The Oregon Ducks dominated Southern Utah 77-21 in Eugene on Saturday night, although the result was not entirely unexpected. The Pac-12 generally dominates against Big Sky foes and this matchup proved to be no exception. The overall offensive grades are quite high in Week 1 but there is an asterisk by them due to playing a lower division opponent.

Offense A- (37 first downs, 70 offensive points, 703 total yards, 2 turnovers) This was a dominant performance by the offense as it should have been. The Ducks set an Autzen Stadium record with 77 points and that is quite a feat. They scored touchdowns on 11 of their 16 possessions and would have added two more except for fumbles. This grade is almost the highest possible except for the two turnovers.

QB A (Herbert 17-21-281, TD, 4-12 rushing, Alie 6-6-74, 3-10, TD rushing) Justin Herbert started off his second season in fine fashion showing good accuracy and decision-making. His passing was helped a great deal by the dominant run game, but he performed well regardless. Out of his 21 attempts only two were off-mark and when he did choose to run, was effective. The coaches decided to go with Taylor Alie as the backup for the season opener, with Taggart telling DSA after the game that since the competition between Alie and Braxton Burmeister was close, they decided to go with not burning Burmeister’s redshirt year for now. Alie was very good too with both his passing and rushing.

RB A- (Freeman 23-150, 4 TD’s rushing, 4-50 receiving, Benoit 7-107, 3 TD’s, Brooks-James 9-32, 2-49 receiving, 2 fumbles) This grade is very easy but at the same time cannot receive the top mark because of ball security issues. Royce Freeman was awesome though at times was bottled up around the line of scrimmage. Benoit did not get as much action but he certainly made the most of his seven carries. Tony Brooks-James hurts this grade because of his two fumbles, both of which likely cost the Ducks a touchdown.

OL A (6.7 ypc, 4 opponent tfl) Great job by the big uglies. Yes, they should have dominated this line of scrimmage but nonetheless they did lots of things right. They limited penalties, opened running lanes and kept the pass rush off of Herbert. The Ducks averaged 6.7 yards per carry and gained 348 yards on the ground, numbers any offensive line coach is going to love.

TE B (Breeland 3-55, TD) Jake Breeland played very well with both his ball-catching and blocking. With three nice snags and touchdown it was an impressive first start for him. It would have been nice to see more depth from this unit but Breeland did stand out at times.

WR B+ (Nelson 5-99, Johnson III 2-39, Schooler 2-12, Mitchell 2-11, Lovette 1-27, Ofodile 1-8, McNeal 1-5) The wide receivers were not needed much this game but were adequate when called upon. Charles Nelson showed off his speed and athleticism on several catches, while true freshman Johnny Johnson III showed why the Duck staff decided to go with him over numerous other excellent candidates. Malik Lovette’s one catch was very nice on the sideline, overturning an incorrect on-field call. Dillon Mitchell, Alex Ofodile, Brenden Schooler and Darrian McNeal all added catches showing off some good depth from this group. Overall blocking by this group was quite good.