As with just about any observation that gets made after witnessing only two weeks of actual real-life football, it must be taken with a grain of salt. But if you’re a member of the Oregon football program or a person who has closely followed the team as a fan or member of the media, it’s awfully hard to come away unimpressed with what you’ve seen from the Duck defense over the first couple games of the 2019 season.
Three seasons ago, the forecast for the Oregon defense couldn’t have been bleaker. In Mark Helfrich’s final season as Ducks head coach, Oregon ranked as one of the worst units nationally in a myriad of standard categories, including scoring defense (41.2 points/game – 126th), total defense (518.4 yards/game – 126th), and yards allowed per play (6.41 – 115th) in what would also turn out to be the first and only season under defensive coordinator Brady Hoke.
Since then, however, the Ducks’ on-field performance has improved dramatically, which also been reflected in the national rankings.
In Willie Taggart’s first and only season as head coach in 2017, the Ducks improved 45 spots nationally in scoring defense (29 points/game – 81st), 80 spots in total defense (369.2 yards/game – 46th), and 87 spots in yards allowed per play (5.07 – 28th) under then first-year defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt. The defense would take a slight step back in Mario Cristobal’s first year at the helm before he and the university moved on from Leavitt this past February, though the optimism surrounding this group with new defensive coordinator Andy Avalos running the show appears sunnier than ever.
In fairness to Leavitt, or any defensive coordinator the Ducks have previously had for that matter, Avalos has the great fortune of working with perhaps the best collection of raw talent that has ever been assembled on the defensive side of the ball at Oregon. Not only did Avalos inherit a group that returns eight starters from last year’s team (which excludes a player like Jevon Holland, who, next to Troy Dye, may be this team’s most valuable defender), but he’s also the beneficiary of a serious talent infusion courtesy of Oregon’s 2019 recruiting class, which ranks as the best class in school history.
Yet, even with an immense amount of talent on hand, Avalos, through two games, has wasted no time in extracting the very most from this group.
Against Auburn, the Oregon defense stood toe-to-toe against a quality opponent from the SEC. They performed admirably, limiting the Auburn offense under celebrated play-caller Gus Malzahn to just 13 points through three quarters before buckling in the fourth after the Oregon offense struggled to find traction and thus provide much-needed rest for the defense. Still, the Ducks frustrated Tigers true freshman quarterback Bo Nix for most of the day, pressuring him seven times and forcing him to throw two interceptions while limiting Auburn to just over five yards per play (5.11).
They were even better against Nevada this past Saturday, as the Ducks were truly dominant, holding the Wolf Pack to six points and 192 yards of total offense (2.82 yards/play), while tallying 13 tackles for loss (including five sacks), three forced fumbles, two interceptions, and one defensive touchdown. This on the heels of an impressive performance from the Nevada offense a week prior, which saw them score 34 points and gain 404 yards of total offense against Purdue from the Big Ten.
And while it’s fair to point out the Ducks have had the luxury of facing two freshman quarterbacks in Nix and Nevada’s Carson Strong right out of the gate, you can counter that Oregon’s defense has arguably played its most disruptive stretch of football with the majority of their starters on the sideline. In fact, against the Wolf Pack, Oregon’s defensive reserves were responsible for nine of the team’s 13 tackles for loss, all five of its sacks, two of the three forced fumbles, both of the interceptions, as well as the defensive touchdown – all over the course of roughly one half of play when Nevada was still playing a number of starters.
It’s impressive, and though a true appraisal won’t be had until the Ducks earn a few pelts in Pac-12 play, the early returns are promising. Couple that with the number of highly-touted prospects that are expected to make their way to Eugene from the Ducks’ 2020 recruiting class, and it’s entirely possible that what we’re witnessing is just the tip of the iceberg.