Stock Report: Troy Franklin’s big day headlines booming business for Oregon offense

At this point in the season, we shouldn’t exactly be surprised when the Oregon Ducks’ offense puts up gaudy numbers like this.

For the sixth-straight game, Oregon has scored more than 40 points in the game, and they’ve picked up more than 500 yards of offense in 5 of their last six games. Quarterback Bo Nix is playing better than he ever has in his career, wide receiver Troy Franklin is breaking out as one of the best pass-catchers that the Ducks have seen in quite some time, and the offensive line has established itself as one of the most dominant units in college football, leading the Oregon rushing attack to endless success, where they’ve had more than 200 yards on the ground in 5 of their last 6 games.

It’s safe to say that when we take a look at the offense, the stock is going to be up across the board.

The defense still needs a little bit of help, but with a defensive-minded head coach like Dan Lanning, and a solid staff of coaches around him, I have faith that Oregon will get things clicking on that side of the ball in due time. As we do every week, let’s identify players who saw their stocks go up, and a few who might have seen a slight dip against UCLA:

Stock Up: Troy Franklin

Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports

The coming-out party for Troy Franklin continues. After he got off to a blazing start in the first six weeks of the season, it appears that things have only gotten more dynamic during the bye week.

Franklin came out and made a statement early on Saturday against the Bruins, racking up 127 yards and 2 TD in the first half. If you were to look even closer, 96 of Franklin’s yards came in the second quarter alone, as did both touchdowns.

The sophomore wide receiver finished the game with 8 catches for 132 yards and 2 TD and stands as one of the top receivers in the Pac-12. He’s put up these numbers in highlight fashion, as well. Check out the tracking of this beautiful deep ball from Bo Nix on Saturday;

And then look at this insane circus catch on the sideline a drive later:

He’s just fun to watch, man. It’s been a while since the Ducks had a wide receiver that they could say that about. As the offense continues to churn along this season and put up stats, you can bet that Franklin will be there chipping in.

Stock Up: Bo Nix

Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports

I would like to put an asterisk on this stock update. Bo Nix’s stock did not go up with me on Saturday after the UCLA game. He did exactly what I expected him to do and played like the best guy on the field, leading the Ducks to a victory.

Nix’s stock did go up as far as the national perception of him goes, though. At long last, it seems that the transfer QB is getting the credit he deserves and receiving some consideration for the Heisman Trophy award. The updated betting odds show that is is among the top contenders in the nation for the prestigious honor.

With 283 yards and 5 TD on 79% completion, Nix showed on a big stage that he’s playing the best ball of his career. Now the nation finally knows.

Stock Down: Justin Flowe

In high school, a supreme athlete can be cut loose and cause absolute mayhem on the field without thinking twice about what they’re doing. In college, it doesn’t always work out that way.

That seems to be a continued problem with Justin Flowe. He remains one of the most physically imposing players on the field each week, but until he refines the mental aspect of his game and learns to play within the scheme of the defense, he will fall short of his ceiling. It’s like he’s a rabid dog let off the chain sometimes, running as fast as he can to where the play is and often forgetting about his assignment.

Look at this example from Saturday where Flowe let his eyes leave his assignment and allowed a TD to UCLA RB Keegan Jones.

You can see Flowe — who is supposed to be keyed up on the first back out to his side of the field — lock his eyes on Dorian Thompson-Robinson and drift back into coverage. By the time Jones swings out to the flat and gets the ball, he has more than 15 yards of separation with Flowe, and is able to easily scamper into the end zone.

I still hold onto the idea that Flowe can have an incredible career and be an NFL-level talent if he can sharpen his football IQ and learn to play within the defense. He just needs the experience at this point.

Stock Up: Kenny Dillingham

We’ve known for quite a while now that Oregon Ducks’ offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham was a good play-caller, and the impact that he’s had on Oregon’s offense so far this year is immeasurable. He still showed me something in this game against UCLA.

In the first half, the Ducks were unloading, taking out all of the stops and picking up chunk yardage left and right, There were multiple passes that went for 15-or-more yards down the field, and a 49-yard TD from Bo Nix to Troy Franklin. In the third quarter, though, Dillingham showed an ability to flip the script as a play-caller and it resulted in arguably the most impressive drive that Oregon has had this season.

With a 31-16 lead early in the third quarter, the Ducks took the ball and decided that they wanted to suck the air out of UCLA’s sideline. They proceeded to march down the field on a 15-play, 82-yard drive that ate up 7:30 off the clock and ended in a touchdown. Oregon ran a total of 12 runs and converted a pair of fourth down conversions. It was an impressive display of game control.

We knew when he was hired at Oregon that Dillingham would bring the explosion plays back to Eugene. I didn’t think that he would be so versatile as to turn the Ducks on a dime and morph them into a dominant and physical SEC-style team.

Dillingham keeps surprising me in the best way possible. I’m going to enjoy watching him at Oregon while I can. 

Stock up: Oregon Offensive Recruiting

Let’s continue on this offensive train of thought for a little bit. There was a moment in the game on Saturday when Oregon’s 4-star WR commit Ashton Cozart tweeted a video of Troy Franklin’s touchdown catch from Nix and proclaimed that he loved “how they use him every week.”

That matters, a ton. The fact that recruits can watch the Ducks on Saturday — whether they’re committed to Oregon or not — and see an offense now that puts wide receivers in a position to succeed and display their talents is a massive change from years past. Eugene isn’t historically a place where the best pass-catchers in the nation come to play college ball, but the new coaching staff has already started to change that — 4-star Kyler Kasper signed in 2022, and both 5-star Jurrion Dickey and Cozart are committed in 2023. It’s clear that this offense that Oregon is rolling out onto the field each and every week is encouraging to recruits.

That success right now will likely bear out in the talent we see come to Oregon over the next several years.

Stock Down: Mario Cristobal

Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

I don’t usually do this. For the most part, I choose to take the high road and avoid grabbing the low-hanging fruit. Sometimes it’s too enticing, though.

Saturday was a great day for Oregon Duck fans, not only because their team went up against a top-10 team and blew them out of the water, but because the head coach who decided to skip town when things got hard a year ago appears to be way in over his head at his alma mater.

The Mario Cristobal era in Miami is off to a very, very rocky start.

The Hurricanes are 3-4 and have been among the most disappointing teams in the nation. Cristobal continues to struggle on offense, turning what looked like an NFL QB in Tyler Van Dyke into a player that got benched a few weeks ago. Miami had 8 turnovers on Saturday against the Duke Blue Devils, a basketball school. It all may be leading to a harsh realization for the brash in South Beach.

Saturday showed a pretty good fork in the road for Duck fans. We saw what Oregon used to be, and we saw what they are now in Dan Lanning. Sometimes you have to sit back and be thankful for the way things play out, even if you weren’t thrilled about them to start.

Story originally appeared on Ducks Wire