Oregon escapes Boise State, but sloppy opener reveals flaws as Ducks chase elusive national championship

Perhaps Oregon can look to its recent history to find relief. It was only two years ago that the Ducks followed up a pedestrian 24-14 win over Idaho in their season-opener with a terrifyingly close call against Boise State a week later, squeaking by with a 37-34 win.

Plenty of concerns were shared then. Maybe Dillon Gabriel wasn't good enough to replace Bo Nix? Maybe this program wasn't ready for life in the Big Ten, and it would regret leaving the "soft Pac-12."

Well, those close calls were quickly forgotten, as Oregon would finish the regular season 12-0, and then beat Penn State in the Big Ten Championship Game to win the conference in its very first season as a member.

So maybe Oregon coach Dan Lanning will look back at that season and take solace after yet another scary season opener, or maybe he'll chew his team out in the locker room until the paint begins peeling off the walls, letting them know that preseason predictions and hype don't mean a damn thing once the ball is spotted and pads pop in anger.

The good news is that disaster was averted. While things were far closer than nearly everybody…

Original source: https://www.cbssports.com/