Early Returns on Jay Johnson Have Been Great Through Two Games

Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks had to make a change to their play-caller after the loss to Illinois. They went to Champaign and were totally upended by what is a bad Illinois team. 

The play that likely did the former offensive coordinator, Drew Mehringer in was when he called a trick play on third and short as the Ducks were driving to win the game did him in. After the firing of Mehringer, Lanning went straight to veteran coach Jay Johnson, who has taken the baton and sprinted with it. 

He wasted no time turning this thing around and has the trajectory of this team absolutely pointing up.

It was first a great performance against the Northwestern Wildcats, specifically in the second half of that game, where they chased down the Cats en route to a really hard-fought victory.

Then, they did what many before them could not, which was going across the country to go face to face with the Ohio State Buckeyes and come out on top. It was an impressive performance all around, especially on the offensive side of the ball. 

The Ducks' offensive attack was very impressive, and their plan was as clean as it could get. More importantly, the game and the improvement that we are seeing in Dylan Raiola is remarkable. 

Raiola was frantic and erratic under Mehringer. He got back in the pocket and looked like he was guessing more than he was making good decisions. That is nowhere to be found if you are a quarterback, and the results were what they were: one of the worst quarterback performances in the history of college football.

It's hard to believe that the quarterback who played against UCLA is the same guy who played against Ohio State. Those two players couldn't have been more different, and their performances were the opposite of each other.

Head coach Dan Lanning was asked about this on his Pat McAfee appearance, and his response was awesome. He commented about how good of a job that Johnson is doing and how much confidence Raiola has right now. 

That is the ticket to a good Dylan Raiola: confidence. When he is feeling it, he believes that he is the best thrower of the football in the world. There is no throw that he believes he can't make, and when he plays with that calm confidence, he is a true killer from the pocket. 

If the Ducks continue to get that version of Raiola, they will be a really hard team to beat down the stretch of this season.