EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon's offensive line played maybe their best game of the season on Friday night as the Ducks took down the Michigan State Spartans 31-10. The guys up front looked right at home in their first Big Ten home game, playing exactly how you would expect in a conference known for its physical, "three-yards and a cloud of dust" football.
The difference for the Ducks, their ball carriers averaged nearly six yards per carry thanks to the gaping holes left by their O-line.
"Winning football is winning football, regardless of conference," said head coach Dan Lanning. "If you're able to control the run game on both sides of the ball, that's gonna equate to wins a lot of times."
Jordan James led the way for Oregon on the ground, totaling a career-high 166 rushing yards on 24 carries, including over 154 yards in the first half alone. James was consistently able to gash the Spartan defense for huge chunk plays thanks to the wide-open rushing lanes from his offensive line.
"My stats are just a reflection of their work up front," James said of his blockers. "They did a hell of a job today."
One play that stood out in particular came early in the game on an 18-yard rush by James — one of six carries he took over 10 yards on the night. With just under nine minutes to go in the first quarter, James took a standard inside zone handoff from quarterback Dillon Gabriel heading right and thanks to some strong blocks from his line, was able to make his way down the Michigan State 11 yard line. Despite James running straight through a defender at the end of the play, he wasn't the player that stood out. Ajani Cornelius, the Ducks' starting right tackle, executed a double team with guard Marcus Harper before climbing to the second level to take on a linebacker. After making contact with the backer, Cornelius then proceeded to drive him back to the more than a dozen yards downfield before putting him in the dirt for the pancake.
Oregon created a great push with its line time and time again, as they were consistently able to push the Michigan State front three to four yards downfield on what seemed like every run play.
"Up front, the knock-back was something I could see from behind in a really good way," Gabriel said of his O-line's run blocking. "But also the five we have up there that we have extreme trust in, they continue to get better every single game and as we mesh together as a whole."
The Ducks' line also did a great job protecting Gabriel on Friday night as he wasn't sacked a single time, his third straight game being kept completely clean. As a whole, PFF charted only three pressures on Gabriel against the Spartans, the least the offensive line has allowed this year.
Another play that stood out came on third-and-five with just over seven minutes left in the third quarter when Gabriel dropped back to pass from Michigan State's 32 yard line. The Spartans had walked six men up to the line of scrimmage, looking like they were going to send an all-out blitz. But when the ball was snapped, the linebacker lined up over center Iapani Laloulu dropped back into coverage while a safety who had crept up toward the line of scrimmage blitzed. With no one to block, Laloulu recognized the blitzing defensive back and slid over to protect Gabriel from what would've otherwise almost certainly been a sack, giving him enough time to sail a pass just a little too far for Evan Stewart in the end zone.
"More than anything, after that play was over with, I loved hearing the communication from the offensive line," Lanning said of Laloulu's quick reaction to the blitzing defender. "When you start getting into some exotic pressures like we saw a few tonight and the ability to recognize that he's free and overlap in that situation is a big-time play by him."
Laloulu has excelled since moving back to center full-time, not allowing a single pressure at the position.
While Lanning may have said that it doesn't matter what conference the Ducks are playing in, that tends not to be Oregon's national perception. Despite being newcomers to the Big Ten, the Ducks' offensive line has looked dominant over the last few games, something they will need to continue when No. 3 Ohio State comes to town next Saturday.
"We definitely wanted to set the tone tonight," said James. "We're not just some West Coast kids, we're physical too."
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