Oregon Ducks Defensive Keys to the Game vs. Washington Huskies

How will Oregon’s defense dominate vs. the Huskies and their poor offense?

Oregon’s defense surrendered 29 points to the Buffs last week, but I wouldn’t be overly concerned, as Oregon had backups and even a walk-on playing for a few of those touchdowns. With a fresh defense for this one, the emotions should be high in this week 10 rivalry week matchup in Seattle.

1. Stop the run

Washington’s offense isn’t very good any way you slice it, but the Huskies do have some success running the football. Seniors Sean McGrew and Kamari Pleasant have been the main force on the ground for the Huskies, and they are more than capable of having a breakout game against this Oregon defense. 

Fortunately for the Ducks, the run defense has been strong for the most part this season, and they'll need that to continue to be the case on Saturday.

2. Limit penalties

Oregon did an excellent job limiting penalties vs. Colorado last week with zero penalties in the first half, and hopefully, that can be a sign of things to come vs. Washington this week. 

Prior to the Colorado game, Oregon was averaging over 70 penalty yards per game, with the majority of that coming from the defensive side. Now we will see in this game if this team has changed and gotten better, or if last week’s game was a fluke.

Some of the Ducks' penalties have come in the most crucial moments this season, so they'll need to make sure they're completely locked in and don't give the Huskies any free yards.

3. Limit Terrell Bynum

Terrell Bynum is Washington’s go-to receiver and the one reliable target that can cause problems for the Ducks if they don’t cover him well. He has 25 catches for 427 yards this year, which for this Washington offense are good numbers. 

He's talented and can break a big gain at any time. The Ducks' gameplan should be to make quarterback Dylan Morris beat them by throwing the ball on third-and-long, so limiting Bynum in those spots would be huge.

With this team favoring the run, you can do yourself a favor by taking away their top passing option, and Mykael Wright should be more than up to the task.

More from Ducks Digest

Keys to the Game: Offense

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