Dan Lanning stood at the 25-yard line, his hands on his knees. 

Although No. 3 Oregon eventually pulled through in the Ducks’ 24-14 win over Idaho, the team had everything to lose, and the game was at risk of being lost. 

Disaster was averted thanks to a defense that stiffened and an offense that started moving the ball in the red-zone late.

The win wasn’t pretty. Far from it. What transpired on a sun-splashed afternoon at Autzen Stadium consisted of more than the low score would imply. 

“There were some positives,” Lanning said. “But certainly some growth moment… and we will look at that, great teams do that.”

Saturday’s contest was supposed to be different. With the impressive offseason the Ducks had both recruiting and in the portal – including the Preseason Heisman Favorite, they were expected to play more of a lopsided game against the Vandals. 

On the statsheet, they did, totaling 31 first downs to Idaho’s 10, running 40 more plays than the Vandals and going a perfect 4-4 in the red-zone. But the score was still unsatisfactory to Oregon’s third-year head coach.

“We certainly walk away from this game with opportunities to grow,” Lanning said.

Consider it viewer’s discretion as to whether the usual first-game caveats should apply to a team working in a new quarterback with such big shoes to fill.

“We did throw for 380 yards, so there was some passing game. Sometimes you have to take what they give you,” Lanning said. 

But as Lanning stood with his Ducks up just three in the fourth quarter, the fact that Oregon found itself in such a precarious position defied any sense of logic. 

For Oregon, a program long known for its hype and grandeur, fans would be hard-pressed to find an early-season victory that raised more questions than the one the Ducks played. A Dillon Gabriel-led group that outgained Idaho by 270 yards, and dominated on all statistical margins still, inexplicably, felt as flat as could be for nearly three quarters of play. 

Even the 14-0 halftime lead felt unexplainably unsatisfactory. The Ducks scored on their opening drive on a seven-yard Tez Johnson touchdown reception, but had just one more scoring drive in the first 30 minutes of action.

Concerns crept into Autzen Stadium in the second half as a pair of Oregon’s faulty drives soon compounded into five or six. Oregon dominated the time of possession by nearly twenty minutes, utilizing Johnson (12 catches for 81 yards and two touchdowns) in the air. Johnson opened and closed the scoring with touchdowns. 

“It’s good, I just know there’s more to come and it’s a team sport. Glad I could get a touchdown for my teammates.” Johnson said. 

But in between, the offense wasn’t able to finish drives, failing two 4th-down conversions and missing a 52-yard field goal attempt. Still, the Ducks only punted three times, two times more than they did in last season’s opener.

As has been the theme in their few close games lately, the Ducks did themselves few favors compiling unnecessary penalties (eight penalties for 60 yards) while failing to convert on questionable 4th-down conversion attempts.

Those proponents, including a 36-yard touchdown from Idaho’s Jake Layne to Jack Cox, left Lanning’s hands on his knees as Oregon headed down the field to begin the fourth quarter, seeming desperate for a scoring drive or, at least, a good break. 

Meanwhile, Idaho, a team that had been counted out before kickoff, bopped on the sideline to Shout.

Now, a win in any regard is a step in the right direction for the Ducks. But the 10-point victory over a 49.5-point underdog showed more cracks in Lanning’s championship master plan than many had expected to see. 

They could be seen in the offensive line’s struggles establishing a run game, a trend that left everyone from stalwart Ajani Cornelius to new center Charlie Pickard struggling as the Ducks tallied just 2.9 yards-per-carry in the win.

“They did a really good job stopping our interior run game, and we struggled at times to get the ball on the perimeter,” Lanning said. 

They could be seen in the offensive gameplan as a whole, a group that was too reliant on short passes and check-downs while lacking downfield throws or explosive plays of any kind. 

“They did a really good job of staying on top defensively to limit explosive plays,” Lanning said. 

And they could be seen in the gameplan that seemingly remained consistent despite the Ducks struggling to execute it and getting forced into a one-score game late in the fourth quarter. A tougher task does await the Ducks next week in Boise State (1-0). 

“[The game was] certainly different than we thought it might look like,” Lanning said.

Any sighs of relief that fans let out after Atticus Sappington’s field-goal that put the Ducks up two scores were short-lived. Idaho went right down the field with a six-play, 75-yard surgicality that the Ducks had been lacking all game. Suddenly, it was a three-point game with less than six minutes to play. 

But finally, the Ducks executed. Gabriel found Johnson on 4th-and-2 in the endzone. And then the defense – as it had all night in a game where it held Idaho to just 217 total yards of offense  – executed yet again with a Nikko Reed interception that sent the striped-out crowd of over 57,000 home somewhat content, maintained the Ducks’ unblemished record, and locked down the first win of 2024.

“In this program we celebrate wins.” Lanning said.