Five takeaways from Oregon's win over Fresno State

Well, that was close.

Oregon began its season in nervy fashion, and was on upset alert during much of its season-opener. A win is a win, though, and the Ducks did what they needed to do in Week 1, escaping with a 31-24 victory over Fresno State.

With Ohio State looming, the Ducks did plenty well on Saturday, but also had a plethora of head-scratching mistakes. At times, the defense looked like the dominant, high-octane force that you would expect from a squad filled with 5-star recruits.

But the front-seven began to resemble a MASH unit midway through the game, and the Ducks struggled to consistently get the Bulldogs off the field. The offense, meanwhile was stop-and-start all afternoon and might have looked even worse had the defense not gifted it some stellar field position.

There will be plenty to evaluate over the next seven days. For now, here are five quick takeaways from Oregon’s nail-biting win.

Justin Flowe’s energy

One thing that Oregon fans were robbed of last season was watching Justin Flowe play in person. On Saturday, the freshman linebacker looked like a superstar in the making.

Flowe was everywhere for the Ducks. With Dru Mathis, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Mase Funa all sidelined by injuries midway through the game, Flowe had to step up for the Ducks. He did that and more.

The former 5-star recruit finished with a team-high 14 tackles and forced a game-changing fumble in the fourth quarter when the Ducks were in desperate need of of a spark. It wasn’t all positive; Flowe delivered a late hit that very easily could have been called for targeting, and there were times where he bordered on playing out of control.

But Oregon doesn’t win Saturday’s game without him. The passion and frenetic energy he plays with isn’t just for show. His teammates feed off of it, and it helped carry them through some difficult moments against Fresno State.

Oregon injuries loom large

Oregon needs to be firing on all cylinders when it travels to Ohio State next weekend. The Ducks didn’t exactly do that against Fresno State — on either side of the ball — and now will need to hope for some good injury news in regards to some pivotal players.

Kayvon Thibodeaux went down with an ankle injury in the second quarter and eventually returned to the game, but emerged in street clothes and a walking boot after halftime. Dru Mathis left with a knee injury soon after and was seen wearing a knee brace and a large ice pack on the sideline.

Mase Funa missed a long period of play before returning down the stretch, and Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal said Flowe was “nicked up” during practice last week, as was freshman linebacker Keith Brown.

That’s a ton of attrition in the front seven. Flowe, Brandon Dorlus and a few others stepped up when it mattered Saturday. But, simply put, the Ducks will need good news on the injury front if they are going to have a shot at upsetting the Buckeyes in Columbus.

Anthony Brown’s performance

It didn’t take long for a large cluster of Oregon fans on social media to start calling for Anthony Brown’s job.

Around two quarters, to be exact.

There’s no way around it; Brown simply wasn’t good enough at times on Saturday. He’ll be the first one to tell you that.

The offense never found a rhythm, and Brown never quite looked comfortable in the pocket. Maybe that’s on him, maybe it’s on the offensive line, or maybe it’s a bit of both.

But when the game was on the line Brown delivered a perfect read on an option play to score the go-ahead touchdown. It was the type of savvy, explosive display that many expected to see time-and-time again from him against Fresno State.

The fact that Cristobal and co. hung with him during periods of ineffectiveness Saturday means there probably isn’t a quarterback change coming anytime soon. Brown will need to be much, much better against Ohio State.

Time will tell if Saturday was a flash in the pan, or is going to be the norm for Oregon’s senior signal-caller.

Tom Snee, MVP

Ideally, a team will never need to rely on its punter to bail it out. If that team has national title ambitions, it’s a particularly bad sign.

But on Saturday, Tom Snee was Oregon’s best player.

The sophomore punted five times for 234 total yards and an average of 46.8 yards. He landed four of those punts inside the Fresno State 20.

His final punt of the day was a 56-yard bomb from Oregon’s 40 that pinned Fresno State at its own three. That set the stage for Flowe to force a turnover and set up Brown’s game-winning score.

Oregon’s defense had plenty of issue slowing down Fresno State’s fast-paced offense Saturday. It would have had a lot more issues had Snee not constantly pinned that Bulldogs back and forced them to string together long drives.

Obviously Snee isn’t anywhere near Oregon’s most talented player. But on Saturday, he was better than any other Duck in terms of doing his job and executing when he was needed. That’s all you can ask for.

Receiver rotation

Oregon true freshman Troy Franklin was the talk of the town last week when he appeared at the top of Oregon’s depth chart at the “X” receiver position. But the ultra-talented pass-catcher was nowhere to be seen Saturday.

Franklin was dressed, but did not start and did not have a catch. Oregon’s three starting receivers were Johnny Johnson III, Mycah Pittman and Kris Hutson — the latter of whom was listed as the third option at the “H” position on Oregon’s organizational chart.

Johnson, Pittman, Hutson and Jaylon Redd were the only Oregon wide receivers to catch a pass Saturday. Franklin, Devon Williams and Dont’e Thornton did not have the chance to make an impact.

It’s hard to know if that was a situational thing, or if the Ducks intend to run with a shorter receiver rotation this season. Some of those players may have been limited by undisclosed injuries, and some may simply have not been target by Brown.

But it will be worth monitoring what Oregon’s receiver rotation looks like over the next few weeks.