With two glorified dress rehearsals down, there’s just one more to go for the Oregon Ducks before Pac-12 Conference play begins in earnest on September 22 versus Stanford. However, before the Ducks’ date with the Cardinal, they will play host to San Jose State this Saturday, giving Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal and his team one final opportunity work out any kinks left over from a lengthy offseason. Below, WFOD takes a closer look at the burning questions surrounding the matchup between the Ducks and Spartans.
Could this be the final week we see TBJ as the starting running back?
Admittedly, it would be a tad surprising if this came to pass, but by the same token, it’s not totally out of the realm of possibility either. On Tuesday, we openly wondered whether there would be true separation among the six scholarship running backs on Oregon’s roster by time the Ducks tee it up versus Stanford. As we see it through two games, the group consisting of Brooks-James, CJ Verdell, and Travis Dye has the inside track (to varying degrees) on earning the bulk of the carries for the Ducks this season.
Against Portland State, Verdell and Dye, in particular, each made compelling cases to earn a greater share of the workload on the ground. In that game, Verdell displayed the well-rounded game that had him on the verge of earning playing time as a true freshman last season. He would finish the day with a career-high 106 yards on 11 carries, which more than doubled his yardage total from his performance in the season opener versus Bowling Green (51 yards on 13 carries). Similarly, Dye has also come on strong of late, as the true freshman gained 58 yards on only four carries against Portland State, punctuating his outing with a 49-yard touchdown run – the longest by a Duck this season.
In fairness to Brooks-James, the senior led all Oregon rushers with 107 yards and two touchdowns against the Vikings last Saturday. Yet, it took him 21 carries to reach that mark, and coupled with his lackluster five-carry, 27-yard performance against Bowling Green in Week 1, it’s not off-base to suggest that TBJ hasn’t looked like himself early on. Perhaps playing with the added weight/muscle as a result of offseason training has impacted his game (up to 190 lbs. from 175 a season ago), or perhaps operating out of the Pistol has gotten him out of a comfort zone. Whatever the reason, Brooks-James has yet to prove he has earned true no. 1 back billing. With another strong performance from Verdell and/or Dye this weekend, Saturday may just be the final time Brooks-James draws the start at running back for the Ducks.
Does Brenden Schooler replace Johnny Johnson in the starting lineup?
If there’s been one glaring area of concern for the Ducks through two weeks, it’s been the frustrating number of drops perpetrated by Oregon’s wide receivers. In Week 1, notable drops by Jaylon Redd and Johnny Johnson either stymied potential drives or were directly responsible for erasing touchdowns. In Week 2, though there weren’t as many drops, there were still notable instances in which Duck receivers failed to reel in catchable passes. A culprit once again in the drop department last Saturday was Johnson, who similar to Week 1, would make up for the blunder by later hauling in a touchdown pass.
Still, a concerning trend is beginning to develop, so much so that the Ducks have toyed with the idea of perhaps replacing Johnson in the starting lineup with junior Brenden Schooler in the lead up to Saturday’s game. During fall camp, Schooler reportedly was one of the more impressive receivers for the Ducks in practice, showing marked improvement from last season when he was more or less forced to learn on the fly after transitioning from safety. Though Schooler failed to catch a pass versus Bowling Green, he led all Oregon pass catchers in receptions versus Portland State (four catches for 30 yards). Whether Schooler makes his debut as a starter versus San Jose State remains to be seen, but there’s little doubt that he figures to play a more central role in the passing game moving forward.
Will we see more Shough?
With another cupcake opponent on tap for the Ducks this Saturday, it offers another opportunity for Cristobal to see what he has in some of his second, third, and fourth-string players. Chief among those players looking for an opportunity to showcase his skills is true freshman quarterback Tyler Shough. Locked in a battle with sophomore Braxton Burmeister for the backup job behind Herbert since the spring, Shough has yet to receive extended mop-up duty through two games. After he was a shelved for the entirety of the season opener in favor of Burmeister, Shough did get an opportunity to make an appearance last week versus Portland State, though he only he saw action in one series (a successful touchdown drive) and never attempted a pass.
The lack of playing time for Shough has been a small point of contention for fans through the early portion of the season, as Burmeister has shown little in the way of being a reliable backup thus far. This was underscored when he was removed from the game in the second half versus Bowling Green, and replaced with Herbert, who was initially put on ice after helping the Ducks mount a sizable lead over the Falcons.
Given the NCAA’s new rule allowing non-redshirt players to appear in up to four games in a season while still preserving the opportunity to redshirt, it’s sensible to want to provide Shough with the chance to gain experience against the Ducks’ weak slate of non-conference opponents. However, a counterpoint would be to conserve Shough’s appearances and provide yourself with greater flexibility later in the season (in the event of injury, or to even rest and prevent injury to a star player – such as Herbert) when it comes to making a decision on how and when to activate the Chandler (Ariz.) native for his three remaining “freebies.” For Cristobal and his coaching staff, it’s a difficult balance to strike, and it’s a decision that doesn’t seem to have any clear cut right or wrong answers until one is provided the advantage of hindsight.