Despite the hard-fought win over Cal this past Saturday, it wasn’t all sunshine and smiles for the Ducks in the aftermath of their Pac-12 home opening victory.

With Oregon in the midst of sewing up their defeat of the Bears, misfortune struck late in the fourth quarter when Ducks senior defensive lineman Gus Cumberlander went down with an apparent leg injury that required him to be fitted with an air cast and ultimately carted off the field. Considering the medical attention he received on the field, Cumberlander’s injury certainly did not appear to be one that would require a week or even a month of rest. That was confirmed to be the case by Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal on Monday, who told members of the media during his weekly press conference that Cumberlander would in fact miss the remainder of the season.

Unfortunately for Cumberlander, the injury effectively ends his career at Oregon, as the Ellenwood, Georgia has no eligibility remaining beyond the 2019 season.

It’s an unfair end to a collegiate career that had only begun to take off, as Cumberlander played sparingly until his junior year when he appeared in 12 games and finished second on the team in sacks with four. Cumberlander entered the 2019 season as a starter at defensive end for the Pac-12’s best defense, and had even earned Pac-12 Defensive Lineman of the Week honors for his one and a half sack performance at Stanford. Now, he’ll finish his Oregon career with 23 tackles, which includes 8.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks.

If there’s a silver lining to Cumberlander’s injury, however, it’s that the Ducks appear well stocked along the defensive line to make up for Cumberlander’s absence.

Though it’s expected that a number of players will see action in Cumberlander’s place, the name garnering the most attention as a likely successor to Cumberlander is true freshman Kayvon Thibodeaux. And quite frankly, the timing may not have come better for the former no. 2 overall prospect in the 2019 recruiting class. Against Cal, Thibodeaux produced his best game yet as a Duck, recording two sacks and one forced fumble, appearing to turn a corner in his development after slowly but surely coming along over the first four games of the season. The question now is whether Thibodeaux can prove that he can be a reliable performer both rushing the passer and stopping the run, as thus far, Thibodeaux has only really flashed in pass rushing situations.

With that, it’s reasonable to expect that Thibodeaux may not be the immediate and full-time replacement for Cumberlander moving forward. Sophomore DJ Johnson and senior Sione Kava are currently listed behind Thibodeaux on the Oregon depth chart ahead of Colorado game this Friday, and both are players who figure to see their respective roles expand with Cumberlander sidelined. 

It’s also possible that we’ll see more instances of Drayton Carlberg and Austin Faoliu on the field together, as they two have often been seen rotating opposite Cumberlander for much of the season. Andrew Faoliu, Austin’s younger brother, may be in line for increased reps as well, having notched two sacks of his own in four appearances this season.