Who Will Be Oregon Ducks Starting Center vs. UCLA Bruins? Iapani Laloulu?

The Oregon Ducks and their offensive line had their struggles through the first two games of the season but Iapani Laloulu stepped up as he took over the center spot in the recent dominating victory at Oregon State. All signs point to Laloulu snapping to quarterback Dillon Gabriel the rest of the way.

Oregon offensive lineman Iapani Laloulu snaps the ball to Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel during warm ups as the Oregon State Beavers host the Oregon Ducks Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024 at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Ore. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With the Oregon Ducks' offensive line woes being a major concern during the early parts of the season, Oregon coach Dan Lanning and offensive line coach A’lique Terry both felt it was time for a change at the center position in the Oregon State matchup. Iapani Laloulu or better known as "Poncho" was the answer.

In the first two games against Idaho and Boise State, Oregon's quarterback Dillon Gabriel was sacked a total of seven times and the running game had little space to create any offense on the ground. Against the Beavers, Gabriel wasn't sacked once and was given a handful of time in the pocket for the offensive scheme to run its course.

It was a night and day difference between junior Charlie Pickard's showing from the first two games of the season and sophomore Laloulu's performance during Week 3 at the center spot. All signs point to Laloulu taking over the reins of being Gabriel's right-hand man going forward.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning talks to Oregon offensive lineman Iapani Laloulu ahead of the game as the Oregon State Beavers host the Oregon Ducks Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024 at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Ore. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Laloulu has impeccable timing when it comes to starting his footwork and snapping the ball at the same time as “hut" comes out of Gabriel's mouth. No offensive line penalties were committed by Laloulu and he also covered his man snap after snap as Gabriel went virtually untouched.

"Since the beginning of spring and winter, I've been playing center. When coach Terry told me that I was going to be playing center, nothing really changed... I took that initiative and let them know I was going be the leader for the team."

- Iapani Laloulu

With senior offensive lineman Matthew Bedford reaggravating his right knee in practice earlier this week, a lot is riding on the senior duo of Nishad Strother and Marcus Harper holding down the guard positions. It remains unclear if Bedford will be joining the starting front five in the near future but Laloulu has complete faith in his group right now.

"(A'lique) Terry reminded us to get back to the basics, to playing with good hands, good leverage and good feet. That's something that we hit on this whole entire week and focused on."

- Iapani Laloulu

Oregon's offensive line has finally found some rhythm for the first time this season in thanks to the
Laloulu move to center. While Lanning has yet to announce if he will take over the position full-time, it seems safe to say that is the right man for the job. The next opportunity for Laloulu and the rest of the crew will come at the Rose Bowl against UCLA on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 8 p.m. PT.

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