Oregon Football: Midseason Report Card for the Ducks

The No. 10 Oregon Ducks have had a season full of highs and lows, from the opening kickoff on Sept. 3 to a huge win on the national stage over the Arizona State Sun Devils.

With Oregon’s semi-weak schedule, LSU being the exception, it’s hard to really get a firm grasp of this team’s abilities and potential.

The Ducks are tied for first place in the Pac-12 North and are looking at an outside shot of running the table and competing for college football’s most heralded prize: competing for the BCS National Championship.

Looking back at the past six games, here is the report card for the Oregon Ducks.

Run Offense: A

The Oregon rushing attack ranks fifth in the country (Navy, Army, Georgia Tech and Air Force rank ahead), averaging 312.6 YPG on the ground. Behind the legs of LaMichael James, the nation’s leading rusher, the Ducks have pounded teams on the ground all season long.

Even with the loss of James to a dislocated elbow against the Cal Bears in Week 6, the Ducks responded in a big way against a stout Arizona State Sun Devils run defense, putting up an astounding 327 yards rushing for the game with the second and third string backs in.

Kenjon Barner rushed for a career-high 171 yards on the ground, and true freshman De’Anthony Thomas had a monster game with 73 yards, rushing on seven carries with two going for scores.

The one hiccup that keeps me from keeping this unit at an A and not an A+ is that against LSU in the Ducks’ opening game, the offensive line was so overmatched that the offense had to escape from the run game. The Ducks will have two huge defensive lines in Washington and Stanford ahead of them to prove they are the best rushing team in the country.

Pass Offense: B+

I might be going a little high on the passing attack considering some of the struggles, but hear me out. The reason I give the Ducks a B+ is re-emergence of Josh Huff and David Paulson into the Ducks passing attack.

For the first four games of the season, Huff and Paulson were nowhere to be found. Part (probably most) of that can be attributed to injuries, but the past two games have been something special to watch.

In the past two games, Huff has brought in five receptions for 126 yards. That might not sound like something to go crazy over, but consider that combines for 73 percent of his production, I’ll take as something to be happy about.

Paulson also had a much better game for the Ducks against the Sun Devils, bringing in three passes including a touchdown. The other reason is the play by Bryan Bennett when starting quarterback Darron Thomas left against Sun Devils last Saturday.

While Bennett didn’t have great numbers through the air, his ability to run the zone-read was quite effective. Expect this passing attack to be even better in the second half of the season.

Run Defense: B-

Like the previous slide, I might be giving too much credit to the unit. Looking at the numbers alone would seem imply that this unit has been terrible.

The Ducks rank No. 86 out of 120 teams in the FBS in stopping the run, allowing opposing teams 173.8 yards per game. That stat is incredibly misleading.

The Oregon Ducks allowed the grand majority of those numbers to come in the first half of the season, as the Ducks allowed 643 yards to the LSU Tigers, Nevada Wolfpack and Missouri State Tigers when the second and third units played the majority of the game.

In the last three games, the Ducks only allowed an average of 133.2 YPG on the ground. This unit is beginning to get healthy, and they are moving in the right direction.

Pass Defense: C

This unit has been bad. I mean, really bad.

Statistically, the Ducks rank No. 78 in the country in defending the pass, allowing 230.8 YPG through the air. This number should be even higher, but countless dropped passes by opposing receivers have bailed out the Ducks defensive backs.

In particular, the Arizona game showed just how bad this secondary is. The Wildcats passed for 398 yards, but the number should have been at least 100 yards more had Juron Criner and the other veteran receivers for Arizona not dropped three sure touchdowns.

Last week against ASU, the Ducks got lucky at the end of the game with a dropped pass in the endzone that was picked off by corner Anthony Gildon, who was out-of-position on the play.

Cornerback Cliff Harris has been MIA for big chunks of the season, as he is still in head coach Chip Kelly’s doghouse for Harris’ actions this offseason. Safety Eddie Pleasant cannot cover a deep pass, and the Oregon linebackers can’t bring a pass rush or cover the slants and quick passes.

The Ducks should have two gimme games against Colorado and Washington State before a tough three-game stretch at No. 25 Washington, at No. 8 Stanford and home against USC. This unit has to be much better for the Ducks to have any chance of winning out and being crowned conference champions.

Special Teams: C+

I wasn’t entirely sure what grade to give the special teams. On one hand the returners have had some big returns, but fumbles put a little bit of a damper to that.

The Ducks have made 2-of-3 kicks on the year using their backup kicker for the past several weeks. Jackson Rice, the punter, has the Ducks ranked No. 12 in the country, averaging 46.2 yards per punt.

Assuming the Ducks avoid muffed punts and fumbled kickoffs, this unit can be an A; they have that much talent.

Overall Team Grade: B

The offense has been about as good as expected, and it appears to be headed in the right direction. The same can be said about the defense, with the run-D seeing great improvements.

If the Ducks want to be an elite college football team, the passing attack and secondary will have to improve, along with the return team being able to see success without fumbling. The Ducks have three huge tests ahead of them with No. 25 Washington, No. 8 Stanford and USC.

Can the Ducks live up to their potential and become an elite level team? We’ll have to wait and see.