Oregon answered the biggest call they had to, and it covered up Dan Lanning’s issue against Iowa
Immediate takeaways from the Ducks win at Iowa.
In a game that felt like it was scripted straight out of Iowa’s own playbook, Oregon went into Kinnick Stadium and out-Iowa’d the Hawkeyes. The Ducks won the field position battle, controlled the line of scrimmage, and turned a grind-it-out slugfest into a statement road victory. They ran it better, stopped the run more effectively, and delivered in the often-overlooked third phase — special teams — to edge Iowa in a classic Big Ten defensive struggle.
Immediate takeaways
Dante Moore
It wasn’t pretty for Dante Moore, but when the team needed him, he executed. He was struggling throughout the game, missing throws, failing to find open receivers, and just not in sync. However, on the team’s last drive, he delivered. Moore completed one of the best passes of the season in crunch time, finding Malik Benson on a 24-yard dart down the sideline to put the Ducks in field goal range. Truly one of the best throws of his career, where perfectly placed the ball where no one but the receiver could catch it. That throw is the epitome of his talent and why NFL evaluators salivate. He may not have been perfect, but without the Ducks’ top three receivers and first-round tight end, he balled out when the team needed him.
Defense
Much of the talk of the week was about whether Oregon’s defense was going to be able to stop Iowa’s running game. Not only did the Ducks’ defense show up, but they showed out. The defense held Iowa to just 101 yards on the ground and completely dominated the line of scrimmage. For all the talk about Iowa being physical and wanting to control the tempo, it was the Ducks’ defense that dominated and enforced their will. With this defense, the Ducks can be in any game.
Clock Management
While the game was amazing for the Ducks, it wasn’t all positive. Dan Lanning’s clock management was beyond questionable throughout the game. He didn’t call timeouts at the end of the first half when the offense was slicing through Iowa’s defense on the last drive and let time run down to force the Ducks to a field goal try. Additionally, at the end of the game, Lanning was slow to call his timeouts and let time run when he should have been more aggressive in calling them to save the offense. Time. The Ducks may have one, but there is still a lot to clean up, and time management is at the top of the list.
