By the Numbers: A Tale of Two Halves for Oregon Against JMU

The #5 Oregon Ducks defeated the #12 James Madison Dukes on Saturday, 51-34. The game was completely out of hand in the first half, with Oregon leading 34-6. The rest of the match felt like the Ducks put the car into neutral and coasted for the final two quarters.

What stood out about this game? Was it as good as some of us thought or as bad as others thought? Let’s dig into the snap counts and the advanced stats to see what stories they can tell about this win that sent the Ducks to the second round.

The Offense was Humming in the First Half

This game really was a tale of two halves. If the match could have ended after two quarters, everyone would have left with nothing but good feelings about this game. Sadly, that’s not how it worked out, but fans should still appreciate how well the team played when they had their foot on the gas.

Oregon put up 360 yards of total offense in the first half. They had 11 carries for 149 yards on the ground, and an average of 13.5 yards per carry. They were dominant running the ball against a team that was only giving up 76.2 yards per game on the ground. That was second best in the country. The Ducks doubled that number.

James Madison was also 12^th in the country in pass defense, allowing only 171.5 yards through the air per game. Oregon put up 211 yards in the first two quarters. They did all of this on only 25 total plays and 9:37 time of possession. Extremely efficient and potent scoring by Will Stein and the Ducks.

Oregon Defense Also Played Well in First Half

For all the credit that the offense is getting for that dominant performance in the first half, the defense also put up a strong effort with their starters as well. At first glance, 197 yards allowed in the first two quarters seems like a lot, but they held them to 3.9 yards per carry, and 48% completions on their passes. JMU also only completed 38% of their third downs in the first half.

The main issue was that Oregon was scoring so quickly that the defense was on the field a significant amount of time. The Dukes’ time of possession for the first half was 20:23 to only 9:37 for Oregon. That’s a lot of time for the defense to be on the field. JMU also had 47 total plays in that first half compared to only 25 for Oregon.

It’s actually really impressive that they were able to hold James Madison to only 6 points with how long they were on the field and how many total plays the Dukes had.

Ducks Defense Spread Around the Snaps

Maybe it was partly because of the increased playing time in the first half. Maybe it was because they wanted to rest their starters to save them for the next round. Either way, the Ducks played a lot of second and third string guys in the final two quarters.

Oregon played 32 guys on defense in this game, and many of them logged career high snap counts against JMU. Dan Lanning and Tosh Lupoi spread snaps all over the field, with backups playing significant snaps on the defensive line, the linebacker corp, and the secondary.

Na’eem Offord registered 48 snaps in this game. His next highest snap count was 35 against Rutgers in week 8. Blake Purchase played 44 snaps on defense, his second highest this season being 32 against Northwestern in week 3. To be fair, both of these guys have been a part of the rotation this year, but not to this level.

• CB Na’eem Offord – 48 snaps (career high)
• LOBL Blake Purchase – 44 snaps (career high)
• Edge Ashton Porter – 31 snaps (career high)
• DLT Tionne Gray – 29 snaps (1 less than career high)
• DLT Terrance Green – 28 snaps (career high)
• CB Daylen Austin – 24 snaps (career high)
• NT Jericho Johnson – 18 snaps (career high)
• MLB Brayden Platt – 16 snaps (career high)

It’s great to get these guys experience. Many of them will likely play a significant role next season, but they struggled with JMU’s starters. It was an opportunity to learn and grow. Hopefully they are able to take this lesson into the next playoff game as well as next season.

Dakorien Moore and Gary Bryant Jr Saw Limited Snaps

As pretty much everyone expected, we did see Dakorien Moore and Gary Bryant Jr, but not Evan Stewart. They did have limited snaps in this game. That’s fine. This was an opportunity to knock off some of the rust. Both receivers had been out of the lineup since November 8^th at Iowa.

Moore ended up with 19 snaps on offense, with 8 in passing plays and 11 as a run blocker. He was targeted twice for 1 reception. He did have one missed connection with Dante Moore that looked like a miscommunication in the second half. Overall it was nice to see him back on the field. Hopefully he has a bigger role in the offense against Texas Tech.

Gary Bryant Jr only had 8 snaps and no targets in the game. It’s possible that Braynt has simply slipped too far down the depth chart. Malik Benson and Jeremiah McClellan have been excellent with Moore and GBJ out. The Ducks can take their time bringing him back. Moore is a higher priority because he can be such a potent weapon on offense when he’s fully back.

Offense was Unable to Rest as Many Players

One of the biggest criticisms for Dan Lanning and his coaching staff after this game was their inability to pull the offensive starters in the second half. Dante Moore had 56 snaps and played the entire game. The Ducks had to keep their starting Oline in for all four quarters. This was a pretty big risk in a game that was decided by the half.

The only only a handful non-rotation guys who saw the field for more than 1 snap. Jayden Limar had 8 snaps, Roger Saleapaka had 6 snaps, and Jay Harris had 6 snaps. Their backup offensive linemen only saw 1 snap each.

Keeping the starters in the game might have cost Oregon their star true freshman running back Jordon Davison. He was helped off the field in the 4^th quarter and taken to the locker room. There was reports that he was seen in a boot with a crutch. Davison had 25 snaps in this game and finished with 90 yards on 10 carries.

Not an awesome development. Davidson being helped all the way off the field. #goducks pic.twitter.com/Epl5uYPFDq

— Cam (@CamDerbyTV) December 21, 2025

He posted an Instagram photo today that showed him standing without any boot or crutches. We cannot confirm when the photo was taken. Hopefully he’s able to go against Texas Tech because his loss would be significant for Oregon.