There was no doubt that the Oregon Ducks got the better of Bob Chesney and the James Madison Dukes. Oregon picked up the 51-34 win in the first round of the College Football Playoff and sent Bob Chesney to Westwood to join the UCLA Bruins after ending the Dukes’ season.
Oregon didn’t hold back in the first half
It was always going to be a steep, uphill battle for James Madison. No matter how much the team dominated the Sun Belt Conference, the Oregon Ducks present an entirely different challenge. That difference was on display early, with the Ducks taking a 34-6 lead into halftime.
James Madison found more success after halftime, against Oregon’s reserves
James Madison played better in the second half, finishing the game with the 34 points and over 5oo yards of offense but that didn’t come against Oregon’s starters. Zachary Neel of Ducks Wire pointed that out while listing his five takeaways from Saturday’s game.
It was clear that the Ducks were the more talented, and better, team
“It doesn’t take advanced stats or high football IQ to see that the Ducks were the better, more talented team, and for the better part of 60 minutes, they did what they wanted to on the field.
Sure, giving up 34 points and over 500 yards of offense to a Group of Six team may not qualify as “championship-level” football to Lanning and his staff. However, if you’re going to mention what Oregon gave up, you have to also mention that those numbers were achieved by the Dukes late in the third and fourth quarter, when Oregon had literal fourth-string guys out there on the field.
Regardless, the standard is the standard in Eugene, and that wasn’t met for half of the game on Saturday.” Neel wrote.
Is the Oregon backups a fair matchup for James Madison?
Even if Oregon had their reserves in the game, are there reserves really worse than James Madison’s starters? Well, on Saturday they were. The Dukes could have been facing the very bottom of the Oregon roster and they’d still be facing some talented athletes.
Better late than never for the Dukes
James Madison surely wished they got those offensive results earlier in the game but they fought hard, even if they didn’t find success until the Oregon starters were on the sideline.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: James Madison’s offensive success came largely against Oregon backups
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
