EUGENE -- Jaylon Redd was pacing Autzen Stadium on Saturday evening when he came upon teammate Justin Herbert.



Oregon's receiver had dropped a potential touchdown pass from Herbert on the game's first drive, the second drop by a UO wideout on the season's opening possession. The Ducks followed that by sputtering to another three-and-out on their second. Maybe offseason concerns surrounding the inexperience of UO's receivers weren't just noise, after all.



On Autzen's sideline, receiver and quarterback finally connected. Redd promised to make amends.



"I was walking up and down the sideline like, 'I got you, I'll make a play for y'all,'" Redd said.



The very next drive, Redd caught a 33-yard touchdown from Herbert on fourth down and 14 and ignited a Ducks' comeback that eventually overwhelmed Bowling Green in a 58-24 victory in Autzen Stadium. Oregon finished with 504 yards and averaged 7.4 yards per play.



Redd smiled when describing his touchdown three days later. Having seen how wide the safety was playing, he believed he could outsprint the Falcons' Nickel defender to a certain spot in the back of the end zone. Herbert put the pass "right on the money," Redd said.

HIGHLIGHT | Herbert with a dime to Redd for the first TD of the season. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/FH562tnyqN — Oregon Football (@oregonfootball) September 2, 2018

"That to me is as good of a throw as you're going to see," offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo said.



For Redd, the play call was an indication of the trust Herbert and Arroyo have in him to make a big play.



But for all the offensive highlights Oregon produced in its opener, the memory of the plays not made has lingered. In a worst-case scenario, they're a harbinger. Best-case, they're the exception -- kinks being worked out live in front of 50,000 fans in a first game.



"We all know and they know that they have to catch the football, especially with big play opportunities like we had," coach Mario Cristobal said. "Part of it is focus, part of it is technique and part of it is just getting it done."



Against Bowling Green, the drops didn't ultimately cost UO, which trailed 10-0 before scoring 37 unanswered points. The Ducks also figure to have plenty of room for error Saturday against Portland State (0-1) and Sept. 15 against San Jose State (0-1). Facing Pac-12 competition, however, squandered offensive opportunities will come with a price.



"These big-play opportunities, they just don't come all the time," Cristobal said. "You rarely get a second chance. It's obviously going to be a huge point of emphasis. It has been, but it has to be more. We have to have better results."



Herbert, for one, hasn't lost confidence in his receivers and continued to target those who'd dropped earlier passes. Johnny Johnson III couldn't haul in Herbert's first attempt but later spun himself to catch a pass up the left hashmark, then dragged two defenders almost 10 yards into the end zone for a 40-yard touchdown.

Wide receiver Johnny Johnson III hauls in a second-quarter touchdown.



And Herbert, of course, went back to Redd, who was targeted four times and caught two passes, both touchdowns, the latter a 48-yard score in the fourth quarter. But no completion was arguably more important than their critical fourth-down conversion. Not only because of down-and-distance, but because Redd was only two drives removed from dropping what had the potential to be a 78-yard touchdown.



"When I make a mistake I always feel like I gotta come out and make another play," Redd said. "Of course I wouldn't have wanted to drop that ball, you know what I mean, but because I dropped the ball I gave it something positive in my mind to go make a play for this team."



Cristobal had informed Arroyo even before third down on UO's first scoring drive that the Ducks would go for it on fourth down if necessary. The decision hinged on the ball's placement at Bowling Green's 33 -- too short to punt, but perhaps too far outside their comfort zone to attempt a field goal into the wind with an inexperienced kicker in Zach Emerson. Adam Stack remains UO's listed starter at kicker but is dealing with a sore leg and didn't take part in drills during a period of practice open to media Tuesday.



"We just felt like we were calling good plays, we were getting guys open, we just weren't connecting," Cristobal said. "They were giving us exactly what we thought they would give us. The coverage dictated us to run what we run with Jaylon where he kind of splits the seam and tries to get behind the Mike linebacker.



"We had the mismatch and we felt we'd have it again on fourth down so, you know, it was almost irrelevant the down and distance there. you want to take a shot at that play because of what we were getting."



Never one to single out blame, Herbert said he was happier with his receivers' response than frustrated by the drops.



"Things happen like that," Herbert said. "People are going to drop. I'm going to make bad throws. We're going to miss blocks. ... They did a great job, they didn't hang their heads on it and made some plays later in the game so it was good to see."



Herbert, also wasn't perfect. After being reinserted into the game in the third quarter, he threw two interceptions. Arroyo didn't pin the interceptions on his quarterback alone; the second came off a tipped ball. Herbert finished with five touchdown passes on just 10 completions, and Pro Football Focus rated him the highest-graded Pac-12 quarterback during the season's first week.



"We're real critical of how we play at that position here, we have been for two years and I think that he's done an awesome job of taking critical coaching and he's very critical of himself," Arroyo said. "I think there's some really, really good plays on tape and some things I think we get to learn from."



-- Andrew Greif

agreif@oregonian.com

Correction: Redd's first-quarter touchdown catch was not his first career touchdown at Oregon, but his third.