No. 3 Oregon notes: Injury updates on Brown and Thibodeaux, Pac-12 sets Stanford game time

Anthony Brown was knocked out of the game against Stony Brook on Saturday and didn’t play in the second half of No. 3 Oregon’s blowout victory.

That might be the only playing time the starting quarterback misses, coach Mario Cristobal proclaimed Monday.

“I feel good about Anthony,” he said. “He looks really good.”

However, there are other question marks on the injury front heading into Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. game against Arizona at Autzen Stadium in what will be the Duck's first Pac-12 game of the season.

Defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux, who hasn’t played since spraining his left ankle in the first half of the season opener against Fresno State, was described as “day-to-day” by Cristobal.

Defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter said Monday that Thibodeaux lobbied to play against Stony Brook but wasn’t yet cleared by team doctors.

Bradyn Swinson, who started for Thibodeaux against Ohio State and recorded five tackles and a sack, also missed Saturday’s game with an unspecified injury and is listed as doubtful for the Arizona game, Cristobal said.

He was more optimistic about the return of linebackers Mase Funa, Keith Brown and Adrian Jackson who missed the Stony Brook game, as well as right tackle Steven Jones and receiver Troy Franklin, who left Saturday's game early with injuries.

Anthony Brown was 14-for-18 passing for 159 yards and a touchdown before getting sacked hard on back-to-back plays to end the first half.

That didn’t prove to be a problem for the Ducks (3-0), who outscored Stony Brook 31-0 in the second half after turning to true freshman Ty Thompson en route to a 48-7 win.

“He’s a particularly cool customer,” offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead said. “There wasn’t any wide eyes when he was told he was entering the game. He was very poised, cool, calm and collected.”

Thompson finished 6-for-9 for 82 yards and touchdown passes of 54 and 1 yards to fellow true freshmen in receiver Dont’e Thornton and tight end Terrance Ferguson, respectively.

More:5 takeaways from Oregon's 48-7 win over Stony Brook

The Ducks scored on four of Thompson's six drives.

“Ty did wonderful,” running back Travis Dye said Saturday. “I told him before he went out there that we trust him and to trust his eyes. He’s a great quarterback. He’s very elusive, he’s very strong and he did a great today.”

Moorhead said Thompson’s performance didn’t come as a surprise. The 6-foot-4, 223-pound former five-star recruit from Gilbert, Ariz., threw for 9,891 yards and 100 touchdowns during his career at Mesquite High School, and also rushed for 1,145 yards and 20 scores.

“He’s incredibly talented, that’s the first thing,” Moorhead said. “Everybody probably had a pretty good idea of that throughout the recruiting process. All of the five stars were earned. He had a very impressive resume as a high school quarterback. But the thing that strikes me about Ty is his commitment to preparation and the mental aspect of it. … He brings a very even keeled yet competitive demeanor to the room and to the offense.”

Freshman quarterback Jay Butterfield also saw limited action against the Seawolves but was at the helm on the Ducks’ final scoring drive of the game. He completed 2-of-3 passes for 22 yards.

“They were solid,” Cristobal said of the two freshmen quarterbacks. “A very small sample size to really take a huge dive into performance but what sticks out first and foremost is elimination of any errors mental and physical. Very cool when they went in there. Unfazed, just like practice. The adversity we present these guys in practice and the pace at which we practice really paid off because they went in there and they looked at home. So a lot of confidence in both those guys. Those guys are two really, really good football players with bright futures.”

More:No. 4 Oregon Ducks football downs Stony Brook 48-7

Pac-12 honors McKinley and Bass

Safety Verone McKinley III continues to reap the rewards of his standout game performances.

The third-year starting sophomore was named the Pac-12 defensive player of the week Monday following the Ducks' 48-7 win against Stony Brook.

McKinley had two interceptions and three tackles in the game and helped the defense shut out the Seawolves in the second half. He was the Bronko Nagurski national defensive player of the week last week after Oregon’s win at Ohio State. McKinley’s late interception helped seal the victory against the Buckeyes.

Left guard T.J. Bass was also named the conference’s offensive lineman of the week, making him the second Oregon offensive lineman in as many weeks to earn the league honor, following in the footsteps of center Alex Forsyth.

Bass was credited with four knockdown blocks against Stony Brook as the Ducks rushed for 173 yards.

Pac-12 sets game time for Stanford

After playing back-to-back games with late kickoffs, the Ducks will finally get back into the daylight on Oct. 2 at Stanford.

The Pac-12 announced Monday a 12:30 p.m. start on ABC for the Ducks’ first conference road trip of the season.

Oregon didn’t kick off until after 5 p.m. this past Saturday against Stony Brook and it hosts Arizona at 7:30 p.m. this coming Saturday.

The only other game on the Ducks’ schedule with a set time is Oct. 15 against California, a 7:30 Friday night game on ESPN.

The Cardinal (2-1), whose 42-28 upset of then-No. 14 Southern California on Sept. 11 knocked the Trojans out of the top 25 and resulted in the firing of Trojans coach Clay Helton, host No. 24 UCLA Saturday, the first of what will be back-to-back weeks against ranked opponents at Stanford Stadium.

Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com. For more sports coverage, visit registerguard.com. Want more stories like this? Subscribe to get unlimited access and support local journalism.

Up next: No. 3 Oregon vs. Arizona

7:30 p.m. Saturday at Autzen Stadium. TV: ESPN. Radio: KUJZ-FM (95.3) and KUGN-AM (590).