Stock Report: Patrick Herbert thrives, Cole Martin shines, and Ty Thompson drops a dime

One of the things Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning has stressed all season is the need for his team to play a complete game. The game against the Utah Utes is the only one Lanning has classified as a complete game, where the Ducks didn’t let up in their dominance for a second.

I think you could argue that Oregon was incredibly close to getting that done on Saturday in a 49-13 win over Arizona State. With six touchdowns on six drives in the first half, all of which were TD passes for Bo Nix, the Ducks were as dominant as we’ve seen this year, winning in every facet of the game. They gave up some scores in the second half when starters were pulled from the game, but it’s easy to see how good the Ducks can be when they play to their ceiling.

It was hard to find much for Oregon to improve on this week when looking at our stock report. We usually try to find some things that could be better for Dan Lanning’s team after a game, but in Week 12, it was nothing but stocks on the rise in Eugene. Here’s our weekly stock report.

Stock Up: Patrick Herbert

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What a day it was for Patrick Herbert, and a performance that felt like it was long overdue for the Oregon legacy player.

We’ve known for a long time that Herbert was capable of performances like this, but the tight end has struggled with injuries during his career. This season, though, we’ve been told by coaches and players alike that Herbert was healthy, and everyone should look out for what was to come. On Saturday, we really saw what they meant.

Herbert hauled in three catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns, one of which went for 23 yards over the middle and the other of which came on a picture-perfect screen pass to the left side that will be used as teaching tape for years to come in Eugene.

Herbert often gets overlooked in this offense, but he gained his day in the sun on Saturday.

Stock Up: Cole Martin

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The Ducks had the fortunate ability to rest some of their most important players for much of the game on Saturday, leaving young guys such as Cole Martin to step up while veterans such as Evan Williams earned some much-needed rest ahead of the Civil War this week.

Martin took the opportunity and ran with it, tying for a team-high 5 tackles and getting his first interception of his career. Because of the talent Oregon has in the secondary, we haven’t needed to see much from Martin this year, but in the moments when he has been on the field, he has proved time and again how high of a ceiling he has going forward. I feel confident saying he’s going to have a pretty special Oregon career.

Stock Up: Ty Thompson

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It was a small sample size — not in time on the field, but rather opportunity — but Ty Thompson impressed on Saturday afternoon in about 20 minutes of work in the second half against Arizona State. He attempted 6 passes, completing 4 for 48 yards and a touchdown, but it was once again the ability with which he conducted the offense and coherently facilitated the game that was the most encouraging to see.

Of course, there was also his touchdown pass to Casey Kelly, which is undoubtedly the best throw he’s had in an Oregon uniform, and a highlight that I have found myself watching on a loop several times over the past 24 hours.

We’ve always known that the arm talent was there for Thompson to be special, but it was just about his ability to play mistake-free football and operate within the system. Saturday was an example of both of those things.

Stock Up: Camden Lewis

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It’s been an up-and-down season for Camden Lewis, to say the least, but he was able to write his name in the Ducks’ record books on Saturday with six extra points putting him ahead of Royce Freeman for the most points in Oregon school history.

With at least two games remaining, and potentially an additional two on top of that, there is a great opportunity for Lewis to push this record higher and higher, making it even harder for it to be broken again in the future.

Stock Up: Bo Nix

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Every week when I write this article, I think to myself that there is no way that Bo Nix can continue to be included since his stock is likely at an all-time high. However, No. 10 keeps on pushing the envelope and doing things we rarely see form a college quarterback.

That’s what happened in the first half of Saturday’s game, with Nix throwing for six touchdowns in the opening two quarters and building a 42-0 lead. The six TDs tied Nix for the most in a single game among Oregon QBs, and a seventh was completed to Terrance Ferguson early in the third quarter, but it was called back on a bogus offensive pass-interference call.

At this point, Nix is leading the Heisman conversation and is a lock to make it to New York in December. If the Ducks continue to win, it feels pretty hard to not see him holding that bronze trophy in a few weeks.

Stock Up: Troy Franklin

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Much of what I said about Bo Nix can also be said about Troy Franklin. He’s done so much this season that it’s hard to see his stock rise much higher than it already is — arguably as the best receiver in Oregon history.

That case was supported on Saturday as Franklin pulled down 8 catches for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns. He broke multiple records on the day, crossing the mark for most single-season receiving yards, most single-season receiving touchdowns, and tied the record for most career receiving touchdowns as a Duck. At this point, he is among the best WRs in the nation, and he’s not getting the respect that he deserves nationally.

Stock Up: Gary Bryant Jr.

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It has been a relatively quiet season for Gary Bryant Jr. compared to what we were expecting from him after coming over from the USC Trojans this offseason. He had a really solid day on Saturday, hauling in 3 catches for 81 yards and a touchdown.

His score was particularly impressive, fit with a spin move and several broken tackles.

While Franklin and Tez Johnson are undoubtedly the top two options in the passing game, Bryant showed out on Saturday and proved how dynamic he can be.

Stock Up: Dontae Manning

We talked earlier about how impressive Cole Martin was stepping up in the secondary, but I walked away from the game incredibly impressed by what we saw from Dontae Manning as well. He saw a lot more playing time thanks to some rest for Khyree Jackson and Jahlil Florence, and he really looked good when on the field.

Manning led the defense with three pass break-ups, and he had three tackles on the day as well. He had the highest coverage grade on the team by far, according to Pro Football Focus, and allowed just one reception on five targets.

After coming to Eugene as the highest-rated cornerback prospect to ever sign with the Ducks, many fans grew frustrated waiting for Manning to really pop at Oregon. He’s looked really impressive this year, though, and seems to be playing some of his best football.

Stock Up: Penalties

Penalties have been arguably the biggest issue for the Ducks so far this year. They’ve averaged 69.7 penalty yards per game, which ranked 123rd in the nation going into this game.

On Saturday, the Ducks played a pretty clean game, though, getting flagged just five times for 45 yards in total. We know that when Oregon gets out of its own way, it is hard time to beat. If it can continue to play as cleanly as it did on Saturday, look out going forward.

Stock Up: Kenny Dillingham

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The relationship Oregon Duck fans have with Kenny Dillingham is an interesting one. After he was largely responsible for breathing life into the Ducks’ offense a year ago as the offensive coordinator, he was largely beloved in Eugene. However, the way that things ended with a tough showing against Oregon State, followed by Dillingham jetting — literally — from Corvallis to Tempe to accept the Arizona State head coaching job hours after that upset loss at the end of the year seemed to leave a bad taste in the mouth for many Oregon fans.

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It’s pretty clear when you listen to Dillingham, though, that he has abundant love and respect for this Oregon team. After the game on Saturday, he talked profusely about the Ducks, calling them national championship contenders, comparing them to the 2022 Georgia Bulldogs, and proclaiming Bo Nix is the deserved Heisman winner.

It’s hard not to admire how he’s handled himself since leaving Oregon, and respect what he’s done at Arizona State. I’m not sure how Duck fans will feel in general, but I for one still have a lot of admiration for the ASU head coach.

Story originally appeared on Ducks Wire