Oregon Football: Adjustments Ducks Must Make During Bye Week

Despite the fact that Oregon is undefeated and is the second-ranked team in the nation, according to The Associated Press, the Ducks are not infallible and must make significant adjustments during their first bye week. 

While the Ducks are highly regarded nationally, a tight victory over the Washington State Cougars on the road proved that Oregon has a long way to go if it is to receive an invitation to the inaugural College Football Playoff. If it weren’t for the superb performance of Heisman candidate Marcus Mariota, the Ducks very well could have been licking their wounds from an early-season loss to an opponent who was 1-2.

Needless to say, the Ducks have a significant amount of progress to make in the coming weeks. However, this bye week may be more important for a different reason. The Ducks' biggest issue is that they need to get healthy, and quickly. Arizona comes to town on Oct. 2 with a perfect 4-0 record in tow and the confidence that they can compete with Oregon—just look at the result from last year.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the adjustments the Ducks must make during their bye week.

Dean Hare/Associated Press

Offensive Line Woes

The Ducks offensive line has been decimated by injuries. They’ve lost three tackles so far this season—Tyler Johnstone, Jake Fisher and Andre Yruretagoyena—forcing true freshman Tyrell Crosby and redshirt junior Matt Pierson, who is without a scholarship, into action.

As a result, the Ducks offense has sputtered at times due to the erratic play of the line. While the Ducks offense has still managed to score 48.5 points per game, they’ve been inconsistent in doing so due to the influx of defenders in the backfield.

Until Saturday’s game against Washington State, the most sacks Oregon’s line had ever given up in a game during the Mariota era, dating back to 2012, was three. The Cougars sacked Mariota five times in the first half alone and seven times for the game. Mariota was still ridiculously effective—going 21-of-25 for 329 yards and five touchdowns—but the offense still managed “only” 38 points for the game.

While Crosby and Pierson are the easy targets, head coach Mark Helfrich believes that long-time starters, such as center Hroniss Grasu and left guard Hamani Stevens, contributed to substandard play from the offensive line.

"It wasn't so much the new guys that it was some other guys trying to do too much like I talked about last night," Helfrich said during his usual Sunday teleconference, per The Oregonian's Andrew Greif. "There are a few things that were just really Day One assignment kind of issues and that's frustrating but yeah they changed it up."

While the Ducks line struggled for most of the game, they did get better as the game wore on. Grasu agrees with that sentiment: "(The linemen) calmed down and focused a little more,” he said, according to Greif.

Grasu has a point. The Ducks scored on their final three possessions of the game before running out the clock on their last possession.

Perhaps the inexperienced offensive line got better as the game wore on, and they began to understand the pressure that the Cougars were sending their way. It also helped that Mariota began to roll out more and get the ball out of his hands more rapidly.

One of Oregon’s mantras during the Chip Kelly and post-Kelly eras has been “next man up.” The Ducks have confidence in their young offensive linemen and believe that they will excel. There’s no reason to doubt that the inexperienced players will step up—especially when you consider that the Ducks have gone 61-9 since 2007, Kelly’s first year at Oregon.

The Ducks continually replace players and expect them to step up to the challenge. For the most part those players have excelled.

During this bye week it is crucial for the offensive line to come together as a unit and improve upon what was their worst performance since 2012, as evidenced by the seven sacks allowed.

The cure is more repetitions. The Ducks coaches must figure out a way to remedy this situation by the time Arizona comes rumbling into town on Oct. 2.

Dean Hare/Associated Press

Defensive Miscues 

The best way to describe Oregon’s defense so far this year is two-faced. At their best, it is a ball-hawking group that bends but doesn’t break. In fact, Oregon’s defense has ranked in the top 20 nationally in turnovers gained in each season since 2010.

For three quarters against Michigan State, and full games against South Dakota and Wyoming, the defense has played its role to perfection.

