After a long offseason in the garage, Oregon's motor took a few minutes to get started Saturday. Once it did, the Ducks were off to the races.In its regular-season debut under new head coach, the UO football team scored 37 straight points in the first half to recover from an early deficit, on the way to a 58-24 victory over Bowling Green before 50,112 fans in Autzen Stadium.threw for five touchdowns and ran for another, the defense and special teams accounted for a touchdown and a safety, and the Ducks won their 14th straight home opener — while scoring 50 or more points for the seventh straight season opener."We stepped up and handled adversity well," junior linebackersaid. "That's something I really liked, because it's something we needed to focus on this year."

Bowling Green jumped out to an early 10-0 lead thanks to a sloppy Oregon start marked by dropped passes on offense, and missed tackles on defense. But momentum changed late in the first quarter when, on fourth-and-14, Herbert rifled a touchdown pass to, sparking a run of 37 straight points by the Ducks."In college football, momentum is the biggest monster there is," Cristobal said. "That play certainly got things rolling."Herbert opened the second quarter with a touchdown pass to, ran for a two-yard touchdown and then tossed a TD pass to. Oregon went up 30-10 when Bowling Green had a punt snap sail into the end zone for a safety, andran for a touchdown on his first career carry for a 37-10 lead.opened the game at running back, but gave way toand Habibi-Likio in quick succession. After a pick-six bymade it 44-17 early in the third quarter, Herbert hit a sixth running back,, with a screen pass, and Griffin took it 83 yards for a touchdown.(the UO offensive coordinator) did a really good job getting a lot of guys involved," Cristobal said. "They've earned playing time, when playing time mattered, and they got it today."Herbert later added a second touchdown pass to Redd, and finished 10-of-21 for 281 yards, with two interceptions. Both the interceptions came in the second half, after he'd been pulled for backupbut then re-inserted after Bowling Green scored to get within 51-24 late in the third quarter."At times things were clicking, and the defense was playing well," Herbert said. "We feed off each other, and for a moment there we were playing really good football. If we can stretch that out, we can be a good team."Those six running backs helped Oregon average 5.0 yards per rush for the game, and 5.3 per rush when sacks aren't included. That was tangible evidence of the Ducks' improved physicality under Cristobal, and his emphasis on improved discipline was evidenced by the Ducks being whistled for just three penalties — including just one in the first three quarters — after being the nation's most-penalized team in 2017."We could have walked out of the stadium with one penalty tonight; we were right on the cusp of it, which would have been really good," Cristobal said. "We're pleased with progress; we certainly want to cut it down even more."Oregon continues its nonconference slate by hosting Portland State on Sept. 8 (11 a.m. PT, Pac-12 Network).