Stock Report: Jestin Jacobs makes debut, while Bucky Irving bursts onto national stage

Saturday’s game against the Washington State Cougars was nowhere near the biggest game that the Oregon Ducks have played, or will play during the 2023 college football season, but it seemingly had one of the biggest impacts thus far when it comes to putting one of its player on the national stage.

Running back Bucky Irving took the opportunity and ran with it.

In front of a national ABC broadcast, Irving racked up 180 total yards and three touchdowns, with 42- and 43-yard scores on back-to-back drives captivating the television audience and turning the heads of some NFL scouts.

Elsewhere, there were a number of highlight performances on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. As we always do, let’s go through our weekly stock report to highlight some of the top players in the contest.

Stock Up: Bucky Irving

You could easily argue that this was Bucky Irving’s best game as an Oregon Duck. It may not have been the most stats that he ever put on paper in an Oregon uniform, but he showed his capabilities in ways that we haven’t seen much before, and turned the heads of the nation while doing so.

In total, Irving had 180 total yards — 129 on the ground, and 51 through the air — to go along with three touchdowns. He was the most electric player on Oregon’s offense, which is an impressive feat considering that there were plays for 46, 42, 33, and 32 yards in the game.

If you’ve paid any semblance of attention to college football on the west coast over the past year, then you know who Bucky Irving is. Over the last few weeks, though, it feels like even people who don’t keep a close eye on Pac-12 football are starting to learn the name.

Stock Up: Jestin Jacobs

Linebacker Jestin Jacobs made his Oregon debut on Saturday, and he certainly lived up to the hype. Jacobs finished the day with six total tackles, and he notched the first sack of his career, getting one of the Ducks’ six on the day.

More than any stat that the Iowa transfer put up, it was the speed and physicality with which he played with that impressed the most. There were multiple tackles — whether a shove of Cam Ward out of bounds, or a run-fit on 3rd and 2 that blew up the play — that likely made Oregon fans watching stop and say, “well there’s something I haven’t seen on this defense in quite a while.”

It was this sequence that caught my eye the most.

Judging from Dan Lanning’s comments, there is still a lot of room to improve for Jacobs as well.

I don’t know what the ceiling can be for the 6-foot-4, 245-pound linebacker, but I do feel like if this is the floor, then Oregon’s defense just got a whole lot better thanks to his return.

Stock Down: Camden Lewis

Photo Courtesy of Ethan Landa

I’m getting really bummed that I keep having to include Camden Lewis in this stock report for the wrong reasons.

After a brutal day last week against the Washington Huskies where the veteran kicker sailed two kick-offs out of bounds for penalties, and missed the game-tying field goal at the end of the game to send it to overtime, things didn’t get a whole lot better for Lewis vs. Washington State.

In an effort to build some early confidence for the kicker, Lanning called for a 47-yard FG on the opening drive of the game, sending Lewis out there after a stalled drive. Camden pulled it wide left. He was able to knock a field goal through the uprights later in the game, and was perfect on his extra point attempts, but it’s fair to say that Oregon fans are starting to question the confidence of their once rock-solid kicker.

Stock Up: Tez Johnson

We’ve debated throughout the season whether it was Tez Johnson or Gary Bryant Jr. who held the WR2 role in Eugene, with the former filling up the stat sheet slightly more, while the latter led in terms of total snaps.

I don’t think that needs to be a topic of debate any longer.

Johnson had one of his best games as a Duck on Saturday, hauling in 6 catches for 94 yards and a TD. In a game where Troy Franklin was unusually quiet in the second half, Tez stepped up and became the go-to target for Nix, who found him on multiple occasions for big chunk plays that kept the offense rolling.

We always knew that Johnson was capable of mesmerizing speed and quickness once he got the ball in his hands, and on Saturday, we finally got to see a big dose of that.

Stock Up: Evan Williams

Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

Jestin Jacobs got the defensive headlines for us, but it was Evan Williams who might have ultimately deserved them, as he turned in by far is best game in an Oregon uniform.