However, in the second quarter against Michigan State, a quarter in which it allowed 24 points, and against Washington State, the Ducks defense has looked soft and uninspired.

Yes, the Ducks are replacing six starters from their 2013 team that ranked No. 19 in turnover margin. However, inexperience isn’t an excuse for the inconsistencies on defense so far this season.

The biggest issues for the Ducks defensively are getting consistent pressure on the quarterback and allowing yards through the air.

So far this season the Ducks have given up an average of 315 yards passing per game, which ranks No. 120 out of 128 eligible schools. To be fair, the Ducks are ranked No. 23 in sacks per game, having gotten three per game so far this season. However, those sack numbers are a bit misleading.

While the Ducks have been able to score sacks, they’ve generally lacked the ability to cause havoc in the backfield, thereby giving quarterbacks time in the pocket to accurately gun down their intended targets.

Aerial attacks from Michigan State and Washington State have eaten the Ducks alive defensively. Cougars quarterback Connor Halliday was 43-of-63 for 436 yards against the Ducks. Spartans quarterback Connor Cook threw for 343 yards on 47 attempts, 29 of which were completed. Perhaps the Ducks will have better luck against quarterbacks not named Connor.

Here are some other facts about Oregon’s defense this year. The Ducks are ranked No. 99 in total defense, giving up 468 yards per game so far in 2014. The defense is also ranked No. 44 nationally with 24 points per game allowed.

While Oregon’s defense has physically struggled against the passing game, Helfrich believes the team has struggled more mentally than physically, especially against Washington State.

Helfrich said, per Greif:

"

From the mental aspect when you look at it on defense we really gave up about 200 yards in missed tackles and leverage. There were some things that we just have to shore up and understanding how you fit in the defense and where your help is and how to play it inside-out and outside-in depending on where that it, communication and that's very easily accomplished in a walk-through setting better than a practice setting in getting healthy to get ready for next week.

"

New defensive coordinator Don Pellum is partially to blame, as his 3-4 scheme has failed at times to bring the heat on opposing quarterbacks. His defense wasn’t getting any pressure against Washington State, something that also occurred in the second quarter against the Spartans. The lack of pressure is directly tied to Pellum’s affinity for dropping eight defenders into coverage against pass-heavy opponents.

"We did some three-man rush and had to adjust to a four-man rush, played some zone and played some man and played some man-under zone," Pellum said, according to Greif. "We had to mix it up a little bit."

Oregon’s inexperienced secondary has struggled in on-on-one matchups. Going forward, Pellum and the Ducks defense are going to need to find a way to get more pressure in the backfield and force quicker decisions from opposing quarterbacks. The Ducks secondary simply cannot hold up against talented quarterbacks when they have more than three or four seconds in the pocket.

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Get Healthy

Helfrich stated that one of the goals for the bye week is to get healthier as a team heading into the matchup against Arizona. “Certainly that's one goal of this time if there is a little lapse of time it's to get healthier and everybody's fighting that.”

The Ducks have obviously experienced significant injuries along the offensive line, and no one knows when Fisher or Yruretagoyena will be able to see the field again, though it’s possible both of them are out for the year.

At this point in the season, all teams have nagging injuries and the Ducks are no different. While practice reps are important, especially for some of the more inexperienced positions, it is more important for the Ducks to take care of their injuries and get ready for the heart of their Pac-12 conference matchups.

Helfrich understands that the Ducks are still growing as a team and need to improve in the coming weeks if they are to reach their lofty goals.

“We're getting better in some areas and we need to improve in many and we'll start back with that on Tuesday” said Helfrich.

Helfrich and the rest of the Ducks coaching staff know that this bye week is crucial for them. They must straighten out their defensive issues, coach up their young offensive line, and hopefully get healthy.

The meat of the Pac-12 conference schedule is ahead of them. Every single opponent is going to give the second-ranked Ducks their best shot.

Oregon would be wise to get their ducks in a row.