Oregon Defensive Keys to the Game vs. California

How will the Oregon defense contain Cal?

The defense has been decimated by injuries this season, and while some were season-ending, there are some who used the bye week to get healthy and are reinforcements for this Oregon defense. Led by Cal’s former Defensive Coordinator Tim DeRuyter, Oregon might have an advantage due to his familiarity with Chase Garbers and the offense ran last year in Berkeley.

It'll be interesting to see how that chess match unfolds.

1. Swinson returning, replacing Thibodeaux in the 1st half

Two keys, one position. Kayvon Thibodeaux is out for the first half of this game after being called for targeting late in the loss to Stanford, so Oregon will have to find a way to replace him in the first half. Here's where Bradyn Swinson comes into play.

After missing the last few weeks, he's back and ready for a full workload according to Mario Cristobal. So even with Thibodeaux out, the Ducks have some depth back to withstand that absence.

With or without Thibodeaux though, this defense has to get pressure on the quarterback. If Garbers has time, he, like any quarterback, will distribute the ball to his playmakers or make something happen when the play breaks down.

But once the second half comes around, I’m very interested to see what a rested, motivated Thibodeaux will look like along with Swinson, Adrian Jackson and Mase Funa, who used the bye week to get their bodies closer to 100%. 

2. Hold Cal to under 200 passing yards

Twice this season has Chase Garbers been limited to under 200 yards passing and both those games were absolutely terrible for the Golden Bears' offense. Limiting passing yards has not been a strength of Oregon’s so far in 2021, as we saw against Arizona. Jordan McCloud totaled 233 yards through the air, but the defense's struggles were masked by five interceptions.

Even with their shortcomings, the defense is healthier than they have been in a while, so I believe this will be a motivated group on Friday especially playing for DeRuyter, who would like nothing more than to beat his former team. Add in the fact that Oregon wants revenge after Cal beat them last year, and this defense could be in for a big day.

3. Limit penalties

Like it or not, penalties have been a major issue for this team. Many people are talking about the myriad of flags thrown at the end of the Stanford game, but it goes much deeper than that. 

This Oregon team is ranked 123rd out of 130 FBS teams in penalty yards per game at nearly 80. That's not something Mario Cristobal teams have done so far here at Oregon and it’s something that Cristobal admitted needed fixing. 

Against a Cal team that's obviously not on Oregon's level, the Ducks can't let them stick around by giving them free yards. This will be spotlighted no matter what happens in this game, especially after how the Stanford game ended two weeks ago.

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