Oregon got back on track Saturday night.

The Ducks steamrolled Eastern Washington 70-14 in the first home game of the Dan Lanning era. The win made it 19 straight home victories, 18 straight wins in home openers, and 29 straight wins in non-conference home games. All of that’s to say that Oregon was expected to win. Still, the Ducks left no doubt, rolling up 42 points and nearly 400 yards of offense by the halftime break.

Oregon finished the game with 604 yards thanks to some pretty balanced offense. The defense held Eastern Washington under 200 total yards and forced a pair of turnovers.

Here are three takeaways from the game.

Taking out some frustration

Oregon scored 70 points in a game for the first time since 2019. Give the 70-14 win in the home opener an asterisk because of the nature of the opposition? If you want. The Oregon Ducks hosted Eastern Washington Saturday night in a pay game. Keep in mind, though, the Eagles entered the game ranked No. 11 in the FCS Coaches Poll. Eastern Washington has been a pretty consistent program at the FCS level.

But Oregon needed to exercise some demons, and the Ducks made sure to take out all their frustrations from a disappointing opener.

Nine possessions, nine touchdowns to open the game. The Ducks scored every time they had the ball with the No. 1 or No. 2 quarterback on the field. Conversely, the first four possessions of the game for Eastern Washington included three straight three-and-outs and then a one-play interception on the fourth drive. Oregon came to play. After missing 29 tackles and giving up almost 400 yards of offense after first contact a week ago, Oregon was much cleaner. Eastern Washington had only 187 yards of total offense and averaged just 3.7 yards a play.

The Ducks played with more confidence — expected but encouraging all the same. The pain points a week ago were clearly hammered on this week in practice. To score 70 points says a lot. Oregon showed resolve.

One thing to keep in mind as we work through the early part of the season: Oregon is one of the youngest teams in the country. With 53 freshmen and 43 sophomores on the roster, the Ducks have the fourth-most underclassmen at the FBS level. With a brand new coaching staff and a first-year head coach, growing pains should be expected. Confidence is needed.

Saturday should provide exactly that. Oregon shouldn’t care that Eastern Washington isn’t a brand name. It did some things well. It has some tape to pour through and correct some errors. And it can go home much happier than it did a week ago.

Bo Nix’s rebound

Nix just really does not like playing the Bulldogs. A week after looking really poor against Georgia, Bo Nix was razor-sharp.

The Oregon quarterback completed 28 of his 33 pass attempts for 277 yards and a career-high five touchdowns. When you have as many touchdown passes as incompletions, you can feel pretty good about the shift you put in. Nix threw touchdowns to four different players. He targeted eight different players, spreading the ball around.

Nix is a mercurial player. He elicits strong responses and doesn’t really leave a ton of room for gray or wishy-washy takes. Folks believe in him to a fault, or they aren’t happy until his backup is in the game. Games like the one he played against Georgia embolden the detractors.

If he can keep the momentum going that he built on Saturday against the Eagles, the Ducks will be in good shape. Nix’s ability has never been in question. It’s the decision-making. He was better with the ball in his hands, but he also wasn’t really pressured.

Ty Thompson finally made his 2022 debut in the second half. He led a pair of touchdown drives and completed five of his seven pass attempts for 63 yards. The allure of the former blue-chip recruit is strong, considering we just haven’t gotten to see much of him to this point in his career.

But Oregon is clearly going to ride with Nix, through good and bad. That makes three different coaching staffs — Mario Cristobal, the interim staff for the bowl game, and now Lanning — who have looked at the room and gone with a non-Thompson quarterback and then stuck with that guy. That feels like the answer to the question that keeps getting asked.

Oregon has the skill talent to make some noise

I really like Sean Dollars’ game. He finished with 58 rushing yards on nine carries and another 39 receiving yards. He’s been a constant source of efficient offense to begin the year.

Mar’Keise Irving had a nice game running the football, displaying a little bit of that violence that position coach Carlos Locklyn raved about in fall camp. Byron Cardwell flashed his grown-man game as a runner, finding the endzone twice and producing 74 yards from scrimmage.

Wideout Troy Franklin hauled in all 10 of his target for 84 yards and a touchdown. Dont’e Thornton had four catches for 60 yards. Terrance Ferguson had two touchdown receptions before halftime.

Oregon has been stockpiling skill talent for years. In terms of recruiting pedigree, the Ducks have no equal in the Pac-12. That skill talent has been waiting to break out in a lasting and truly meaningful way. We’ll find out in the coming weeks if the Kenny Dillingham-Bo Nix duo is the key to finally unlocking things.