Good Luck Ducks, Week 3: Time for a Tune-Up

Time to regroup, FCS style.

Oregon looks to rebound this week after a very disappointing loss. It didn't seem at all likely that the Ducks would beat the Spartans after how leaky their defense was in the opening game, so it was all the more difficult to stomach when the defense stepped up but the offense still couldn't get it done. Team Duck made a valiant effort to come back in the second half and was a hilariously misthrown pass away from maybe... just maybe... pulling the thing off. Tough.

Vernon Adams Jr. has been disappointing so far, but it turns out he's been dealing with a broken finger since the first game. It's tough for anyone to step in after the perfection that is Marcus Mariota (did you get a look at his NFL debut?!), but Adams was designed to be a one year wonder that lead the strong Ducks offense to another big postseason game. For this week at least, it may well be Jeff Lockie's turn to run the team as Adams rests for another day.

Fortunately, today's opponent is the Georgia State Panthers as we're still a week away from conference play. This is another paycheck game, something that has a staple in nearly every big time program's schedule in the new BCS/post-BCS era. The games aren't nearly as much fun to watch, but it will finally give some much needed playing time to the reserve players, up-and-comers and walk-ons. These games aren't the prettiest to watch, but it will be nice to get back in the win column after last week's rough result.

The Panthers do feature the nation's 9th leading passer in Nick Arbuckle, so it will be another test for Oregon's young secondary. They will get plenty of work in before Utah comes to town next week.

Former All-American corner Ifo Ekpre-Olomu saw his first extended action in a similar game back in 2011 against Missouri State.

Game time is 11:00 AM PDT (so early!) with national coverage on the Pac-12 Network. Go Ducks!