Williams finished the game with 14 total tackles, which is a career-high for the veteran safety. He was all over the field, locking down the secondary and stepping up in open-field tackling situations with ease.

When the defensive line can find a way to notch 6 sacks, the linebacker corp can improve with the play of Jestin Jacobs, and the secondary can be led by a dominant Evan Williams performance, then Oregon’s unit could be mighty dangerous going forward.

Stock Down: Situational and Goal-To-Go Play Calling

There’s still something to be desired from Oregon’s offense, particularly when it comes to play calling in goal-to-go situations. After failing to convert a pair of fourth downs against Washington inside the 10-yard line a week ago, the Ducks once again allowed themselves to get stalled near the endzone against Washington State.

After Oregon’s first drive of the game ended in a stalled drive that led to a missed field goal, the Ducks quickly got back into scoring position thanks to a 46-yard catch and run from Tez Johnson. Once in a goal-to-go situation, though, the Ducks stalled again. The plays went as follows: incomplete pass (penalty), rush for 6 yards, incomplete pass, incomplete pass, field goal.

A drive later, Oregon got into WSU territory and again went with a  3-yard pass, followed by two incomplete passes and a punt. It was after that the Ducks finally figured out that running against the Cougars’ porous rushing defense was a better option, and they finished the half with 12 carries for 129 yards and 2 touchdowns on the final two possessions of the half.

So why, then, did the Ducks open up the 3rd quarter with five straight passes and a punt after gaining only 25 yards? It’s beyond me.

Ultimately, it’s very tough to criticize Will Stein and the Oregon offense when they are this productive. By almost any metric you wish to judge things by, the Ducks have one of the top offensive groups in the nation, and they routinely are able to outscore their opponents. Still, though, I have been left wanting a little bit more when it comes to the play-calling over the last couple of games.

Stock Up: Bo Nix

Because of what we saw from Bucky Irving, and because of what we saw from Tez Johnson, I feel like there hasn’t been much talk about Bo Nix after this game. Part of that is on me, as myself and other media members have chosen to focus on other players, but let’s not allow that to overshadow the fact that Nix was once again incredibly solid on Saturday.

He finished the game with 293 yards and 2 passing touchdowns on 18-for-25 (72% completion) and added a rushing touchdown. It’s a casual stat line, but one that looks incredibly impressive when you consider what some of the other Heisman-contending QBs — Michael Penix, Caleb Williams — were able to do.

One of the most impressive plays of the day from Nix wasn’t a pass at all, but rather a punt. With the Ducks facing a 4th and long in WSU territory, they lined up to go for it before Nix dropped back and landed a pooch punt deep into Cougars territory, downing the ball at the 3.

What can’t he do?

Stock Down: Gary Bryant Jr.

Photo Courtesy of Ethan Landa

I mentioned him briefly when talking about Tez Johnson earlier, but I continue to be confounded by the role that Gary Bryant Jr. has in this offense. In certain games, he is used like a real weapon, but then he disappears for long stretches. That was the case on Saturday, where the second play of the game was an end-around that went for 15 yards to Bryant. After that play, he went the remainder of the game without a single touch, finishing with zero targets in the game.

For a player who plays as many snaps as Bryant does, it is a bit surprising how little utilization he gets. The offense isn’t exactly hurting for his production with the surplus of weapons elsewhere on the field, but I am definitely surprised by his lack of production and opportunity thus far.

Stock Up: Nikko Reed

Craig Strobeck-USA TODAY Sports

It’s got to be pretty comforting for Dan Lanning and the coaching staff to go down two of your starting cornerbacks, and be able to throw a reserve safety out on an island and have him produce like nothing changed.

That’s what Nikko Reed did for the Ducks on Saturday, taking over a spot on the outside with Khyree Jackson and Jahlil Florence missing time. Reed played admirably, racking up four total tackles with one pass breakup. While he has played mostly in the STAR position this year, his versatility allowed the defense to stick him out as a CB and he didn’t skip a beat. That’s the depth that you love to see on the roster as an Oregon fan.

Story originally appeared on Ducks Wire