Offensive Players of the Game: Oregon vs. Washington State
Oregon may not have truly established its offensive identity during the early portion of this season. But it has certainly done so throughout the past two weeks.
The Ducks pounded the rock all evening against Washington State Saturday. For the second week straight, they ran for more than 300 yards They were dominant in the trenches, and they had a three-headed monster of ball carriers.
It’s astounding that the Ducks are running the ball with such success while playing without star running back CJ Verdell.
The week’s offensive player of the game selections reflect just how impressive Oregon’s ground attack looked on Saturday.
Byron Cardwell
The Ducks have an absolute star on their hands.
True freshman running back Byron Cardwell ran for 98 yards and two touchdowns on just nine carries. That’s a 10.9 yard per carry average, and it came against a Washington State team that is competent when it comes to stopping the run.
At the start of this season, Cardwell was facing an uphill battle for playing time. He’s in a crowded running back room that is loaded with young talent. And yet, he has risen above it all and become a mainstay in Oregon’s offense.
Cardwell is a punishing runner who is an absolute nightmare for opposingdefenders to tackle. What was most impressive about his Saturday performance, though, wasn’t his physicality, but the patience and vision he showed each time he carried the ball.
“It’s countless hours of just working, watching film, and kind of going ut there and doing what comes natural,” Cardwell said when asked about his ability to let blocks develop. “It’s still a work in progress getting better day by day.”
Anthony Brown
Oregon quarterback Anthony Brown had a tidy and unremarkable performance throwing the ball Saturday. He finished 17-for-22 for 135 yards and didn’t attempt to stretch the field all that often.
But he was an absolute weapon running the ball. Brown ran 17 times for 128 yards and a touchdown. It wasn’t like he was running untouched all game, either. Brown picked up a ton of hard yards and frequently broke tackles at the first level before rumbling forward for extra yards.
There’s been plenty of chatter this season as to whether he is a good enough passer to take the Ducks where they want to go, but it’s easy to forget just how gifted of an athlete Brown is and how difficult it is for opponents to tackle the 6-foot-3, 226-pound senior.
He became the first Oregon quarterback since Marcus Mariota to run for more than 100 yards in a single game. His high volume of carries wasn’t necessarily a part of Oregon’s game plan heading into Saturday, but Joe Moorhead took what the Washington State defense gave him.
“We take a lot of pride as coaches in making adjustments and looking for areas to attack,” Oregon coach Mario Cristobal said. “We felt these things would work, and they work only if they’re executed at a high level by the players. … Anthony used every bit of everything he has to make it a reality.”
Travis Dye
It’s an indication of just how good he has been this season that Travis Dye’s performance Saturday is considered a quiet night at the office by his own lofty standards.
Oregon’s star running back ran 18 times for 88 yards and a touchdown and caught six passes for 25 yards and another score. That’s 4.7 yards per touch, which is a solid day’s work for most other players in the nation, but far below what Dye has averaged this fall.
Cardwell is getting a ton of praise for the way he ran Saturday, and rightfully so. But Oregon’s offense still starts and ends with Dye, and he was rock solid once again Saturday.
In the five games that he has served as Oregon’s feature back this season, Dye has racked up 748 all-purpose yards — or 149.6 per game — and 11 touchdowns. Those are video game numbers.
It will be a lot of fun to see just how much damage he, Cardwell, and the rest of Oregon’s young backs can do throughout the rest of the 2021 campaign.
