Plenty of causes for concern in 'the good, the bad' following Oregon's 24-14 win over Idaho

Oregon Ducks fans, exhale. 

It wasn't pretty, but it's a win. 

In what was a genuinely frustrating game for a variety of reasons, Oregon walks away with a 24-14 win against the Idaho Vandals, going to 1-0 on the season. Let's hit this one with some key takeaways.

The good: Dillon Gabriel's stat line

Quarterback Dillon Gabriel finished the game 41/49 with 380 yards passing and two touchdowns. The stat line is miles away from how the game felt, but Gabriel looked decisive and efficient for a majority of the game.

At times, it looked downright dominant. Timing routes looked great and Gabriel was finding his playmakers and spreading the ball around (10 different players caught passes from Gabriel in this one). Gabriel broke several records in his debut performance with the Oregon Ducks, including becoming the eighth player in FBS history to exceed 15,000 career passing yards. 

Gabriel filled the stat sheet, but it didn't encompass the game.

The bad: Oregon offensive line simply has to be better

There was plenty of excitement for this offensive line entering the season, but in their first test (and playing at home against an FCS program hardly constitutes as "a test"), the Ducks starters looked incredibly shaky. 

Gabriel was under far too much pressure (he was sacked three times), multiple passes got batted down at the line, the Oregon rushing attack, which was largely succesful, got stuffed on a fourth down running play, and the offensive linemen racked up a ton of penalties. It was sloppy, unorganized, and the unit failed to pick up multiple stunts and schemed pressures.

That's a deeply concerning issue for a team that has College Football Playoff aspirations. 

The good: Tez Johnson and Jordan James were the engines of this offense

Two players in particular were the heartbeat of the offense – returning wide receiver Tez Johnson and running back Jordan James. 

Johnson led the team, and the game, with 12 receptions for 81 yards and two touchdowns, including the first and last score of the game. The latter in particular was as clutch as it gets – up only 17-14 and going for it on 4th and 2, Gabriel hit Johnson in the flat as he raced for the pylon to punch it in and extend Oregon's lead to 24-14. 

Jordan James looked as advertised as the lead back, taking 15 carries for 95 yards and a score, while adding four receptions for an additional 40 yards. James was also a shoestring away from breaking several runs for what could have gone for massive yardage and touchdowns.

The bad: Oregon was unable to generate explosive plays down the field

Whether it was by design, was attributed to what Idaho was doing defensively, or was decision making by Gabriel, the Oregon offense and their explosive playmakers hardly took any chances down the field.

This came as a surprise. Going against an FCS opponent, It seems like Oregon's offense and their speed would have been able to win some plays with their athleticism. Testing the defense deep was a crucial element of this game that was missing, and it seemingly created an environment where the Idaho defense was able to play closer into the box and towards the line of scrimmage. With the speed of this wide receiver room, I expected to see more attempts down the field tonight, and expect to see more of them going forward.

The good: Pass rush was excellent

Going into this season, there were high expectations for Jordan Burch, and Matayo Uiagalelei was positioned and prime to make a massive leap forward. In the first game, that couldn't have looked more accurate.

I'll keep an eye out for official pressure stats tomorrow, but Burch and Uiagalelei lived in the backfield. Uiagalelei registered two sacks, Burch logged one, and each of them created constant pressure on the opposing quarterback. If those two can continue to feast, as well as the pressure that was generated on the interior by Derrick Harmon, then that will be a huge strength of this roster against higher levels of competition.