The weekend’s highlight game between Oregon and Auburn ended with the Ducks being edged out 27-21, due mainly to the heroics of Auburn true freshman quarterback Bo Nix.
Despite the final score, Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert put together a solid performance in a game they led for the better part of three quarters.
Auburn’s strong defensive front held up in some of the game’s biggest moments, including a play on 4th-and-short where Herbert was forced to the sideline for a moment after banging knees with a Tigers defensive lineman. Auburn was able to consistently make Herbert uncomfortable, although he made some impressive throws when he had a clean pocket.
Herbert’s stat line doesn’t necessarily jump off the page, but it was a strong effort despite being down several potential contributors to their passing attack. He completed 75.7% of his passes for 242 yards and a touchdown, which is encouraging after Herbert experienced an eight-point regression in completion percentage between his sophomore and junior seasons.
Watching the game live, it was a bit frustrating to see Oregon take such a conservative approach as the game moved forward.
Auburn’s secondary made it difficult for receivers to separate, but a glance at Herbert’s throw chart makes it’s easy to see why they only managed 21 points.
Quick look at Justin Herbert’s throw chart from this week. A ton in the underneath. Hopefully the potential return of some of their playmakers can create vertical opportunities in the passing game. pic.twitter.com/sW6h58t6xb
— Dan Matney (@CDM3_) September 2, 2019
*Note, thrown away passes and drops do not account in the final pass attempt total on the chart.
Nearly half of Herbert’s attempts were underneath throws, and 77% of his attempts for shorter than 10 yards. The Ducks opted for quick, one-read throws behind the line of scrimmage in an attempt to get the ball to their explosive skill position players.
He flashed great timing and ball placement on deeper throws for the most part, aside from the Hail Mary attempt as the clock expired, and he had limited success in the intermediate game on the few attempts he had.
Herbert threw an absolute dart into the back of the end zone to receiver Bryan Addison it resulted in a drop despite hitting him directly in the numbers.
Even when he passes in the underneath passing games, Herbert displayed impressive ball placement and flashed the velocity to fit it into tight windows.
Herbert had a chance to show off his mobility and did a nice job delivering accurate balls rolling out of the pocket. He was able to climb the pocket and evade pressure a handful of times, although he had a couple of instances where he held on a little too long and took a sack.
He was efficient on third down, completing seven of his nine passes, although several were on throws behind the markers and the punt unit had to take the field anyway.
Herbert was solid from a decision-making standpoint but he wasn’t perfect. There was a fumble at the mesh-point in the red zone in the 1st half, but his worst decision came early in the 3rd quarter when he was hit for an intentional grounding, pushing him even deeper into his own territory. He didn’t force many throws and displayed a pretty good sense of pressure when things fell apart.
Herbert’s performance against the Tigers provides him a building block moving forward and he’s still at the top of the senior quarterback class. They’ve already faced the toughest defense on their schedule and it’s fair to expect Offensive Coordinator Marcus Arroyo to allow Herbert to push the ball vertical as their receiving room gets back to full health.