georgia Bulldogs 28-3
The opening half of football has not gone the way many Oregon fans hoped it would.
After getting the ball to start the game, the Ducks were able to string together a few first downs before being forced to punt.
The story of the first half has been Stetson Bennett's dominance for Georgia. The returning vet has looked absolutely confident and has had no trouble picking apart Oregon's defense, throwing for 254 yards and a touchdown on 18-of-21 passing.
Georgia's offensive line has been a big reason the Bulldogs have been able to get whatever they've wanted on offense, as Bennett's quick decisions, coupled with Oregon's inability to get a consistent push has resulted in very little if any pressure.
The Bulldogs have run the ball as well and Oregon has no answer for the tight ends or Ladd McConkey. It also looks like Popo Aumavae isn't available in this one, so we've seen a lot of Keyon Ware-Hudson and Nebraska transfer Casey Rogers.
For the Ducks' offense, they've been able to move the ball well at times, but any momentum they've built has been dashed by unforced errors and a dominant defense. Nix has two interceptions. One of those was just a great play, the second of which was just a poor decision.
The tempo has been a nice change from last year, and the play calling seems more varied, but we've seen a heavy dose of screens that haven't been all that effective. I like that we've seen all four backs get involved, but there hasn't been much explosion by the offense.
It's encouraging to see some deep shots taken, but Nix appears to be locking in on his target too early when he wants to let it rip down the field.
The Ducks are going to need a lot of things to go their way in the second half if they want any chance of clawing back into this. They need to get some stops and stop shooting themselves in the foot when they have the ball, or it's going to be a long day in the second half for the Ducks and Dan Lanning.
I was expecting Georgia to be far ahead of Oregon, but I didn't think it would be this ugly.
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