Joel Klatt believes Oregon vs. Idaho was 'as concerning as any game in the first week'

Oregon barely got by in their season-opening win over Idaho last weekend. It was a performance, albeit from a one-game sample to start, that alerted some potential problems now in Eugene.

Joel Klatt assessed the 24-14 victory for the Ducks over the Vandals during an appearance on ‘The Herd’ on Wednesday. After they entered as a favorite of anywhere from six to seven touchdowns overall, Oregon was on the verge of suffering an all-time loss to begin the season.

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“That would have been the biggest upset in college football history,” said Klatt.

“That was a big problem,” Klatt added on.

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The fact that it was even that close and required that level of urgency from Oregon is what bothered Klatt. The Ducks actually had to play into the fourth quarter with Idaho cutting the deficit to just a score’s difference twice in the second half. They also just saw some poor play at spots, specifically along their offensive line.

“That was as concerning as any game in the first week of the season. There’s no question about it,” Klatt said. “Here’s the thing – it’s because it’s not like they went out there and turned the ball over seven times and were all of a sudden in a close game. Dillon Gabriel threw for incredible production, including 41-50. They had to throw 50 passes against Idaho! That is concerning to say the least.”

“Three starters back (on the offensive line). They ran the ball for under three yards per carry against Idaho. Five of their eight penalties were on the offensive line,” continued Klatt. “They gave up three sacks. You might say to yourself, like, ‘Well, threes not terrible?’. They gave up five all last season! Five all last season!”

With that, Klatt says Dan Lanning and his coaching staff have to make an example of their opener to their players this week. Degrading that effort is the only way that they can correct it. That’s especially so with a quality opponent coming up to Autzen Stadium next.

“If I’m Dan Lanning, I’m going in there and it’s fire and brimstone all week with that team,” said Klatt. “In a lot of respects, you’ve got to take this team that won the football game and treat them like losers, right. You’ve got to take them and humble them down and say this has got to get better, namely the offensive line.”

“Boise State comes in – by the way, Boise State has never lost to Oregon. They’re 3-0 against Oregon in their history. I know that that sounds crazy,” Klatt added. “Ashton Jeanty, their running back, is an excellent player that might be the top running back taken in next year’s NFL Draft. He’s that good.”

A bad season debut can lead some to overreact about a team after their first kickoff. That’s why Klatt, although surely troubled by that outing to start, is going to give Oregon another week as he expect them to correct it against the Broncos on Saturday.

“I’m going to ride with Oregon this week and say, okay, I’m going to give you your pass and say you’re going to go back to the grindstone and you’re going to correct those issues,” said Klatt. “I think Oregon rights the ship and I think that they win in a big way.”