Improved Oregon Defense Reestablishes Ducks as Pac-12 Title Favorite
Thought the Ducks decade of dominance over Washington was coming to an end this year?
Not a chance.
Oregon (6-1, 3-1) not only reestablished itself as Pac-12 title favorites after demolishing the Huskies 45-20, the Ducks finally put together an entire game on both sides of the ball and looked like the Oregon team we expected to see heading into the season.
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How did the Ducks dominate and, in so doing, extend their winning streak over Washington (5-2, 1-2) to 11 straight games? It’s simple. The Oregon defense played its best game of the season and true freshman running back Royce Freeman was terrific from start to finish.
Improved Defense
The Ducks defense has been much maligned for most of the season. However, against Washington the unit had its finest performance of the year. Oregon forced Washington quarterback Cyler Miles into two turnovers—an interception by safety Erick Dargan and a fumble recovery by Tui Talia—and held the Huskies to a grand total of 317 yards.
Before the game the Huskies were ranked No. 1 in the country in turnover margin, having forced 15 and committing only one. The Huskies had also yet to throw an interception this season.
However, the Ducks dominated Miles and the Washington offense until late in the third quarter when Oregon let off the gas a bit. All in all, the Ducks allowed 184 yards passing and gave up 133 yards on the ground on 36 attempts—an average of 3.7 yards per carry.
The Ducks—ranked No. 5 in turnover margin—finally put together a full game on the defensive side of the ball. Though we had seen flashes of a competent defense this season, Oregon had failed to lock down potent aerial attacks and hadn’t been able to get consistent pressure on the quarterback.
That all changed against the Huskies.
Oregon’s defense not only applied significant pressure on Cyler Miles throughout the game, it also prevented Washington from getting into a rhythm. Duck defenders also consistently made open field tackles. On the night, the Huskies averaged 4.28 yards per play and just 4.84 yards per pass attempt.
Needless to say, those are outstanding numbers for a Ducks defense that had been allowing 470.3 yards per game this season, ranked No. 106 in the country.
As for the defensive game plan, Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich said that getting pressure on Miles was a key to the defense's success. "We wanted to put a ton on a young quarterback and force him to beat us," said Helfrich, according to Joseph Hoyt of the Daily Emerald.
While the final score will show that the Ducks allowed 20 points to Washington, 14 of those points came after the game was well in hand. The Ducks allowed six points in the first 41 minutes of the game.
The Ducks allowed field goals to Washington on the Huskies' first two possessions—the last coming with 6:21 left in the first quarter. However, after the second field goal, the Ducks held Washington scoreless until the 4:45 mark in the third quarter—a 32-minute scoreless drought for Washington.
In short, this was the Ducks’ best defensive performance of the season—and it’s not particularly close. Yes, the Ducks only allowed three points in the second half to Michigan State. However, from start to finish the Ducks defense dominated Washington, and we hadn't seen that kind of wire-to-wire performance all season.
If Oregon’s defense can perform as well as it did tonight for the rest of the season, the Ducks will likely find themselves competing in the College Football Playoff.
The Ground Game
Oregon’s true freshman running back Royce Freeman had a day that won’t soon be forgotten.
On the night, Freeman ran for 169 yards—his second consecutive 100-yard performance—on 29 carries. More importantly, Freeman fought for the tough yards in the red zone and scored four touchdowns.
Freeman now leads Pac-12 running backs with 11 touchdowns, and he has rushed for 636 yards on the season.
Head coach Mark Helfrich has been impressed with his young running back and believes his elusiveness was evident against Washington. "You saw some of his elusiveness that was legendary in fall camp…he's starting to play free," said Helfrich, according to Hoyt.
Coming into the game the Ducks were 57-0 since 2007 when rushing for more than 240 yards in a game. While they rushed for "just" 218 yards against Washington, the Ducks moved the ball effectively on the ground all night long.
The Huskies were ranked No. 28 in the country against the run coming into the game and figured to provide the Ducks defense with one of its stiffest tests of the season. Royce Freeman would have none of that.
In Oregon’s first two conference games, against Washington State and Arizona, the Ducks rushed for a total of 311 yards. Both of those games were tightly contested. However, since left tackle Jake Fisher returned against UCLA, the Ducks have rushed for 476 yards.
It should come as no surprise that Oregon has come away with easy victories in both games since Fisher’s return. The Ducks O-line, despite missing left guard Hamani Stevens for part of the game against Washington (he later returned), is now mostly healthy and has not only done a good job of protecting quarterback Marcus Mariota, but they’ve also been able to create holes for Freeman, Byron Marshall and Thomas Tyner.
When Oregon is able to run the ball at will, as they have against UCLA and Washington, they’re nearly unstoppably offensively. “When you can run the ball you can do anything,” stated Helfrich, according to Justin Wise of the Daily Emerald. Couldn't have said it better myself.
If the Ducks able to continue to pound the rock and Royce Freeman continues to mature, the Ducks offense should be able to carry them to a Pac-12 North title and a spot in the Pac-12 title game on Dec. 5.
Pac-12 Title Favorites
Despite dropping a game to Arizona, the Ducks control their own destiny in the Pac-12 North and currently lead the division.
While there are still concerns about the Ducks, they are without question the team to beat in the conference. The defense seems to be coming around—it has played two solid games in a row—and the O-line is healthy, which has led to Oregon’s offensive explosions against the Bruins and Huskies.
The Ducks are still committing penalties at an alarming rate. Against Washington they Ducks racked up six penalties for 80 yards in the first half alone and committed seven penalties for 90 yards on the night.
However, after their complete performance against Washington and with Marcus Mariota, who was 24-of-33 for 336 yards and two touchdowns, steering the ship, the Ducks are ready to take on the rest of the Pac-12 and make a statement to the College Football Playoff committee.
That statement should be this: No playoff will be complete without the inclusion of the Ducks.
In order to make that statement, the Ducks will need to first beat Cal next Friday and prepare to take on their Achilles' heel: Stanford. While the Ducks have dropped their last two games to Stanford, the Cardinal have already dropped three games this season after losing to Arizona State, 26-10, on Saturday night. The 4-3 Cardinal have proven to be beatable this season, and it's Oregon last true opportunity to shine on a national stage.
The Ducks have five regular-season games left to leave an impression with the committee. They better make those five games count.
| Oct. 24 | California | Santa Clara, CA |
| Nov. 1 | Stanford | Eugene, OR |
| Nov. 8 | Utah | Salt Lake City, UT |
| Nov. 22 | Colorado | Eugene, OR |
| Nov. 29 | Oregon State | Corvallis, OR |
The Ducks are hitting their stride right now on both sides of the ball and are the clear Pac-12 favorites. They’ve proven to the conference that they’re a complete team capable of destroying very talented teams, such as UCLA and Washington.
But this is the Pac-12 conference and crazy things tend to happen from week to week. The Ducks need to be on high alert in each and every game. One slip and their postseason aspirations will be laid to rest.
But for now, through seven games, the Ducks have the look of a conference champion.
Jason Gold is Bleacher Report’s lead Oregon writer. Follow Jason on Twitter @TheSportsGuy33.
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